Sunday Morning Coming Down

The hurricane season can be a real conundrum and full of paradoxes.  Should you stay or should you go, is it going to be a rain event or a wind event.  It all depends. Sometimes you just don't know the results of your actions and you just roll the dice. Some times you wonder why people don't evacuate in the face of a catastrophic storm like Hurricane Harvey. There are a lot of reasons and some are better than others. 1) Maybe you waited too long and the traffic jam could be even more dangerous. 2) Maybe you don't have transportation. 3) Maybe the storm will not make a direct hit. 4) Maybe the related tornadoes won't hit your house 5) Maybe your previous experience says your house, car, belongings, pets, and neighborhood will survive. 6) Maybe you need help to go but help doesn't make it in time. 7) Or maybe you go but you go to the wrong place. My neighborhood is almost always in an evacuation zone during a hurricane watch in Miami and my experience is...

President Trump has pardoned sheriff Joe Arpaio for being guilty of being in criminal contempt of court.  The Constitution may give the President the power to pardon criminals but it is not without limits. President for may have stretched the power to pardon when he pardoned Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate cover up but his reasoning was understandable.  Nixon resigned instead of facing impeachment and atrial in the Senate.  It seemed like a plea bargain back then.  President Ford paid a political price for his action. Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August ...

Louise Linton the wife of the Secretary of the Treasury is a walking ad for tax reform.  She spoke lovingly of all the designer stuff she was wearing in an Instagram post. This is the world we live in.  It is no surprise that the posting that looked might have come from a fashion magazine might have generated a snarky comment from the 99.9%. Mrs. Mnchun responded as follows:  “Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self-sacrifice to your country? ... Pretty sure that the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours,”. It has been reported that Mrs. Mnchun's Instagram account has been taken private and she has apologized for her response.  Too little, too late, and too insensitive for the wife of a cabinet secretary. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article168770102.html#storylink=cpy  

My older sister and her family have lived in Atlanta, Georgia for a very long time.  She is a transplanted Yankee.  I've lived in South Florida for a long time as well.  I'm a transplanted Yankee too. The first time we drove to Atlanta to visit my sister, brother in law and my nieces and nephews, we drove out to Stone Mountain Park for a light show that featured Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson who are etched into the mountain and lit up at night along with music and fireworks on holidays. This isn't some puny statue, its huge and covers a lot one whole side of Stone Mountain.  It took many years to complete. The entire Stone Mountain carved surface is 3 acres while Mount Rushmore has 4 60 foot carvings (one for each president), Stone Mountain is also the largest base relief sculpture in the world. The monument to the Confederacy was commissioned by the guy who restarted the Ku Klux Klan:.  Samuel H. Veneble.  The property was ...

I just read that Big Ben (the National English Clock will be silenced for four years for maintenance.  It seems the clock/ bells that ring out the hour need some maintenance. When I lived in England the BBC, the BBC played the bells from Big Ben on the top of each hour and I would bet the BBC just plays a recording these days and maybe did even back in 1960 when I was in London.  According to reports the bells have been sounded for 157 years. I hope the bells are fixed and the sooner the better.  Four years is a long time and while the cat is away the mice will play. Further research indicates the bells well last sound out on August 21, 2017.  The bells are being silenced so that the workers doing the maintenance and renovation are not deafened and work can proceed more rapidly. The solar eclipse will also be happening on August 21, 2017.  

If you have to add a signer to an account on an account at a bank, it may be a long and winding road.  Boards at non profit or condominiums change often, probably yearly and sometime stuff doesn't get updated like it should by the board. Beware sometimes if a key person is hospitalized, or otherwise unavailable to sign checks and the second signer has left the board you may have problems you never would have imagined. In the good old days board minutes, a board resolution, updated signature cards, and copies of driver's license would do the trick.  Now it requires updating computers and for all practical purposes a board meeting at the bank with new members of the board in attendance to do anything changing stuff on accounts. Thank you WF.  I'm thankful the key person on the account did not not die but solving this problem  is still a problem.

Steve Bartman of 2003 foul ball fame received a 2016 World Series ring from the Cubs.  No issues with what the Cubs have done and I think it will generate some good will.  Bartman thanked the Cub Organization and asked for privacy.