DISGUSTING PERFORMANCE

Yesterday’s Senate Committee Hearing was a perfect example of how inept our government has become. Four witnesses. All major figures. All bad. All unresponsive. Two terribly so.

An example of how our country is falling apart at the seams. Responsibility forgotten. A nation cannot survive unless everyone pulls together when it comes to basics.

Answer questions asked, unless there is a legal reason not to do so. There was none yesterday.

Today, Comey. He will be more responsive. Many say this is Comey’s day. I disagree. It is America’s day.

Rained like hell yesterday! Flooding all over!

This morning’s Key West Citizen has excellent photos of the flooding at Front and Duval Streets and Simonton and United.

Supposed to be rainy through the weekend. This afternoon and tonight heavy again. Then moderating off.

Wind warnings for this afternoon. Forty mile per hour winds. Not the time for boating.

Key West Pride week begins today. Runs through sunday.

Several days of festivities. The parade sunday afternoon. Always spectacular! Runs from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic.

Key West is one happy family. Gays and straights intermingle. No one concerned. No one even thinks about a different sex preference.

Key West has had a gay mayor. Even a gay elected leader of the Chamber of Commerce. He was known as the Gay Master. Made BD/SM gear.

A gay master bd/sm manufacturer as head of the Chamber of Commerce would never have flown in Utica. People too uptight.

I mentioned Qatar and Iran yesterday. How Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states are on their backs. I attributed the move to Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia two weeks ago. From my perspective, emboldened the Saudis.

Trump lacking in background knowledge and basic common sense the cause. He did the embolding.

No mention in yesterday and today’s papers re the ISIS attack in Iran and Saudi Arabia’s blockading and threatening little Qatar with invasion.

Was my Trump observation wrong? Or, have the Senate hearings re Russia, etc. blocked out all other significant news?

I read somewhere that people don’t change, they reveal who they really are. We are seeing it with Trump. Many of us knew he was unstable. It is more evident now that he has taken office.

A great religious figure died this date in 632 AD. Muhammad. One of the most influential figures in history. Today Islam is the world’s second largest religion.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

LOUIE, LOUIE

Louie, Louie is a famous tune in the world of music. An American rhythm and blues song. Today recognized as a pop rock standard.

First recorded as a Jamaican ballad in 1956. Its lyrics written on toilet paper.

Louie, Louie was the back side B side of the first recording. The flip A side was You Are My Sunshine.

To this day, I have never heard nor was aware of Louie, Louie. I was aware and knew well the lyrics of  You Are My Sunshine. Sang it often over the years at parties, etc.

I came across a note this morning that on this day in 1965, the FBI concluded a two year investigation of the song.  The purpose: To determine if Louie, Louie’s words were pornographic. Dirty. Someone had complained.

Research indicates the words were difficult to understand. The FBI was asked to make a determination as to its pornographic quality.

The FBI Lab found the song’s words to be totally non-understandable. The FBI conclusion stated Louie, Louie’s words were “unintelligible at any speed.”

Louie, Louie is recognized as one of the most covered songs in rock and roll history.

My blog talk radio show last night. Half of it devoted to Trump. Difficult not to.

I thought things changed daily with him. New items popped up each day concerning him. My thoughts have changed. Trump moves fast. There is something new or a new position by him it seems every hour.

As a result, I never got into the Comey memorandum last night. I stopped listening to the news around 4. Had to. Otherwise, my topics, notes and flow for the show keep changing. I can only redo so many times.

In spite of my shutting down such research early, I still spent the first 15 minutes of the show discussing Trump. He has sinned in other regards.

The cry for impeachment is on many lips. My advise: Slow down! Comey’s memo and the facts surrounding it may not be enough. Give the President a couple more weeks. He will bury himself further. Then will be the time to zero in on impeachment, assuming solid grounds exist.

Ernest Hemingway. USA Today reported a new biography. Ernest Hemingway by Mary V. Dearborn. The first full fledged biography of Hemingway in 15 years.

Some suggest more books have been written about Hemingway than any other person in history. Whether a valid statement, I do not know.

The book spends a bit of time examining Hemingway’s sexual interests. One being gender switching. If true, it may answer the question as to why Hemingway had a special attraction to bi and lesbian women.

A return to American crocodiles.

Cleatus is an American crocodile. Cleatus has spent the last 14 years in the Dry Tortugas swimming in near shore waters at Fort Jefferson. Named Cleatus by National Park employees.

Since January, Cleatus has been moving inland. Closer to shore. In the area utilized by humans for swimming. He has interacted with visitors. Some even fed him.

A disaster in the making. Cleatus had to go.

Last sunday, officials captured Cleatus and delivered him to West Lake in the Southern Everglades.

I hope Cleatus will have no difficulty in adapting to his new home.

Enjoy your day!

 

WHO IS POURING TEA? WHO IS PRESIDING AT THE PUNCH BOWL?

Things were different 100 years ago.

Party time today alcohol and food. Then, poured tea and a presided over punch bowl.

The secondary status of women evident. Rarely were wives’ names mentioned. It was John Smith and wife, Tom Jones and wife.

My installment 7 of Key West Rotary History evidences the differences.

One day. April 4, 1925.

The Key West Rotary was expecting a special guest. International President and Rotary Founder Paul P. Harris and his wife. They were arriving from Havana on the passenger ship Governor Cobb.

A large delegation of Key West Rotary members and wives greeted the arriving guests at the waterfront. Together with City and Chamber of Commerce officials.

The Harris’ were guests at the home of Rotary President Andrew R. Miller and wife at their home at 1401 Duval Street.

A reception was held immediately following the Harris’ arrival at the Miller home.

There was a receiving line. In addition to the Harris’, Rotary Vice President and Mrs. Robert Spottswood greeted guests and made appropriate introductions to the Harris’.

Mrs. Bascom Grooms poured tea. Mrs. Melvin Russell presided at the punch bowl.

The Miller home was decorated in Rotary colors. Gold and black. The centerpiece was the Rotary seal surrounded with marigold flowers. The candlesticks held gold candles.

The reception lasted into the evening. The Harris’ were not staying overnight. The reception continued till Harris and his wife caught the late train to Miami.

Spent an hour on Duval yesterday afternoon watching the Superboat Parade. Huge magnificent boats! The races are scheduled for wednesday, friday and sunday.

Then to Publix to shop for diet food. Inexpensive. $50 for the week. I started the diet this morning. Hope I make it! If I get through this week, I will.

Tavern ‘n Town last night for what I humorously call my last supper. I intended to pig out. The normally good/heavy stuff on the menu did not appeal to me. I ended up having chicken. No desert. Did enjoy three drinks, however.

No booze on the diet.

Met Sue and Kerry at the bar. They have owned a home in Key West and been snowbirds for more than 25 years. Nice people. From the South Jersey area.

Sue workedint an Atlantic City Hospital intensive care unit. Kerry, the Atlantic City casinos.

Thirty six hours from now, the campaign will be over. Good! for some reason, too much this year.

James Comey screwed up. No question. He properly tried to correct his most recent wrongdoing by issuing another letter yesterday. To the effect that after review, there was no evidence of Hillary wrongdoing in the 650,000 Weiner e-mails.

Anna telephoned yesterday from Novara. Her friend Celestina was with her. I have met Celestina several times. A fun person. Happy all the time.

The three of us chatted for a half hour. Celestina speaks no English. My Italian poor. Anna had to translate.

Anna said it was cold in Novara. Novara is in northern Italy. Anna also reported her home in Courmayeur covered with snow. Courmayeur half way up Mont Blanc near the French border.

I told them 80 degrees and sunny in Key West. They wanted to know when they could visit.

I wrote a lengthy column about Jeanette Rankin three years ago in KONK Life. An interesting woman.

On this date in 1916, Rankin became the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. From Montana. Western women worked shoulder to shoulder with the men. They had a different respect than their eastern compatriots.

Rankin did not last long in office. One term. She was a pacifist. Voted against entry into World War I.

Some twenty years later, Rankin was again elected to the House. Again, only for one term. She was the sole vote against the U,.S. declaration of war against Japan following December 7, 1941.

Rankin needed police help to leave the House building following her vote. A crowd of angry persons had her confined in a telephone booth.

Enjoy your day!

EDWARD, A HOMELESS PERSON

Today’s comments/reflections interesting. One involves lunch with a homeless person yesterday. The other lunch with Harry Truman 56 years ago.

Stopped at the Cuban Coffee Queen for lunch yesterday. Unusually busy. Wanted to sit. Required sharing. Not normal. I saw a man sitting alone. Asked if I could sit at his table. No problem.

His name Edward.

The man homeless. No question about it. Very few teeth. Dirty. clothes, hands and face.  His aged back pack on the seat next to him. His equally disheveled bicycle on the other side of the rail

I did not wish to bother him. Began reading the newspapers. He began the conversation by asking who I supported in the election. We spent the next 5 minutes discussing Trump and Hillary. Then he got into what I thought would develop into an interesting conversation.

It never did. For the next 20 minutes, he was stuck in the 1960s. His thoughts all over the place. However never leaving the 1960s.

I suspect Edward was a Vietnam vet.

Edward was eating. A sandwich and beer. I sensed the lunch was not a normal event. His beer was warm. I took the bottle to the bar to swap it for a cold one for him. No cold beer.

I had to leave. Handed him a $20 bill and said it was for tomorrow’s lunch.

Before lunch, I was at the heart doctor’s office. A test to see if I have blood clots in my legs. The person running the test said worry not. None and my blood flow was terrific. Like that of a young man.

I do not understand. The catheterization doctor said my veins and arteries were beautiful. The test operator yesterday. indicated basically the same. Why am I having problems?

Enjoyed doing last night’s blog talk radio show. Threw in a bit of local color at the beginning.

I was watching PT 109 before my show. John Kennedy’s World War II experience. I shared with my listeners that the movie had been filmed on what is now Little Palm Island. Twenty five miles north of Key West.

Kennedy was in Key West during the Cuban missile crisis. Was with then State Senator or Sheriff John Spottswood. Spottswood said that he knew a movie was to be made re Kennedy’s war experience. Told Kennedy he had the island for the movie. He owned the island at the time that is now Little Palm Island.

Spottswood’s island did become the site for the movie.

I slipped in the local color to ease up on the heavy politics of the past week. I did dwell at length on the Comey matter, however. Also spent some time talking about a new child paralysis sweeping the country and not being discussed.

Today easy. A pleasurable day awaits. A manicure at one and dinner tonight with Liz. Liz is cooking. French Lasagna – Ercole.

Received a comment today asking why sometimes no or limited politics in the blog. The answer simple. Some days I have had my fill of politics. I assume some of my readers, also. Another reason is the blog is supposed to be about My Life in Key West. Politics have become an add on.

Key West loves Harry Truman and Harry Truman loved Key West.

On this day in 1948, Truman defeated Dewey for President.

Truman the underdog. No one expected him to win. The Chicago Tribune newspaper that hit the stands before all the votes had been counted read: Dewey Defeats Truman.

I had two connections with Truman and the election.

It was 1948. Truman campaigning. Whistle stop campaigning in those days. From the rear platform of a train.

I was in the eighth grade. Rode my bike to the railroad station. Pulled up in front ahead of the crowd. Truman five feet away.

I was in awe.

The next time was 1960. Twenty two years later. Truman was visiting Syracuse University for two days. Giving talks, etc. One scheduled event was Truman having a private lunch with who were purported to be the 12 outstanding students on campus. Twelve out of 35,000.

I was picked to be one of the 12. I was excited. It was my last year in law school.

Seats for lunch were assigned. Mine was next to Truman on his right.

We had two hours with him. Spectacular! Exciting!

Truman talked about his 1948 victory.

He had a recording of H. V. Caltenborn revealing the results of the election. A national radio personality. Distinct voice. Caltenborn was announcing Truman’s defeat. Truman loved playing the recording!

Then Truman held up a copy of the Chicago Tribune announcing his defeat. His laugh filled the room.

Next, I would be writing installment 4 re the Key West Rotary history. My notes prepared. Covers only one year. However would run at least 200 words. Making this blog the longest ever.

I am holding it for tomorrow. I must discipline myself to write about fewer things or perhaps in less words than I do.

Keep in mind what I am writing about re the Rotary is true history. Happenings 200 years ago. Not only a different time. A different world.

Two items shared tomorrow prove the point.

Enjoy your day!