WOLKOWSKY DID IT AGAIN…..NIXON AND TRUMAN AT PIER HOUSE 1969

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The father of modern Key West is David Wolkowsky. Ninety eight and still going strong.

David built the Pier House. Its beginnings 1968. Nothing but mud where it presently stands. He started with a 50 unit motel. Called it the Pier House Motel.

David knew everyone. Persons of prominence came to stay at his motel. Two United States Presidents at one time in 1969.

I was at the Chart Room last night. John showed me a photo on his cell phone of the two Presidents and their wives. He had received the photo earlier in the day from Tim. Tim and his wife live with David and assist him with his everyday living.

Seated at a piano playing was Richard Nixon. Standing behind him, Nixon’s wife Pat, Harry Truman and Bess. It appears the picture was taken by David. A note written on the photo said: “To David Wolkowsky. The view at the Pier House-the greatest.” Signed: “Richard Nixon.”

A piece of memorabilia.

My Wampsville friend and former Court Clerk Ted was to join me for dinner last night. He called after I was sitting waiting for him for an hour to report he could not make it. He either was sick or met a lady. I hope the latter.

Met John from northern New Jersey at the bar. Nice guy. We chatted about the glories of the Jersey beaches.

I was hungry. No Ted. Called Catherine. Asked if she wanted to feed me. No problem. I hurried over and partook of all kinds of delicious cheeses. Even got to watch a great movie. The one which received this year’s Academy Award as Best Picture. The Shape Of Water. Miss it not! Absolutely fantastic!

The writer had to be extremely talented. I have never seen a movie with so many surprising scenes. The unexpected every few minutes. Great writing!

Tonight at 9:40, Syracuse/TCU. TCU a 4 point favorite.

My day yesterday began with a noon doctor visit with my primary care physician, Dr. Norris. To review my blood and urine test results.

God bless! Everything good.

More importantly, my weight. When I was in last week for my annual physical, I had lost 24 pounds. One week later, 2 more. Total loss to date 26 pounds. Love it!

I suspect my home scale is broke. It has not moved in 7 weeks. Always shows a 20 pound loss. My heart doctor’s machine showed a 22 pound loss 2 weeks ago.

Time to get a new scale.

Blood pressure 110/80. Wowie!

Health increasingly important as one gets older.

The Cuban Coffee Queen is like 50 feet from Dr. Norris’ office. Stopped for lunch. Enjoyed Cuban cheese toast with tomato and a large hot Cuban coffee. I know, I cheated. Cuban bread made with pork lard. Milk in the Cuban coffee. I felt I was entitled.

Spring breakers all over Key West. Well behaved.

It seems every year, the spring breakers look younger to me. Makes sense. As I am one year older each year, they would of necessity look younger. Kids!

Key West a place where adults can be children again.

The foot race for all ages has been scheduled. The Cow Key Bridge Race. April 15.

The bridge is 300 feet long, the length of the race. It has been dubbed a zero K race. Designed for “athletes” who don’t want to wake up early or break a sweat. Over 1,000 will participate. Most costumed.

How we value things sometimes does not make sense. Seventeen were killed at Douglas High School. The students reacted and are reacting. Washington not.

This past week a dog was made to ride in a United luggage bin. The one above the passenger seat. The dog died. Within 48 hours, legislation was filed in the U.S. Senate to make sure a dog would never again be placed in a bin where he/she could die.

It would appear we value dogs more than children.

Trump and his minions are slowly turning our country to one like Germany was in the 1930’s.

Night time in  Delano, California. ICE looking for a particular Mexican to arrest and deport. Saw a Mexican couple getting into a SUV. The man looked like the one they sought.

As ICE approached, the couple panicked and took off. ICE gave chase. The SUV turned over. The couple died. The couple parents of 6 children.

Turned out the couple were illegals. Further turned out the man was not who ICE was seeking.

I appreciate ICE is doing its job as directed by superiors. Such does not make what they are doing correct.

The ICE of today are the Gestapo of yesterday. Our government is moving in the wrong direction. Many support Trump and believe in him. As did the Germans with Hitler.

The madness has to stop. America wake up! If not, in the end everyone will suffer including Trump’s followers.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

KATE MIANO…..1,000 STRONG

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Everyone wants to be the next Mayor of Key West. Twelve candidates have announced already. Two or three more expected.

Though our small island is a world wide vacation destination, Key West has its problems. Most cities are concerned with snow removal and garbage collection. Snow not a problem here. Garbage collection down to a science.

Key West’s problems involve continued recovery from Irma, affordable housing, the homeless, parking, traffic patterns, and whether Duval Street should become a pedestrian walk way. We have growing pains. More and more tourists visit each year. I sometimes think the island will sink under the weight of them all.

Kate Miano one of the candidates. I support her. I am sure her views are not totally in line with mine. People differ. I support Kate because I know her. I know her to be a woman of character, honest, a successful business person, kind, always available with a helping hand to those in need.

Key West recognized her nature in January when she was awarded the prestigious Humanitarian of the Year Award.

All of which bring me to last night. Kate’s campaign kickoff party. At The Gardens. Her Gardens. The community came out to wish her well, to extend their support. At least 1,000 strong! Perhaps more!

A turnout exceeding expectations. Evidence of the esteem in which Kate is held.

My friends…..Kate Miano, the next Mayor of Key West!

I was with Catherine, Donna,and Terri at Kate’s event. Afterwards, we went to Le Petit Paris for dinner. Robert the owner. Originally from Paris. Opened his dream in 2012. A success. His food spectacular. Prices reasonable. Located at Duval and Olivia. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We had a good time.

Terri has been told by her doctors to go out and live. She started in the last two weeks. Good to see her out and about. Most importantly, enjoying life without fear.

The weather sucks. Sixty one degrees last night. My heating unit on the blink. New one will not be here till wednesday. Two heavy blankets and I was still cold! Today will be better. Mid 70’s by day, low 70’s during the night.

I do not understand police behavior involving the recent Douglas High School shootings.

The police officer on duty did not go in the building. I would have assumed his first responsibility would have been to confront the attacker.

Two more officers appeared on the scene. They did not go in. The claim is they were told to establish a perimeter and not enter.

In the meantime, people were being killed inside. I have to believe if they did do something, some lives would have been saved. Even one would have justified their engaging the attacker.

The story gets better.

Two members of the Miramar Police Department were in the area. Both detectives, both members of the SWAT team. They immediately responded. What they did when they arrived, I do not know.

They have been suspended. They have been required to surrender their SWAT issued rifles. The reason for the chastisement: They failed to follow protocol by not getting permission from a superior prior to rushing to the scene.

Unusual circumstances call for unusual activity. Initiative becomes the order of the day. Not with the Miramar Police Department, however. The two officers are being punished for doing the right thing.

The Russian revolution began about this time in 1917. In Petrograd. Russia’s army was fighting the Kaiser somewhere else. Czar Nicholas II leading the Army. An inefficient, timid man. The cost of the war breaking Russia’s back. Food scarce. The people were demonstrating in the streets. The demonstrations turned into outright rebellion.

The rebellious leader was Alexander Kerensky. The leader of the White Bolshevists.

Czar Nicholas II was quickly deposed and abdicated.

Germany wanted Russia out of the war. The Kaiser offered Kerensky a good deal to withdraw Russia from the conflict. Kerensky opted to keep Russia in the war.

The very thing which brought the Czar down brought Kerensky down. The war continued to be expensive, the people still starving.

Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Red Bolshevists. He returned to Russia and overthrew the Kerensky government. Communist Russia was born.

Kerensky was a doomed man. He fled Russia. First to England. Then to the United States.

I was fortunate to have had Kerensky as a professor while in college. I took two courses in the Russian revolution from him. Exciting! To hear it first hand from a man who was an integral part of the revolution.

Lets suppose for a moment.

If Kerensky took Germany’s offer to get out of the war, history would have been different. Lenin’s group would have failed. Probably not even have attempted to overthrow Kerensky. There would have been no Stalin. There would have been no Hitler. Germany would have won the war and the depressed Germany which resulted in Hitler never would have been.

Kerensky’s mistake was that he wanted to establish a democratic monarchy. Lenin was smarter. He knew the people had had it with the Czars. They wanted to run the country.

Interesting might have beens.

Enjoy your day!

 

23 POUNDS!!!

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I had a routine check up appointment with Dr. Mc Ivor yesterday. My heart doctor.

I knew he would be thrilled with my 19 pound weight loss. On his scale, it read 23. Wow!

Blood pressure excellent, too.

What a good boy was I!

I am going to stick with my scale’s readings for the time being. My nature, way of doing things.

Matters even better this morning. I had been stuck at 19 for 10 days. This morning, 20!

Another 20 to go!

Mary Lou Hoover a special lady. Helpful in many ways. She is running for Commissioner. I am supporting her. I told her she was crazy to run. She said she had to. Thought she could make a difference.

That’s Mary Lou.

Mary Lou’s campaign kickoff party began at 5 yesterday at Salute’s. One hundred thirty people plus or minus. Everyone having a good time. The beach, sunshine, good food, good drink, and good company.

Served as an opportunity also for me to visit with people I had not seen in a while.

Later, I was having dinner at Antonia’s at the bar. Mary Lou and husband Charlie showed up. They sat with me. We enjoyed dinner together. Talked politics, of course. It is on her mind.

Where ever we look, we see young children with touch phones and tablets. The kids all proficient in their use.

An unhealthy situation has developed as a result. Their grip is affected. Finger muscle development. Many cannot hold a pencil by the time they reach school age. Their fingers lack fundamental movement skills.

Pediatricians are also concerned with brain activity. Hand strength and mobile skills are involved with brain building. A right brain, left brain thing. Lack of mobile finger skills causes a failure in transition from right brain learning to left brain learning. The pediatricians claim children become more emotional than logical as a result as they get older.

Too much touch screen and touch tablet use can also result in the need for detoxification. The child having become over stimulated.

Trump time.

Trump said yesterday that if he had been at Douglas High School, he would have gone in. Even if he had no gun.

He fantasizes. Attempting to represent himself as a brave person, a hero.

Captain Marvel he is not.

This is the same person who received 5 deferments so he would not have to go to Vietnam. Four while in college. The fifth purportedly for bone heel spurs.

When first asked why he had not served, he said he had a “high draft number.” He described it as “phenomenal.” Later investigation determined it was the 5 deferments.

Man historically has made every attempt to keep women down. Second class citizens. Even after Congress passed the 19th Amendment which gave women the vote. The vote could not be denied on the basis of sex.

The 19th amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919. Rapidly ratified. On August 18, 1920, it was the law of the land.

Some men could not accept women voting. Lawsuits were initiated for all kind of nonsensical reasons to thwart the Amendment.

The matter was put to rest with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Lesser v. Garnett on February 27, 1922. In effect, leave the ladies alone, they have the right to vote!

Interestingly, the ladies did not rush to the polls. Many were uneducated and did not know what to do. Others were stymied by voting restrictions based on identification, location, etc. Similar to the manner in which whites even to this day try to keep blacks from the polls.

Big evening tonight! My podcast show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

The shows get better each week. At least I think so. They must be. I have more listeners and advertisers each week.

Join me at 9 my time. Enjoy a swift moving half hour of interesting topics. Some eye openers.

Enjoy your day!