I FELL ASLEEP

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Tuesday night at 9 is my podcast show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. I spend all day tuesday preparing for the show. Never leave the house.

Everything was ready to go at 8. Everything hooked up, notes on the desk, etc. Needed only 30 seconds to make everything operational.

I laid on my bed to watch TV till show time. Fell asleep!!! A no no!!!

Woke and Rachel Maddow was on. Her show starts at 9. It was 9:02. Rushed to my office, did the necessary, and was on the air 3 minutes late.

I was still half asleep. The first few minutes were a disaster. Even got a coughing jag.

I have not looked at the finished product. Some will write me today and tell me how it came out, ask what was wrong, etc.

Florence is bothering me mentally. I attribute the problem to Irma. Amazing!

Spent 60 percent of the show discussing hurricanes. Florence, Maria and the Labor Day 1935 Hurricane.

Trump had the audacity to speak of Puerto Rico yesterday. Trump said Puerto Rico was the “best” job the U.S. did. Described the help provided as fantastic. Closed with the assistance provided as “an incredible unsung success.”

What does he smoke?

Trump deludes himself. Puerto Rico a failure if there ever was one. Almost 3,000 dead as a result.

I buy the President is not mentally stable.

Re Florence, he says we’re ready. FEMA ready. A good job will be done. I hope so. However, I am willing to bet he will blow it here also. No one at Trump or FEMA’s level seems to understand what is coming. The devastation Florence will wrought.

Florence is a monster racing to the coast. The Carolinas in danger. Perhaps even Georgia. Hurricanes are fickle. All wind is fickle. Some experts believe Florence could turn left, move south, and not make landfall till it hits Georgia.

Whatever, rain will be torrential. Twenty inches or more. Surges 18-20 feet. Flood waters estimated at 4 feet.

The Carolinas have not been subjected to such a storm since some time in the 1950’s. I read somewhere that Eisenhower was President and Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were newlyweds at the time.

My car is sick. Does not start immediately. At the garage. Not the battery or starter. Mechanic thinks it is the ignition.

The car a Volkswagen Beetle. Ten years old. Only 40,000 miles. Should be good for another 10. However, the past two years it has been costing me money. One thing after another.

Terri sings tonight at Blue Macaw. Larry and Terri. A big event. First time she will be paid by Blue Macaw. Beginning this evening, every wednesday a paid performance.

My working lady!

The Southwest Point. A very popular tourist stop. Purportedly the most southernmost point in the U.S. Not really, but accepted as such.

Tourists line up a hundred at a time by day to stand in front of the red, yellow and blue monument. They wait in line so their pictures can be taken standing in front of the monument.

When I finish my night at Blue Macaw, my way home takes me past the monument. Ten at night, there are still people waiting in line to take a picture. Not many. Ten to twenty. Interesting. Definitely a popular tourist attraction.

Pythons a non-resolvable problem for Florida. The State waited too long to deal with them. Now estimated to be more than 1 million. Present goal is to contain the pythons, not eradicate them.

The State periodically runs eradication programs. Hunt down pythons and kill them! Not very successful.

The Irula tribe are born and raised in India. Their specialty is killing poisonous snakes. Male children are taught how to do so beginning at age 3.

They are in Florida now at the invitation of the State. To hunt and kill pythons. I am unaware as to what they are being paid.

The federal government was severely criticized in 1935 following the Labor Day hurricane in the mid Keys. A category 5. Close to 700 World War I veterans were sent to work on U.S. 1. Lived in tents, etc. The hurricane killed 485, most of whom were veteran workers.

The criticism levied against the government was for sending workers into the Keys during hurricane season. Turned out Washington was not cognizant of hurricanes or their season.

A somewhat similar situation occurred recently.

This is hurricane season. Florence on the way. Unquestionably a biggie! This summer Homeland Security took $10 million from its hurricane budget and transferred the money to ICE. ICE was in need of additional funding for immigrant detention and deportation.

Another Trump administration screw up! After Florence departs, Trump will be crying how much money the government needs to help Florence victims and how it does not have enough.

Washington values are misplaced.

Enjoy your day!

 

THE BEST OF BOB

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BOB tiny, but powerfully interesting.

Today BOB takes us back to the Key West days when honest and powerful citizens discovered marijuana was the path to easy money. Big money.

Integrity took a back seat.

Key West’s location made it a perfect place to bring marijuana into the country. The Business as it was known developed. A cottage industry. No ties to organized crime. Simple small town folks making an extra dollar.

Boats and planes dropped bales of marijuana into the ocean. The bales became known as square grouper. Locals would boat out and pick up the bales. The bales were brought into Key West and unloaded next to the Coast Guard dock. Then taken home and left in front yards and on roof tops to dry.

An open industry. No one concerned about getting caught.

After dried, the bales were put on a U.S. Mail tractor-trailer for delivery to Miami. The Mail vehicle made the trip every day.

Arrangements were made prior to each trip to accommodate the Sheriff’s Department. If not made, the U.S. Mail vehicle was stopped and fined half the marijuana load.

This scenario went on quite some time. Eventually, the federal government became aware. The “federales” cracked down on the operation. Arrests were made. Trials. Some prominent Key Westers received jail time.

Such the next part of the story. Referred to by BOB as the Afro Sheen Caper. For another day.

Spent last night with Cheryl and Roger. Former Key West snowbirds now living in Cape Coral.

We started the evening at Aqua for Dueling Bartenders. Tom Luna and Rick Dery their usual great selves.

Then to Antonia’s for dinner.

I was surprised how packed Antonia’s was. We are into off season. Restaurants generally empty. Not Antonia’s last night. It must be Antonia’s summer time special. Pasta $10 a serving.

We got the last table.

I like Cheryl and Roger. Interesting people. Sincere. Call it as it is.

A good time was had. We sat and chatted a while after dinner.

I am getting hooked on the Key West Citizen weatherman. Today’s prediction, 89 degrees. In fine print below: “…..afternoon t-storms; bad hair day.”

The bad hair day I found intriguing. Must refer to the humidity. Not a problem for me. My head is shaved bald.

Robots back in the news! A new IBM artificial intelligence creature debated last week in San Francisco two of the world’s champion debaters. The robot held his own. The topic was made known at the start of the debate. No prior preparation for the two human debaters and the robot.

Yesterday’s Justice Building Blog commented on Trump’s announcement that he wanted to close down the immigration courts. Merely arrest and deport. No hearing, no due process.

Such would mean we are a nation of men, not laws. Exactly what we have not been. The Occupied America writer wrote “…..we are occupied by a narcissistic man of limited intelligence, his followers who are equally self obsessed, lacking in self esteem and poorly educated. And the power we fight is nothing less than evil ignorance seeking to end our democracy.”

The looming trade war nothing less than a disaster, also. For the world. The U.S. already hurt. Harley-Davidson’s announcement yesterday that they were moving to Europe. To remain in the U.S. under the tariff percentages being discussed would mean a loss of $100 million a year.

Thank you, Donald Trump!

The EU says the world is heading for a “trade apocalypse.” The World Trade Organization is facing an all but certain demise.

Good job, Mr. President!

All because of one man who does not know what he is doing. I fail to understand how Trump keeps his followers.

On this day in 1956, Congress approved the Federal Highway Act. Thirty billion dollars to construct 41 million miles of interstate highways.

The bill was actually Eisenhower’s baby. He conceived  it and got everyone to work together in a bipartisan effort to bring it to realization. The Highway Act is considered Eisenhower’s greatest domestic achievement.

The bill passed the Senate with one dissenting vote. The House passed it by voice vote. Eisenhower signed it into law three days later.

Cooperation by both parties, the two legislative houses, and the President. Not today! We live in a different world. One bred from hate and evolving because of evil.

A side note. I benefited from the new law. The summer of 1957 found me between college and law school. I drove a dump truck on a highway project outside Rome, NY.

Tonight, podcast time! My podcast. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine, my time. A quick half hour of me venting. My likes and dislikes. Many topics discussed are eye openers. Hidden from public view.

Join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!

6′ 3″ 236 POUNDS…..NO WAY!!!!!

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I have weight problems. Always have. Started my most recent diet at 240. I am 6’1″. Trump’s medical report was revealed yesterday. The report states Trump is 6’3″ and purportedly weighs 236 pounds.

No way!!!!!

I have never looked as fat as the President. Even in my 250 pound days.

The truth be known, he has to weigh at least 30 pounds more.

Why the lie? Why the misrepresentation? The White House doctor is Ronny L. Jackson. Also a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy. He did the examination and reported the results.

At 71, the way Trump eats, the tension he is under, his lifestyle…..he has to have more than a cholesterol problem. I read the other day  that his daily MacDonald’s lunch consists of 2 cheeseburgers, 2 chicken sandwiches and a chocolate milk shake. His veins and arteries have to be bursting with plaque pride!

The cognitive test. I take it every year as part of my physical. Not 30 steps, however. Only 10. Easy. What day is it? Who is President of the U.S.? What year is it? Spell a short word backwards. Draw a couple of boxes already printed on a form. Etc.

Child’s play!

Takes all of two minutes. The President’s, probably 5-10.

The results merely represent whether you are mentally ok to get along in society. Trump is more than merely in society. He is President of the U.S. Leader of the most powerful nation in the world.

I would rather he was examined by a psychiatrist rather than merely taking the cognitive test.

Admiral Jackson says Trump is in “excellent” physical health. True or false?

Others who appear to lie for the President include Senators Cotton and Perdue, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Formerly respectable, responsible persons willingly walking the plank for the man. Why?

Staying with Homeland Secretary Nielsen a moment, she testified also before the Congressional Committee yesterday that her Department has asked federal prosecutors if the Department can lodge criminal charges against sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal deportation efforts.

Shades of a totalitarian state.

My podcast show last night.Went well. Enjoyed doing it. Opened with three medical issues. The rest of the show Trump. Cannot be helped. He is into everything nationally and world wide.

I was able to catch the second half of the Syracuse/Pittsburgh game following the show. Syracuse won decisively. Glad the team won again! They lost their previous four games.

Weather continues to be cold. Stepped on the porch in tee shirt and shorts this morning after reading today’s weather report in the Key West Citizen. Eighty six degrees today. Seventy seven tomorrow. The rest of the week in the mid 80’s. The cold spell was over!

It was cold on the porch.

Rechecked the Citizen report. I had read it correctly. Checked some of the weather stations. The Citizen had it wrong.

Maybe a joke.

Viagra has many uses. As I live and learn.

Robin Robinson writes a weekly column for the Citizen. Gardening. Her article this past weekend titled: How To Keep Your Fresh Flowers Erect.

Her article reported some put a penny in the water to keep the flowers fresh/erect. Others, an aspirin. Some, viagra. Erectability guaranteed.

The flu season is upon us big time. World wide.

The vaccination apparently not working this year. Experts claim only 10-30 percent effective.

Proof of the pudding Santa Barbara, California. Eight died in two weeks. Seven of them had received the flu shot. All 8, 65 or older.

In another U.S. area, a 40 year old mother who had received the vaccination died within 3 days of becoming sick.

A DACA update.

A California federal district court judge ordered the Trump administration last week to resume accepting renewal applications for DACA. Screws up Trump’s deportation process.

Attorney General Sessions says the ruling “defies both law and common sense.” He cannot understand how DACA can be “mandated” by a single federal judge sitting in San Francisco.

It’s the law, stupid. That’s how it works! Almost since the beginning of our country.

Sessions indicated he is going to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take a direct review of the judge’s ruling. Highly unusual!

The process involves as a first step an appeal to the Ninth Circuit. Assuming a continued adverse ruling by the Circuit Court, an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is then proper. If the Supreme Court accepts the case. They accept few.

Time involved, 1-2 years.

Screws up Trump’s plan to deport 800,000 who should not be deported. Would irritate Trump no end. He probably would then tweet that the Supreme Court needs to be examined, outdated, have too much power, many of the justices too old, etc.

On this day in 1961, Eisenhower delivered his Farewell Address. He warned of the “military-industrial complex.” We did not listen.

Enjoy your day!

BECAUSE I AM A MAN

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Dueling Bartenders was its usual terrific show last night. Always good.

Tom Luna bartending. He never dresses. Lovely Goddess Galore. A sometimes dresser. Dressed last night. And, Beatrix Dixie. Always dressed.

Beatrix is perfection in every way.From a padded ass to padded boobs. Look real!

I noticed Beatrix’s fingernails were not done. Surprising since everything else was perfect. Her nails looked like a ditch digger’s. I said nothing to her.

However her nails reminded me of a another drag queen working at La Te Da several years ago. Her/his name escapes me. Dressed to perfection. Lousy nails. Just like Beatrix’s. I asked why his nails were not done in view of everything else being perfect. He said: “Because I am a man.”

To some a lifestyle. To others, a job.

Spent a good part of the afternoon prepping for tonight’s blog talk radio show. A good one!

Topics include the Presidential campaign, hurricane Matthew, a Chamberlain/Trump comparison, South Carolina-ZIKA and bees, local governments paying bills with police fines, veterans’ corpses rotting in Chicago VA hospital, Assange ready to letting go with another 10,000 e-mails (perhaps today), Greek police and pensioners collide, how elite Europeans set Greece up for a fascist takeover, a secret US government airline that flies out of commercial airports.

Plus, New York Times not having paid any taxes in 2014, a Bush daughter attended a Paris Clinton fundraiser, a German mayor beaten unconscious after he revealed a plan to accept more refugees, why governments and banks want to eliminate your cash, the rich burying gold bars in Swiss banks as an alternative to bank deposits, and more.

Join me at 9 my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. A fast moving half hour. Revealing information.

A heart doctor visit late yesterday afternoon. I had been exhausted tired. Ass dragging. Thought it might be my beta blocker. Dr. McIvor cut my daily dosage in half two weeks ago. His concern was my blood pressure might go out of whack.

I returned yesterday to have my blood pressure tested. The same. Good. No longer tired, also.

Stopped at Don’s Place before Aqua. Chatted with Jimmy and Toni. Missy bartending.

After Aqua stopped at the Chinese restaurant for dinner. I had a yearning for Chinese. Rare. A cup of egg drop soup and two egg rolls. Plus, a diet Coke. Cost, $6.50. Amazing!

Until recently when she retired, Dr. Jackie Lefferts was my primary physician for ten years. Her nurse Patti Cabrera weighed me, checked my blood pressure, etc. She also gave me shots over the years. some in the butt.

Patti, a lovely person. I especially love her because she read my KONK Life column.

Dr. Lefferts recently retired. Patti did also after 50 years of nursing.

This morning’s Key West Citizen recognized Patti in its Familiar Faces section. A well deserved tribute.

Suicides seem to be with us more in recent years. Military and veterans committing suicide at the rate of 20 a day. A primary reason, the 3-4 tours of duty we have imposed on our military the past 15 years. Blood, gore and death have a way of catching up.

General Eisenhower in 1943 warned of the risk of shell shock. He defined shell shock as prolonged exposure to combat. Men break down, he said. Some commit suicide.

The problem with us again. The solution a larger military. The only way to get it is a draft. No one wants to recommend it.

The Vice-Presidential debate this evening. Starts at 9. Because of my podcast, I will miss the first half hour.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

DR. ZHIVAGO

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Sunday was a full day for me. A good one.

I got to watch Dr. Zhivago for the umpteenth time. Always exciting! Love Russian history! The film based on Boris Pasternak’s novel of the same name.

A Russian movie I enjoy even more is War and Peace. Based on Leo Tolstoy’s book.

I have only seen the movie two times. It does not get played on TV. I saw it in a movie theater when it first came out in 1956. A few years later on TV. Since, no more. I wish Turner or someone would start running it.

War and Peace’s music got to me. Even more than Dr. Zhivago’s. The theme song is a waltz. The mind dances through many of the scenes.

The book was torture to read. Eleven hundred plus pages. The last 25 percent more philosophy rather than historical novel.

I wrote this week’s KONK Life column. Political Sexcapades. An interesting title. An interesting story. Begins with the sexual lives of those who “persecuted” President Clinton re Monica Lewinsky. It ends with the admonition that most are sinners.

Trump has threatened Clinton to be careful if she is going to play the sexism card. I warn/predict a down and dirty campaign. Perhaps the dirtiest ever.

A scenario that should not be. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone type thing.

The column publishes wednesday.

Even got to watch the Syracuse/Texas Southern game. Syracuse won 80-67.

The honeymoon is over. Syracuse play will now be in the ACC. The ACC season starts wednesday night when Syracuse plays Pittsburgh.

A quick dinner at Roostica. Sunday night is spaghetti, meatballs and sausage as my grandmother and mother prepared.

Duval and its side streets are crowded. It is like high season. A big Key West New Year’s Eve ahead.

Key West Citizen’s Keys History notes that on this day during Eisenhower’s Presidency, Eisenhower arrived in Key West to recuperate from a heart problem.

Eisenhower was probably aware of how restful Truman found our island.

Enjoy your day!