Key West Lou / Things That Concern Me

By Louis Petrone

There are things which give me concern. Worry. I feel a need to vent re some.

Let’s start with Donald Trump. A disaster in the making. A bully first class. He tells people what they want to hear. Not what is necessarily good for them.

Trump appeals to those sick and tired with the status quo. In this regard, I cannot blame those who support him. The status quo stinks.

He is the Pied Piper leading followers that can only see and hear him. To their detriment as with the children that followed the Pied Piper.

There was another in history who appealed to the masses. Told them what they wanted to hear. Promised them anything and everything. Promised to change their lives. Spoke loud and boldly.

He did change their lives.

His name was Adolph Hitler. On January 30, 1933 Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. It was the beginning of the end for Germany.

I worry Trump’s election will be the end of the United States as we have known and still know it.

The lead water problem in Flint, Michigan is inconceivable. Not possible in this day and age. This is 2016. Things like this just do not happen.

Money was the driving force that caused the problem to occur. The need in these difficult times to save a buck. Should not have been done blindly and carelessly.

Someone failed to cross the T’s and dot the I’s.

As a result, thousands of children will be affected. Brain damaged.

The tenor of the immigration problem has changed. Initially it was we have to take care of these poor people escaping Syria and North Africa. Germany’s Merkel led the charge. Germany will take one million!

Merkel speaks no longer. She is silent. Especially since the rapes of German women at a railroad station.

The immigrants must be sent back to where they came from. Their sheer numbers are overwhelming. Each country that opts to take them will see the fabric of their society change dramatically. Today, tomorrow, and forever.

One solution is to end the Syrian War. ISIS is projected to only have 35,000 troops at the most. Send 50,000 plus troops in and wipe them out. Stomp on them in one swift movement.

Instead, our government moves from one side to the other. Not certain what to do.

Zika. A new word to most of us. A virus. A dangerous illness. For which there is no vaccine. It primarily affects the unborn. When born, the babies  will have small heads and small brains..

It is called microscopically. The result is a child subject during the child’s lifetime to various type brain defects.

One of the causes is thought to be genetically modified mosquitoes. The kind that the Mosquito Control Board tried to foist on us a couple of years ago. Cheaper and purportedly did a better job of eradicating mosquitoes.

The genetically modified mosquitoes were to be tested in the Keys and in Brazil. They were not tested in the Keys. They were in Brazil. They were dumped in a certain area of Brazil in 2012.

Since last October, 4,000 babies have been born in that area of Brazil with microcephaly.

The problem is acute. Zika is popping up worldwide. Nowhere in the numbers as Brazil, however.

The World Health Organization met last monday in emergency session to deal with the problem. President Obama has called for an immediate big time search for a vaccine.

When the Mosquito Control Board was pushing the genetically modified mosquito, I wrote the Keys should not be used as a testing ground for the unknown.

Tourists visiting Key West are becoming a problem.

The Tourist Development Council’s primary function is to market tourism. The organization has done an outstanding job. They have been highly successful. Too successful.

Key West is a small island. There have been more tourists this past year than ever before. I fear the island will sink under the sheer weight of them.

Hotels, motels, restaurants and bars are doing a big business. Rates and charges in most instances have gone up with the increased number of tourists. Traffic jams are horrendous. Too many people means too many cars. The worst ever. Traffic has never been this bad. Included is US 1. It takes longer to travel up and down the Keys.

The sidewalks overflowing with visitors. Jammed. Bicyclists everywhere. Most not accustomed to bike riding. None caring about traffic, stop lights, stop signs, etc. Key West has the highest rate of bicycle fatalities in the State of Florida. Any wonder.

Tourists crossing streets pay little attention to anything.

Private home rentals for tourists have sky rocketed in price. Weekly and monthly rentals the highest ever.

It used to be anyone building or renovating a Key West property had to conform to the taste and flavor of the neighborhood. No more. New motels and restaurants have been approved that are ultra modern in design

I believe if the pace continues, Key West will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Tourists learn swiftly. They will perceive Key West as too busy and too expensive. They will look elsewhere to vacation.

Anti-government citizen groups are growing rapidly. Becoming more vocal. Making their presence known. They are anti-American.

Anti-American groups are hostile to the interests of the United States. They dislike and fear government.

There has been a resurgence of such groups since 2008. Fueling factors include changing demographics driven by immigration, a struggling economy,and the election of the first African-American President.

Examples of such groups include the present armed occupation by citizens in Oregon. Citizens who are ready to die for their beliefs.

In 2015, there were 1,274 anti-government groups in the Unite States. Three hundred thirty four were military.

There are what are called sovereign groups. We are better than you type. They are generally racist and anti-Semitic.

Many of the groups are concerned with what they perceive as an impending government violence against the American people. They are preparing for the coming revolution.

Military spending. Fraught with waste. Washington cannot be depended upon to control the situation. Most elected Representatives are beholden to and owned by the corporations manufacturing military equipment.

What is needed in Washington is another Harry Truman.

In March 1942, the United States was heavy into lend lease. It was obvious war was coming. Military expenditures were zooming upward.

The Senate appointed a special committee to oversee government spending in the military area. Harry Truman was appointed Chairman. The committee became known as the Truman Committee.

Truman was not for sale. He took the job seriously. During World War II, he kept close watch on the spending. Truman’s committee exposed waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government’s wartime contracts. And prosecuted the bad guys!

We need another Harry Truman in Washington. The military is the biggest part of the U.S. budget.

Destruction of the middle class scares me. The middle class needs to be resurrected. American society cannot survive without a middle class. The 1 percent / 99 percent thing is poison.

Income inequality goes hand in hand with the destruction of the middle class.

Someone has to speak for workers. One thing is a return to strong unions.

Another is for the U.S. government to make the necessary changes in the tax structure so we get the billions in foreign tax havens back on our shores and taxed.

If the middle class is not resurrected, it will lead to the end of American society as we knew it and know it. The way things look now, I fear they can only get worse. Not better.

Wow! A lot to worry about. We better worry about every item. Each is important to us and the society we live in.

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