HEMINGWAY’S KEY WEST WRITINGS

Hemingway spent 11 years in Key West (1928-1939).

An enjoyable and fruitful time. He drank, played, fished, and wrote.

His writings and those he worked on included A Farewell To Arms, Death In The Afternoon, For Whom The Bell Tolls, The Snows Of Kilimanjaro, and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.

Hemingway also drew on the Key West depression era to portray one of the locations in To Have And Have Not. His only novel with scenes that occurred in the United States.

Time well spent professionally and personally.

Hemingway is an intrinsic part of Key West history.

A place of shame exists near the Florida Keys. In Homestead. The Homestead Detention Center. Homestead is located mid way between Miami and the beginning of the Florida Keys.

It is a migrant children detention center. To many, a child prison.

Its inmates the children of migrant parents. Children 13-17 separated from their parents. Most at the southwest border. Transported by bus to Homestead.

Two thousand children presently living there. Recent enlargement permits a capacity of 3,200.

The facility is operated by Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. A subsidiary the homeland security firm and private prison operation Caliburn International.

A for profit operation. Note carefully, not a not for profit. Believed to be the only for profit child detention center housing immigrant children.

Figures not available as to cost of operations. Estimates are $500,000 a day and growing. Overall, $200-500 million a year and growing. Your tax dollars.

Everything secretive.

John Kelly, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Trump’s Chief of Staff now a member of Caliburn’s Board of Directors. Kelly was also a lobbyist for DC Capital Partners which created Caliburn in 2018.

Caliburn’s Board also includes former high ranking military persons: Anthony Zini, James Stavurdis and Kathleen Martin.

Irma hit the Keys September 10, 2017. In most areas as a category 4.

Clean up, renovation, recovery, etc. still ongoing. Almost 2 yeas later and still not complete. The problem is money. Trump promised and did not come through. Similar to his failures in Puerto Rico and the Panhandle.

The County continues to be owed millions of dollars in promised reimbursement dollars. In addition, work still need to be done.

One example are the canals. Understand each key has a series of canals. Waterways, Similar to Venice. One of the Keys’ charms.

Irma filled the canals with sediment. Boats cannot traverse. Recently sediment removal began re 10 of the canals. Two hundred twenty four will remain after the 10 completed. Problem, no money to clean them.

Note the Keys still have many areas where there is no power, water, sewage. People still living in tents. No money again.

The problem similar in the Panhandle. The people claim they have been “forgotten.”

Only the federal government can provide the necessary resources to help its people following a natural disaster. Trump promises and then fails to follow through.

Yesterday’s blog was titled Mother’s Day. A portion concerned Vice President Pence’s comments at a graduation address he made at Liberty University. He told the conservative religious/evangelicals in effect to beware. “They” are coming after you because of your faith.

News to me.

Anyhow, one of today’s comments to that blog made an interesting observation: “Pence’s copying the NRA pitch. One says that “they” are coming for your guns, the other that “they” are coming for your religion. Both are selling fear and paranoia.”

The Democratic House is seeking information and witnesses that Trump refuses to provide. Via invitation and subpoena. Both ways Trump has instructed his people not to obey.

Trump brings lawsuits to block wherever he is permitted. One involves a subpoena served on one of Trump’s accounting firms. The case has been assigned to federal Judge Amist Mehta.

These cases can take years. The Judge has said not this one! She is fast tracking it. She has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow to hopefully hear all the proof.

Good for Judge Mehta. Trump is attempting to misuse the Judicial System and she is saying no in a loud fashion.

Trump deserves his day in court. The American people deserve their day. Soon rather than several years from now.

If Justice is to prevail, some court should provide for expedited appeals. Again to move the matter swiftly and efficiently. The country deserves action again today, not years from now.

The U.S./China tariff war not a healthy event. Eventually both nations will hurt. Immediately, the U.S.

Trump appears to have messed things up with China as he has done with every other major power he has negotiated with. The man who claimed he knew how to make a deal does not.

Kevin Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister, refers to China’s position as “a reasonably firm screw you.” Appropriately said. China is digging in.

In the meantime, what do the farmers in the mid west do with their soybeans, etc. they cannot sell. And the people of the U.S. who will pay decidedly more for everything that comes from China.

Trump again wrong when he said tariff wars were good, he understood tariff wars.

Winston Churchill. Great democratic leader. A man who successfully defended England against Hitler.

An articulate speaker. One who could wind words together to give them strong meaning.

On this day in 1940, he took office as Prime Minister. Things could not have been worse for England. Hitler bombing daily. Invasion likely.

He said to Parliament his new policy would consist of nothing else than “to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime…..victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of terror, victory however long and hard the road may be.”

Enjoy your day!

3 comments on “HEMINGWAY’S KEY WEST WRITINGS

  1. OK, so Trump has created an unforgivable human crisis separating and containing immigrant children from their parents, then thumbing his nose at efforts to stop such madness, all as a deterrent to families hoping to legally seek asylum in this country. However, since he began doing this, immigrants with children have increased, vastly so, if you accept his numbers, since he began doing this. Has anyone bothered to point out that his “idea” isn’t working and is apparently, causing the opposite effect?

  2. “Note the Keys still have many areas where there is no water, power, sewage. People still living in tents. No money again. ”

    Lou, please tell me specifically where this is as I want to see it

    These people can use some help

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