DAVID TAYLOR / DOUBLEHEADER BLOG

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I had computer problems yesterday. Of my making. Did not know how to correct. Sloan not available. Took me till last night to figure it out.

Ergo, no blog yesterday. Sorry. Today, a doubleheader.

I was out early New Year’s day. Around 4. Did some late partying. Grabbed a bite at Hot Tin Roof. My intent was then to return home to watch a game.

I was walking by the Chart Room. Looked inside and saw David sitting alone at the side bar. Went in to say hello and Happy New Year! Had no desire to drink. Wanted to get home.

A gentleman stood up at the table nearby. It was David Taylor. David is from Kentucky. He has been a loyal blog reader for years. Comments occasionally. I was happy to see him. Met his wife Marilyn and friends Martin and Randy.

Martin and Randy are from North Dakota. North Dakotans are smart people. They went for the pipe line. Everyone earning top dollar. MacDonald paying $20 an hour.

I shared a few words and left. I did not want to be late for the game. I hope David and friends will be here the rest of the week and we run into each other again. If not, next year! I would like to have a drink with you, David.

The Citizens’ Voice has been having an ongoing discussion re the cost of bicycles in Key West. Someone reported two bikes were stolen at the Bight. One $2,600 and the other $1,500. The numbers on the high side. However, bicycles are expensive in Key West.

Someone wrote no bike is worth more than $75. In Key West, one is. As with everything else, a bike costs mucho dollars. Probably half the Key West population are without cars and use a bike for everyday transportation. Cars are not required. Especially if you live in Old Town. Key West is a small island.

Go out and try to buy a used bicycle. $300, if you are lucky. More like $700-800. New ones can be off the wall.

Yesterday, I did a blog which I never sent out. Wiped it. The reason being I was a bit nasty in my comments re an incident. Better to say nothing. I did not write another blog. I was still upset. I wrote a brief note saying no blog because my pen was poisoned.

I received a ton of comments. Why is your pen poisoned? Some via e-mail, some by phone and a couple in person. That which was bothering me, is over now. I am back to me.

Syracuse lost to Miami yesterday 64-51. It is going to be that kind of season. Never would have expected it with the basketball team. Even the mighty shall fall!

Manicure with Tammy yesterday afternoon. Wow! Business was terrific. Women standing waiting for manicures and pedicures. I make an appointment so had no problem.

Tammy was surprised by the crowd. All appeared to be locals.

I think the four day holiday weekend had something to do with it.

Anna from Novara e-mailed yesterday to wish a Happy New Year! She also complained of Italy’s immigration problem as it is personally impacting her.

The immigrants are mostly Muslims from North Africa. Their goal Sweden and Denmark. Novara part of the route to those countries..

Anna was upset. Anna lives in a high rent district. Extremely expensive and beautiful 1,500 year old buildings. She has owned her apartment thirty years.

She advises the immigrants are using the magnificent court yard to defecate and urinate.

Immigration continues and will continue to be a problem in most European nations for several years.

I spent a lot of time yesterday researching this week’s KONK Life column. At the moment, the title will be the United States Invades Russia. We did. Back at the end of World War I. The Russians have never forgotten.

Enjoy your Sunday!

CENSORSHIP

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I have been complaining the past few years that the media has become selective as to what we see, read and hear. When I speak of the media, I reference its owners also. Corporate America. They decide what we see, read and hear.

Freedom of the Press no longer applies solely to the right of the press to observe and say whatever they want. Assuming its is correct. Freedom of the press today refers to censorship, the right of the media to pick and chose what we shall see, read and hear. Not as the Founding Fathers intended.

A perfect example is what occurred a few days ago on Morning Joe. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius was a guest.

Joe has consistently in recent weeks referenced the Hillary e-mail problem as a bad one. Ignatius wrote a Washington Post op-ed 8/28 wherein he argued that “this scandal is overstated.”

Joe and Ignatius on opposite ends of the spectrum re the issue.

Morning Joe’s 6 am hour is rerun at 8 am.

In the 6 am broadcast, Ignatius said…..As I talked to a half dozen lawyers who do nothing but this kind of work, they said they couldn’t remember a case like this, WHERE PEOPLE INFORMALLY AND INADVERTENTLY DRAW CLASSIFIED INFORMATION INTO THEIR PHONE CONVERSATIONS OR UNCLASSIFIED SERVER CONVERSATIONS, WHERE THERE HAD BEEN A PROSECUTION. (emphasis added)

In the 8 am rerun of the 6 am hour, the emphasized portion was edited out. Note that the Ignatius paragraph above was part of an ongoing dialogue between Joe and Ignatius. More followed.

Selective reporting? Yes. The better description is censorship. The new media freedom of the press.

Everyone should be pissed off at this type thing happening!

David from Kentucky is a loyal blog follower. Also, a frequent visitor to Key West. He lives in Kentucky. He e-mailed me regarding Kim Davis, the clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Kim Davis’ clerk office is located in Medford, Kentucky.

With David’s permission, I quote…..Morehead Kentucky has had more press in the last few weeks than they will have in the next one hundred years, whether they want it or not. I’ll go with the words of President Johnson after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and following trial, execution and imprisonment of the conspirators. “We wish to hear their names no more.” I wish to hear “Kim Davis no more.”

Today the anniversary of 9/11. May we never forget. Continued vigilance required.

Won all three bocce games last night! Keith was exceptional. He played all three games. The best bocce I have ever seen anyone play.

Excellent football. I enjoyed watching the second half of the New England/Pittsburgh game which New England won 28-21.

My KONK Life column this week is published in E-Blast this morning. About Tennessee Williams and one of his loves. Read it and enjoy.

Enjoy also your day!

 

DAVID’S DAY AT THE KENTUCKY DERBY

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As suspected, I never made it to Don’s Place to watch the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight. By 9, midnight seemed days away. Instead, I went to bed.

Not all was lost, however. I was watching a James Bond movie. Half asleep. All of a sudden, my eyes opened wide. There was the Hemingway House. I watched Bond and two guys chasing him go through the front gate, run up the outside stairs, tussle in a second floor room, Bond jumping off a second floor porch and leaping over a wall as he made his getaway.

The movie was License To Kill.

The only scene in the entire movie shot in Key West was the one I described. The rest of the film was made elsewhere. It does not seem financially feasible to have brought cast, crew and equipment to Key West to film an episode that took less than two minutes. Money must be cheap in Hollywood. Or, was back then.

I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon with Sloan. I am from a different generation. Getting this blog linked and everywhere it must go takes a talent I have not. And which I have not been able to learn. I would be lost without her.

I did get to watch the Kentucky Derby. An exciting 2 minutes! I have been lucky to have attended all major sporting events, other than a World Series game and the Kentucky Derby. Some, several times.

I received an e-mail this morning from David Taylor of Owensboro, Kentucky. David has been a loyal blog reader for a long time. I got to meet him Easter time at the Chart Room. David, his wife, his Dad, and friends.

David wrote about his one time experience at a Kentucky Derby. I share it with you.

It was back in 1974. The day Secretariat ran and won. David had to be in college then.

He was watching the game from the infield. He described it as not a place for the faint of heart. It was hot. He had removed his shoes and shirt. He recalls seeing Secretariat go by. Only his legs. He witnessed a naked man shimmy his way to the top of the Churchill Downs flag pole.

Ready to leave, David discovered his shoes and shirt gone. Not to be found.

David said though it may have been the shortest two minutes in sports, it was the place to be that day.

I envy you, David. A suggestion. Get back there once more! Twice if you can! Enjoy the best life has to offer whenever circumstances permit. The clock never stops running.

I have to get this week’s KONK Life column out today. I still am not sure what I will write about. I have three possible topics. Ivory soap. There is a story in Ivory soap. Then there is the issue of jail gangs. A growing power in this country. They control outside activities at the same time they are in jail. Finally, Baltimore, Ferguson and most recently Denver police problems. Something along the line that Baltimore is the beginning, not the end. There will be elsewhere further improper police activities resulting in demonstrations, riots and disruptions.

One comment re the Baltimore arrests. A smart move. A tactical one. If the arrests had not been made, Baltimore would have burned that night and for several days thereafter. I doubt the charges will stick, however. They do not fit the facts. One reason being we still do not know many facts. Facts, not assumptions, are required to charge a person.

There will be some convictions. In the final analysis, any convictions stand a good chance of being overturned on appeal.

So there is no misunderstanding, the State’s Attorney did the correct thing in ordering arrests when she did. It was a practical decision to save the community from further harm. It was not the lawyer thing to do from a legal perspective. Sort of a race to judgment. I suspect at least a week more was required to collect additional facts and evaluate what charges should be brought.

Enjoy your Sunday!