KICK ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE DOWN…..THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

The U.S. and Turkey are supposedly friends. Both led by authoritarian figures. Trump and Turkey’s President Erdogan. Birds of a feather.

Turkey has always been considered a key American ally. The U.S. has a large military base there. There is also a NATO base.

Friends no more. A pissing match instead. Trump is irritated Erdogan will not release an American minister it has held prisoner since 2016. Trump suggested an exchange. Some Turkish citizen the U.S. has been holding.

Erdogan said no. No one says no to Trump. Especially another authoritarian figure. As far as Trump is concerned, it is his way or the highway as far as Turkey is concerned.

Turkey has been hurting economically. Its currency fell to a record low this morning. Inflation 17.75 percent. The country is on the verge of an economic meltdown.

Turkey’s crisis has made the American dollar strong when pitted against Turkish currency.

Friday Trump delivered a major blow to Turkey. All because Turkey continued to refuse his demand that the minister prisoner be released. Trump doubled the tariffs already imposed on Turkey as part of the tariff wars. Aluminum rose to 20 percent and steel 50 percent.

Trump tweeted friday with the news: “Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!”

European and Asian stock markets have reacted to the tariff increases. The feud perhaps the start of a world wide recession similar to 2008. Though not considered imminent at this time. Turkey’s economy ranks only 17th world wide.

My concern is it only takes a spark to start a forest fire. One of the major California fires still burning a perfect example.

Trump is kicking a “friend” while the friend is down. Not what friends are for!

Now to my yesterday.

Brunch 10 to 12 at Hard Rock Cafe. Terri White was singing with Larry Baeder. A WOW! Great show! Performances outstanding! Be certain to go next week. Terri and Larry will regularly appear at brunch time every sunday.

For a blind woman, my girl does terrific!

Terri has another gig tonight. She is singing with Dueling Bartenders Tom Luna and Rick Dery at Aqua.

Go girl, go!

Spent the afternoon watching the PGA. Excellent golf. Brook Koepka won. By 2 strokes over Tiger Woods.

Brook has won 3 of the last 6 majors. Only 28. He has only one other win. A tour win. Unusual for someone who has won three big ones.

Tiger gets better every week. He is due back as a winner soon. And then a consistent one.

Tiger shot a 64 yesterday. His putting not yet what it was. Had a few dropped, he would have won.

On one of the last holes, he hit a 40 foot plus putt. It hung on the lip of the cup. Everyone holding their breaths waiting for it to drop. It did not.

Jean Thornton and I partied together last night. Began at the Orchid Bar. Victor bartending.

I meet a lot of interesting people. A couple I met at the Orchid Bar last night, one of the most interesting.

Dan and Pam. Now hail from Largo, Florida.

Dan is retired from the New York City Carpenter’s Union. Pam still working. Bookkeeper for general contractors.

Dan described two jobs he was especially proud of. One was the scaffolding when the Statue of Liberty was being shaped up. The other involved something to do with a major job at the UN where he had 80 men working under him.

Then to the Rum Bar. Jean and I not traveling together. Jean rides her bicycle all over town.

The Rum Bar will be a regular sunday stop for me. My friend Lauri the bartender there sunday evenings. Left Aqua after 17 years to work the Rum Bar.

With Lauri running the show, the Rum Bar is quickly becoming a new locals place. Donna and Terri, Sally, Ingrid, Art and George there when Jean and I arrived.

Jean and I decided on Antonia’s for dinner. Closed. Must be shut down for the slow days of August and September.

No problem. We went across the street to La Trattoria.

We had a terrific time! Jean a wonderful companion.

Tiffany bartending. She mentioned we have known each other for 25 years. True!

Dinner done. I was tired. Jean still raring to go. I went home. Jean peddled her bike to Vino’s.

The white nationals/supremacists were holding a major rally in Washington yesterday. Publicized Unite The Right 2. Turned out to be a flop. Only a small contingency of the group appeared.

Why?

These are bad people. Fascists, Neo-Nazis, and KKK members. They believe there is only one race. The white race.

They became empowered by Trump’s statement following Charlottesville last year. The President supported them. Seemed to legitimize them.

I think they realized though the President supported them, most of the people did not. The vermin disappeared back into the woodwork instead of participating in the rally.

This does not mean they will not return to raise havoc another day. They will. They are mostly young whites. Some are your neighbors, though you are not aware of their political leanings.

Be on your guard.

For the past several years, I have written and spoken re Afghanistan and its opium fields. Ninety percent of the heroin on American streets comes from the poppy seeds grown in Afghanistan.

How so if the U.S. has been engaged in a war in Afghanistan for 16 years? The poppy fields neither attacked or destroyed. Poppy farming goes on. Heroin a thriving business.

I have consistently suggested someone has to be on the take.  More than one. Too much drug money involved for it not to be so.

A recent government report indicates that as the Afghanistan war progressed, opium production increased. Even though the U.S., separate from war dollars, has spent $8.62 billion between 2002 and 2017 in an effort to eradicate the opium problem.

The attempt to eradicate an absolute failure. As the report stated: “Afghanistan remains the world’s largest opium producer, and opium poppy is the country’s largest cash crop.”

Enjoy your day!

NATIONAL NO BRA DAY

We have a day for everything. Why not a no bra day!

A National No Bra Day has been held for several years now. The day this year is October 13, 2015.

The ladies supporting the event cry out…..Celebrate without restraint! Others…..Ladies, unleash your boobies from the booby zoo!

Men are asked to support the day/cause by wearing something purple.

I have no comment. Other than if women want to go braless, their choice. I do not understand why a special day is required to encourage the activity. It is another commando choice situation. A personal one.

The sun shines bright in Key West. Generally, warm. Perfect weather for not getting sick. It happens, however. Yesterday I got hit with a stomach bug. Kept me in all day. I am fine this morning.

In between feeling lousy, I researched this week’s KONK Life column. Ironically, about doctors. Titled: The Doctors Killed The President. President James Garfield’s medical attention from the day he was shot till almost two months later when he died. Not the best of care.

I will write the column this afternoon.

I had a couple of misstatements in yesterday’s blog. Sometimes when it is late at night and after a couple of drinks, my retention is not always accurate.

Tiffany wrote. We had been discussing La Trattoria. I had Erin leaving three years ago. Incorrect. It was Kathy. Kathy passed on. It is true however that Erin is no longer at La Trattoria. Tiffany advises Erin is now at Smokin’ Tuna and The Little Jazz Room.

Bocce rankings in the paper today. We are in second place alone. Two games out of first. Only one team in first place.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

BROADWAY 3 WAYS OUTSTANDING!

Mark Watson’s fund raiser for Fantasy Fest King/AIDS Help at Aqua last night outstanding! Without question. Seven years since Broadway 3 Years has been presented. The stars returned. Mark Watson, Bobby Nesbitt, Bruce Moore and Chris Thompson.

There was neither a seat nor standing space available. Everyone turned out. Everyone had a terrific time.

I enjoyed the show immensely.

Saw Mary again. Second time in two weeks. Mary was working the door at Aqua. Mary worked for me some 15 years ago taking care of my Key West home. A talented woman.

Decided to eat at La Trattoria after the show. Walked down Duval. La Trattoria closed. Decided on La Trattoria on the Ocean where I had been last week. The egg plant drawing me back.

Glad I went to the ocean side La Trattoria. Tiffany bartending.

Tiffany a friend from days gone by. Had not seen her in at least 5 years. When we first met, she was the bartender at Antonia’s. Left. Then returned as a waitress.

I last saw Tiffany at Antonia’s. We were happy to see each other last night.

Tiffany has a winning personality. She updated me on her personal life and other things. Now married. Has gone from 2 dogs to 3. Works La Trattoria on Duval. Duval La Trattoria closed till November 7. Kitchen being remodeled. She was filling in at the ocean side La Trattoria last night.

Tiffany bartending at La Trattoria Duval. Erin gone about 3 years.

I enjoyed the egg plant and Tiffany.

My yesterday began with the anti-gravity treadmill. First thursday. I am now up to 4 times a week. Working towards 5.

Three consecutive days a bit tiring. I will become accustomed.

Did my 10 minute bit on the KONK News Hour yesterday. 104.9 radio. Guy deBoer interviewing me re my KONK Life column this week concerning Pope Francis.

I learned yesterday that Conch Color has published its last issue this week. Described as a hiatus. So there is hope for its return.

Conch Life was Tom Oosterhoudt’s brain child. A paper full of photos of Key West events and people. Highly successful. Illness the reason for the temporary close down.

Tom has a bad back. Very bad. I have never met anyone with the problems he has had with his back. His mother Mary Ann Worth is getting on in years. Neither available to work the paper at this time.

Tom, get better quickly and back to of one Key West’s prizes, Conch Color.

Judge Peary Fowler has been a sitting judge for years. Quiet and unassuming. Rarely mentioned in the papers. Yesterday she became newsworthy big time!

She held a defendant in $13 million bail. Big! Unusual!

The defendant an alleged sex abuser. The victim  a girl, 6-13 years old when the acts were purportedly committed.

Justice!

One of the finest people I have been privileged to meet in Key West is Nancy Robinson. Nancy passed on recently. At 91.

Nancy can only be described as a class act. She was always out and about town till her recent illness. Loved by all.

Mother of 4, I only knew/know her daughter Martha. Martha a class act in her own right. She cared for her mother in the years before and at the time of her death. Care first class and without reservation. Sadly, few children assume the responsibility in today’s society.

No Syracuse football today. A bye week.

Enjoy your day!

A BUSY MONDAY

I left for Miami at 7 yesterday morning and returned at 10:30 last night. A busy day. The Volkswagen was in need of a 10,000 mile check up.

After dropping the car of at DEEL Volkswagen on Bird Ave., I had four hours to kill. I was directed to Meeker Center, a 10 minute walk. Meeker is a first class lovely three story shopping mall. All the big stores. Like Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Tiffany. Lovely restaurants here and there.

Meeker was an interesting experience.

Attire. I was dressed Key West style. Shorts, shirt and crocs. No one wore shorts. Forget crocs. I was a stranger in my own country. Men wore long pants, some jackets. The women all dressed neatly and attractively. The six inch heels blew me out. I discovered flats are also in this year for women.

I looked out of place.

I rarely get off the rock, as we say. As I walked through Nordstrom, it struck me I have purchased new clothes rarely the past 10 years. Not needed if you live in Key West. It is a new tee shirt or two and an occasional pair of shorts.

I was taken by the sport shirts, then shoes and finally sport jackets. The tee shirts started at $98. Sport shirts were in the $150 range. Beautiful shirts! Shoes! Wild! I can not even wear leather shoes in Key West. Yet I spent at least an hour looking at them. From $200 to $600.

I used to visit Tiffany frequently on business trips to New York City. Generally to look, not to buy. I got to do it again yesterday.

I was wearing a three day beard.

People fell all over me trying to take care of me. I suspect they thought I was a rich eccentric.

From the heights of affluence to reality. I stopped at a Walmart on the way home. Bought some tee shirts, sport shirts and shorts. All for much less than one sport shirt at Nordstrom would have cost.

Walmart will soon have a store on nearby Rockland Key. It will sell groceries also. I walked around the food section checking out prices. Walmart had everything. Prices very low. Key West’s Publix and Winn Dixie will not be able to compete. They will have to lower prices to do so.

On the way back to Key West, I stopped at the Islamorada Fish Company for stone crabs. Broke my diet. They were delicious! The best!

Everyone was dressed like me.

Monday’s E-Blast carried an article re the Waterfront brewery remodeling. The property is city owned. It is being remodeled for the two tenants who will be occupying. A brewery and restaurant.

My concern is with over costs/over runs. Everything Key West does construction wise, involves the taxpayers getting hit with additional costs for alleged unexpected problems. The brewery thus far has run into two. An additional cost of $64,000. Not much, but more.

Over costs seem to occur on every type construction Key West is involved in. Sometimes in the millions. I never ran into this situation in other areas. Key Wet calls them unexpected. I call them a series of screw ups by the city in not properly investigating and/or discovering the work initially.

Key West never seems to learn.

My blog talk radio show tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. Join me for a hard hitting half hour. I rip the scabs off!

Tonight’s topics will include more on the California water drought. More than merely running out of water. Who are the real culprits and the unaware pain that occurs.

Also, Florida climate change and Governor Scott, more on police quotas, Greece soon to leave the Eurounion, the euro falling against the dollar meaning cheap European vacations this summer, and a tiny country most have never heard of that is making a ton of money as the new place to wash dirty money.

The show can be found on the internet at www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!