CHILL FACTOR -49 DEGREES

Wowie! Cold in the north today. Chill factors as low as -49. Upstate New York projected at -20. With one foot of snow!

My friends up north laugh when I do this. But…..it is going to be cold tonight in Key West. -62. That means a blanket or heat.

All in all, crazy weather. Global warming?

After living alone so long, I have become domesticated to a degree. Was in Publix yesterday. Saw eggplants. A sudden desire overwhelmed me! I bought one. Cooked it for dinner last night.

Cut the plant in half. Thin sliced the half I was going to use. Heated some olive oil in a large frying pan. Then the slices. Cooked them to a light brown on each side.

Delicious! Just like my mother used to make.

I observed something interesting in the process. The eggplant slices absorbed the oil rapidly. Gulped it right up. Like a paper towel soaking up a spill.

Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou last night. One of my better shows. Spent more than a half the show discussing issues involving policemen.

As part of the police portion, I made reference to the new Black Panther group formed in Dallas. Shades of the ’60s. Blacks, many of whom are retired Army Rangers, have formed a paramilitary group to protect blacks from being killed by police. A confrontation/eruption is sure to follow at some point. Violence begets violence.

Nudity continues to be an issue in Key West. As regards Fantasy Fest. A do good group has their nose in the issue.

There is a special meeting of the City Commission tonight to review matters. Harry Bethel, a leader in the anti-nudity movement, says the Commission will discuss curbing nudity during Fantasy Fest. Bethel announced earlier that in all his years of living in Key West, he has never attended a Fantasy Fest. A blind man shall lead them!

Numbers sometime tell an interesting story. It has been reported that in Alabama, food stamp recipients outnumber public school students by 20 percent. Yet we keep hearing how the economy has recovered. Not for those on food stamps!

Enjoy your day!

Christmas….A Legal Holiday

 

CHRISTMAS 2010, I WROTE AN ESSAY DETAILING HOW CHRISTMAS CAME TO BE A LEGAL HOLIDAY. THE STORY INCLUDES MANY INTERESTING FACETS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN. THE ESSAY WAS NOT PUBLISHED IN THE BLOG AT THE TIME. I SHARE IT WITH YOU NOW WITH MY WISHES FOR A BLESSED AND MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Christmas….A Legal Holiday

 

On this wonderful Christmas Day 2010, most of us are sitting back happy with ourselves. In a joyous festive mood. Thankful for family and friends. Pleased by gifts and food.

And we might believe that Christmas in the United States has always been such. That Christmas as we know it always existed.

Shockingly, it did not!

Let’s go back to the Puritans. Those hearty immigrants from England to the shores of Massachusetts. Those who gave us Thanksgiving.

Christmas they did not give to us. In fact, they took Christmas away from us. The earliest Scrooges of record!

From 1659 to 1681, Christmas was outlawed in Boston. By the Puritans. They believed that Christmas was not consistent with their Puritan ideas and religious reforms. So one of their acts was to abolish Christmas!

Christmas remained a no-no through the American Revolution. The English influence in the colonies prevailed. Christmas could not regain its foothold.

A few years after the Revolution, the colonists, rid of the English influence, started celebrating Christmas. But it was not Christmas as we know it.

The early 1800s found Christmas being celebrated in a bit of a rowdy fashion. Much like Mardi Gras and Fantasy Fest.

Then came a couple of books which influenced the situation.

The first was by Washington Irving. In 1809, he wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon. It portrayed Christmas as a peaceful loving holiday. Many attribute Irving’s novel as setting the mood for present day Christmas.

Irving actually created with words Christmas Day as we know and celebrate it. He mentally conceived his concept of Christmas and wrote it on paper. Christmas to that point had not been as he portrayed it.

About the same time, there was another writing. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This, too, captured the American imagination.

During the 1830s, several southern states legalized December 25 Christmas Day as a legal holiday. The first was Alabama in 1836.

The South continued to favor and celebrate Christmas up to the time of the Civil War. Whereas the North basically paid little attention to the day. Christmas had become a Southern thing.

Now comes the Civil War. Lincoln wanted to demoralize the Confederate troops. He wanted to show that the South’s Santa Claus was on the side of the North. He authorized a famous artist late in 1862 to do a drawing of Santa Claus watching over Union troops. The picture was the front cover on January 3, 1863 of a prominent national magazine. It was sort of God is on our side thing. Some believe it achieved Lincoln’s desired effect.

President Ulysses S. Grant is given credit for making Christmas a national holiday. I question the accuracy of the representation. In 1870 Grant signed a bill into law regarding Christmas Day. The new law read that Christmas “…shall be a holiday within the District of Columbia.”

The District of Columbia is not the whole of the United States. However, Grant is usually given credit for making Christmas a national holiday by that act.

The last state to legalize Christmas as a legal holiday was Oklahoma in 1907.

I suspect that it was the combination of Grant’s signing regarding the District of Columbia and all of the states legalizing the holiday that finally made Christmas Day a national holiday.

Christmas Day received a further boost by the 1897 editorial in the Sun of New York. We all know it. “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 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.

Such is the story of the legalization of Christmas Day.

WORKED ON KW LOU LEGAL HOUR SHOW

 

A good part of yesterday was spent working on tomorrow’s internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Join me at 10 in the morning my time. World wide. www.konkbroadcasting.com.

Topics will include Isaac and the Republican convention, of course. Plus an Assange update, a major medical screw up, women topless in NYC, a failed attempt to save a hippo in South Africa, a man who bit a snake to death, 17 Afghans beheaded for playing music and dancing, an example of the sick society we live in, mosquitos in the keys and Dallas, Catholic Church leader sentenced to jail, an 84 year old woman raped, bigamy, the You Tube video leading to an arrest for speeding, and more.

We live in interesting and challenging times. Join me for an hour of thought provoking exploration as I discuss the topics listed.

Also, published an article on Amazon Kindle: Civil War Ongoing.

Spent some time in the late afternoon with my heart doctor. A scheduled appointment.

Sloan arrived at 5. We worked a couple of hours on this and that. Mostly You Tube. Soon!

The Chart Room and Don’s Place or the Republican convention last night? My choice. Picked the convention. I am drawn to political discourse.

Paul Ryan established his credentials last night. Unquestionably. Just as Sarah Palin did four years ago. Ryan will be formidable opposition for Obama and company.

Condoleezza Rice’s performance outstanding. A talented well educated woman. I have mixed emotions about her. Based on a couple of books I read several years ago. An opportunist of the first order. Perhaps not a bad attribute for leaders of government.

It is going to be an interesting race. My thought…..It’s a long way to the finish line!

Bocce tonight! Fun time!

Poor New Orleans and the rest of the south being battered by Isaac. It could have been Key West. It is amazing how much damage even a category 1 hurricane can do. The work done after Katrina apparently was well done. The levees have held, with one exception.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

 

 

A TWO DAY BLOG

No blog yesterday. Sorry.

As you are aware, I am developing a new website, putting together a You Tube show, etc. Big time work. Detailed. Confusion occurs. Yesterday morning when I went to do this blog…..nothing. It was not me. It was Google and Granddaddy. Problem lasted till almost 5. It was too late for the blog by then.

Some of you are having problems in finding me. Others not. Hang in there. We are getting there. Hopefully in another week everything will be in order and no more mishaps.

One comment is consistent. Everyone likes the new website page. Those that can find it.

You Tube under construction. It should be up and running by the end of next week also.

Later this morning my Internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Ten in the morning my time. Worldwide. Join me. Always interesting and informative. www.konkbroadcasting.com.

Topics will include the Chinese activist looking for a place to go, Muslims burning churches in Ethiopia, the Roger Clemens trial, Oklahoma running out of execution drug, Kentucky courts budget slashed/courts to close down, manhole covers being stolen in NYC, college student unknowingly kept in jail 5 days without food or water, and more.

Wednesday night I decided to celebrate and try out my new implants. It was a prime rib dinner at Outback. I chewed and chewed and chewed. I am happy to report everything went well. One and a half years later, I am normal again. I can eat like every one else.

Bocce last night. We only won 1 of 3 games. All games close. But we did not have enough to get over the finish line in two of them. Plus, it was a money game. We are not doing well in the money game category this season.

With Albertsons closed, Publix is going crazy in an attempt to garner Albertsons business. Store hours start one hour earlier and close one hour later. A new quick check out counter has been opened.  And the huge Publix electrified sign outside which has not worked in years is under repair.

Finally for the funny of funnies. I have been so busy all week with the website change over and preparing for You Tube, I never prepared today’s Internet show. I forgot.  Remembered when I got home after bocce last night. I was up till 2 this morning doing it.

Enjoy your day!

Good morning world!

Good morning world! Another lovely Key West day in the making. I woke this morning with a fiery orange ball confronting my eyes. Bright. I had to turn away. It was the rising sun.

In recent days, I have spent much time  at home. Generally writing. Yesterday was that way. A good part of the day was spent on Friday’s Internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Interesting material. The show is easy to put together. The world about us is crazy. Every week more and more of the unbelievable occur. I merely report the happenings. With a comment or two, of course.

This week’s show will include the high school valedictorian who is facing deportation in Florida, Muslims burning a Catholic Church in Sudan, toxic tushes, an update on the Ladies Lingerie League, and the best of all…..a new Arizona law that says conception begins the first day of the woman’s last menstrual cycle.

The last item re the new Arizona law is really crazy. In effect it says that a person exists even before the egg and sperm unite. Even before the sex act was performed.

My Internet talk show can be found at www.konkbroadcasting.com. Friday mornings. Ten o’clock my time. Join me for a fast moving hour of life today.

Amongst other things yesterday, I published a new article to my Amazon Kindle blog. Key West Lou Law. It is called Santa Claus And Guns. Kids sitting on Santa Claus’ lap with all kinds of sophisticated guns behind Santa. Happened in Arizona the past two years. The same state that decreed life begins the first day of a woman’s last menstrual period.

One of the things that bothered me about the Santa and guns story is the advertisement which resulted in a standing line crowd: “Get your holiday pictures with Santa and his machine gun.”

Donna posted a lengthy comment to yesterday’s blog. She and Terri went to a Hollywood party. They ended up watching a movie. An old B film. Stella Stevens was at the party. I remember her. The wacky girl friend in the first Poseidon movie. Also the Asian boy from 16 Candles. I do not recall him. However, loyal reader Moto did and commented on him.

Bocce tonight. It will be the first time in three weeks that I will have ventured out to play. I look forward to it. Fun, people and a drink or two.

Ryno is returning! A great guy. He left Key West last year for Syracuse. Missed Key West. Calls it home. Ryno was my teacher when I started doing my radio show. Glad he is returning.

Enjoy your day!