In interesting news, President Bush is seeking to calm Russian fears by telling them that his new RADAR defense system will not only protect the entire continent of Europe and naturally the United States, but will also protect Russia. Yeah right, whatever.
This proposal of Bush's actually has both the Russian President and the Czech and Polish people on the same side! Congrats! That side of course being of mistrust, and in some cases seething hatred, of all things Bushy.
Mr Bush cannot grasp the concept that almost all of Europe believes he is a liar, and that he will lie to get what he wants, no matter who is killed in the process. The fact that Putin is threatening to point nukes at Europe is of absolutely no concern to Bush. He wants his missile silos in Eastern Europe and he will have it. To hell with anyone who opposes him.
Mr Putin quite naturally feels that US missile bases on his backdoor is unacceptable and will not tolerate it. This is going to be an interesting tug of war, an unfortunate use of word but appropriate I think. Will Bush not be satisfied until he has pushed the entire planet to the brink of annihilation?
Nigerian Hidden Bank Accounts.
In other news, the government of Nigeria has threatened pharmaceutical mega overlord Pfizer, over what it alleges are illegal drug trials the company carried out in Nigeria decades ago. These trials may have led to deaths and injury of the people involved so the government are suing.
This is far from the first time a Nigerian government has tried this. The evidence is almost non existence and any trials done, were done within the normal boundaries applied to any drug trial and with the full permission of the then government. Nigeria has just had a very dodgy election and yet another President is in place. Looking for a bit of cash he is playing the same game as many of his predecessors.
What I do not understand is why, with all the billions of dollars hidden away in secret bank accounts, the Nigerian government does not just write a couple of emails and ask a foreigner to transfer the funds for them?
Local Bits
Tattoo OK could come Tuesday
Jim McAlhaney, owner of Key West Ink on Duval Street, awaits Tuesday’s City Commission meeting on whether tattoo shops can operate within the city’s limits. If the city allows it, McAlhaney is ready to start business. If not, he will continue his lawsuit against the city.
Parlors already renting space in anticipation
The Key West City Commission is expected to decide Tuesday to either take a step closer to allowing tattoo parlors in the city proper or freeze the body artists' dreams of moving their businesses to the island.
Four potential parlor owners have plans to open up shop in Key West - some of which have current locations on Stock Island, like Paradise Tattoo and Goldie's.
According to owner Doreen Eppy, Paradise Tattoo, which already has space at 627 Duval St., is ready for action. The Stock Island location has been operating for 15 years, she said. Whatever the commission decides, she will keep that location.
Eppy's 2,000-square-foot parlor offers body piercing and a variety of body jewelry, along with tattoo-themed merchandise.
Another hopeful business is Key West Ink.
“We're ready, right now,” owner Jim McAlhaney said while he toyed with a new high-definition television already hung in his 717 Duval St. location. “We put $500,000 in expenses [for the parlor] so far.”
Painted on the walls of the vacant shop are scenes of Key West historical or cultural value - Ernest Hemingway, the southernmost buoy and old pirate ships, to name a few.
Five empty leather seats await their hopeful customers. Two would be used for appointments, two for locals and one for guest artists. A private room is tucked away on the second floor for customers wanting privacy.
McAlhaney said he already has appointments booked for two years, as he takes five or six appointments a day - though locals get first priority, he said with a grin.
After being turned down from the city in October, Key West Ink sued the city, citing a violation of First Amendment rights, McAlhaney said.
Paradise followed suit, literally, and the two groups have consolidated, Eppy said.
Key West Ink has postponed the suit until July, but it will be dropped altogether, McAlhaney said, if the ordinance lifting the band on the facilities passes. Tuesday marks the first reading; the second should come at the following City Commission meeting.
According to historian Tom Hambright, the ban on tattoo parlors in the city was implemented in the 1950s as an effort from the U.S. Navy to stop sailors from getting hepatitis from the old shops' unsanitary procedures.
Those days are long gone, McAlhaney said, revealing a fully stocked sanitation room.
All equipment is sterilized and needles are used only once. He's taken classes on blood-born pathogens, HIV training and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. And his employee Bo Mencarli worked 10 years in the U.S. Army as a sterilization technician, he added.
He also said the kind of people getting tattoos has developed into what people in the past might've called an unlikely crowd.
“They're a different breed of people now,” he said. “About 32 percent of people getting tattoos are middle-aged, higher-class women with families.” He added that professionals like doctors and lawyers are also warming up to body art.
Tuesday's meeting will reveal if commissioners are too.
The city's Planning Board passed a revised ordinance May 30 that requires a 250-foot gap between parlors and libraries, schools, churches or parks. It also restricts the number of shops allowed on the island to 10, and those shops must be at least 150 feet away from each other.
Most commissioners agree that regulation is important when it comes to allowing the shops to spring up.
The City Commission meets Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Old City Hall on Greene Street.
Rossi Skates, By taking a Politics 101 Refresher Course
Charge will be dropped after he takes workshop
Key West City Commissioner Mark Rossi, charged Tuesday with a misdemeanor for allegedly violating the state's Sunshine Law governing open government, on Friday agreed to take a crash course in the law.
“We reached a plea agreement with Mark Rossi. We will drop the charges in exchange for his participation in a Sunshine Law workshop not unlike the workshop that the county commissioners did,” Monroe County State Attorney's Office spokesman Matthew Helmerich said.
“It's our goal to help our government officials learn the importance and the details of the Sunshine Law.”
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