KEY WEST LOU / CONGRATULATIONS BIG PINE RESIDENTS AND SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT…..ON TOP OF A DISGRACEFUL ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATION

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department arrested 2 men on January 11 for dumping a container filled with liquid hazardous waste and oil on Pine Avenue in Big Pine. Big Pine residents saw and reported the event. They were a major assistance to the Sheriff’s Department in solving the crime.

My career was spent as an environmental attorney. Even the slightest amount of hazardous waste or oil can result in significant consequences. Water, including drinking water, is highly susceptible to contamination. The water table is fragile. The entire eco system. And on Big Pine, the tiny Key deer.

The cleanup weight of the hazardous material involved weighed more than 30,000 pounds.

Everyone involved in apprehending the criminals is to be congratulated. Good citizenry at work!

Banks are whores. Bankers the worst. Some ways they “earn” fees wrong. Like $35 or some other excessive amount for a bounced check. An excessive fee, especially when the bad check/overdraft in many instance is less than the amount the bank charges.

Biden wants to change this type of charge. He has proposed a plan that would reduce the overdraft fee to $3. Biden said re the exorbitant overdraft charges: “Banks call it a service – I call it exploitation.”

Steve Bannon predicts Trump’s first 100 days will set a 50 year agenda. A little extreme. Could be as good as Hitler’s 12 years. Recall Hitler predicted what he “accomplished” early on would last 1,000 years. Bad things have a way of self-destructing.

And who should accept anything Bannon says as good for a government, for a people? His sole goal in life has been to bring down existing governments. Together with Newt Gingrich, he has been working to take down Pope Francis and the Vatican for several years.

Wake up Trump supporters! People like Bannon will help destroy our Nation.

Today’s podcast was done 7 years ago. Even a bit truer today. Its title: A Happy Cow Is A Cash Cow. I almost titled it: Would You Believe!

Congress yesterday sent legislation to Biden that will avert a partial government shutdown. Republican House Speaker Johnson supported the measure.

The legislation would have failed in the House had Democrats not supported it. Republicans voted 107 in support, 106 opposed. Democrats provided the bulk of the House support.

The humorous World War II movie Operation Petticoat began filming this day in 1959 in Key West. The movie starred Cary Grant and Tony Curtis.

What follows is something most Americans today have no idea occurred. The U.S. is reenacting a scenario that happened in the 1930’s. The German American Bund, aka German Christian American Bund, was a pro nationalist organization. Fascism its basis. Against democracy. People were toying with trying something different. Sought a different way.

U.S. social order was in trouble. The German American Bund felt a dictator at the top of government would be best. Deep anti-Semitism. Racial discrimination. Racism had popular support. The Ku Klux Klan popular. Anti-immigration. Anti-Catholicism. Anti-democracy.

Anti-Semitism was a publicly addressed issue. Henry Ford was a popular anti-Semite. A Catholic priest, Father Coughlin, constantly denounced Jews on the radio. Both men viewed Jews as a huge danger.

Eugenics became popular.

There were Nazi Summer Camps where children spent their summers learning archery and anti-Semitism.

In New York city, the German American Bund was fomenting a coup. Filled Madison Square Garden with its followers.

In Yaphank on Long Island, tract houses were built as an offshoot of the pro-Nazi Camp Siegfried. They were built on Adolph Hitler Street.

We survived the Nazism and other despicable changes attempted in the 1930’s. We can and will do it again.

Live long enough and it is inevitable that we knew at some point in our lives well known persons. Fred Klein a contemporary. He is 82.

I wrote yesterday of Studio 54 owners Steve Schrager and Ian Rubell. Fred knew them. Well. Schrager was Fred’s fraternity brother at Syracuse University. Rubell was friends with both Fred and his wife Joanne at Syracuse. Ian was a tennis player.

Another doctor visit today. A vascular specialist with Miami’s Mount Sinai Hospital. He visits Key West 4 days a month. My heart people want me to see him.

It never stops. Hopefully, my heart won’t also.

Enjoy your day!

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