Key West Lou / AN ASSHOLE IS AN ASSHOLE

Up front, let me apologize for the title. It was the first that came to mind. Nothing else as representative or befitting the facts.

Sometimes you have to call them as you see them.

The “hero” of this tale is Representative Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican. A Trump die hard, also. To each his own.

Gohmert has refused to wear a face mask. To be expected. Trump has refused to wear one, also.

Gohmert tested positive yesterday for coronavirus.

He announced later in the day that he planned to “use hydroxychloroquine” to treat the virus. He said, “My doctors and I are all in.”

Normally federal judges are quite good. They follow the law. Not all judges do.

A number of Portland protesters have been arrested. Misdemeanor charges. They came before the court. The federal magistrate agreed to release them on “bond” (does not mean the case is over / the defendant technically must return for other court appearances and a trial or the defendant will merely forfeit bail and not appear for trial thereby ending the case with no criminal conviction applying.)

The judge has required each protester to sign and agree to an Order Setting Conditions of Release. A certain paragraph in the Order reads: “Defendant may not attend any other protests, rallies, assemblies or public gathering in the State of Oregon.”

Totally improper! Unconstitutional on its face! Arm twisting by the court.

A judge under the circumstances of this case has no right to require such agreement from a defendant. By so requiring, he is forcing the defendant to waive his right of free speech. Basically, the right to protest.

This scenario is similar to the Michael Cohen situation which occurred in the past 10 days in federal court in New York City.

Cohen had been released to home confinement because of the coronavirus epidemic. He was with his lawyer making a required routine visit to federal officials.

The word was out Cohen was writing a book about his experiences with Trump. The officials said Cohen had to sign an agreement that he would not write the book nor discuss his time with Trump with the media. Otherwise, he would be returned to jail.

Cohen refused. He was returned to jail. Several days later a federal judge released Cohen saying to prohibit his writing the book was an unconstitutional violation of his rights.

John Galt has been a religious reader of this blog for many years. A student of history. We agree more than we disagree. However, we do disagree on occasion.

John commented on the blog I wrote the other day titled: Grim Reaper Ain’t Gonna Get Reaped. I share his comment not because he agreed or disagreed with me re what I wrote. I share it with you because I learned some historical facts I was not aware of.

John wrote, “Some of the federal police opposing the demonstrators in Portland are from the Federal Protective Service. The FPS is one of those federal agencies that most of us have never heard of. Its origin dates back to 1790 when President George Washington was acquiring buildings to become the location for the seat of the federal government. Six ‘night watchmen’ were hired to protect the designated buildings the government was planning to use. FPS races its origin to those six night watchmen. In 2002, the agency was transferred to the newly formed DHS.”

Pizza Hut is cutting back on its operation and number of Pizza Huts.

The organization will be closing hundreds of locations in the U.S. Those that remain open will no longer provide restaurant service. The dine-ins have been under performing in recent years. The stores will provide only delivery and carry out.

I came across another Pizza Hut announcement. Its Greece stores will close. All or some? The news notation was slight. I could not discover any further information.

I would wonder why Pizza Hut or any other U.S. quick food chain would even open in Greece. I never saw a Pizza Hut in my many Greece travels. Also, Greece provides some of the finest short order quick food restaurants probably in the world. I enjoyed my lunches more than the dinners. That good!

Remember 2008 when American banks were too big to fail. The banks were saved by the government on that premise. To the detriment of millions of people who lost their homes in mortgage foreclosures. No governmental assistance.

Banks continue to get away with murder. U.S. banks on a precipice. Something many are unaware of.

European banks, also.

Th Spanish Banco Santander is a European biggie. For the first six months of this year, it announced a $12.7 billion loss. Its first loss ever in 163 years.

A primary reason was the bank’s write off of expected loan losses. Many coronavirus caused.

I have an uneasy feeling. Tropical storm Isaias has come about rather suddenly and is expected over Florida saturday. The cone looks like Irma. Initially, directly over Key West. Now could be either east or west coast of Florida. If east coast, we could be hit.

I have tons of food. However little “hurricane food.” Things like bottled water, crackers, peanut butter, jam, cookies. Thinks that do not have to be cooked. Can’t cook without electricity. Can’t store food that will spoil when the refrigerator stops working.

Isaias not a big deal compared to Irma. Irma was coming in as a category 5. Isaias will be a tropical storm.

Florida’s Governor De Santis rarely does anything right. Especially matters that are coronavirus related.

Yesterday was one of those rare occurrences when he exercised proper judgment.

There has been an eviction and foreclosure moratorium that is scheduled to expire saturday. De Santis has extended the moratoriums to September 1.

Trump continues his ill advised ways.

I wrote yesterday of Dr. Immanuel who supports the use of hydoxychloroquine. Trump became aware of her yesterday. He was on TV at 5 lauding her virtues.

The media did a quick in depth check on her. Turns out she is a fruitcake. Believes demons and witches are involved in our lives, that aliens have sex with humans in their dreams, etc.

By the time Trump went to bed last night he had to know he had praised a nut.

Apparently Trump does not care. He was back on TV this morning not backing off her purported virtues. He continued to laud her. She had spoken from the steps of the Supreme Court with a bunch of doctors listening to her.

He thought she was A-ok. I suspect so because she endorsed the use of hydroxychloroquine as the cure all for coronavirus. He avoided questions as to her demonic/witchery beliefs.

Trump’s support of Dr. Immanuel as good as Trump’s belief at one time that Clorox or bleach ingested would quickly cure coronavirus.

A survey released yesterday suggested taller people faced a higher risk of catching Covid-19. The study revealed that people 6 feet or more tall were twice as likely to be diagnosed with coronavirus.

Conclusion: The virus spreads through the air, not only from droplets.

Makes me happy that I lost 4 inches in height in recent years. From 6’1″ to 5’9″. Old age.

Enjoy your day!

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