TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HEARTLESS

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Normally, I begin with Key West activities and matters of interest. Then move on to political observations, etc.

This morning a couple of things are sufficiently bothering me that I am opening with them. Key West matters follow.

The law is the law. Sounds absolute. It is and is not. There are exceptions to every law. I know. I practiced law for 46 years.

A present day example involves blacks killed by police officers. In most instances appears to be murder. However indictment of police officers extremely rare. There is an exception to a murder charge where the police officer is the perpetrator. If the police officer believes he is in danger of death, he can shot  and kill with no legal liability.

A national disgrace occurred yesterday morning at the Orlando Airport. Alejandra Juarez was deported to Mexico. Alejandra is 39. Illegally entered the U.S. 20 years ago. Married Temo. Temo became a naturalized citizen before his first deployment to Iraq. He deployed 3 times to Iraq as a Marine.

They have 2 daughters. Pamela 16 and Estela 9.

Alejandra has no criminal record.

She duly reported to immigration each year. Never a problem. Permitted to remain. Till now.

As part of Trump’s zero tolerance program, she was deported. Leaving behind her husband and daughters.

Immigration laws are not absolute. Not all here illegally need be deported. There are exceptions. One is “parole in place.” It is discretionary. Permits the authorities to allow an illegal to remain. It is generally applied where the person is a spouse of one who has served in the military.

Alejandra applied 4 times for the parole in place exception. Four times denied.

Alejandra’s Congressman, together with several other Congresspersons, wrote a letter to the President asking that she be allowed to remain. No response.

Temo wrote a personal letter to the Trump explaining he had fought for his country 3 times in Iraq and asking that his wife be permitted to remain. To no avail.

Temo’s job requires traveling. Sixteen year old Pamela is remaining home to live with her father. Nine year old Estela will soon be following her mother to Mexico, however. She needs a mother’s attention. With Temo’s work schedule, such is not possible.

A shame. The story sick.

The dark side of the immigration crisis.

Trump proclaimed “zero tolerance.” Means to me all illegals return to where ever they came from. Not the case in practice.

Syracuse University on July 24 analyzed deportations under the zero tolerance policy. Concern existed especially because of the number of parents and children being separated.

The government is playing games.

In April, 8,298 illegals were apprehended. Zero tolerance came into being. In May, the  number jumped to 40,338. Thirty two percent of the 40,338 were prosecuted.

Here is where the chicanery comes into play. Prosecutorial discretion applies. The government selects those to be brought before a court and deported. Parents with children were singled out for prosecution. Understand clearly, parents with children to be deported swiftly. Illegals without children generally not referred for prosecution.

My point. The government practiced a policy whereby parents with children were selected for deportation. The administration wanted to show how tough it was and children made no difference.

The Trump administration succeeded. However now selective prosecution rears its head. Similar to no records re the children’s whereabouts. What more will we learn as time goes on?

A blot on the character of the United States. Disgraceful.

Is this who we are? What we have become?

One more story involving immigration.

Two male employees at Arizona Migrant Children Centers have been charged with sexual abuse. The facilities operated by Southwest Key Programs. Southwest Key has received $995 million since 2015 in federal contracts to provide shelter services to children in federal custody.

Two separate facilities involved in the sexual abuse matters.

At one, a male employee was discovered kissing and fondling a 14 year old girl. At another, an HIV positive worker was discovered to have gropped 6 teen age boys and having performed oral sex on 2 others.

Whether Alejandra’s story, zero tolerance pin pointing parents with children, or pedophilia situations being discovered, a new swamp has been created. A more dangerous one. To be drained or permitted to go on?

Last night a change of pace for me. Decided to go down to the waterfront. Schooner Wharf and Waterfront Brewery.

Schooner Wharf always fun. Packed with tourists last night. Spoke with an English couple. Both work with Parliament. First time in Key West.

Walked over to the Waterfront Brewery for a bite to eat. Sat at the bar and watched a replay of yesterday’s PGA tournament. Tiger Woods up there. Could win. I pull for the guy. He has paid his dues for any wrongdoing. He deserves a couple more times in the limelight as a winner.

I eat at the Brewery rarely. When I do, I order fish and chips. The fish outstanding. Large, crispy, and juicy.

Donna and Terri’s tonight for dinner. Donna cooking. She called this morning to ask if I liked scallops. Of course! Whatever she is preparing will include scallops.

Bear is 8 months old. In 10 days, he is scheduled to be neutered. Disgusting!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

CHARACTERS AND CONVERSATION

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No question, Key West has its share of characters. Generally locals.

The description character not meant to be disparaging. It merely reflects the unique nature of Key West society.

Don’s Place is a venue where the conversation merits recognition. Perceptive, interesting, amusing, etc.

Ten years ago, I told don we should put together a show. One originating from Don’s Place. I suggested a corner of the outside bar. Light it up. Place several customers at the corner. Have them talk for two hours. Nothing special. whatever they chat about normally. Film it all.

The two hour film would be edited to a half hour. Then we would try to get it aired on TV.

A guaranteed winner!

Don said no. I could not convince him.

Someone has finally decided to try it. Take advantage of the unique snappy dialogue that can be found among Key West locals.

The Dive Shop on Northern Boulevard is behind the move. The creators Tom Jackson, a 30 year Key West resident and Rich Vaughan, a former Key West resident now living in New York City.

The stars Key West stereotypes. Played by locals and New York actors.  The title Lost Reef Adventures.

Shooting begins July 27.

Good luck, guys!

My day yesterday began with an early afternoon manicure with Tammy. Fortunate I had an appointment. Standing room only Saturday afternoons for nails.

Then to Urgent Care to have my back x-rayed. I still have pain in the ball on my left foot. Beginning to bother my left calf because I favor my left foot. The pain is less every day, however.

Diana Millikan back in town!

We had dinner together last night at the Waterfront Brewery.

Diana has leased a small condo on Northern Boulevard for a year. She will be playing a snowbird. Back and forth. Present trip till late this month.

Good conversation. Diana is a devoted Trump supporter. One of the blind. She refuses to see. The man is crazy.

Why England three times with the terrorists in  three months? Strange. Whatever, I hope the terrorists remain on the European side of the Atlantic.

The pending English elections might be the reason. Next thursday. Could it be the terrorists are trying to show that Theresa May is not doing a good job in protecting the English people?

If so, they have failed. She and her team have come up a winner each time following an attack.

The 19th Amendment was passed this day around 1918. Gave women the right to vote.

I am a student of history. I find it amazing that men have always tried to keep women down. Treat them as second class citizens.

Women have had to fight every step of the way. They still are fighting men who oppose their right to control their own bodies.

The wives of such political leaders should deny their husbands marital rights for a period each time they do some asinine  anti-female thing.

George Washington was not always a winner.

Young George was 22 and a Lieutenant Colonel in 1754. Helped build Fort Necessity in the Ohio Valley. A shack more than a fort.

The concern was for the French Canadians coming down and trying to take over what was then a British Ohio Valley.

Washington was unable to defend the makeshift Fort Necessity. He surrendered to the French and their Indian friends.

The defeat blossomed into the Seven Years War which began two years later.

Enjoy your Sunday!

SCHOONER WHARF and WATERFRONT BREWERY

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Last night was my only time out yesterday.

Schooner Wharf and Waterfront Brewery. Drinks at Schooners and calamari at the Brewery.

A quiet evening.

Early afternoon watched Trump’s speech. Thought it was going to be a foreign policy talk. Not. Turned out to be primarily about ISIS.

The talk contained nothing new. Discussed by him in the past. Many parts erroneous. His basic thrust he was going to stop ISIS. Details few as to how.

I suspect he wrote the speech himself.

A lot of nothing. All bones, no meat.

Brought to mind one of the passages from Macbeth. The passage deals with life and death. However has application to Trump and what he says. “…..a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Trump is on trial in federal court in West Palm Beach. The trial started yesterday. A civil suit. Breach of contract. $6 billion by unhappy golf club members. Trump testified yesterday. By a recorded deposition made in April 2015.

Most of my day time hours were spent preparing for tonight’s podcast. My blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. As usual, a fast moving half hour of interesting topics. Some revealing.

The show begins at 9 my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Topics include Argentina’s two recent victories in battles with Monsanto, a “Deputy of the Year” who raped three girls, Malia Obama’s purported pot smoking, US presently in four ground wars, DEA continues to claim cannabis has no medical value, 6 year old Chicago student handcuffed for taking candy off teacher’s desk, Merkel on the downslide, recollections of Woodstock, the Venezuela famine, and more.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

OUTSTANDING GOLF…..PERHAPS THE BEST EVER

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My eyes have never seen a better round of competitive golf. The final day of the British Open. Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson battling. Hole by hole. The match one stroke either way. The final three holes decided the event. Stenson won by three strokes.

Both made spectacular shots. Their putting outstanding. I have never seen better putting. Twenty to thirty feet like a one footer. Stenson sunk a 51 footer from off the green.

Viewing the round made for a very pleasant afternoon.

Last night, I started with Schooners. Bar only half full. Enjoyed a drink while watching the natives.

Then to Mark’s. The new hotel across the street. The Mark only has an out door bar. Poolside. A nice area. Packed with couples in the pool and on lounges.

I did not stay. There was no one over 30 years of age.

Walked across the street from Marks to the Waterfront Brewery. A good crowd. No room at the bar. I left.

It was across the street to Pepe’s. Been a year or two since I have eaten there. Sat at the bar. Chatted with the bartender. He used to work at the Chart Room one night a week. Chatted with two guys from Marathon who drove down for the day.

Enjoyed the barbecued chicken. Half a chicken. The meal to order when at Pepe’s.

The back of Pepe’s menu has an historical page. Pepe’s got its start in 1909. Then at 202 Duval. Pepe’s now on Caroline.

The page commented Truman used to stop at the Duval Pepe’s to have coffee and talk with the locals.

The page further made mention that the two popular songs in 1909 were By the Light of the Silvery Moon and Who’s Kissing Her Now. I could not understand how the songs were that old. I hum them on occasion to this day. Danced to both tunes in high school and college.

It was the movies! Both made during my school days. With big time stars. Doris Day in 1953 starred in By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Who’s Kissing Her Now starred June Haver in the 1947 movie. Many vocal artists in the 1950s and 1960s recorded the song. Ray Charles, Ernie Ford, Bobby Darin, Perry Como and Dean Martin.

Fantasy Fest came early this year. Last friday night. This morning’s Citizens’ Voice carries a comment by an individual who claims he saw topless body painted women at 5 in the afternoon on Duval.

William Hackley makes mention in his diary entry of this date in 1855 that Baby is well. God bless!

The Republican Convention begins today. A success or fiasco? Time will tell. Trump’s people indicate its nature will be showbiz.

Trump and Pence were interviewed last night on 60 Minutes. I saw excerpts this morning on TV. Trump looked like an ass and made Pence look equally erratic in the portions I saw.

More police officers killed by a black in Baton Rouge.

These black killings of police had to happen. They were inevitable. I warned two years ago they would come if the killings of blacks continued.

Never forget, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Violence begets violence. Blacks are saying…..Stop treading on us!

Security will be heavy at the Republican Convention. Likewise at the Democrat Convention. Police officers are coming from as far as California to assist. Who pays for all the security? You. The taxpayer. The federal government gives $50 million to each Convention for security purposes.

Rome burned this day in 64 AD. We are told Nero fiddled while Rome burned. He could not have fiddled. The fiddle did not exist at the time.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

WATERFRONT BREWERY

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Key West has another winner!

The new Waterfront Brewery.

I enjoyed dinner there last night. The site of the former Waterfront Market.

Great looking place. Terrific bar. Huge. I sat at a table next to the water. Giant overhead doors open. The restaurant crowded. I am not sure the place can ever be described as packed. Big! Too big!.

I sufficiently enjoyed I intend to return soon.

Yesterday morning was the anti-gravity treadmill. I am proud of my progress. I am proud that I am keeping at it. My tendency has been to quit a physical exercise thing after a while. Too much work.

Went to the movies last night. 45 at the Tropic Cinema. The 4 o’clock show.

45 good. Not great. On the heavy side. Worth seeing. Portrays the pain that can occur after 45 years of marriage.

There were only six of us watching the film. The others were talking age. In their 60s. The oldest 64. All proud. I kept quiet. I did not want to bust their bubble by telling them I was 80.

Stopped into La Concha for a drink. The new bar in the middle of the first floor a perfect place for solitude drinking. Try it. Better I am sure with a partner.

Then to Christine Cordone’s gallery exhibit on the lower end of Caroline. I walked from La Concha. Parking would have been a problem had I driven.

Christine’s work the best! A talent discovered by others in her senior years. Brilliant watercolors.

A step back in history. Instigated by the marriage this date in 1826 between Millard Fillmore and Abigail Powers. Fillmore later became President of the United States.

Their names. Millard and Abigail popular in their day. Not today. Unless a family name, no one would label a son Millard. Abigail stands no chance at all.

Reverse the situation. Think how odd the popular names of today would be in 1826.

This week’s KONK Life column Things That Concern Me appears in two additional places today. It is linked to my Key West Lou website. It also ran in this morning’s E-News Blast.

The weather has changed again. For the cold! Fickle weather since the first of the year.

It was 78 yesterday. Today will be in the mid to high 60s. The wind started blowing during the night. Woke me. Loud. I could see why this morning. My palm trees were being driven straight south by a strong north wind.

Memories. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The movie made its debut this week in 1938. An unexpected hit at the time. Only Walt Disney had faith in the film. He put all his money into it. Even his wife thought it was not a wise investment and tried to dissuade him.

I distinctly recall seeing Snow White about a year later in 1939. I would have been 4 years old at the time. The opening scene was the Wicked Queen looking in a mirror and asking…..Who is the fairest one of all? The mirror answered…..Snow White.

The Wicked Queen scared the hell out of me!

Saw the film at a neighborhood theater in Utica. The Rialto. My cousins Phil and Lois took me. Phil four years older than me. Lois, two.

A great movie! We stayed and watched it a second time. If my memory is correct there were two films showing. The other was Gunga Din. We saw Gunga Din a second time also.

I mention my cousins for a specific reason. Phil is now 84. Lois, 82. You know Louis 80.

Aunt Mary, Phil and Lois’ mother, lived to 102. My father, her brother, to 98. The body breaks down. Theirs did to an extent. Their minds however sharp till the day each died.

Enjoy your day!

 

REPUBLICAN DEBATE

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Last night’s Republican debate better than the first. Much better. Issues were discussed. Could have been discussed more. However, Trump kept getting in the way.

I consider Trump a buffoon. The man is not qualified to be President. It would scare me if he was. His lack of knowledge re issues was obvious. His high fi hand slapping childish.

Rubio impressed me with his foreign affairs knowledge. He was able to articulately convey it, also. Fiorina impressive. The woman is sharp. Bush was better. What we all expected from him in the first instance. Graham belongs with the big boys. First time he ever impressed me. Foreign affairs his issue. He knew his business.

The evening was too long. As much of a political junkie that I am, I got tired after a while. One problem was CNN’s work up to the first debate. I was on TV at 5 expecting the debate to begin. It did not till after 6. The debates are not a Super Bowl.

My screw off day yesterday was simple. The anti-gravity treadmill. The afternoon spent reading and napping. I read an excellent in depth article on Robert Redford. The name of the magazine escapes me. I also read for a while It’s Even Worse Than It Looks.

This morning’s Key West Citizen has a detailed article about the new Waterfront Brewery which is scheduled to open soon. A major undertaking. The rent the Brewery has to pay shocked me. Key West owns the property or controls its rent. The rent is roughly $614,000 a year. Fifty thousand a month! Got to sell a lot of beer!

Bocce tonight. We are scheduled to play Larry’s team. A money game.

Don’t know whether we will play. Rained all night. Very overcast at the moment. Weather report says scattered showers and thunderstorms all day.

I have an early haircut appointment this morning.

Enjoy your day!

 

A BUSY MONDAY

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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!