TRUMP AND FEMA YET TO REPORT FOR DUTY

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Michael made landfall wednesday. Trump has yet to visit. FEMA boots on the ground few, if any.

A devastated people need to see their leader face to face. A visit/his visit would provide encouragement. Uplifting. Those affected need to see him.

Where is Trump? In different States most evenings conducting rallies to Make America Great Again and in anticipation of the November 6 elections.

Take your time Mr. President. The people of northern Florida are not going anywhere. In and out of the Panhandle next to impossible. However, Mr. President you have a helicopter. You can go everywhere. You should have been in Mexico Beach instead of Lebanon, Ohio.

FEMA. What is FEMA doing? What has it done so far? FEMA’s absence is obvious. FEMA’s boots on the ground are needed.

Instead, I see FEMA head Brock Long on national TV yesterday from Washington with a slew of other agency heads telling America what a good job they were doing. Shades of Bush 2, Brownie, and Katrina.

Talk is cheap at a time like this. Basics are needed. FEMA has to get them in. Water, food, ice, power, and shelter. Food and water immediately. Ice soon thereafter. To cool the body externally and internally. Power a given. No air conditioning, cooking, refrigerators operating, etc. without. Shelter. Something. Even a tent. It will be tent cities at first.

These people need help, not bullshit.

Irma hit the Keys last year. Heavy damage in some areas. Damage still exists in certain areas. As with many north Floridians, I evacuated. Eighty percent of Key West left. Irma was coming straight for us as a category 5. Fortunately, at the last minute it took a twist and went over Key West as a category 1. Sixteen miles up US 1 it became a 4. Destruction heavy from Cudjoe Key north to Marathon.

I wrote the only book re Irma. My personal feelings in getting out of its path, difficulty in avoiding Irma all the way up Florida, 12 days with friends in Birmingham, Alabama. The trip back. The destruction I saw coming down US 1. Key West’s desolation. Like the town had died. Difficulties the first few weeks. Difficulties yet to be resolved. Etc.

If you want to feel first hand what I did and what Michael’s ravishes have caused, read my book. Not technical. Personal. You will feel. It is available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

Dinner last night at Andrea and Joe’s. The lady is a cook! Baked breaded chicken, mashed potatoes heavy with butter and sour cream, her home made butter, warm bread, etc. Dessert, cheese cake likewise home made.

I made it a pina colada night. Joe’s pina coladas brought me back to Aruba’s beaches. He is the master pina colada maker.

It has been off season in Key West. All over come friday. Tourists will bury the town. As many as 60,000 the night of the parade. I don’t know where they sleep.

Goombay is friday and saturday. Then Fantasy Fest for a week. Goombay for the kids. Fantasy Fest for adults.

Wisteria Island back in the news. The Blue Paper yesterday, the Key West Citizen today. The government is suing present owner Roger Bernstein. To settle title. The federal government says it owns the island. Bernstein says he does and his family has for years. Been paying taxes on the island for 50 plus years.

My friend David Wolkowsky was involved at one point. David “owned” Wisteria Island. He was not sure, but had bought it at some point from a third party.

It was 1967. David was constructing the Pier House. Wolkowsky borrowed $20,000 from Bernstein to build the Pier House’s bathrooms. The note was secured by Wolkowsky with Wisteria Island.

Bernstein would not extend David’s time to pay. He took title to the island in satisfaction. David not being sure the title was good, gave a quit claim deed which Bernstein accepted. A quit claim deed says in effect I am not certain I own the property. If I do, you get good title. If not, you get nothing but a worthless piece of paper.

The federal government’s claim in the lawsuit is based on things that happened in the 1820’s and 1920’s.

David passed on a a few weeks ago. I am sure David is smiling in his grave. Smiling at Bernstein who refused to extend his time to pay, took his island, and now may end up with nothing.

Bernstein for years has wanted to develop a resort hotel on the island.

No Syracuse football today. A bye week.

I am into ghosts.

Last night when driving home from Andrea and Joe’s, I passed the Hemingway House. No traffic. I stopped in the middle of the street. A light in an upstairs window. Did not see Hemingway.

A weird ghost story follows.

Amethyst Realm is 28. She lives in Bristol, England. She is employed as a spiritual guidance counselor.

She claims she has had sex with ghosts. Somewhere in the area of 20. Prefers them to men.

The first time was 13 years ago. She and her husband had moved into a new home. New to them. The first time she felt an “energy.” It became physical. She felt pressure on her thighs and neck. A heavy presence on her body. She could feel someone breathing on her and stroking her.

She claims a 3 year affair with the first ghost. Till a night when her husband came home and saw a “shadowy shape” on top of her. The ghost swiftly departed, never to return.

Since then, she claims experiences with at least 20 different ghosts.

She wants to get pregnant by a ghost. She has researched “phantom pregnancies.” Claims a ghost can impregnate. The problem is carrying the fetus to term.

I came across several other similar stories. One by a man.

Psychotherapists claim such sex experiences are hallucinations. They occur as one is falling asleep. The time between awake and sleep.

Sex with a ghost a step too far for me. On the other hand should I ever actually meet a ghost, I might change my mind. If there are ghosts, it opens the door to the possibility.

Donna and Terri taking me to dinner tonight.

Enjoy your day!

 

MICHAEL’S CONTINUING SAGA

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The old hymn…..Onward Christian soldiers. Michael appears to have moved to the tune. Though not with God on his side. In and out quickly. Did not hang around. In less than two days, did a number on northern Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. Now over the Atlantic, 185 miles east-northeast of Norfolk.

The Panhandle pure devastation. Comments include unprecedented damage, a war zone, communities obliterated, an Air Force Base wiped out, catastrophic, looks like an atomic bomb dropped, cars and boats piled up like rubbish.

Keeps going. Entire blocks empty, houses on them smashed by storm surge and wind, washed out to sea.

First responders going in. Difficult work. The war zone description repeated frequently.

Michael maintained hurricane intensity 200 miles inland. Unusual.

Though Michael far out to sea, Virginia still experiencing dangerous wind gusts.

Michael gone. Recovery help required big time. I do not hear of FEMA’s involvement. Sure they must be there. Tell us. I am concerned Trump will fail the Panhandle as he did Puerto Rico. It all comes down to money. Soon I suspect we will hear there is not enough money. Then what?

Sad stories. Every one of them. One of the worst, 11 year old Sarah Radrey. Staying with her grandparents in Georgia. A car port crashed through the roof and killed her.

God help Sarah, her parents, and her grandparents. Tragedy of the worst kind!

Stopped into the Chart Room first last night. John working. Had not seen him in a week.

The room was packed! Tight standing room only. Forget getting a seat. Highly unusual this time of year. Off season.

Met two nice people. Lisa and Bob. Celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary.

Lisa and Bob from River Edge, New Jersey. Bob affiliated with the New York City Carpenters Union. Lisa works for a podiatrist.

Two grown sons. Twenty four and twenty two.

Their third visit to Key West. Second time at the Pier House. First time stayed at the Ocean Key across the street.

We talked of many things. A bit of politics. Lisa and I on opposite sides of the fence. She watches FOX News!

Liked them. Hope to see them again the next time they return.

David showed up somewhere along the evening. Always good to see David. I enjoy his company.

Then to the Blue Macaw. Enjoyed a drink, brie and good company. Andrea, Joe, John, Doug, Mary, Donna, and Terri.

I was anxious to talk with Doug. He is a tour guide at the Hemingway House.

I have been into ghosts the past few days. First, South Carolina’s Gray Man. Yesterday, Key West’s Angel of Mercy Maria Gutsens.                      .

Researching for more ghost tales yesterday, I came across an article claiming Ernest Hemingway and his second wife Pauline were making nocturnal visits to the Hemingway House.

Hard to believe! Doug would know.

Doug said no to Ernest, maybe to Pauline, but suggested Asa Tift as the real ghost. Asa was a wrecker/salvager in Key West’s early days. A self made tycoon. Built the Hemingway House for he and his family.

I could find nothing to substantiate the Asa story. Did come across more re the Hemingways.

Ghost appearances are technically referred to as manifestations. Many manifestations at the Hemingway House.

Hemingway writing in his loft work room, seen walking around the house, and standing on the veranda occasionally waving at passersby.

Pauline standing at the top of the central staircase looking to the loft watching her husband working and out the window her children playing outside. Occasionally standing at night by the gate smoking a cigarette.

One manifestation is hearing the typewriter clicking in the early morning. Supposedly, Hemingway writing. Could not be true. Hemingway did not type his works. He hand wrote them with a pencil. Then either Pauline or his sister would type them up.

My home bound trip from the Blue Macaw evenings takes me right by the Hemingway House. I shall be looking manifestations.

Key West’s humorous weather man at it again. He predicts this evening at 78 degrees and partly cloudy. Follows it up with…..Stars play peek-a-boo.

Traffic is reaching the breaking point on US 1. The only way in and out of Key West. The only highway through 140 miles of the Keys. Traffic especially heavy the past two years. A recent study attributes the increase to tourists. Claim tourists jam the highway.

Merely sharing. I have no comment.

Another study suggests two major medical problems. The first obviously the flu. The other too many C-sections. The number world wide has doubled from 2000 to 2015. The increase in the U.S. up as much as 30 percent in certain years. China up as much as 62 percent.

The message most of the C-sections not required. Medical problems for mother and child increasing as a result.

DOW doing well. Two days ago, down more than 800 points. Yesterday, more than 500. Today?

Trump’s lack of character evident with the Jamal Khashoggi situation. Trump says U.S. economy more important. We have a $110 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia for planes, etc. Trump says Khashoggi not even a citizen. Correct. He is a legal U.S. resident however and writes for the Washington Post.

News this morning says the $110 billion agreement mostly a holdover from the Obama administration. Actually, letters of intent. Not binding. Saudi Arabia has never purchased anything pursuant to the agreement.

Tonight, I dine! Andrea cooking. Joe making pina coladas. Andrea’s food preparation dining without question. Joe’s pina coladas fun.

Enjoy your day!

 

A MATCH HAS A HEAD BUT NO BRAIN

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I have found something strange re the news the past couple of weeks. Perhaps you have also.

Close to all of the news concerns the U.S. Kavanaugh primarily.

There are things going on elsewhere in the world. We do not hear. We are buried in the Kavanaugh issue.

Not healthy. World events in the final analysis are equally if not more important over the long run than Kavanaugh.

Fire Prevention Week begins in a few days. October 7-October 13.

In 1948, a fire prevention week existed also. I was in the eighth grade. There was a contest. We had to write a composition about fire prevention. The writer of the best composition would get to read it while standing on a fire truck in front of the school. A big deal!

Mine was the best. Thirteen year old Louis got the thrill of a lifetime. Stood on the fire truck, read the composition, and then blew the fire truck horn repeatedly. The last part the best.

I was a reader early in life. Sat in an easy chair in the living room reading something too heavy for me. A large dictionary at my side so I could look up the many words I did not understand.

Somewhere along the way, I came up with a phrase that stuck in my head while writing the composition: A match has a head, but no brain. Brilliant! I incorporated it into my composition. It became the thrust of the writing and probably caused me to win.

At the time, I thought it had to do with fires. I looked it up this morning. It did not. Concerns stress and anger prevention.

Oh well, it worked at the time!

I further discovered this morning that I was sort of correct. Sort of being the operative words. I came across one comment re the match and no brain in a fire prevention ad put out by a Firemen’s Association. One out of hundreds!

Disposable lighters are in vogue today. Matchbooks a rarity. In 1948, matchbooks were used. A practical lighter did not arrive on the scene till 1972. Gillette bought a French patent.

Matchbooks were used for cigarette lighting, birthday cakes, etc. Matchbooks were a small paper board folder carrying 30 matches. Rip a match off and strike the head on a small pad on the outside of the matchbook.

That scenario was why I was able to use a match has a head but no brain. Everyone used matches! Everyone understood!

A pleasant evening last night at Blue Macaw with Andrea and Joe. Good people. I keep repeating myself. However, they are.

Afterwards, I stopped at Sandy’s Cafe for something to eat before returning home.

I have reported re the mosquito danger in North Carolina. Terrible! Mosquitoes three times normal size. Millions more than normal being bred.

North Carolina’s Governor recognizes the danger. Yesterday, he authorized $4 million to attack the problem. Probably more will be required in time.

One of Florida’s greatest benefactors was Henry Flagler. The railroad, St. Augustine, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Miami, and Key West.

Two interesting things about the man. He never graduated from high school. He also actually created Miami. From nothing to something. People were thrilled. They wanted to name the city Flagler. He said, no. There was a river in the area. The Miami River. The city Flagler created was named after the river.

Tuesday night I was supposed to watch Ally play volleyball. She is on the school team. Never saw her play before. To my sorrow, the game was cancelled at the last minute.

One of my TV’s has been down for 2 days. Repair man due this afternoon. Comcast is wonderful!

Tonight, I don’t know. Probably the Chart Room. Several days since my last visit. Time to visit with John again.

Enjoy your day!

FLOODWATER MOSQUITOES

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Mosquitoes are a problem in the Keys. We protect against them. In certain areas, pay taxes for the purpose.

For us in Key West and nearby, there is a Mosquito Control District. Professionally run. Governed by officials elected directly to the Board.

The Mosquito Control District does a good job. It would be hell living here without the organization’s assistance.

It is constantly drummed into our heads that the smallest accumulation of water can be a breeding place for mosquitoes. Can you imagine if we experienced a flood?

North Carolina has because of Florence. Flood waters for about 10 days.

The mosquitoes have gone crazy!

They are reported to be 3 x’s the size of a normal mosquito. They have reached an epidemic level. Began flying around 3-4 days following initial flooding.

Experts tell us that the eggs being hatched now would normally not have been hatched for a year. Accelerated the process. Sending billions into the air.

Last night, Blue Macaw. Joined up with Andrea and Joe. Lovely Montana and Philadelphia Paul bartending. Doug, Angie, John Fiona, Mary, and Alicia drinking along in the back bar area.

I only had one drink. Still a bit run down from the cold. Left after about an hour.

The diet has shrunk my stomach. I stopped at Five Guys on the way home. One large cheeseburger. Did not eat the buns. Only the meat and cheese. Could not finish it.

Iguanas have been a pain for at least 10 years. Tourists say….Oh, they’re beautiful! I tell them, try living with them.

They eat your flowers and shrubbery. Defecate in the pool.

They should be shot!

Key West has finally formally recognized the problem. The iguana population grows daily. An invasive species. No natural predator. Roam freely as the chickens do. Except, more iguanas than chickens.

The City announced it will begin dealing with the iguanas October 1. One problem. They are not sure how.

Typical Key West.

Today’s weather forecast is for sun, showers or thunderstorms. It is only 10 in the morning and we already have had all three. The weatherman’s humorous byline following the forecast: Be ready for anything!

I look forward to the afternoon. Syracuse/Clemson football beginning at noon. Syracuse a 25.5 point underdog. Yesterday I reported the spread as 13.5 points. Read the wrong line in the newspaper.

This is the best team Syracuse has had in years. I am curious to see how the team fares against a mighty one such as Clemson.

Watched the Ryder Cup yesterday. Up at 3 this morning to watch the 2nd day. The U.S. sucks! Europe whipping our ass.

I do not understand. The U.S. rarely does well in the Ryder Cup. Yet we have the same competent players as the Europeans do.

It has to be embarrassing for our players. Something is lacking.

Big day today. National Coffee Day. Many coffee providers are offering free coffee.

I wrote a major article for KONK Life several years ago re the issue of giving a police officer the finger. Not grounds for an arrest. Extending the middle finger, giving the finger, flipping the finger, is Constitutionally protected free speech.

The issue continues to come up every few years.

A police officer stopped a woman for speeding. Instead of a ticket, he gave her a warning. As she left, she gave the officer the finger. He stopped her again. Gave her the speeding ticket this time. For the same act of speeding for which he had given her a warning.

A federal court said no way. The woman merely expressing herself. Protected free speech. The judge threw the speeding ticket out.

Sheldon Adelson is a prominent American. Extremely wealthy. A casino billionaire. A Zionist and a conservative.

He is recognized as the largest donor in U.S. politics. He was the top donor to Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party in 2016. In recent months, he is reported to have donated $55 million to help keep Republicans in control of both houses of Congress.

Too much money power in the hands of one man!

I close with a few random thoughts re the Kavanaugh/Judiciary Committee hearing.

With the one week delay and FBI investigation, America will now learn the truth. Good, bad or indifferent for those involved. The chips will fall as they may.

If Kavanaugh guilty or misrepresented in any significant way, he could also lose his present Circuit Court judicial seat.

Senator Flake deserves a medal and our thanks. Merely for making the way for the FBI to get involved. It took courage for him to stand against Tump and his Republican colleagues. Don’t bother telling me he was not going to run and so courage does not come into play. There is always another day when he might have wanted to return to politics.

The Committee hearing was additional proof that the wheels of government are breaking down. Citizens should not have to go to Washington and fill the halls fronting on their representatives offices to be heard. To get right things done.

Go Orange!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

TED WILLIAMS

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Ted Williams was a spectacular baseball player. One of the best. A Hall Of Famer.

On this day in two different years, he made his mark. Among many other achievements.

It was season end in 1941. Williams’ Boston Red Sox were playing the Philadelphia Athletics. A doubleheader. Williams was close to ending the season batting .400. He needed a good day.

Williams went 6 for 8. Ended the season batting .406. The first player to do so since Bill Terry in 1930.

The last game of the 1960 season. Williams last game. He was retiring. At his last time at bat, he hit a home run.

Williams lost 5 years out of his major league career. A Marine fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War.

Now the real reason I bring Ted Williams to you this day. Williams lived 18 years of his life in Islamorada. He was a fanatic fisherman. He purchased the home in 1960 the year he retired from baseball. On the bayside. Lived there till 1988.

The story is Williams left Islamorada when he had to wait because of traffic to cross U.S. 1.

Yesterday found me glued to the TV set. The Judiciary Committee hearing involving Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford. I missed about 45 minutes when I had to run off to the dentist.

I will go through all that occurred. Most of you watched. My impression simply was that the hearing wasdisgusting. Shameful. Our government has fallen to a new depth.

I happen to believe Ford. I found her testimony credible. I was unimpressed with Kavanaugh. He lies. He lied as to other issues in his previous hearing. He lied again yesterday.

His belligerency left much to be desired. I would not want him on the bench deciding my client’s fate.

Justice Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh attended the same high school. Georgetown Prep. Though not classmates, they were there at the same time for 2 years. Recall and compare Gorsuch’s testimony before the Committee last year. Says it all.

The American Bar Association sent a letter to the Committee last night stating an FBI investigation was required. The letter has been ignored. The Committee votes at 1:30 today.

The American people keep getting pushed around. Government is no longer for them. Most know it. The November elections are the first battleground. If things do not begin correcting themselves in the next few years, it will be the streets.

Last night, Blue Macaw. One drink only. I wanted to get out. Enjoyed the drink and company of Andrea and Joe and Paul and Ron. Then home.

The New York Times paid tribute to David Wolkowsky. A lengthy beautiful obituary.

The ocean surrounds the Keys. Locals try to take care of it and those that live in the waters. Turtles, for example..

The Marathon Turtle Hospital announced 2 more turtles will be returned to the sea tomorrow. Healthy and fit.  Cafecito at 10 am at Sombrero Beach in Marathon. Buddy at 1 at Higgs Beach in Key West.

Both loggerhead sea turtles.

A massive crowd will be at each location to wish them  God speed and bon voyage.

The Key West City Commission knows how to put it to people. The Commission just raised the parking rate from $3 to $4 an hour.

The excuse was it was that or raise property taxes. The budget deficit was $418,000. The parking increase will raise $1.26 million. The $842,000 excess will go to increasing the salaries of the city’s lowest wage earners and to restoring the City’s reserve fund depleted because of Irma.

What about those who live and work in the lower Keys who are not receiving raises. Irma’s impact still being felt. People still trying to catch up. Everyone should eat, or no one.

People’s savings were wiped out by Irma. Where do they get the money to replace the lost savings?

Today and tomorrow, the Ryder Cup. I was up at 5 this morning watching. Tomorrow, at 3. Great golf!

Tomorrow, Syracuse/Clemson. Clemson a 13.5 point favorite. The spread has dropped considerably during the week. Going to be a great game!

Enjoy your day!

SYRACUSE BURIES FLORIDA STATE 30-7

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My orange blood boiled yesterday. From excitement! Syracuse beat Florida State. Handily, 30-7.

Mighty Casey did not strike out!

Florida State had won the previous 11 encounters between the schools.

Was Syracuse that good or was Florida State that bad? A combination, I suspect. The test comes in future games. Next week Connecticut. A Syracuse victory. The following week, Clemson. Who knows. A real test.

Star quarterback Eric Dungey got hurt again. Second quarter. Freshman Tom DeVito went in. What a game DeVito played!

It is exciting that well played football is returning to Syracuse. It has been a long time. If my recollection is correct, the late 1990’s was the last time the team experienced golden years. Duncan McNabb’s time.

Spent my Saturday night at Blue Macaw. Enjoyed!

Met Jean Paul. A Hatian by birth. Came to the U.S. at 19. Now 61. Entertained last night. Played and sang.

Jean Paul multi-talented. A musician and artist. Showed me some of his paintings. Magnificent! Paints his homeland in vibrant colors. He has an outdoor gallery on Duval across the street from Hard Rock Cafe.

The story is told that when Jean Paul came to the U.S. at 19, the family settled in a flat in Brooklyn. Cold! Colder than that apparently. Jean Paul was accustomed to Haitian heat.

We talked long. I like Jean Paul. Sense we will be friends.

Andrea and Joe were at the bar. We sat together. Good people!

Paul was there again with his sister Laura and brother in law Dennis. They escaped Florence. They are from Myrtle Beach.

Laura a former first grade school teacher. Dennis retired from the Post Office.

Larry Baeder played later in the evening. I learned Larry is quite a giving man. Generous of his time. He works gratis teaching the young children at the Community Center music and how to play musical instruments.

I did a Publix stop on the way home. It was 9:50. Publix closes at 10. I moved my ass around fast enough to spend $70 and be out the door at 9:59. The third time I have done late late night shopping recently.

Florence ain’t going away! More and worse flooding for several days yet. Those who failed to leave now being rescued by first responders.

I hope everything works out as Trump projected. The number of people requiring assistance grows by day. I question whether there will be sufficient shelter, water and food. I question preparations for Florence’s arrival. There was sufficient time to be ready.

Trump enjoys twittering. As of this coming thursday, he will have a new toy. Referred to as the Presidential Alert System.

A law was authorized in 2015 establishing an Emergency Alert System. Using cell phones. Provides for immediate contact by the President warning of disasters.

The system is for Presidential use. The subject matter must relate to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, other man made disasters, or a threat to public safety.

A good idea. My concern is whether Trump will abuse the new system. Use it as he uses Twitter. Probably.

FEMA will test the new system next Thursday for the first time.

There are good people in the world. We do not hear of them enough. I came across one this morning while glancing through John Reinke’s Jasper Jottings.

Dennis Frandsen is a mid west successful banker.  His bank has 35 branches in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Luck Public School is located in Wisconsin. This year’s graduating class will number 34. Frandsen has guaranteed each graduate a free college education. He will pay tuition for at least 2 years at a technical college.

The U.S. and Russia are pushing at each other in Syria. Let me share one person’s thoughts.

Ian Welsh is a Canadian blogger I follow. He recently wrote Syria could be straining the already strained U.S./Russia relationship. Russia together with Iran support Assad. The U.S. supports the rebels.

Saber rattling going on. Rumors afloat that Assad plans to use chemical weapons against the rebels. Trump has clearly said the U.S. will retaliate if he does. Russia is pushing Assad.

Welsh thinks the U.S. could lose in a fighting conflict with Russia. The basis for his belief is that the U.S. has fallen behind re missiles and missile defense technology. I believe him correct that the U.S. is behind missile wise.

Welsh describes Trump’s position as follows: He is against getting into a war with Russia “but he seems to have become deranged about Syria’s Iran ties…..U.S. foreign policy…..is doing what Saudi Arabia and Israel want, not what is good for the U.S.”

Sloan coming at noon. A busy afternoon ahead.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POLICE HAVE NO RIGHT TO STRIKE

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It was September 9, 1919. The Boston Police were unhappy. They had been denied the right to unionize. They went on strike. Eighty percent of the force failed to show up for work.

Calvin Coolidge rode the strike into the U.S. Presidency.

Massachusetts Governor at the time. He said, “There is no right to strike against public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime.” He sent in the Massachusetts Militia.

Coolidge enjoyed a politically fortuitous life. He got into the police strike fray as it was dying down. Made a brilliant statement. He was given credit for putting the strike down.

Coolidge was selected to run as Vice-President with Warren Harding as President. Harding died in office. Coolidge became President.

Yesterday afternoon, I was able to watch the first half of the Syracuse/Wagner game. Syracuse looked good. Wagner a small school beginning to grow its football program.

Syracuse has not looked good for many years. They beat Wagner 62-10. Impressive. However, the quality of the opposition has to be taken into account. Next week will tell. Syracuse plays Florida State.

My dear Donna has competition for the title of the Julia Child of Key West. Andrea.

Donna, Terri and I were guests of Andrea and Joe last night for dinner. What a meal! Lasagna! Fantastic! Buttery banana bread for desert.

My diet went out the window!

We all headed over to Blue Macaw after dinner. Terri sat in for a while with Larry Baeder.

It is Terri again this morning. She is singing with Larry at Hard Rock Cafe’s Sunday brunch. Ten to twelve.

Got to admire Terri. She keeps working, putting one foot in front of the other. She has a steady gig at Blue Macaw beginning Wednesday. Her night.

Remember Shrimp Boats Are A Coming. Think Rosemary Clooney sang it. Delete Shrimp boats and replace the term with Florence. Florence is a coming! No question, unless it makes a hard right back into the Atlantic at the last moment.

Florence is headed for the mid Atlantic states. North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia have already declared a state of emergency. Florence’s path will remain uncertain for 5 days. Then!

The hurricane experts say Florence will begin a rapid intensification beginning today. It will return to hurricane status. Expected to be a major hurricane when it hits.

Some people get away with murder!

The U.S. is facing a major opioid crisis. One hundred plus a day dying. The prescription drug Oxycontin a major contributor. A pain killer. Quick to addict.

Purdue Pharma has been producing the drug for years. The government and the public are aware. The government is doing little. The public trying to do a lot. There are presently lawsuits against Purdue Pharma in over 1,000 jurisdictions.

Purdue Pharma is a family business. The Sackler family. One of the sons is Richard Sackler. At one time, President of Purdue Pharma.

Richard and five others recently obtained a patent for a new drug. To be used where a person has an opioid disorder. To be used for opioid addiction treatment.

I love it! Sackler and family a major contributor to the opioid crisis. Made millions if not billions in the process. Now one of them will add to his wealth for having come up with a cure.

Would you believe!

Only in America!

Enjoy your Sunday!