Key West Lou / KEY WEST WINS CRUISE SHIP WAR

Ho, ho, ho, the little guy won!

It was David v. Goliath.

Beaten was a major attempt to reverse the will of the Key West populace. It took everything Key West had. The Mayor, Commission and private citizens. All had their shoulders to the wheel.

The mountain moved!

Key West’s three successful referendums to limit cruise ships remains intact. The victory came at the last minute. Remindful of Yogi Berra’s “it ain’t over till it’s over.”

The Florida legislative season ends Friday. The Senate bill had already passed muster. The House was to vote on it this past Monday or Tuesday. Late in the afternoon on Monday, the sponsor of the bill pulled it. It will not be resubmitted this term.

Had it passed the House, the Governor would have had to sign it by this coming friday. The burden is no longer his.

The proposed changes may pop up again next year or in some subsequent year. I doubt it will in the immediate future.

Some behind the scenes background which perhaps lends understanding to the bill being pulled. An if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, looks like a duck, it is a duck scenario developed.

I am not sure if the following was part of or the most significant in the political judgment process. It might have had no influence at all.

Mark Walsh lives in Delray Beach. A wealthy man. He owns the largest pier in Key West. Referred to as Pier 12 Development. Walsh will lose big dollars if the pier is underused as it now is and will continue to be.

At some point immediately before or after the legislative session began, Walsh companies donated $995,000 to Governor DeSantis’ war chest.

The 995,000 number strange in itself. Why not 1 million dollars?

The donation was combined by drawings from 11 of Walsh’s companies. Another strange item.

DeSantis is considered Presidential timber in the 2024 election. Most polls have him #1 at the present time.

He has had several embarrassments in recent months. Would the Walsh companies’ contributions have been another?

The bill’s sponsor in the House said the bill in effect contained technical difficulties.

Believe what ever you wish. What happened is yours to decide.

Several year ago, the British company Oxitec was a gigantic pain! Oxitec wanted to use the lower keys to test a new chemical mosquito killing formula.

Qxitec laid out specifically where the spraying from the air would occur. Those living in the areas were infuriated. Those not, could have cared less.

One place to be sprayed was my street. My home. The street only one block long. I envisioned the plane flying down the street towards my house and contaminating everything with a chemical yet to be danger tested.

People got together, had the problem put to a public vote and won. Oxitec left town.

One of the leaders in the moment opposing Oxitec was Ollie. A Chart Room friend. Loved by everyone. He has been employed for many years by a keys sewer system. He is chemically knowledgeable.

Oxitec has returned. This time to test a new formula on the upper keys. Of course, the people silent the last time are infuriated this time. Such is amusing.

I recall several writing letters asking what we in the lower keys were concerned about. The spray testing was a good thing. Mosquitoes a major Keys problem.

The shoe is on the other foot now.

An interesting side light.

Bill and Melinda Gates are among the most wealthy in the world. Bill the retired computer genius.

In June 2018, it was announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was in the process of disbursing $4.1 million to Oxitec. The purpose of the money to develop a new strain of mosquito.

I have always respected Bill Gates, his success and his many significant charitable gifts over the years. I find it hard to believe he would financially support what is scheduled to happen shortly in the upper keys.

Whatever, my suggestion is the new formula be tested somewhere in Africa and Brazil where the previous one was with little success. Keep the testing away from U.S. soil.

The cost of groceries has steadily risen for many years. A recent study indicates the cost of groceries is the highest it has been in 8 years.

Economists see a major price surge soon. Futures are up suggesting the same.

The study included what today are regarded as basics. Things like bread and pizza dough, meat and soda.

The rise in grocery prices has been described as “relentless…..pushing a basic meal beyond the reach of millions of poor families who were already struggling to get by.”

Contributing to price increases are higher freight costs and packaging.

Many are on Biden’s back constantly. Unfairly. Raising issues to embarrass him. Some of the issues are as a house built on sand.

Villanova University Law School sponsored a recent conference on the challenge Joe Biden’s presidency posed to the Catholic Church. The conference emphasized the need to deny Biden Communion.

An issue being heavily promoted by the Republican right.

Biden is accused of outright support for abortion. From my perspective, he supports a woman’s right to choose. There is a difference.

In any event, the is solely between Biden and God.

An NCP political columnist said the three speakers did not understand what they were talking about. The three were relying on Canon Law. The columnist said at issue was Roman law. They also were not aware Canon Law is open to a variety of interpretations.

The Communion Biden attacks are a real “problem and a frightening one.”

I have visited Milan several times. Historically significant as for example Rome.

I wanted to see everything!

One was the Esso gas station girder from which Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were hung.

It was on this day in 1945 that Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were captured and shot by Italian partisans while trying to escape to Switzerland.

The bodies were taken to the Piazzele Loreto in Milan the next day. An Esso petro station was located in the Piazzele. Their bodies were hung upside down from a girder on the station’s roof. The Milanese defiled the two bodies disgustingly thereafter.

I went to see the Esso station. It no longer existed. The Piazzele had been redesigned after World War II and the station was gone.

I will be out again tonight. Sons and Daughters of Italy meeting at 5. Then home to watch Biden’s State of the Union Address.

Enjoy your day!

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