Key West Lou / ROBERT…..GET YOUR ASS OUT OF TALLAHASSEE

Hurricane Helene is moving northward towards the Gulf side of Florida. At the moment around 8 in the morning, it is opposite Key West. Presently a Category 2. Expected to be a Category 4 at some point.

Helene an unusual hurricane. Wide. One of the widest ever. It runs 345-400 miles wide from the center.

Helene will not strike Key West. Its center is too far out. We had some rain during the night. Gray outside. Heavy winds blowing at the moment, however. I would estimate the gusts at 50 mph.

I have a concern for Tallahassee. Home of Florida State. Robert and Ally attending college there.

They have taken different positions on how to deal with Helene. Ally came home a couple of days ago. Spoke with her last night. She left early, no traffic.

Helene has been predicted to be a Category 4 when it passes over Tallahassee. She got out of Dodge!

Robert is playing it differently. He opted to wait a bit longer, though not necessarily stay.

I spoke with him on the phone last night. The problem is he still is in Tallahassee! He is trying to make up his mind. I suspect he did not expect things to get so confusing and wild.

He and his roommates have two options. A friend’s parents live in a “hurricane proof” home. They can stay there. With a Category 4, I don’t think anything is “hurricane proof.”

The three have also rented an airbnb house somewhere else away from the danger. I am not sure where.

Robert has a good head on his shoulders. The only advice I could give was, “You’re a big boy and have a good head on your shoulders which I know you will use.”

His problem as he explained to me was “everything is moving so fast.” He and his buddies had a time deadline by which to decide what to do.

My advice would have been, “Get your ass out NOW!” I’m not there however and it has to be his decision to make. As nervous as I am becoming, I know he will make the correct one…..whatever that may be.

Corey just telephoned. A third option came up. One they took. The boys decided to get out of Dodge. They drove south of Daytona to New Smyrna Beach which is on the Atlantic side. Arrived 3 this morning. Should be safe and secure. God bless!

I’m too old for this!

Seems to be a season for indicting politicians and other well known persons. The word last night was that New York City Mayor Eric Adams would be served today with papers indicting him on federal corruption charges.

I’m surprised. He has been a hard working straight guy. Tough. All we can do is sit back and see what it is. Then comment more directly. At the moment, I am inclined to wish him well.

The Editorial Board of the New York Times reran again its July 11, 2024 editorial of Non-Support for Trump. They must have considered the Editorial contents important enough to do so. It nails Trump right between the eyes.

The title is one of significant verbiage: Donald Trump Is Unfit To Lead. Opening words: “He is dangerous in word, deed and action. He puts self over country. He loathes laws by which we live.”

It is repeated today. I recommend its reading. I wrote in support of the Editorial when the Times published it the first time.

On this day in 1960, the first debate between Presidential nominees ever took place. Kennedy and Nixon the nominees. The debate was to be televised and played on the radio.

We were all excited.

My reaction after watching the debate on TV. Kennedy the winner. Nixon was sweating profusely and made him look terrible.

However, those that listened only to oral on the radio thought Nixon had won. I listened to the radio rerun the next day and agreed. Nixon’s responses were much better.

On this day in 1986, Antonin Scalia was sworn in as the Supreme Court’s 103rd member. At the time, his credentials showed he was qualified. I thought he was also.

Since that time, my opinion has proved otherwise. Most will disagree with me.

I have been unhappy with Scalia’s performance for two reasons.

The first is he came up with an originalism approach to deciding cases. Emphasis shall be given to the way things were when the Constitution/Amendments were written in deciding cases. Never made sense to me. Things were different back then in the late 1700s and early 1800s when the basic Constitution and initial group of amendments were adopted. Did not make sense to me to rely on aged facts and concepts to solve today problems.

The second reason I was down on Scalia was he was one of the first to take advantage of free trips to conventions and other gatherings sponsored by those whose cases were bound to end up before the Supreme Court.

Scalia was an intellectually sound person, but the wrong choice for the Supreme Court because of his legal philosophy and laissez-faire attitude about conventions and trips.

Citizens’ Voice this morning with two items worthy of repetition.

The first: “I love the library. It’s an asset to the community with all the resources it provides.”

I agree. For a selfish reason, also. The Key West library is part of the library operation for all of Monroe County. Its offices are in the Key West library building on Fleming Street. My son-in-law Corey Malcom is the Chief Librarian. He is the honcho who runs the entire library system. He does a bang up job! He’s on top of everything and accommodating to everyone.

The second involves “out of control spending” by the City of Key West. The question raised was, “When will the City of Key West get hold of its out-of-control spending? In just 10 years the budget has gone from about $156 million to $262 million.”

Enjoy your day!

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