Key West Lou / TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY

We’re into a Willie Nelson/Dyan Cannon situation.

Recall their 1980 movie Honeysuckle Rose. A terrific film. A bit of a tear jerker. The movie’s best song was There Must Be Two Sides To Every Story. The key line for my purposes this morning “two sides to every story.”

Center Academy is a New York City private school. Pre-K to fifth grade. Three hundred students. Tuition $30,000 each year per student. Cash flow close to $1 million per year.

Leila Center and her husband are co-founders of Center Academy. Leila e-mailed employees saying the school would not employ people who had been vaccinated against COVID-19. You read the last sentence correctly. If an employee had the shots, he or she were out of a job.

A day or two before the e-mail, she had a video conference call with faculty and staff in which she said in effect vaccinated persons could no longer be employed.

Her reason was a complaint by one parent who said her child was having headaches and the headaches were caused by association with persons who had been vaccinated. Leila also claimed she checked with three doctors who agreed there could be adverse results to children who came into contact with persons vaccinated.

I throw up my hands!

In recent years, I have complained how the Catholic Church had gone too far right. The Catholic Bishops Conference was in bed with far right organizations.

The Catholic Reporter ran an interesting article this morning re the Church’s alliance with MAGNA. The article claimed the Church’s support of Trump in many instances had caused a large number of Catholics to exit the Church.

It is the same story over again. Too many prelates wanting to exercise political power as well as religious. Forgetting priests belong in the pulpit and not the political sphere.

Biden’s State of America Address last night was different. Different in a favorable way.

He reminded me of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his fireside chats. Soft and easy. Considerate. He also reminded me of Ronald Reagan who speeches were likewise special. Though coming from a different political perspective.

Biden compared January 6 to the Civil War. Many Republicans who work on the other side like Cruz, Hawley and Lindsay sat smugly listening to Biden. They reminded me of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee who left the Union to support the Confederacy.

It was strange to watch the Address with so many seats empty. Coronavirus protections were enforced. Masks and social distancing.

Rudy Giuliani. Is he in deep shit trouble? Time will tell. What goes around comes around.

I went out last night. Enjoyed. Slept well after. Feel terrific this morning.

I attended the Sons and Daughters of Italy meeting. I have not in 2 years.

First, the location. The Stock Island Yacht Club. First time. Way out on Stock Island.

Beautiful. Perched on the open harbor. The food spectacular.

I sat with an old friend and 2 new friends last night.

Santa Claus one. He looks like Santa. Was Santa Clause to Robert and Ally in their early years. Learned something interesting about Santa Claus. He is a U.S. Army retiree. Spent 7 years in Europe as NATO’s Chief Chef.

Two ladies sat with us. I never met either before. Ansh and Charlene. Vietnamese. Own and operate a small nail salon near Winn-Dixie.

My three cohorts at the table all attend the Vineyard Church in Big Pine. I have to try it some Sunday. Sounded interesting.

We had a fun table.

Not all police are bad.

Chy-Niece Trachr was driving down a highway. A police officer stopped her. As she was searching through her purse for her license, etc. the police officer said forget them, I am not giving you a ticket. I stopped you to tell you your brake lights are not working and you should get them fixed.

Chy-Niece went into a tirade. She explained she had the brake lights fixed one month earlier at Firestone. She returned complaining her brake lights still did not work. Firestone said it would cost her an additional $600 to check the wiring. She didn’t have the $600.

The officer had her pop the trunk. He checked things out. Found no problem. Had Chy-Niece open the hood. No problem there either. Got on his hands and knees and checked connections under the dashboard. Again no problems.

The officer was unaware Chy-Niece was recording everything. She went to the station the next day and explained to the officer’s superior what had occurred, had him play the recording, and told him how pleased she was with the officer.

I don’t know if the brake lights have been fixed. However Chy-Niece was one happy camper.

One of America’s most embarrassing moments occurred on April 9, 1975.

The U.S. war with the Vietnamese had ended in failure. The Vietnamese Army was rolling into Saigon. Before the day was over, they were at the gates of the U.S. Embassy.

The last Americans and persons loyal to the American position had entered the Embassy for safety.

At some point during the day, it was obvious the Embassy was going to be over run. Everyone had to be evacuated. The plan was to have U.S. and CIA helicopters remove persons from the roof of the Embassy.

Seven thousand persons were so removed and flown to U.S. carriers out to sea.

Near the end of the evacuation, the Vietnamese soldiers were breaking through the barriers and shooting at persons on the roof. The U.S. Marines did a magnificent job protecting everyone.

One negative, however. How embarrassing for the strongest nation to end its long war beaten by the enemy and escaping from the Embassy rooftop. I was embarrassed and sad at the same time. The scenario did not make sense to me.

Enjoy your day!

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]