KEY WEST ROYAL POINCIANA UNDER ATTACK

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Key West’s beautiful, flamboyant, orange-red petaled Royal Poincianas are under attack. A plague. The culprit some type caterpillar.

The caterpillars just short of 2 inches long. Attack only by night. The Dracula of the vermin world. Eat the flamboyant flowers and foliage. Destroy the trees.

Major outbreaks occur every 10-15 years. This obviously is the year.

Treatments are available to protect against and/or control the caterpillars. Information is available through the County. Contact Michelle Leonard-Mularz. She is an Environmental Horticulture Agent. mularz-michelle@monroecounty-fl.gov.

There is a concern among some that the City of Key West itself may not be doing enough to help.

Yesterday another busy one. Began with lunch at Sandy’s Cafe. Followed by several errands.

A quick nap late in the afternoon.

An early evening start. Monday night so it was Dueling Bartenders at Aqua. Tom Luna and Rick Dery the best!

A decent crowd for August. Including Liz, Josefina, Mary, and Linda. Another Mary joined me. Mark Watson came hurrying through and gave a wave.

Dinner with Mary at Antonia’s bar afterwards.

Mary Lou Hoover and Charlie Waite at the bar, also. Good people. Mary Lou looked tired. She has been campaigning 9 months for election to the Key West City Commission. The battle over. Enjoying a late dinner.

We chatted a bit. As you are aware, I one hundred percent support Mary Lou. A more interested and concerned person I have never met.

Ran into an old friend I have not seen in years also at Antonia’s. Mary Ann Westerland.

Today is election day in Florida. For local races, today is the day. Not in November. If you are a Key Wester, please consider voting for Mary Lou.

Staying with the election for a moment, today is primary day for federal and state offices. I have been supporting Gwen Graham to be the candidate for Governor on the Democratic ticket. A member of Congress, she also is the daughter of Bob and Adele Graham. Bob the former Governor of Florida and a member of the U.S. Senate.

Politics is in Gwen’s blood.

Tuesday means podcast time for me. My podcast. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine in the evening. A quick moving interesting half hour. I tend to rant and rave.

Join me. Guaranteed you will not be bored. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

A late night ahead. Being a political junkie, I will be glued to the TV for election results.

Love the Key West weatherman. Always a quip following his weather prediction. Today and tonight, showers. Following the report…..Free carwash.

I close with Trump. Not the disrespect and pettiness he exhibited with John McCain’s death. I did enough of that yesterday.

My concern at the moment is the redoing of the NAFTA agreement with Mexico. Yesterday, Trump in effect claimed victory. Similar to his announcement following the meeting with North Korea’s Kim. Not really a victory. Nothing finalized. Many items still to be covered.

Whatever, Trump got on the phone in the Oval Office. Seated behind his mammoth desk. Regal appearing. He called Mexico’s President. Reporters present.

I will not go into the details. They are all over TV and the newspapers today. Trump looked bad. Though a few points were generally agreed upon, it was obvious a deal was not yet close.

Typical Trump. There must always be a victory! A victory he made possible.

Trump already made a fool of the United States and himself re the Kim situation. I compare Kim and yesterday’s telephone call to Neville Brand when he got off the airplane in September 1938. He had rushed to Munich to have a face to face meeting with Hitler in a last ditch attempt to avoid war.

Chamberlain got off the plane waving a paper. “Peace in  our time,” he shouted.

World War II began soon after.

Chamberlain bullshitted as Trump has been. Sometimes Trump bullshits himself.

Enjoy your day!

 

POEMS ARE MADE BY FOOLS LIKE ME, BUT ONLY EMALYN MERCER CAN SAVE A TREE

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Change a couple of words and Joyce Kilmer’s famous lines from Trees becomes a well deserved tribute to Key West’s Emalyn Mercer. She saved two huge tongue trees.

It was early morning. Emalyn still in her pajamas. She heard the buzzsaws. Buzzsaws cutting down trees on her block. The trees in front of her mother’s home at 701 Catherine Street appeared in line to be cut down.

Emily ran out and tried to climb the tree. Her husband brought a ladder. Up she went. A sign appeared…..Save the Trees.

Emalyn perched on the tree for two hours. The buzzsaws went away. Probably to return.

Emalyn, a hero.

Key West has a Tree Commission that orders trees native to Key West to be cut down and replaced with a tree not native to the area. It appears the goal of the Tree Commission is to have similar trees throughout Key West. The approach not Key West nor consistent with a community that has represented within its borders every type person. Diversity called for. Not what the Tree Commission is doing.

Harry Truman is another Key West hero, though his exploits occurred elsewhere.

Key West loves Harry Truman. Truman loved Key West. He vacationed here a total of 175 days covering 11 separate trips.

Yesterday marked the day in 1948 when Truman won election to the Presidency over Thomas Dewey. An unexpected result.

The media was convinced Dewey would trounce Truman. Truman was not a popular President.

It appeared the nation was against him.

Truman opted to do a whistle stop campaign across the country. He stopped at communities big and small. He spoke to those gathered from the back platform of the last car.

I recall his stop in Utica. I was in the eighth grade. Two of my buddies and I rode our bicycles to the railroad station to hear the President. He had already started his talk.

The place was packed. People all over the tracks, etc. listening. We could neither see nor hear the President from the back of the crowd.

We did the necessary. We rolled our bikes right up in front of the platform from which Truman was speaking. There was about five feet separating the President’s car and crowd.

Truman’s talk was the same at each stop. The country was having problems because of a do nothing Congress. Do nothing Congress his verbiage.

We had the best seats in town! We were excited to be there and proud to have been able to be that close to a President of the United States.

Truman had all kinds of insulting occurrences during the campaign. He was not getting Presidential respect from many. One example his whistle stop train traveling somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The train stopped. The conductor told Truman the train would go no further till his bill with the railroad company was paid. It was grossly in default.

Truman dug into his pockets and went around asking others to do so also. Some wrote big checks. The bill was paid and Truman was able to continue.

An insult! As Rodney Dangerfield was wont to say…..Truman was getting no respect.

The nation went to bed election night believing Dewey had won. It took longer in those days to count ballots.

The Chicago Tribune had a late night edition on the streets. Its headline…..Dewey Defeats Truman.

H. V. Kaltenborn was a famous American radio commentator. He went on the air advising that Dewey had defeated Truman.

Both media types wrong. When the nation woke the next morning, Truman had won by more than 2 million votes.

That same morning at a press conference, Truman was asked what he was going to do next. His response…..I’m going to Key West on vacation!

I frequently complain about the tourist operation of bicycles and scooters on Key West streets. A danger to the operators and to others. Car drivers and pedestrians.

Yesterday, another accident involving a tourist driving his scooter in an improper manner.

A 41 year old Louisiana visitor was operating a scooter at the intersection of White and Union. He was passing cars on the right. Went into the intersection and struck a broadside a car making a left turn. The tourist died.

He would not have had he stayed in line with the vehicles to the front of him. Scooter and bicycle operators are required to follow the same laws. One being no passing on the right.

Enjoy your day!

VENEZUELA’S DESCENT INTO HELL

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Nicolas Maduro has been President of Venezuela for four years. His Presidency a steady decline to the gates of Hell. First no toilet paper. Then no food. Finally, pets and zoo animals eaten. Along the way, people disappearing or killed.

Today, Venezuela stands at those gates. It is election day. A special election day. Maduro wants to replace Venezuela’s National Assembly and adopt a new Constitution. The new National Assembly will be composed of persons nominated by Maduro. The new Constitution will give him the powers of a dictator.

I have written about Venezuela the four years Maduro has been President. I was intrigued when the nation ran out of toilet paper.

It has bothered me the people never revolted. They protest in huge numbers. In recent weeks, a handful have clashed with Maduro supporters.

Turns out Cuba is behind it all. Yes, our tiny neighbor 90 miles to the south. Cuba is responsible for everything that has been happening in Venezuela.

Cuba is the power. It controls the levers of power. The government and those who support it.

Mary Anastasia O’Grady wrote an excellent opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal’s July 17, 2017 edition. Titled: How Cuba Runs Venezuela.

Cuba has been trying for 50 years to sow its ideological revolution in South America. Concerning Venezuela, it has succeeded.

Cuba needs Venezuela to transport Colombian cocaine to the United States and to Africa to supply Europe. It also relies heavily on cut-rate Venezuelan oil.

Cuba has established a Soviet type hold on Venezuela. Working in Venezuela are 50 high ranking Cuban military officers, 4,500 Cuban soldiers, and 34,000 doctors and health professionals who are there to defend Cuba’s tyranny with arms if necessary.

Thousands of other Cubans hold high level Venezuelan government positions.

The Cubans have toilet paper and eat well.

Similar to Soviet oversight, each Venezuelan military commander has a civilian minder. A person who watches every turn and reports to higher ups any deviation from expected conduct.

I find it amazing how relatively silent the American media has been over the years re Cuba’s influence.

Today’s election is most important. I fear Maduro and his followers will win. Nothing good can come from the victory for the Venezuelan people and the rest of the world.

Last week when Trump lifted our new relationship with Cuba, I thought he was succumbing to that small group of Cubans who had to flee Cuba fifty and more years ago and now reside in Miami. A poor reason I thought.

Now, I wonder if Trump was motivated to show the world he stood against the evils imposed by Cuba upon Venezuela.

Regardless, the Monroe Doctrine has been forgotten.

Yesterday was Saturday. It became my Sunday. My lazy day.

I never left the house. Read, wrote, napped and watched TV.

Hackley’s journal has suggested, at least to me, that Hackley used slaves. Not as an owner. He rented them.

Further indication of Hackley as a lessee is found in his entry of this date in 1856. Hackley speaks of his cook Black Matilda. It was yellow fever time. He wrote she had “some fever and pains in the head.”

Hackley got Black Matilda out of the house immediately. Delivered her to someone else to worry about.

Some generally unaware history concerning Harry Truman. Harry Truman loved Key West and Key West to this day loves Harry Truman.

On this date in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law. He did so at the Truman Library in Independence. Truman was still alive and attended.

Why the Truman Library and in Truman’s presence?

Truman was the first President to propose national health insurance. Congress opposed. He could never get it passed.

Johnson further paid tribute to Truman by enrolling Truman as Medicare’s first beneficiary.

Enjoy your Sunday!

TERRI WHITE SINGS

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Terri White Sings! Tonight at Aqua. She is guest performer at Dueling Bartenders. Singing with regulars Tom Luna and Rick Dery.

I am Terri’s chauffeur. Donna working.

Yesterday, I made mention that an alligator had been sighted and photoed at the Boca Chica Naval Base. There were thought to be a total of five.

Crocodiles are an endangered and protected species. I worry about that factor. They have to be dangerous. I would be concerned if I saw one and run the other way.

Alligators are supposed to be different. I do not know if endangered and protected. However saturday at Moss Park in Orange County, a ten year old girl was sitting in the shallow lake. An 8′ 9 ” alligator bit her knee and calf.

Recall the situation that occurred at Disney World last June. A two year old boy was seated on the edge of a lagoon. Attacked and killed by an alligator.

Such scenarios make me nervous. For family, friends and even those I do not know.

Ten days ago, I wrote how Martha Washington was not the most helpful/cooperative wife a President could have. Mention was made she did not attend George’s swearing in in New York City.

The inaugural ball was in New York City, also. One week later. Once again, Martha remained home in Mount Vernon. Whether George was upset, we do not know. History tells us the new President had a wonderful time. History further tells us Washington enjoyed dancing. He danced all night.

Key West’s beloved Harry Truman. His birthday is celebrated today. He was born this day in 1884.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Watched some of the Wells Fargo PGA golf tournament yesterday afternoon. An impressive victory by Brian Harman. His second. His first in 2014.

The last hole determined Harman had the lowest score. He was facing a 3 way playoff. Harman sank a 28 foot putt on the 18th to secure sole first place and the victory.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

FRAN…..WOW!!!

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My well being is in the hands of women. Recently, especially.

They are feeding me. Though I do not think I look undernourished. I complain not, however.

Liz feeds me constantly. Cooking is her hobby. Great meals! Wonderful Christmas cookies! Dee recently brought me a big bowl of something good. I have yet to return the bowl. She keeps telling me not to forget.

Now comes Fran. Buffalo’s Fran Dixon. Wife of fellow Syracuse fan Tom Dixon.

The Dixon’s visit Key West 4-5 times a year. For years. Tom owns a small piece of the Ocean Key House.

Fran makes chocolate candies. She brings a couple of small bags to me each trip. Delicious!

Last night she out did herself.

The three of us were having dinner at Roostica. Fran said…..I have a surprise for you! Surprised I was!

She had a bag with her. Goodies for Louis.

Started with a box of home made pasta. Thin linguine. Made by Fran from scratch. Enough for two meals. Two plastic containers with Fran’s own home made sauce and meatballs. One for each meal. Bags of chocolate candies.

Fran and Tom brought it with them on the plane. The sauce was a concern. They packed it in a large container of ice which they placed in one of their bags. One that was checked. Upon arrival at Ocean Key, they placed the two sauce/meatball containers in a freezer till delivery to me last night.

Love you, Fran. Love you Liz and Dee. Continue preparing great dishes for me. At my age, it is not merely the food. It is the concern shown. Thank you!

The way Fran is going, I expect a half a cow next time! Don’t laugh. Upstate New York is a place for cows and slaughter houses. Many the time I bought a half a cow and froze the steaks, etc. Good for six months of meals.

Spent yesterday afternoon working on the introductory topic for tomorrow’s podcast show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. The subject matter involves Harry Truman’s mother in law. The tale reflects the character of Truman. His mother in law, also.

Watched the Golden Globes last night. Excellent show!

Two items outstanding.

La La Land and all the awards the show received. Musicals of the 1950-60 era have returned! I am anxious to see the movie.

Meryl Streep. America’s outstanding living female actor. Unquestionably. Her comments re the nation’s state of affairs and what she perceived as erroneous thinking on the part of Trump were right on. Her words made clear why Hollywood has turned its back on the soon to be President.

Don’t say…..Actors, what do they know! Remember that Ronald Reagan was an actor before becoming one of America’s greatest Presidents.

Tonight, Aqua first for Dueling Bartenders. Then Jack Flats or somewhere else to watch the Alabama/Clemson game.

Enjoy your day!

 

CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA

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We are lucky this year. Two Christmas days. Yesterday, the actual holiday. Today the day after, a legal holiday providing workers with a day off.

For me, today will be a screw off day. Not sure at this point what I will do. Dueling Bartenders tonight a good shot.

I planned on starting a walking regimen today. I knock off ten pounds and then gain it back. Know full well exercise is half the battle.

My plan was to get up at six and get out! Good luck! Time not the problem. I wake at 5. Did get out of bed. Looked out the window. Dark and uninviting. My body was talking to me. Go back to bed! Screw the walking! At least for today. That is what I did. Listened to my body.

Maybe tomorrow the walking begins.

I have shared America’s Christmas with you the past few days. From the Puritans in the 1600s to the concluding portion today which will bring us to present times.

President Ulysses Grant is credited with making Christmas a national holiday. He did not. In 1870, Grant signed a bill into law which said Christmas “…..shall be a holiday within the District of Columbia.”

The District of Columbia, not the United States.

The States however began legalizing December 25 as a holiday. Oklahoma was the last to do so in 1907.

It is felt Christmas Day became a national holiday as a result of Grant’s District of Columbia bill signing and the States legalizing December 25 as a holiday.

Christmas received a further boost in 1897. The now famous editorial in the Sun of New York. The significant line, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

Christmas was practiced and recognized as a holiday through World War II. For whatever reason, it received its most gigantic step forward recognition wise and celebration wise following World War II. Everyone got into the act after the war. Maybe because people were happy and grateful to have won.

Fini to An American Christmas.

Christmas Day at Lisa’s is a morning brunch. Much too much food. All good, all tasty.

Ally is developing culinary talents. She made waffles from scratch. No box. Impressive! Enjoyed a couple of thick pieces.

Robert and Ally met me at the door as I arrived. Both telling me at the same time what Santa Claus brought them. Each a laptop.

Amazing how our young ones are trained to use computers. They are already experts to a degree. Their own means they will no longer use their parents’ computers.

Liz’s for an open house in the afternoon. Good food and good company. Liz’s friends local and out of towners.

Liz’s food exceptional. The ham delicious! Egg nog, also.

I like Liz. A cooking expert and talented entertainer. An interesting personality and sharp mind.

Key West loves Harry Truman and Harry Truman loved Key West. I cannot make the statement too many times.

On this date in 1972, Truman died. Simply of old age. Pneumonia brought him into the hospital where his body organs began failing one at a time.

A question. Perhaps one of you may know the answer. My recollection is that I read somewhere Truman was in a nursing home prior to his death. I tried to corroborate my recollection. Could not find the answer.

Did he spend time before his death in a nursing home prior to being delivered to the hospital?

My concern is why this great man was not cared for at home rather than a nursing home. If the nursing home is a fact, Truman deserved better.

Enjoy your day!

A NEW CONCH REPUBLIC IN THE MAKING?

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The Conch Republic was born in 1982. On a day when the U.S. Border Patrol blockaded U.S. 1 just outside the Keys and before Florida City. Vehicles searched. Drugs the problem. The government wanted to stop drug trafficking from Key West and the lower keys into the Florida mainland.

Another blockade of sorts has been established recently. Near Key Largo. Mile marker 106. A check point.

Drugs not involved. Screwworms the problem. Been fifty years since last a problem. They have returned. Screwworms are deadly parasitic fly larvae. Prey on all type animals.

Screwworms are dangerous. Animals infected are euthanized. Whole animal kingdoms could be wiped out other wise. Forty Big Pine little deer have already been euthanized.

The purpose of the check point is to inspect all animals. Federal and State officials involved. It is expected the check point will remain till year’s end.

Does the activity call for another Conch Republic?

Staying with the Keys and non-human invasion, the birds have arrived. Hawks, eagles and falcons. A yearly event. They are migrating south. In the Key West area every September and October. Hundreds a day. Swooping around.

Yesterday afternoon was spent fine tuning last night’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

The show went on at 9. Probably had zero listeners. The same time as the Vice Presidential debate began. Fortunately, the show is archived.

An interesting observation involving the New York Times’ recent story re Trump’s $916 million loss carryover on his taxes.

The pot calling the kettle black.

In 2014, the Times had a $29.9 million before tax profit. The Times never paid a penny. Received a $3.5 million refund instead.

More than one person/group/company has good tax lawyers.

Hurricane Matthew is going to miss Key West and the Florida keys. Thank God! Matthew is now a 3. The mountains of Cuba broke it up. However, Matthew has now turned north and it is expected will increase back to a 4 soon.

Some part of mid to northern Florida could be hit. Definitely damage to some parts of the Atlantic coast all the away up to New York.

Key West has already been designated a safe harbor. Vessels already moving in. Some from as far north as Jacksonville. Others from the Caribbean to the south.

Vessels include those of the U.S. Coast Guard and 9 Royal Bahamian Defense Force Ships. Cruise ships will come at their discretion.

Power/electricity is expensive. I consistently wonder why solar panels are not more in use. My Greek isle travels revealed everyone using solar panels. From the smallest house to larger buildings. An average size home was powered by a 4′ x 3′ rooftop panel.

Harry Truman loved Key West and Key West loves Harry Truman. An undying love.

On this day in 1947, Truman made the first ever televised Presidential address from the White House.

Another on this day item. The year 1953. The New York Yankees won their fifth consecutive World Series. My team. Everyone’s team from upstate New York. Baseball big at the time. Bigger than pro football and basketball. Baseball was the All American sport.

New York Yankee players on the team included Mickey Mantle, Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto, and Whitey Ford.

Washington Post columnist George Will titled a recent article: Donald Trump’s Rise Reflects America’s Recent Decay.

Mull that around.

Enjoy your day!

MUCH TO TALK ABOUT

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It’s amazing! yesterday, I was tired. Dead tired. Doing the blog an ordeal. Never got to researching this week’s column.

This morning totally different. I am alive! Slept well.

Ergo, I have much to share this morning.

I have decided not to do a KONK Life column for this week. I should have researched it yesterday. Would have written it today. Generally, five hours for research and five hours for writing. Means a ten hour effort today.

Too much in one day. Would also effect the quality of the writing. When tired, I tend to get sloppy. Rewriting takes a long time. So, I am skipping. Playing hooky. Forgive me.

I am cheating at the moment. One eye on the keyboard. The other on the TV set. The British Open. Mickelson and Stenson in a real battle. Yesterday and so far today. Exciting golf.

I mentioned yesterday I was pulling for Mickelson. As big a star as he is, Mickelson has not won in three years. His age the problem. Forty six. In that time, he has been in or close to the lead many times. For three days. Loses his energy on the fourth. This is probably his last shot at winning another major.

William Hackley reports today that Baby is improving. Seems ok, except for some throat sores.

Hackley mentions he paid $12.50 for the Havana goat. The goat that failed to provide milk. $12.50 a lot of money in 1855.

I pushed myself to go out last night. If I stayed home, I would have fallen asleep early. To wake early. I wanted a normal night’s sleep.

Went to Tavern ‘n Town. My usual Saturday night haunt. Bobby Nesbitt time. I sit at a corner of the bar reading the newspaper and eating slowly while humming to Bobby’s singing. Love it!

David Brown is the Dallas police Chief.  He is becoming an American folk hero. Properly so.

He recently said, “We’re asking cops to do too much in this country.” He may be correct. Worthy of thought.

As I think of his words, I am reminded of what we have been putting our troops through in the last 15 years. Multiple deployments. Three and four times.

Hemingway Days begin this week. Two interesting/exciting events.

Nancy Sindelar is an Ernest Hemingway scholar. She is speaking at the Custom House thursday evening. Her topic: People and Places That Influenced Ernest Hemingway.

I am a Hemingway buff. Her talk sounds interesting.

Boat race time, also. One of the events is the Key West Marlin Tournament. Three days. Cash prizes totaling $50,000. Bicardi the sponsor.

Harry Truman loved Key West and Key West has never stopped loving Truman. He enjoyed 175 days in Key West over a period of 11 trips.

Today, an historical day for Truman. Not President long and World War II still ongoing, Truman met Russia’s Joseph Stalin for the first time. At the Potsdam Conference. The two were alone for this first meeting.

Imagine these two guys sizing each other up!

Some politics.

Watched Trump introduce Pence yesterday morning as his VP selection. Trump did not seem to care. He spoke for almost a half hour in introducing Pence. About himself. Rarely Pence. Trump failed to stay on stage while Pence spoke. At the end of Pence’s talk, Trump’s whole family came out. Pence only his tiny wife.

I suspect Trump really does not care about the VP spot. He will be the winner or loser. He is the star. The campaign will be run thusly.

I was not impressed with Pence. He did not seem ready for the big time.

Watched Pence on the Hannity show two nights ago. He worried me. He made it clear that we knew where ISIS was. We should go in and clean them out. The inference: War! War! War!

Reminded me of the square I visited in Milan. Someone pointed out the second floor balcony of a building on the square. Told me Mussolini stood there and announced to his people: War! War! War!

Trump is a prophet. Going to do this and that. A false prophet. Beware.

There has been talk of a small group trying to change the Republican voting process so as to deny Trump the nomination. It appears to have failed.

The last time such was attempted was in 1976. Reagan trying to steal the nomination from Ford. Ford defeated the move. Reagan had to wait 4 more years before he could run for President.

Ford’s floor manager who lead the effort which defeated Reagan was a young Paul Manafort. The same Paul Manafort heading Trump’s election efforts today.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

BREAKFAST CLUB

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Key West has two breakfast clubs. I assume most communities have at least one. Larger communities more.

Schooner Wharf and Don’s Place are the Key West notables.

A breakfast club is for those who want to enjoy or have a need for an early morning drink. The bars open at 7. Customers immediately lining up at the bars.

Nothing wrong with an early morning drink. One of Key West’s favorite persons did so. Harry Truman. Truman would rise each morning and take a two mile walk. Followed by an ounce of Old Grandad or Wild Turkey.

Truman’s generation thought an early morning drink was beneficial to the circulation of those past sixty. Truman was known to say it was “to get the engine going.”

Reminds me of my grandfather who would take a shot of Canadian Club each night before retiring. He claimed it was good for the heart.

Saw the doctor at lunchtime yesterday.

As a person grows older, the body grows things. A wart or two. Growths a bit larger than warts. Crazy colored things.

Periodic removal is required lest something serious develop. Yesterday was removal day for me.

My face looks like it has been through a meat grinder! Add to it Neosporin rubbed all over. I look terrific!

I did not go out last night. There was no pain or discomfort. Did not want to be seen.

Spent the afternoon and evening preparing for tonight’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Research complete. A little fine tuning today and I will be ready to go.

Join me. Topics interesting. Some revealing. The show at 9. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Topics include Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. You will love it! Followed by General P. T. G. Beauregard.

Then the story of a second Revolutionary War Lexington battle. Followed by the new IRS reg permitting taxes to be paid at a 7-Eleven. I don’t see it working.

The present CIA head said no waterboarding by the CIA even if a President orders it. Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs getting away with murder. An Illinois couple refusing to permit marriage of a homosexual couple at their establishment fined $80,000.

There is much talk of tax avoidance. Those who bury money on foreign shores be damned! Turns out the U.S. is third in the world hiding money for foreigners.

My KONK Life column this week is Shakespeare Incidentals. A few Shakespearian phrases originating with Shakespeare. You will be surprised! Guaranteed!

And more.

Seahorse Key has a problem. No one knows how to deal with it. Cottonmouth snakes cannibalizing each other. Birds disappeared last year. Snakes now eating each other.

Sunday’s Cow Key Bridge continues to receive acclaim. This morning’s Key West Citizen refers to it as the Walking Cow Stampede.

After screwing around for almost three years, the Key West City Commission has approved a new taxi company for Key West. To service a special need. Handicapped persons.  Four handicapped accessible vehicles are being permitted.

I doubt the Chinese are smarter or stupider than us. I do believe however they can be more enterprising.

The China FDA closed down 35 popular restaurants. The restaurants were spiking food with opiates. Like morphine, codeine, and noscapine. To make the food addictive so customers would return. Noodles, hotpot, grilled fish, and fried chicken were being seasoned.

Soup a big hit. Soup was being spiked with ground poppy powder (opium).

Enjoy your day!

WILL OF THE PEOPLE

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The people spoke yesterday in the elections held. Perry Court and Donald Trump.

The Perry Court $55 million purchase by the City was left to the electorate. They voted the proposed purchase down. 56.25 percent voted no.

Trump. Won big last night. The people obviously like him. I fear him.

There are so many negatives concerning Trump. One is his anti woman bias. Trump was interviewed by New york Magazine in 1992. He was asked how he felt about women. Trump responded: “Women you have to treat them like shit.”

A major boat fire at the Stock Island Marina yesterday. A 40 or 50 footer blew up. Black smoke rose high in the sky. Could be seen in downtown Key West. Fire personnel had a hard time getting the fire out. They contained it well. The fire was finally extinguished when the boat sunk below the water.

Harry Truman. Repetitive Lou says again: Truman loved Key west and Key West loves Truman.

On this day in 1950, Truman arrived in Key West for a three week vacation.

GMO mosquitoes continue to concern me. It is planned that the lower Keys be used as guinea pigs to test them.

There has been a five year hold up awaiting FDA approval. It came the past few days. The FDA confirmed the mosquitoes were safe and effective. Such is what the media reported. Such is what I understood. I wrote yesterday of the approval.

Since then it has come to my attention that the FDA approval was nor meant for humans. It was meant for the mosquitoes. Wild! Hope everyone gets to understands this.

The FDA is concerned with the safety of animals. Whatever is added to the mosquitoes is considered a new animal drug. The FDA regulates animal drugs.

Who regulates the drug as it affects humans?

Spent most of yesterday further researching and fine tuning last night’s radio show Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. The Oreo section and ISIS birth control for sex slaves appeared to have garnered the most interest.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet Letter. The novel was published this date in 1850. Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, where 100 years earlier the witch hunts had taken place.

Hawthorne also wrote The House of Seven Gables. I remember the book well. It was the first book assigned for reading in my freshman high school English class.

Birds of a feather flock together as the saying goes. Appears it was so with Hawthorne. His buddies were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Found my eye glasses! They were under the bed. I fell asleep while reading and they must have fallen off.

Enjoy your day!