Two important change of pace topics today. The Key West Airport and the Greek Isles Santorini and Amorgos.

Always the same cries by Key West departing and arriving passengers…..Never enough space for them. I have heard the same cry the 30 years I have resided in Key West. No matter the number of reconstructions done during those years. Big dollars , small spaces.

Someone raised the issue in this morning’s Citizens’ Voice: “Folks who love Key West, we are in trouble! I just compared the actual EYW passenger count for 2023 (1,309,000) to the EYW airport Master Plan projection for 2023 (460,000) under which the airport expansion was modeled. Wow. The goose that laid the golden egg is on the way to slaughter.”

Key West always screws up space needs when remodeling the airport. Must be ineptness of the salaried Key West employees or outside experts hired.

As I have advised on many occasions, I have spent much time in Greece. Always a week or two on Santorini and a month or two on Amorgos. Never an earthquake during my many visits. All of a sudden, many the past few days.

Last night, Santorini sustained a 5.3 quake. There were 4 during the day also. All in the 4.0 area. Little damage and no injuries.

Santorini remains on alert for more quakes in the immediate future.

My favorite Greek island Amorgos is nearby. It has suffered many minor earthquakes recently.

Strange as it may sound, the Santorini-Amorgos zone has experienced 12,800 quakes in the period between January 26 and February 8. All minor.

The warning is out, however. Experts expect more quakes between now and the end of the month. They also fear a major one could occur during that time frame.

Cruise ships are avoiding Santorini. Putting into Crete instead.

Santorini’s volcano not the cause of the quakes. The quakes the result of the shifting ocean floor.

Again I find it amazing that in all the time I have spent on both islands, never one quake experienced by me. Even a minor one. The quakes I now discover go back thousands of years and occur in large clusters as described herein.

Today’s blog refreshing. A non-Trump one. Hope you enjoyed it.

I got beat up yesterday morning at neurophysiotherapy. Theresa had to line my legs up. My discs had moved. Everything she did was painful. As she said however, I caused it all to myself. I did wrong things involving my back for three days. Trust me, no more!

I will be at The Grand tonight with Steve and Cindy. My legs will hang straight down while I sit on the bar stool. There are only bar stools in the bar. All the fun is in the bar.

Enjoy your day!

Steve gave me a call before the game and invited me over to watch it with he and Cindy. I am not a pro football follower. Knew enough about what was expected from news releases, however.  There are times however when things do not work out as thought. The Kansas City/Philadelphia game one of them.

Philadelphia looked great from about 2 minutes in. It was generally Philadelphia all the way till the last quarter after that. Philadelphia was so far ahead, Kansas City’s last quarter was meaningless.

Philadelphia won 40-22.

Philadelphia came to play. Kansas could not for whatever reason. The favorite was decimated.

There was talk before the game that Trump would be booed and Taylor Swift cheered. The opposite was true. Trump cheered and Swift booed. We are in trouble America!

The half time show was disappointing. Or maybe it was Rapper music and Kendrick Lamar not to my liking. The show sucked.

I found the advertisements disappointing, also. I knew few of the products being advertised. Could have been the problem. Whatever, some of the ads cost $8 million for 30 seconds. Not worth it.

At the end of the third quarter, the game was 34-6 in Philadelphia’s favor. I returned home and to bed. Nothing Kansas could do in the fourth quarter would win the game.

Donald on the move again. He announced on the plane while flying to New Orleans that he would be imposing a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports monday. Monday is today. These new tariffs would be on top of those already imposed on certain countries.

Trump is doing a good job of alienating other countries. Friends and foes alike of the U.S. His conduct is driving many already to make economic deals with other countries. Even worse, many are considering joining with BRICS. BRICS will be our worst enemy in due course if things continue in the U.S. as they are. A successful worst enemy. Trump is leading the U.S. down the path of standing alone. Against everyone.

Trump frequently tells us God saved him to save us. There is a Biblical passage I bring to his attention. Psalm 112:10. “The desire of the wicked shall perish.”

Did you ever think that if what is presently happening in the U.S. happened anywhere else, we would consider it a coup?

Have we forgotten “For the people, by the people?” The way it was and the way it should be. “Not by Trump, for Trump.”

I worry.

Enjoy your day!

A major once a year party day. Super Bowl Sunday! America goes crazy. Properly so. 

This year the event is in New Orleans. The game has been played there many times over the years. I have seen three or four at least in New Orleans.

Actually my Super Bowl experiences have been many. Eleven consecutive games. Yes, eleven.

Back in the 1980s, I was Chairman of the Board of Visitors at the Syracuse University School of Law. Made me a person of influence in many respects. My recommendation to an applicant guaranteed acceptance.

A Utica client was an insurance man who provided coverage for his significant clients. One was the Buffalo Bills. A major customer for him obviously. He visited with me and told me of the younger brother of the Vice-President of Marketing for the Buffalo Bills. The young man had some adverse situations in his resume and had been rejected by every law school he had applied. Could I help? Of course. However note that my assistance at the moment was to my Utica client. I sought to benefit him in  the eyes of the Buffalo V-P.

I broke my house rule of always meeting anyone I recommended for admission. Merely did the necessary. Made one phone call and he was accepted.

Again, never met or spoke in any fashion with the applicant. Nor did I speak with his brother the Buffalo Bills V-P.

The V-P never forgot me, however. Since that year and continuing to today, he mails two free Super Bowl tickets to me. Actually now to my son as I am long retired. 

I took advantage of the tickets and what went with them for 11 consecutive years. Attended 11 Super Bowls. Seats excellent. Generally 45-50 yard line, 20 rows up.

Super Bowl parties the best. Arrangements always made for me and my guests nightly before the game. And the party of parties, the evening after the game itself. What a party! The best of the best!

One of my daughters went to work with the Buffalo Bills working in Marketing with the V-P after she graduated from college. Worked with him a number of years till she married and moved to another city. 

A deed well rewarded. Though not expected in any fashion.

The brother graduated from Syracuse law with no problem and has had a distinguished career practicing his profession.

Fred Klein is having a bowl party today. He invited me. I had to say no. My back has been killing me since tuesday. Thursday night the worst. Ok so far this morning. Do not want to take advantage of the condition nor abuse it. I will be watching the game from my bed.

Never made it to Brady’s Irish Pub for the Syracuse/Boston College game yesterday. My back. Kept me home. Better safe than sorry.

A hell of a game! Syracuse beat Boston College 95-86 in triple overtime. Wow!

Second time Syracuse beat BC this season.

Syracuse’s record still bad. No way it will make the Big Tournament at the end of the season.

Syracuse attendance was high at 20,881. Syracuse has always drawn huge numbers in basketball. This season, as badly as Syracuse is playing, it ranks third nationally in attendance with a total of 259,885. 

A warning from an old fan who has been around Syracuse sports since 1957. Attendance will always initially be high. However to maintain it at a high level, it is necessary for the team to win. Win constantly. If it fails to do do, the number drops radically.

Two brief political observations.

Where is the authority coming from for Trump and Musk to do what they are doing? Trump’s Orders in this regard are as good as an old Sears Roebuck catalogue when toilet paper not available. The courts are already beginning to put the blocks to most of them.

Not only where is the authority to act, who and how are the 19 plus year olds working for Musk being paid? Need House authority. None yet provided. Authority required to simply walk into 15 different agencies and look at and even take records. Speaking of records, security designations required to look at much of the material being viewed and/or removed. Where is the authority for such?

A miss observation exists with regard to Social Security. Federal auditors have discovered identity fraud in certain Social Security records. The error is reflected in a representation that 6.5 million persons 112 years or older are on Social Security. No way! Absolutely not! Common sense alone tells us the number has to be an error. There are not 6.5 million persons 112 years or older alive in the U.S. I doubt there are even that number word wide.

The error gross. Actually only 35 persons believed to be 112 or more years old are alive today. Of that number, I am not sure the actual number receiving Social Security.

A number of persons have picked up on the 6.5 million figure and have been touting it as real.

Enjoy Super Bowl Day!

Eugene Robinson in the February 6th Washington Post had an excellent Opinion piece titled: “These Republicans Should Be Ashamed of Themselves.” 

He wrote, “As President Donald Trump tramples the Constitution, vandalizes the federal government and trashes our vital international alliances, the reaction from leading Republicans is: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. They should be ashamed of themselves, because they know better. Ultimately, we all pay the price for their cowardice…..GOP senators are afraid that doing what is right for the country – rejecting Trump’s unacceptable choices – will be very wrong for their own political careers.”

Walt Disney gave us Mickey Mouse. He also gave us Pinocchio. Disney’s second feature length movie “Pinocchio” premiered this day in 1940. Another Pinocchio has joined us in recent years. Donald Trump. Heavy is the nose he bears.

Panama. Rubio visited. Trump’s administration says Panama agreed to drop canal fees for the U.S. Panama’s President said the State Department’s declaration that tolls for the U.S. had been eliminated was a “falsehood.” Described the State Department’s actions as “intolerable.”

When Trump began his tirade re Panama, he said U.S. canal fees were high, overcharging, etc. Panama’s President said incorrect. Less than $10 million a year. Amounts to 10 cents on a $40 coffee maker.

Why does Trump lie/exaggerate re costs? He has a staff of millions to do his research and advise him accurately. Shooting from the hip is no way to run a government.

Things that occurred on this day February 7 over the years.

On this day in 1839, Henry Clay declared in the Senate, “I would rather be right than be President.”

John L. Sullivan was the last bare knuckle champion. On this day in 1882, he knocked out Mississippi’s Paddy Ryan in a Heavyweight Boxing Championship match.

Vanderbilt University claims it played in the first organized intercollegiate basketball game at the Nashville YMCA Gymnasium. Vanderbilt beat YMCA 9-3. The game was played February 7, 1893.

My father played basketball when he was young. His school team would travel around Central New York playing in an organized league. When he was older, married and my father, he still played and occasionally would take me with him. The scores were dramatically low even in those days. Both teams generally scoring less than 10 points. Amazing!

Joe Di Maggio became the first $100,000 a year baseball player when he signed a new contract with the New York Yankees this day in 1949.

The Maastricht Treaty was signed this day in 1992 by 12 European countries. The Treaty created the European Union.

Recent California fires not uncommon. Brush fires in Victoria in 2009 left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australian history.

Measles a major problem worldwide in 2019. Resulted in a significantly high number of cases in Europe. The number 82,596. The number tripling from the year before. The Philippines also had problems. The Philippines suffered 1,813 cases and 26 deaths.

Today is National Wear Red Day. Sponsored by the American Heart Association to zero attention in on women’s heart problems. Heart disease is the leading cause of women’s deaths. Beats all types of cancer deaths combined.

Syracuse basketball again tomorrow. Syracuse meets Boston College at the Dome. In the afternoon at 3:15. I am going to try to get Fred Klein and Reiley McDonald to join me at Brady’s Irish Pub. Both Syracuse grads.

Fred is a retired New York labor lawyer. A distinguished practitioner with a significant following. He and his wife snowbirds three months a year in Key West where they purchased a second home several years ago.

A friend.

Fred writes a once a week blog. Short. Sometimes only one sentence. Regardless of length, powerful. Makes a point. His blog publishes on friday on www.gothamnetworking.com. Check it out. You will enjoy.

I had dinner with Fred and Reiley wednesday night. First time I have seen Fred in more than a year. My heart problems got in the way. He now has a beard. Looks good in it. The beard past the itching stage. About one inch thick. Well groomed. With his white hair, he looks terrific!

The beard has gone to his head. Properly stated, however. He is considering letting it grow further and entering the Hemingway Look-a-Like Contest this summer. Hope he does. It will return him to Key West so I can share more time with him this year. It will also be amusing to watch Fred run ahead of the bulls with 125 other Look-a-Likes. Unfortunately, no matter how good Fred looks and how accurately he resembles Hemingway, he won’t win this summer or for several years. I have learned in my time that it takes roughly 10 years to win. Those voting must get to know you, etc. Nevertheless, it is fun to return each year and participate.

So, go with it my friend! Think of the fun we will all have!

Enjoy your day!

Just like that! Overnight! Pain, hunger, fear and death in Africa. Why? Trump and Musk funding cuts.

Friends take care of friends. Supposedly so. The U.S. has for years with many countries. Certain African ones a perfect example. Everywhere we helped, we made made friends for the U.S. We performed goods acts requiring tons of money to help those in need. Desperate need. Simple things like ventilators for babies and HIV medication for those who would die without.

It was doing God’s will God’s way.

Trump and Musk disagreed. From their perspective, it is groups and countries taking advantage of the U.S. So with the swipe of a pen funding to the desperately needy was cut off.

In Africa, soup kitchens can no longer feed the hungry. Required medical cures are not available to keep mothers and fathers and their children alive. Life is valuable. People are valuable. The U.S. abandoned them swiftly and without warning. Nothing to be proud of.

Millions of lives have been placed at risk.

American funded programs literally died overnight.

Makes me wonder if Trump and Musk have any medications they must take daily to avoid serious illness or death to themselves. I take 15 pills a day. They are one of the reasons I am still alive at 89. One was prescribed because of my heart surgeries. I have been told it must be religiously taken everyday. If I were to go without, my life expectancy would be no more than three weeks.

How many Africans now have similar problems?

Thousands of “stop work orders” went out to employers and contractors for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Washington’s main vehicle for global aid. The directive cease and desist!

USAID is simply the world’s biggest such donor. Provides food, health care and clean water for millions.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is the one primarily responsible for what is happening. Trump a mere step behind for permitting him to do what is being done. Musk who has so much has taken away the little so many have had. Sufficient however to keep those millions healthy and alive. Many will die in short order. Very short order. Many, in days.

Musk is proud he is doing USAID in. He boasted on monday that USAID is a “radical left political pay off” and “a criminal organization.” Musk further said it was “time for it to die.”

How did he come to know so much in so little time? He is full of shit. It is nothing more than part of Trump’s “cut, cut, cut” program. They care not for the poor and needy? Screw ’em!

Strangely, USAID has been one of the few Washington programs that annually receives bipartisan support.

In Sudan alone, 8 million face immediate starvation. Let Donald and Elon go a few days without food and see how they feel.

The adverse consequences of failed funding is immediate. In addition to millions dying because of lack of food, numerous will suffer and die from failure to receive HIV medication. Others will meet swift deaths for numerous other reasons. Like babies removed immediately from needed ventilators.

USAID has been in force since George W. Bush. The reason why it already has saved millions of lives. Without the program, it is estimated some 20 million will die forthwith.

In Kenya, a mother of 3 could only get a 30 day supply of life saving pills. Normally she received them 90 at a time. She asked, “If I die, who will take care of my children?”

She rolled the 30 day supply of pills in her hand and said, “I have another month of life.”

Trump claims his goal is to make America great again. What a joke! His every recent move has made America weaker.

Sixty percent of Canada’s crude oil is shipped to the U.S. annually. Canadians are no fools. They know they must cover their asses. If the threatened tariff war Trump promised occurs in 30 days, Canada is reported to already be making preparations to ship its crude oil to Asian nations. Such will cause havoc for the U.S. companies who buy Canadian crude oil on a regular basis.

Thank you, Donald.

Chicken Asian flu now infecting cows in Nevada. Strange, but is occurring. What next?

The egg problem is affecting more than super market purchases. Waffle House has had to raise the price of their meals because of increased egg costs.

Syracuse, my Syracuse! The bad basketball season continues. Second year in a row.

Syracuse’s most recent loss was to Duke. Duke defeated Syracuse 83-54. Worthy of mention is Duke is ranked #2 in the country. Nevertheless, Syracuse is playing horribly. Again, second season in a row. This one worse than the last. Will Jim Boeheim glory days ever return?

Syracuse needs better coaching. I said before Autry got the #1 coaching job that he should not have it. He has proved me correct thus far.

Apparently, Syracuse needs to recruit better players also. One college basketball analyst said Syracuse is not putting enough money into the program to attract better players.

The disgrace of it all. ALL referring to college sports generally. Paying players top dollars to change schools will be the death knell for college sports. 

What is happening in Key West?

Water quality monitoring is in the news. Water quality a common everyday problem. Key West water is horrible! Taste wise the worst! I have not drunk faucet water in years. I buy tons of bottled water. Twenty four bottles at a time. Ever wonder why Publix has so much water for sale and displays it big time? It’s a seller!

In all my Key West years, I have never seen the water improve. Key West government fails its citizens in this regard.

The Key West City Commission held two votes on the subject of water quality monitoring tuesday. Shameful the issue remains a problem. We deserve better.

The recent snow accumulation in North Florida a wonder. A first for many.

Robert and Ally are at Florida State in Tallahassee. Both enjoyed the snow. Several inches of it. A first for both.

Robert made a snowman. Both slid down hills on I don’t know what. Neither had appropriate clothes. Got soaking wet. Both want the snow to fall again! Loved it!

The snow record was 9.8 inches. Fell in Milton in northern Florida.

The new Square Grouper Restaurant is going over well. Accepted by most who have attended.  Can’t wait to try it out. Loved the one at Summerland Key.

Thirteen Key West High School students will be in Cooperstown, N.Y. for a week in June to participate in a baseball tournament. 

I grew up and practiced law in Utica, N.Y. Forty miles from Cooperstown. Visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame became a regular thing. Watching the annual induction ceremonies also. Part of our Upstate New York life.

Cooperstown a wonderful community. A perfect vacation spot for adults and families alike. Quiet and picturesque. Different from Key West. Each has its own attractions. Cooperstown not a place where visitors bar hop. Nothing wrong with bar hopping. I did my share in Key West. To each his own at a particular time.

I close with last night. One of the most enjoyable experienced by me since my heat attack and multiple heart surgeries a year ago. I have become somewhat of a recluse. Last night was only the third time in the past year I was out to dinner at a fine dining establishment with good friends. Fred Klein and Reilly McDonald. The last time I had dinner with these two gentlemen was two years ago.

I had a ball! Enjoyed myself immensely! Thank them both for getting me out.

Both men interesting. Fred a retired New York City labor lawyer. In his low 80s. Reilly in his mid 60s and still working. Reilly has the job of jobs. He is into professional horse racing. Among other things, buys, raises and sells thoroughbreds.

A great evening! The company was what made it perfect. The meal at La Te Da added to the evening. I enjoyed the crispy duck! Crispy to perfection!

Enjoy your day!

The German people needed Hitler. Too bad he turned out to be the bad guy he was. The Versailles Treaty and World War I Allies denutted Germany. Stripped them economically and of their pride.  Hitler restored both in the 1930s. Hitler unfortunately carried everything too far.

Hitler learned a deserved lesson. Many of the free peoples of the world joined together to defeat him.

Hitler picked his enemies. Trump seems to be pissing everyone off. He is isolating the U.S. If he is successful, the U.S. will stand alone. Perhaps facing the rest of the world in a major conflict. Opposed by friend and foe alike. Trump continues to attack U.S. friends, sucks up to many of our enemies, while alienating even further others. A bright thinker he is not.

A couple of examples that Trump is moving along an erroneous path.

He threatened significant tariffs against two friends and neighbors. Mexico and Canada. His main reasons immigration and fentanyl. Mexico though trying, still has a heavy task to control both issues. Canada did not and does not. The facts speak for themselves. In 2024, Canada was responsible for .02 percent of the fentanyl entering the U.S.  Know what .02 percent amounted to? Forty three pounds. As opposed to Mexico’s 21,000 pounds.

Canada’s immigration number similarly insignificant. 

So why did Trump go after Canada? Does not make sense. Last week, he refused to return Trudeau’s call till monday. An insult to another national leader! Then the “deal” he made with Trudeau was basically things Canada was already doing. Recall also Trump’s statement last week that he would raise tariffs against Canada to 100 percent until such time as Canada was “annexed” to the U.S. Another insult to a long time friend and neighbor.

Trump played what is becoming his typical last minute move. Instead of imposing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico tuesday as he had threatened, he says he is giving them another month to get their houses in effect in order as far as he is concerned. Symbolically suggesting he, Trump, had won again and was showing mercy to an adversary.

In the meantime, Trump increases the tariff against China. Not very bright. China a formidable foe. The equal to or perhaps even stronger than the U.S. at the moment. Merely saying we are the strongest nation in the world does not make it so.

China is also the mainstay and major power in BRICS. China represents 70 percent of BRICS economy. It is fast becoming the banker of its member nations. Money talks. Not insults and bullshit. The world has begun laughing at the U.S. At a major sporting event this past weekend in Canada, the Canadians booed when the American National Anthem was played.

Musk is beginning to give me major concern. He has been given too much power by Trump in a situation where he legally has no power. Musk now has the capacity to affect all kinds of payments to the American public. Even to Social Security and Medicare. He now knows all the personal financial data of every American citizen.

Not right. Not legal. Are you aware that many of those working in or near the White House under Musk are as young as 19 years old.

The more I read about Musk, the more I suspect he may be so far right in his thinking so as to reflect Nazism. He is pushing his influence in Europe as well as the U.S. And to me, that was a Hitler salute he executed.

Some oddball items.

Do you know the world’s oldest written story? Its first written story. “Written” the key word.

It is the “Epic of Gilgamesh.” A poem. It tells the tale of King Gilgamesh, ruler of the ancient city of Urek, who battled terrible monsters.

The “writing” was published around 2200 BCE.

Beer and wine were the first alcoholic beverages. Which came first? No one knows for sure. Both developed because people enjoyed the getting high effect the two gave them.

I close with two Key West items.

A recent visitor who enjoyed Key West will not return soon: “We had a nice time in Key West, but won’t be back until the airport departures are expanded. What a zoo!”

The first Square Grouper Restaurant opened about 15 years ago in Summerland Key. An immediate hit. Great food! Great atmosphere! Later it expanded to a second site further north. This past week it opened a restaurant in Key West. On Eaton Street in the home of the old PT’s Late Night. You have to have been in Key West many years ago to recall PT’s. It will always be remembered as an integral part of early modern day Key West.

The Square Grouper totally remodeled the inside of the building. I have only seen photographs. Outstanding! Can’t wait to go. Guaranteed it will be a hit!

I finally went out last night. First time in four weeks. The Grand’s Happy Hour!

Enjoy your day!

A new topic for the blog. BRICS. First time I have mentioned it. I suspect it will be the first time many of you have even seen the name in print or know what it is. Time for all of us to know whatever we can about it and follow through with its activities.

Brics is the U.S.’s money competition world wide.

The world as we know it is divided politically into three groups for purposes of this discussion. The West, East and South. The West is the U.S. and most of Europe. The East is Russia, the Middle East, the Far East and Africa. The South is Central and South America.

Those outside the West have been pissed off for years that the U.S. controlled the West and as a result other areas of the world. Their areas.  The East and South wanted a piece of the pie. A big one.

In 2009, four nations met formally to create an organization/group to compete with the U.S. and become not as powerful as the U.S., but more powerful. The four nations Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The first letter of each nation’s name made up the title of the organization. Soon South Africa joined. S was added at the end of Bric so that the name of the group became Brics. 

The four became five. The five now ten, with many knocking on Brics’ doors to join. Brics is selective. The newest nations Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. The Brics a conglomerate of East and South nations.

Progress takes time. Especially when a group wishes to become the most powerful economic political entity in the world. It has not done badly. Brics’ GDP is 35 percent. G7 which is basically the West group of which the U.S. is a member has fallen behind to 30 percent.

The new group is moving its ass! China the leader. China representing 70 percent of the wealth of the group.

It would appear that the West, of which the U.S. is the most important member, has fallen behind. Might be that the U.S. is in a phase of descendancy? Don’t know. Could be. Looks like it may be.

Why have American citizens not been made aware of what has been happening the past 20 years?

Again as heavy as my research has been the past 24 hours, nevertheless limited. Some believe our government, Democrat and Republican, did not wish to publicize what was happening. The media for some reason remained silent.

China is benefitting big time. Financing many activities in Brics nations.

Certain of Brics countries have been building railroads like crazy, Brics financing them, with China taking a large piece of the financing. U.S. banks bid, but could not compete with Brics’ numbers.

I have opened a door with this blog. Trust many of you will find it interesting and helpful. If I have erred anywhere in this blog, it is inadvertent. Bring it to my attention and I will be happy to correct.

We must know more about Brics. They seriously affect the economic well being of the West and the U.S. If more must be done at the West’s end, so be it. Do it! Lets not sit on our asses till it is too late.

Enjoy your day!

We live in strange times. No question about it.

Trump President a mere 13 days and already three economic wars declared that may have fruition. Trump announced yesterday tariff wars with Canada, Mexico and China will begin Tuesday.

Trump has also declared other tariff wars in the same 13 days. However those nations against which he directed tariff increases capitulated to the mighty U.S. and the tariff bombs never fell.

Trump attacks our friends economically. Killer economic threats tariff in nature. Friends will become foes and fight. Not all will capitulate. Expect Mexico and Canada to fight. Panama questionable. Retaliate economically first. Then militarily when Trump proceeds to use U.S. troops.

Will the economic retaliation at some point in fact turn military? Could be. Then who will be our friends, who will be our enemies? I suspect our friends will be Russia, Turkey, Iran, North Korea and China. Our enemies the friends we have today, but will have lost tomorrow. The European Nations, Canada, Mexico, and many of the American countries.

Crazy! Relationships of long standing destroyed to become friends with the worst of mankind.

Trump has already begun a war. Somalia. What the issue really was that required him to bomb Somalia this past week, I do not know. Impending doom to the U.S. not one. This past week Somalia. Some time down the line, it could be Canada, Mexico, Panama, Greenland or Denmark. Who knows?

You can’t trust a man who never backed off his representation that persons in Springfield were eating cats and dogs. Remember, enough Americans believed him to elect hm.

The tariff wars to begin Tuesday will have an immediate effect. Two weeks from now, the American people will be complaining. Many whom voted for Trump. You bought him, now suffer!!!

Grocery and oil prices will have begun shooting up. Other items, also. Again, within two weeks.

Trump does not want to be President. He wants to be King. He is well on his way. Congrats again to those of you who voted for him.

Musk now has access to the Treasury Department’s payment system. Treasury Secretary Bessent transferred the access to Musk’s group this past week. 

Covers $6 trillion in payments. Includes Social Security and Medicare. Imagine, Musk the man who views his responsibility to cut $2 trillion in his first year having Social Security and Medicare payouts knowledge accessible. Woe is we!

I have been opposed to RFK Jr. for years. Even when he was a mere lawyer and educator fighting vaccinations and environmental matters. A phony.

If Kennedy is successful in achieving the position sought, Trump will have placed the health of the Nation in the hands of a man who will make us all sick.

A touch of Key West.

Cell phones are amazing. Local and long distance calls quick and cheap.

It was 108 years ago when the first long distance connection from Key West was to Marathon. At 1:47 pm on the day in question. Later that same day, the connection was extended to Savannah.

Visit the Little White House soon for two separate events.

On February 15 at 4:30 pm, the Descendants Forum. Prominent Presidential descendants will share stories and historical perspectives re their relatives.

The next two days, February 16 and 17 at 4:30 also, Give ‘Em Hell, Harry! A dynamic one man show that celebrates Harry Truman’s unique persona. Harry Truman’s grandson Clifton Truman Daniels stars.

I close with Syracuse basketball.

Syracuse won last night! Defeated California 75-66. 

The best game Syracuse has played this season. Came out with a big lead. Played a hell of a first half. Slowed down a bit in the second half. Held on to win.

If Syracuse continues playing as it did last night, its season will conclude on a favorable note.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Yesterday was a good one for me. It may not sound so to you as I lay it out. Overall however, I was pleased.

I had a visit with physician assistant Julie at my local neurologist Dr. Schnapp’s office yesterday at noon. I had not seen her in 3 months. Dr. Schnapp has had me receiving two neurophysiotherapy sessions weekly during that time. My progress has been excellent, though I still have periodic disc and groin pain problems.

Julie and I had a beneficial 1 1/2 hours together. She knows her business. When finished, I got up from the chair I had been sitting in for 1 1/2 hours. A comfortable chair. Fell flat on my face. Went to get up and fell again.

What the hell was going on? Never fell like that before!

No one panicked, including me. Finally felt better balance wise and went home. My goal, my bed. All I wanted was to lie in bed for a few hours watching a movie on TV. My Petrone recovery period.

Came across the movie Mama Mia: Here We Go Again. It came out in 2018. I recalled having seen Mama Mia which debuted ten years earlier in 2008. Loved it! I have watched it several times since.

My selection as to what to watch was easy. I would watch the second Mama Mia film which I had never seen.

Glad I did. A terrific movie! Better than the first! Left me in tears at the end!

The second movie stars everyone from the original cast, except for its star Meryl Streep. She had died in the story before the second film and was only recalled in recollections during the film. Until the last 10-15 minutes. Then Meryl Streep appeared for real. Again she was only in everyone else’s thoughts, but you could actually see her singing and dancing.

The stars of the original cast were in the film. Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, and Colin Firth. Cher was also in the movie, though I do not recall her being in the original.

If you wish to feel good, watch the movie! A real joy flick!

In researching, I noted there is serious talk about doing a third Mama Mia. Shades of Rambo, Rocky and the Godfather. If you have a winner going, go with it again.

A bit of Key West directly and indirectly.

A new issue affecting condo associations and HOAs. Can they ban smoking in private individual units? No law directly on point at the moment. Guaranteed there will be. Much discussion already being had.

Present law only relates to “common areas.” Makes sense. Beware however. The next couple of years may see private units beginning with private balconies.

To celebrate the U.S. Navy’s 250th Anniversary, the Blue Angels will fly in the Key West area March 29 and 30.

The Bahama Village fire on January 23 involved only one unit in the First Village Apartments. The Apartments are a public housing complex operated by the Key West Housing Authority.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The next Key West Cemetery stroll is scheduled for sunday February 23. Make a reservation. The Cemetery is worthy of a tour. The Cemetery is unique. Especially the inscriptions on many of the stones. Like, “I Told You I Was Sick.”

Hope the weather on February 9 is warm. The ocean water as well. The day is time again for the Polar Bear Plunge. Higgs Beach at noon.

Today is the day! The day Trump claims he will impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent one on China. Trump seems to get his jollies off talking and threatening tariffs. He spoke during the campaign of retribution. The U.S. will receive retributions from nations it dares to impose significant tariffs on. Did he ever think of that?

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced yesterday today was the day.

Leavitt spoke proudly of what Trump has threatened re the tariffs: “Promises made and promises kept.” Nothing to be proud of in my opinion.

She also set forth figures re illegal drugs coming into the U.S. The numbers she quoted were horrendous. Fact finding afterwards indicated the figures were 2,000 percentage points out of line.

Trump’s claim specifically is that the three countries involved are facilitating the flow of illicit fentanyl into the U.S. Again, the figures claimed were significantly erroneous.

Note again Canada and Mexico will retaliate. They will not take this Trump imposed abuse quietly. I worry Trump has not considered the repercussions properly through.

The stock market dropped 200 points immediately following Leavitt’s press conference. Not much. Wonder what monday will bring if Trump imposes the tariffs today?

Americans continue to be upset with grocery costs. A 25 percent tariff of Canada and Mexico is guaranteed to drive up grocery costs even further.

Mexico is the largest supplier of fruits and vegetables to the U.S. Canada leads in grain, meat and poultry to the U.S. Both nations play vital roles in keeping U.S. grocery shelves stocked.

It is also thought the price of gasoline could go up $ .70 a gallon.

Trump issued a statement last night that the cost of goods could go up for a brief period of time if and when he imposes the tariffs. Why didn’t he say it before yesterday? Everyone else has. 

Note my friends, Trump has yet to have been President two weeks and look at the disarray he has been initiating.

Trump continues to invite chaos. Another of his latest moves involves the FBI. His message to certain top FBI officials is to retire or be fired. The FBI, as well as other top agencies and businesses, cannot be run without experienced people at the top.

Involved re the FBI are 8 top officials and approximately 1,0000 subordinate employees. All basically having been involved in the January 6 investigations.

Trump is also going directly after Senator Chuck Schumer. Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin sent a “letter of inquiry” to Senator Schumer re a statement he made at a March 2020 rally that Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh would “pay the price” for a vote they made involving abortion rights.

Gun usage was expanded this past week. The law in the U.S. since 1968 has been that guns could not be sold to 18-20 year olds.

The conservative Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the banning unconstitutional, a violation of the Second Amendment.

Interestingly, the basis for the Fifth Circuit decision is the Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association vs. Baren decided in 2022 where gun rights were expanded in other areas. Guess who the “genius” was who wrote that decision? Justice Clarence Thomas. Honest Clarence!

Highly respected newscaster Chuck Todd is leaving NBC after 18 years. Nine of which were moderating NBC’s Sunday Meet the Press.

Enjoy your day!

Guantanamo was an American disgrace when the U.S. began using it years ago to house certain type alien terrorists. Some of the acts perpetrated on those jailed there clearly non-American and disgusting. 

The population of Guantanamo has diminished. Trump sees a new use for it now. He’ll use it to house certain migrants. There is a 30,000 person facility available or in the process of being made usable to house migrants with criminal records.

An Auschwitz in the making? How will the 30,000 be treated initially and in due course? Will the number increase as more space is required? Will conditions become intolerable? Why isn’t everyone being returned to their initial home countries from which they fled?

Auschwitz remains a symbol of terror. It was established as a final solution to the Jewish problem. As Guantanamo’s use for criminal migrants will be a partial solution to the immigrant problem.

Go for it Donald! Fits your image!

I predicted two weeks ago chaos would be evident within two weeks re Orders and other actions Trump was taking. Before the two weeks has even run out, he has been successful in creating chaos. None of which is or will be good for the U.S.

“Drill baby, drill” already raising questions about a pricing problem. Immediately, massive amounts of electricity or other type power are not required to power the AI revolution.

 Trump leaped before he looked.

The truth becoming evident within a short few days. Trump looks like an ass.  Especially with Canada who sells huge amounts of crude oil annually to the U.S. Where is Trump going to timely get the crude oil Canada will now ship to Europe and Asia if Trump imposes the 25 percent tariff threatened?

Another Trump miscue is he does not understand to change from obtaining/having huge supplies available immediately and timely takes a few years of planning and development. If Trump pursues his plans against Canada, the U.S. will be left standing empty handed re its present and soon to be increased needs for crude oil.

Donald will screw the U.S. economy rather than help it if his Canada plans proceed. Oil experts have been generally uniform the past few days that Trump is engaged in a wayward dangerous scheme re Canada that will seriously hurt us.

The Reagan Airport planes crashing into each other another situation where Trump jumped the gun and spoke before proof of anything was available.  Sixty four killed in the American Airlines plane and four in the military Blackhawk helicopter.

Trump went on TV, etc. almost immediately claiming Biden and Buttigieg responsible. He looked all smart in blaming them. Mr. Know-It-All.

This morning’s news reported the Control Tower was short staffed. Two instead of four controllers.

There will be other causes. Multiple causes. You cannot jump the gun as Trump did in this case. There are different agencies and groups experienced and prepared to place blame. It takes time. Trump speaks even before all the bodies have been recovered or the black boxes.

Mr. Smart Ass again!

Three days ago, Trump signed an Order freezing federal grants. Trillions of dollars involved.

Trump had to rescind it in a matter of days. First, the Order was too confusing. Second, it affected people in the U.S. and around the world not contemplated.

A perfect example of what I have been preaching. Trump shooting without thinking. The backlash exhibiting his lack of correct judgment significant. There is more to running a government than merely signing Orders. There are occurrences and happenings that follow. All must be considered before issuing an Order. Trump does not.

Trump is an extreme narcissists. Could be he/we are heading for a narcissistic explosion of unparalleled force.

He has been  a “screw up” as President since the moment following his swearing in. He was not worried about you or me. His speech reflected his concern for the rich, the oligarchy that was rapidly forming. His mentality similar to those at the Versailles Treaty. Look at the good it did the countries who exerted the heavy hammer on Germany. It took less than 15 years for them to be buried.

Trump thinks because he survived the assassination attempt, he is the resurrected Jesus. No way. He lacks Godly powers. Everyone knows it but him. 

Trump appealing to two groups. His attention directed to them. The rich who expect beneficial action in return. The middle class and poor who want to get rich. He gives them everything they want. The rich definitely. The voting group what they “think” they are getting.

Neither group cares that in appealing to them, he is fucking everything up. It is only going to get worse.

We want a “President,” not a “King.” Keep that in mind! Trump’s moves are to expand his powers. He is already spreading chaos by so doing. There will be more. Much more. Followed by a number of brutal crisis’s which the “people” will not win in view of the fact that Trump has control of the Supreme Court.

Tomorrow a significant day. Trump’s 25 percent tariff increases could be imposed on Canada and Mexico. No question, Canada and Mexico will be hurt. What Trump fails to see however is that the U.S. will suffer a similar harsh pain. What goes around, comes around. Immediately in this situation.

Syracuse’s basketball team continues its horrendous season. Lost to Stanford wednesday 70-61. Syracuse now 9-12. 

Next battle foe is California. Tomorrow night at 10.

Sorry so much Donald Trump. Has to be, however. His every action at the throat of the American people.

There are some Key West items I want to touch upon. I close with them.

The recent Bahama Village fire has another victim. A 5 year old. The toll now 2 adults and 2 children who died.

National news suggests gasoline prices are down. I agree. Not as much in Key West. Actually, Key West prices are “radical.” I filled my tank yesterday. One station $3.27 a gallon. Across the street, $3.65 a gallon. Most in the $3.65 area. Why the difference?

A step back in Key West history. On January 30, 1947, Al Jolson appeared in Key West. He entertained at the Birthday Ball at the Key West Naval Base and the Casa Marina on behalf of the March of Dimes.

I meet with the neurological physician today at noon.

Enjoy your day!