Archives of
The Coconut Telegraph
An Historical Diary of what Keyheads were talking about
Since 2002

Thursday July 29, 2010

[Lobster Mobster] Lobster tag: $2 (I bought mine before it went up to $5) Venturing out during mini-season without becoming a statistic: priceless. I got my limit and cheated death, yeah!

If my dog, who chases geckos, catches one, will she get sick?  If so, with what? Is there any antidote to give without a vet's expense?

[Name that Plant] Thanks for the contribution to the flower identification, but this plant is not a clitorie. It is a species of rose. Note the thorns on the branches of the stems. Also, the plant's leaves are large and round. Can anyone please help with identifying this flowering plant. It is an annual and blooms in mid-summer.

[Change You Can Doubt] Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King in Marathon. The counter girl took my money as I was digging for my change. I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register like a deer in the headlights. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and started to bawl. (No doubt she had no problem texting her friends)

[Everest Natural Incense] Me being a spiritual and curious individual, got hold of some Everest natural incense. This is perfectly legal and is some powerful stuff! It does not give you munchies and is perfect for deep meditation along with strong spiritual awareness. It's way better and cheaper than illegal pot and I "highly" recommend that all the negative people on this blog try it. You'll see things in a different perspective. Light up y'all.
http://www.everestsmoke.com/ftp/page2.html

[Afraid of the Dark] I live two houses away from a Michigan snowbird who has a 250 watt mercury light in his backyard. I asked him about shading it or getting a different fixture and he said his neighbors like the way it lights and protects their yards. I checked with all the neighbors: they hate it! This fellow has all his shutters closed on the back side of his house so the light doesn't shine in his place.

I concluded two things from my encounter with this buffoon. He has absolutely no clue about the impact of his light and Michigan must be an incredibly dangerous place to live.

[Appreciation] Jay Marzella, owner of Parmer's Resort, would like to thank teachers.  As a teacher's son, he knows how hard you work and thinks that you deserve a relaxing staycation. That's why Parmer's Resort is offering employees of Monroe County Schools a 20% discount between the September 1 and December 20.

That’s a nice gesture Jay, and you do this every year. Danny Coll what a great idea. You should run a locals only special at NAPA -- 30% off, just show voters ID card.

[Name that Plant] This info is from a master gardener in Upper Keys. It looks like Erythrina crista-galli or some similar variety of Coral tree.

[Jeanie and Jimmy Johnson return kayak] If this is the same Jimmy Johnson who is a fishing guide during his off hours, you've been blessed by a family who's responsible for a lot of good in the Lower Keys.  He's gone above and beyond many times in his life (and risked his) to help others. No doubt he's married to a woman of the same caliber.  Congratulations on getting your kayak back and thanks to the Johnson's for being our neighbors.

Alabama was the first place to have the 911 emergency number. It started in 1968.

[Presidential Pole] A lynching reference? Charming. I guess you will print anything on the CT.

(Ed: I apologize, but I didn’t associate the photo with bigotry at the time--it was before my coffee. Unfortunately that one slipped by me. You should see those that didn’t;  you wouldn’t believe the hate.)

[Presidential Pole] Whoever put up that picture of the noose on a pole and the caption latest CBS Presidential Pole is one disturbed and ignorant individual and will probably hear from the Secret Service because it appears to be the same as a threat against the President's life.

I would hope that the Coconut Telegraph takes appropriate measures to help with the identity of the person who is basically threatening the life of the President. The page has been forwarded to the US Governments Secret Service.

 No matter what our views may be of a sitting President, it is not okay to threaten their life.

The CBS Presidential Pole photo was beyond bad taste. Making a reference to a period in American history where we actually lynched people based on the color of their skin and for no other reason. To use that photo to express the poster’s displeasure with our President, I am beyond speechless. Shame on you!

Here's one for you Winn Dixie haters. Winn-Dixie closing stores, cutting jobs

[Acevedo] I loved Lydia Estanoz singing the praises of Morgan McPherson in The Citizen yesterday. There's nothing like one Acevedo-loving Conch telling us how much another Acevedo-loving Conch deserves to be elected. ~Tryin2FindIt@aol.com

[BOCC Election] How many of the citizens of the Keys would vote for someone that they all knew, and that had been here for over 20 years, knew the area, knew the concerns of the people, and wouldn’t wind up being bullied by the other commissioners? Who would take the chance of actually voting for someone that they could trust, and really fight for the people, and not for their own gain? A serious and sincere person who is one of the people and always has been, and wouldn’t give a cold shoulder response to the voices of the people paying his wage?

Since most of the commissioners didn’t have any experience in politics before we elected them, would that have any bearing on previous experience needed for the position, or getting things accomplished for Keys’ people be more attractive?

If they open Cuba, I wonder how many of the Miami Cubans will move back home? 0.

[Mosquito Buzz] Is it true that Howard Hubbard who is running for Mosquito Control Dist. 2 lives with Mosquito Control Commissioner Joan Lord Papy?

How could Mr. Hubbard vote to reduce Mosquito Control Director’s Fussell’s $186,000 salary when Ms Papy voted to leave his salary the same or reduce the budget?

[David Rice and the Guidance Clinic] Although I agree with Sloan on a number of things, he has it seriously wrong concerning David Rice and the Guidance Clinic no-bid contracts with the Sheriff's department.

I have no particular feelings about David Rice or his candidacy. I have no current connection to any of the parties. However, Sloan is way off base as was Sandy Downs who started this nonsense in the first place.

Sloan makes it sound like Rice benefitted personally by these contracts and refers to the Guidance Clinic as "his organization." Sloan makes it sound like, as CEO of the Clinic, Rice would personally benefit from these contracts, as in putting money in his pocket. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

First, the Guidance Clinic is not a business. It is a non-profit organization with a board of directors. The Guidance Clinic of the Middle Keys and the Care Center of Key West have merged and both are a part of WestCare Foundation which provides financial assistance, technical assistance and other support. WestCare is represented on both boards. WestCare is a $70 million a year organization operating in more than eight states with many facilities throughout Florida.

These clinics are the mental health facilities of the Florida Keys. They have extensive staff and facilities, plus have contracts with the state, county, the cities in the Keys, and the Federal government. There are various provisions in these contracts that only a local agency could provide.

The clinics have vital national certifications and are approved for Medicare billing and similar federal programs. They have been providing services to the Sheriff's department for a long time, both for inmates and employees. Both are approved by and affiliated with Florida DCF and all employees go through DCF background screening. Both agencies also have contracts with and support other agencies in the Keys such as AIDS Help, the Homeless Coalition and many others.

The simple fact of the matter is that no outside agency is going to bid on a $300,000 contract and then set up facilities in the Keys, hire people and obtain the necessary certifications and so forth. The fact that the contracts are non-bid is totally unimportant because no other mental health agency could deliver the services and meet the other requirements of the contracts. No agency could survive on the Sheriffs' contracts alone. No agency outside the Keys is going to spend millions of dollars to get established here just to bid on a couple of contracts worth several hundred thousand dollars and then go head to head with local established agencies, much less taking on the WestCare Foundation.

Please keep in mind we are not talking about a contract for grass cutting which dozens of firms could provide. We are talking about professionals with Masters and Doctorate degrees, years of experience, plus an expensive support structure. The Guidance Clinic and Care Center have already hired the best people. A few hundred thousand is not really that big of a contract considering the expense to fill it. There is no practical reason at all for the contract to be put out for bid.

Sloan is parroting Sandy Downs, and both are raising an issue that is strictly for political purposes.

The AARP calendar for August and September is now available online. Bulletin Board > Continuing Events

The aluminum boat lift is coming to a beautiful canal near you. Yes, those pristine clean and conforming canals in the Keys are turning into old pick-up truck chassis junk yards with all those ugly boats lifts stuck everywhere. Too lazy to pull your boat out, don't worry, you can lift it and have your neighbors stare at a pile of I-beams on what was once a scenic canal. Real estate value drop? No worries, just sell out to rich trailer trash who are used to looking at garbage like that. Where has all the class gone, not into the Keys that is for sure.

[Law of Probability] The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

[Sculpture] It is hard to find this delicate beauty in much art of recent history. Sculptures of Native American scenes made out of paper by Allen and Patty Eckman. These stunningly detailed sculptures may only be made from paper, but they are being snapped up by art fans for tens of thousands of dollars. The intricate creations depict Native American scenes and took up to 11 months to make using a specially formulated paper.

Allen explained their technique, "It should not be confused with papier-mâché. The two mediums are completely different. I call what we do 'cast paper sculpture’”. Some of them we create are life-size and some we scale down to 1/6 life-size. These sculptures are posed as standing nude figures and limited detailed animals with no ears, tails or hair. We transform them by sculpting on top of them, creating detail with soft and hard paper we make in various thicknesses and textures.

[BOCC Election] I'm sitting here trying to compose a post regarding why the BOCC commissioner who was never elected, only appointed, should not get "re-elected", or even make it through the August primary. The most compelling reason is the memory of him, during a BOCC meeting (I was there), sitting up there saying why should his daughter have to pay for a Trauma Star ride which she can not afford, when the taxpayers will pay for it. The fact that he's the grandfather and he has the money and he can afford it and it's his family never came out of his mouth. His attitude was it's the taxpayers’ job to pay for his grandson's ride. Besides being absurd that we can afford it, was that he was arrogant about it. Needless to say, no one in the audience (taxpayers all),  had any sympathy for or agreement with him. The room's sentiment was is he kidding. He's got the money but he wants us to pay.

Speaking of our money, yes he's already spent a lot of taxpayer money (Hickory House and Vandenberg). Our tax bill, ad valorum above the line, and the non-ad valorum fees below the line, can not sustain his decision making.

But beyond those facts, his arrogant, oft expressed attitude that he's above the rest of us is the reason he should not be returned to the BOCC. ~SusanRHeim@aol.com

[Killer Meals] When I purchase lobsters from any fish market they are already cooked so I don’t have to give any thought about their execution. I can concentrate on preparation and presentation. It’s the same way when I purchase chicken or steaks. They have already been slaughtered and butchered.

If you think about how people talk about putting their pets “down” that is like putting icing on horse manure. They will say something like they had Fluffy put to sleep because she was old and suffering. Pooch was on his last legs so we had him euthanized. Kitty was suffering from some type of terminal heart disease.

Why don’t they just speak the truth? They should state “We had Fluffy executed by lethal injection.” The pet injected is conscious without being able to move or speak, thus giving the impression of serenity or tranquility. The injection gives a false impression of serenity to its loving owners, making execution by injection more palatable and acceptable to the pet’s masters. The family pet died from “chemical asphyxiation.” Just remember that you are also getting old and soon will be on your last legs and suffering from some terminal disease.

It is the same with boiling lobsters, except that lobsters are not loving family pets or elderly family members. The major problem with tossing them alive into a pot of boiling water is they will sometimes freak out and start making strange noises. This is why all critters to be executed must be calmed before execution can take place. They may freak out and begin flopping, kicking, thrashing and flipping around and this can be very disconcerting to the executioner. They have sometimes been known to jump out of the “death chamber” pot. So, if you are ever asked how you did kill the lobsters, just state “we executed the live lobsters by boiling them to death.” If all this sounds too cruel or gruesome, you could stick them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and freeze them to death. Frozen lobsters go into the pot a whole lot easier.

So go out during mini lobster season, enjoy being with family and friends, have a great time, catch your limit, take your catch home and enjoy your delicious boiled lobsters. I once tried putting 6 live lobsters on the hot grill. Watching them being burned alive was not pleasant. 

[Sloan on Danny Coll] But then, if he was their man, wouldn't they make sure he was squeaky clean? Wouldn’t they see to it that he cleaned up? It just doesn’t compute

Actually Sloan, it does compute. Consider the source. You are politically astute enough to understand the hows and whys. Most Cuban-Americans are not.  Most Cuban-Americans cast votes as instructed, sheep-like, without questioning or asking why. Most Cuban-Americans are just beginning to feel the effect of their voting power without developing any appreciation for the depth and history of politics in America.  In zero-speak, they don't know how to hide that he's their man, or dress him up in American camouflage. The Cuban-Americans’ political skills are more underdeveloped than the desert.

Really, who needs code enforcement?

[Those darn CEOs] One can't help but feeling pity for those poor souls that can't stand others getting ahead of them on the financial ladder of life. It is indeed depressing to see those dim witted individuals espouse the Socialistic mindset, where we will all live in a glorious utopian form of society, where greed will be a thing of the past, and love and goodwill will be the realm of the day. The class envy of these types of individuals is a thing to behold. These are the ones that are constantly fixing blame on others for their own shortcomings.

[Catop Computer] What is it with cats that whatever you are doing, they lay on it?

[United Stated of Europe] How can you pretend to have a united Europe when one and all are on different wave lengths, with varying degrees of competence and procedures, especially since there is no European coordinating authority that can apply equal legal weight across the board?  The only coordination is at the level of insurance companies and even there they do as they please.  Their coordinating insurance network is gieargos.org on line but they do not accept private requests.  One can always hire an international lawyer, of course, though that takes a lot longer and costs plenty, since he probably has to grease paws, etc.  As far as officialdom is concerned, the attitude is "La loi, c'est moi."  One local official even told me openly, "The law is the law but it is up to us to interpret it."

Viva L'Europa! Or is this the Keys East?

[Gaming] The family that prays together, stays together.

Mel Gibson phone call rant to Old Spice guy. Warning, adult language. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PnX1X0_o_A

OIL SPILL

There are five NOAA vessels currently operating in the Gulf of Mexico from homeports as far north as New England with missions ranging from seafood safety to detecting submerged oil. This week the NOAA vessels are conducting the following missions:

NOAA Ship Pisces has been supporting the Unified Command in its Deepwater Horizon/BP wellhead integrity testing effort since July 14, 2010. The ship has been using sophisticated acoustic echo-sounders and water column profiling instruments to monitor for oil and gas releases in the immediate vicinity of, and directly over, the well head. Data from the mission are currently being analyzed by the National Incident Command, NOAA and the University of New Hampshire daily as they monitor the cap on the wellhead. The 209-foot vessel is based in Pascagoula, Miss.

NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter is currently studying sperm whales and other marine mammals to learn more about how they are impacted by the oil spill. It will be tracking their abundance and distribution both with visual surveys and by recording sounds using an array of underwater microphones. Earlier this week, the ship monitored for the presence of oil and gas near the wellhead as part of the Unified Command's wellhead integrity testing. The 224-foot Gordon Gunter is set to remain on this mission until Aug. 8, 2010 when it will return to its base in Pascagoula, Miss.

NOAA Ship Nancy Foster is using a remotely operated vehicle to monitor deep-water bottom habitats that have been exposed to the oil/dispersant mixtures from the Deepwater Horizon incident, investigating what impacts may have occurred at this stage of the spill. Researchers will visit areas in the northern Gulf of Mexico that have been previously sampled as well as go to new areas to collect baseline samples on deep-water corals and associated marine life in the Gulf. The 187-foot vessel is based in Charleston, S.C. 

The 209-foot., New England-based NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow will sail from Key West this week to the well head and use its echosounder to monitor for oil and gas releases while NOAA Ship Pisces resupplies.

The 170-foot NOAA Ship Oregon II departed from its homeport of Pascagoula, July 26, 2010 to collect samples of fish and shrimp off Louisiana at depths between 30 and 360 feet. The samples will be tested for contaminants as part of the ongoing program that ensures that seafood harvested from the Gulf remains safe for consumers. 

There is another near catastrophe coming. An oil spew in Michigan. If it enters Lake Michigan, it threatens our fresh water supply. The Great Lakes are threatened now. Come together America, now more than ever. Stand up. Pipeline Leaks, Over 800,000 Gallons of Oil Spew in Michigan | CommonDreams.org

NATIONAL POLITICS

Key parts of Arizona anti-immigration law blocked. WW III is about to start in AZ, TX and D.C. http://tinyurl.com/2b5j69u

[Term Limits] I'd vote for term limits if the From the Right guy was on the ballot.

I’m supposed to be upset with the President because he wasn’t in office when our financial markets collapsed? I should be upset with our President because he has held BP responsible for the oil spill?

What’s next, I should hate our government the next time a killer shoots someone with a stolen gun because the government didn’t catch him in time? BP is on every network and radio station telling us they are responsible, but you blame the President. That’s nearing insanity if you think about it.

It seems my friend you are drifting farther and farther away every day and letting your hatred cloud your judgment.

The American people remember when the markets fell and the vast financial damage to retirement plans was happening. In fact, I also remember John McCain and the President going back to Washington before a debate because Bush called them back to save the country from a total collapse. If you hold the President responsible you have to also hold the man that was sitting behind the desk responsible. At least we can find Obama now as Bush disappeared his last year in office.

 The financial crisis was well before the election, so trying to blame the firemen for saving the shed when the rest of the house burned down is a fools’ folly.

You didn’t think BP was responsible for the spill after they turned off the safety alarms? That said it all.

[TV Politics] I guess all you Piners getting your shorts in a twist about President Obama going on "The View” don't remember when "Tricky Dick" Nixon was on "Laugh-In".

[From the Right] Mr. Obama is a wonderful guy, a man of the people, a champion of the little man, an enemy of those rich bastards. He is a guy who loves Americana and has great respect for American institutions. It must have been Mr. Obama’s evil twin who ditched helping 45 thousand young Americans celebrate the 100^th birthday of the Boy Scouts. But then again he was very busy. He attended at least two Democrat fundraisers. The fundraising events were all for the little people, the common folk, the masses. I’m told that the events were for his base, you know those folks he was a community organizer for. Every one of the poor folk that attended had to fork over $30 Grand.  Oh, I almost forgot, he just couldn’t put off a guest shot on “The View” too.  He's so popular, so suave, sigh! Oops, I did forget to mention that he stopped in at a Jersey Sub Shop. I guess the truffles at the fund raising events weren’t so hot. You’ve got to admit that’s pretty important. He promised that he’d attend the next Centennial of the Boy Scouts, and what the hell, it’s only 45 thousand kids that he disappointed and it’s only about a century of inspiring American boys and young men. How can that compete with a guest shot on "The View" with Whoopee et al, what a guy! I’m so proud.

NO NAME UTILITIES

[Sloan] During breakfast at Coco’s Kitchen in the Big Pine Key shopping center yesterday morning, I met two women from adjacent No Name Key, who were not in the least happy with the recent 3-2 vote on the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority Board of Directors to rescind an old rule that prohibited FKAA from extending drinking water to environmentally sensitive parts of the Keys, including No Name Key, Middle and Big Torch Keys, and parts of Key Largo. Rose Dell, who along with her mother own and operate Coco’s, is a member of the FKAA Board; one of the two Board members who voted not to rescind the rule, for which vote she was viciously criticized on the Coconut Telegraph.
 
One of the two women said, after the Boarded voted 3-2 to rescind the rule, she spoke with with the woman Board member who had voted to rescind. The woman Board member said the plastic bottle of dirty water brought to the meeting by Attorney Mick Barnes had come from Beth Ramsay-Vickery’s cistern at her home on No Name Key. “Cistern water was not safe to drink.”
 
Beth has repeatedly written and spoken that cisterns are unsafe, but she has yet to have the County Health department examine her cistern, and, as far as I know, none of the other residents of No Name Key who have sided with Beth have had their cisterns tested by the County Health Department. Instead, they quote so-called experts from elsewhere in America, who have never been to No Name Key, or even to the Keys, as far as I know, to the effect that people who drink cistern water are nuts and will catch horrible diseases.
 
When Beth did this poisoned-water spiel at the FKAA Board Meeting, she did not mention the bottle of dirty water Mick Barnes (of Duck Tours in Key West infame) had shown to me before the discussion began and said it had come from Beth’s cistern. Mick did not answer me when I asked if he had seen the water in the bottle be taken from Beth’s cistern, or if it had been drawn and tested by the County Health Department? When Mick spoke to the Board and intimated a lawsuit would be filed if the Board did not furnish No Name Key with good drinking water, he pulled out the bottle and said it came from Beth’s cistern. He did not say he had seen the water drawn from Beth’s cistern, because he didn’t have a clue where the water came from. A lawyer who pulled such a stunt before a government agency in Alabama would have a high probability of being asked to explain himself to the Alabama State Bar Disciplinary Section.
 
Conveniently, Beth did not have to explain the bottle of dirty water to the Board, because she had already spoken to the Board when Mick did the stunt. Yet the woman board member accepted Mick’s statement as the Gospel; may God have mercy on her tortured soul, for I will not. It is no big secret that she replaced her husband on the FKAA Board after he died, and that her husband was a friend of Board Member Bob Dean, who rigged her appointment and she is his puppet on the Board. It also is no big secret that the other Board member who voted to rescind the rule is Bob’s whore also.
The rest ... GoodMorningFloridaKeys.com

Thursday July 29, 2010

Wednesday July 28, 2010

(Ed: Yes, I now know that yesterday was Tuesday and not Wednesday. I hope I didn't cause much confusion.)

[Mini Season] I hadn’t run my boat for two weeks and was feeling guilty so I launched it at the Little Torch boat ramp. I knew the fools were in town because one truck and trailer almost succeeded in blocking the whole parking lot. I didn’t think it could be done.

I’ve seldom seen so many boats in the water with so many guys on them. Lobster season is here. After running the boat for a couple of loops around the block I took it home, covered it and won’t take it out again until the lobster mobsters have all gone home.

Patrols target early harvesting of lobsters. Patrols target early harvest | KeysNews.com

[Night Lights] I think it’s just the snowbirds that leave their light on all the time. They’re afraid of everything.

Monica Acevedo wants to plea to her crimes instead of having a jury trial. A plea of no contest, or nolo contendere, means a defendant does not refute the charges so she can’t later be sued in civil court. She knows she doesn’t have a chance in a jury trial. She’ll probably say the devil made her do it or some other excuse and she probably won’t take responsibility for her massive thefts.

Let’s wait and see how Judge Jones handles this. It’s an election year for him and we’re all watching.

What's Bugging my yard? Free classes to learn what's bugging your yard. See flyer for dates and times.

http://monroe.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/Hort/What's-Bugging-my-Yard-Flyer.pdf 

Corporate executives treat people like a commodity, like pigs to be herded to the trough and made to pay as much as possible for the thin gruel served to them. Why should they be expected to feel for the resources they rape and squander for their only god—money; or for the wildlife which may be used or just gotten out of their way in the process?  They feel absolutely nothing. These morally and ethically bankrupt bastards are being allowed to act this way by us all and by our government as we constantly praise them for their ability to gain at others' expense.

It’s time to stop measuring a man's worth by his bank account. Time to stop bowing and scraping to these amoral rich sociopaths. Get the feathers, boys, there's going to be plenty enough tar to go around.

[Pagan Motorcycle Club] I have met the one Pagan and his girlfriend that moved here and they are very nice. You make it sound like there is a huge pack of them that moved in to take over. Sounds like you are the one starting trouble around here. He isn’t bothering anyone.

Pagans Motorcycle Club - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would like to say thank you to Jeanie Johnson and her husband Jimmy for their high morals and integrity. You see we had a kayak float away on the night of July 22nd. We advertised it on BizBaz and put it on the Lost and Found on BPK.com. No response. Yesterday a friend of mine was listening to the radio and heard that someone had found a kayak, but they could not find my phone number. I called US1 radio after the normal BizBaz hours and inquired about the found kayak. The office manager looked through the records and was able to come up with the fax from Jeanie. She gave me the number, I called and described it to her and we got our kayak back last night.

It is really nice to know there are still people around with this much honesty and integrity. My wife who always has a "glass half full" attitude never lost faith that someone would find it and call. I, on the other hand, never expected to see it again. I think my glass is getting closer to that half full point.

Finally, no kids cruises.  http://www.bing.com/search?q=%22no+kids+cruises%22&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IE8SRC

Nazzaning is one of the first cats to successfully undergo hydrotherapy treatment, and after nine sessions, she is almost back to her normal self running around and ruling the house. No, she does not like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEdYdTSiBJQ 

[Alligator Convention] “I ain’t never seen so many gators in my life.” Fishermen in Stephen C. Foster State Park in Clinch County, Georgia came across hundreds of alligators in the water. Biologists say it can happen when a large population of fish is available to eat. The animals somehow signal to each other to join in on the hunt.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CQ1N1mAi9s

[Night Lights] Isn't there a light ordinance like the noise ordnance for unnecessary pollution? If there isn’t one, there should be!

Does Mimi Lobster Season mean we can only catch the little ones?

[Candidate Forum] The Island of Key Largo Federation of Homeowner’s Association will hold its Primary Election Candidate Forum on Wednesday, August 11.

The General Election Candidate Forum will be held on Wednesday, October 13.

Both Forums will be held at the Key Largo Library Community Meeting Room.  Candidates and the public are invited to meet and greet at 5:30 P.M. Refreshments will be served.  The Forums will begin at 6:00pm.  Candidates will be receiving invitations with more information as the dates draw near.

Candidates for
Board of County Commissioners District 2
Board of County Commissioners District 4 Mosquito Control District 2
Mosquito Control District 5
Monroe County School Board District 1
Monroe County School Board District 5
16th Judicial Circuit Court Judge
Group 3 State Representative District 120 Bulletin Board

Where can I get a copy of the Winnebago song that has been played on US 1 Radio? 

A group of people already has the Cuba/Keys connection all wrapped up, no need to even think of it any further, It's covered, even the ferries are waiting in Miami. It’s a done deal.

List of all the new Android Operating System phones and tablets. There is some heavy hardware coming out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices

[Night lights] To see the night sky, perhaps a BB gun!

[Sloan's "ride"] Did I read that right?  Is every biker chick in the the Keys now busily cataloging their whereabouts for the past few days lest they get tagged with that deed?  Is there a badge for doing Sloan?  Why must we be left with that remarkable and completely unfortunate visual image? I have to pour bleach in my eyes just for having read that.  Who wondered about Sloan's "activities" so that we can make sure you don't wonder about that again please, for the love of humanity, please don't ever wonder that again.

Yosemite time lapse video. http://yosemiteblog.com/2010/06/22/yosemite-time-lapse-video-by-henry-juh-wah-lee/

[Swan paddleboat] I saw that ad and was wishing I didn't live 5 states away so I could have come gotten it.  What a neat thing that would be to play around with on the lake!  I hope it has a long career.

[Phony Video] F-35 The coolest plane in the world. What would be cooler would be if you posted a real video of the F-35, not some fake crap from a Flight-Sim game. video

[Law of Gravity] Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Well, I think I will sign off now and start thinking of that lobster dinner I am going to have. I can taste it now. Everyone have a great day and may the tide always pull you back.

To the AA Basher: One day, when you are restored to sanity, only by the grace of your higher power, I will forward to you all of the insane entries that you write on the CT. This can be a part of your story.  Why, on God's green earth, does it bother you so much that a program exists that has helped millions of alcoholics to live wonderful productive lives? There could only be one reason: You can't stop drinking or drugging.  You know all the jargon so obviously you've given AA a chance, However you chose not to work the program. Your entries are quite comical but actually insane. Thanks for the good laughs that you provide to the sober community and keep coming back, we will be waiting for you.

OIL SPILL

[BP] With another opening in Port St. Joe last week, the Florida Panhandle now has four branch offices dedicated to providing coordinated and rapid oil spill response efforts to near shore and inland waterway areas. The branches, under the joint tactical direction of the U.S. Coast Guard and BP, are responsible for beach cleaning, implementing the Vessel of Opportunity programs, and boom deployment and maintenance.

“The focus of the branches is to manage our response efforts in a smart, coordinated manner that draws on local knowledge of the region,” said U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Joe Boudrow, Deputy Incident Commander for the Florida Panhandle region. 

Coast Guard men and women, BP contractors, and representatives from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, and county representatives will continue to work around the clock to mitigate the impact along the Florida coastline. The goal of this organizational effort is to more quickly and efficiently coordinate critical assets such as skimmers, cleanup crews, reconnaissance teams, Vessel of Opportunity boats and wildlife response teams.

Branches are currently located in Pensacola, Destin, Panama City, and Port St. Joe. They serve Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin, Wakulla, and Jefferson counties.

For more information, please contact the Mobile Joint Information Center at 251-445-8965.

NATIONAL POLITICS

We need to pull out of Afghanistan now!  Enough is enough.  No country or army has ever been able to win a war in this country since Alexander the Great. We spend 2-4 billion dollars per week on this war.  (Let's see, 9 years times 52 weeks per year -- that's a lot of bucks)  We could really use this money at home couldn't we?  Over 1000 brave young American men and women have lost their lives in this war and 40,000 have been injured and maimed.  Troops from the other countries who are in Afghanistan have also lost their lives, not to mention innocent Afghans.  Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are no longer in Afghanistan and the Afghans don't want us there.  So, why exactly have we been there for 9 years?  

Is our country actually safer because of this war?  America was founded on the idea that it didn't want another country (Britain) coming into our country and fighting and telling us what to do and how to run our country.  Why, then, are we doing the same in Afghanistan?  Are we the world police?  Should we be trying to change a country that has had established customs for thousands of years?  Enough is enough.

A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 per cent of $ 9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money. And we thought the Monroe County School Board had poor accounting!  Audit: US cannot account for $8.7B in Iraqi funds - Yahoo! News

Fanatics cannot stand reasoning when it’s against there deeply rooted anger.

I pointed out that the FTR guy asked the question, "Why is BP responsible" then mentioned later in the very same post previously that "BP turned off the safety alarms". I looked at it as he answered his own question.

He had no answer for that and went right to calling me a doofus. It shows his intellectual level. In fact he was going to come over and put it on my forehead which I found hilarious because its the same response you get from people with 3rd grade.

We are seeing the classic case of someone so deeply rooted in hatred for the President that he’s ready to start marking people that disagree with him. There was a leader once in Germany that used to mark people that disagreed with him and as far as I can tell FTR is a huge fan. He went by the wayside because you guys always implode in the end.

I wanted BP held responsible because they were the major contractor responsible for the actions of everyone that was performing on that rig and that’s why they put up the money for damages. That alone lets you know who’s responsible. I understand how the President holding them responsible upsets you. You’re not one for responsibility it seems, and yet you call yourself a teabagger. If the courts decide that BP has legal recourse against other contractors working then so be it, but the accident rests on their shoulders. Them turning off safety alarms says more then anything else. I feel sadness for the families that lost people in that accident so ignore his statement that "he doesn’t care for families" it’s ludicrous. It’s just more hatred.

Sarah Palin "Hottie"? Some people's taste is all in their mouths.

The naiveté of some posters concerning the merits of Pres Obama on these posts is absolutely astounding!

[From the Right] The tweet tweet sound that we have been hearing tinkling through some CT postings by liberal pals of Obama are the sounds of them whistling through the grave yard. These folks are convinced that because they make the claim, it must be so. Sorry gang, neither you nor Mr. Obama are Jean Luc Picard, Captain of the Star Ship Enterprise. Simply saying, “Make it so” just won’t get the job done. Mr. Obama’s “make it so” declarations have been a miserable failure. He’s been elected for 21 months, that’s more than two consecutive full term pregnancies. The economy and unemployment should be mending, they are not. It is worse now than it was when Mr. Obama took office and before the Democrats took control of Congress. He inherited a mess and converted into a disaster. Now it seems that Mr. Obama and his Democrat Congress are intent on changing the name of our American star ship, "Enterprise", to 'Socialism Forever.'  Facts are facts, you can’t change them. It is apparent that CT's Obama supporter guys can’t even claim them on their own behalf. You guys nearly never offer any proof of your contentions, your photon torpedo is to call your critics names or to blame others for your failings. The honeymoon is over. Every day more and more Americans are waking up and realizing that their chosen one, The Obama, is a false prophet.  Here are some facts. Rasmussen yesterday reported that in a nationwide generic ballot, likely American voters preferred Republicans to Democrats, 46/36.  Mr. Obama’s strongly disapprove rating is nearly double his strongly approve rating, 45/25. The Team Obama’s attempt to demonize the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement has been proven to be a gross failure. An NBC poll reported that 46% of American looked favorably on the Tea Party Movement, making it more popular than Dems or Reps. Indeed Nancy Pelosi has been forced to admit it’s impact on the political process by establishing a “Tea Party Caucus” in The House of Representatives. As of yesterday, the approval rate of the Congress was 11%. One of the talking points routinely tossed by Obamaphiles is that Mr. Obama’s sea of critics “hate” him. I doubt that, I’d argue that many of us would find it amusing to spend time with him. He certainly projects the image of being a “hail fellow well met”. His strongest suit is that he is bright and articulate. But let there be no doubt that this critic absolutely loathes what Mr. Obama, during his very brief presence, has done to our nation and what he and his are trying to do. I loathe his many friends who likewise loathe the America of our founders. Many of us who share that feeling have taken the trouble to look beyond the wit and eloquence of Mr. Obama and have found that his core beliefs are antithetical to nearly all that is American. To be fair, I believe that Mr. Obama is sincerely convinced that his socialist views and policies are in the best interest of the masses. I believe that he sees himself as the latter day socialist counterpart of the  Messiah. I count myself with the growing majority of Americans who strongly disagree. Special note to our Deer Obamaphile Friends: Love and cherish him if you will, but don’t be so foolish so as to trust him. Don’t give him the keys to your cherished antique car, he will wreck it.

NO NAME ELECTRIC

[Water Approved for No Name Key] No need for a take permit. The FKAA is installing self actuated drinking fountains for the Key Deer.

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Wednesday July 28, 2010

Tuesday July 27, 2010

The infamous one-percenter motorcycle gang, the Pagans, are out and about in the Keys. They've been seen at several establishments in Key West, and they have a clubhouse on Big Pine. Just in case you don't know what a one-percenter is, it refers to the belief that 99% of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens, and the last one percent are outlaws.

Pagans are that one percent along with the Outlaws, Hells Angels, and Bandidos. I'm not a gossip, or making up tall tales. I believe the editor knows I'm a pretty straight-shooter. But, I've crossed paths with some of these unsavory folks recently at a Key West bar and overheard some things. That's how I know about the Big Pine clubhouse. Word is also all over town. Clearly it wasn't just an isolated incident. Be careful out there.

Are there any live-aboard marinas on Big Pine Key?

[School Mismanagement]  Allegedly, the Monroe County School Board has recently instituted fiscal reforms that may  protect our assets, so they might be spent educating children. This was done only after our students and taxpayers had been defrauded of approximately $500,000. The gravity of that crime continues to harmfully reverberate throughout our county.

Any duty-bound School Board managing a $108 million dollar school budget would never have waited until after a theft occurred before enacting safekeeping measures. This School Board is seriously negligent in upholding their fiduciary responsibilities to the people of Monroe County.

Accountability, transparency and the qualitative performance of ones' duties is the cornerstone upon which any successful enterprise is built. This school board has been amateurish, naive and neglectful in managing the educational affairs of our children.

Perhaps after Dennis Ward gets done cleaning up the corruptive mess maligning our local governments, he'll bring some order to the school district and become our next Superintendent of Schools. It appears that this is the only way that the rest of these ragamuffins will be run out of town. ~gaffer12333@bellsouth.ne

Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.

[Night Lights] To all of those houses who insist on leaving an outdoor light on all night long: Would it kill you to get a motion sensor so your neighbors can see the sky and not the glare of your paranoia? Hopefully they’re using CFL bulbs.

[Flying Today] You define a good flight by negatives: you didn't get hijacked, you didn't crash, you didn't throw up, you weren't late, you weren't nauseated by the food. So you're grateful.

The other mini-season.

Coconuts wanted. seeking coconuts

[Sun Spots] The Sun displayed a triple spot when imaged by the SOHO spacecraft on July 23^rd.

[Classified Ads] Kudos to Coconut Telegraph and bigpinekey.com classifieds. This is the best place to advertise.  After running ads on Craigs List and getting no response I placed an ad here on Saturday and was overwhelmed with calls on Sunday afternoon for the swan paddleboat I gave away. The editor even featured the link to the ad on the front page!  Thank you very much.

F-35 The coolest plane in the world! Take a big, deep breathe before clicking on this short video.

[Law of Mechanical Repair] After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

[Sloan] Cuban Conspiracy? I got an email from a Key West fellow asking me if I thought Danny Coll is a front man for the South Florida Cuban-American community trying to establish a strong presence in the Florida Keys. The writer told me to Google the South Florida Barlat family, so I did that. They seem to be serious movers and shakers, real heavy weights in the Miami-area Cuban-American community. 
 
When my email correspondent and I finally connected by telephone around dinner time yesterday evening, we agreed it makes sense for Cuban Americans to try to establish a presence in the Keys governments, looking forward to normalization of US relations with Cuba. We also agreed that we should know this is what the Cuban-American community is trying to do before it happens, rather than learn about it after they already have done it. In that vein, a fairly recent Solares Hill article featured Danny as a Cuban American. When asked in the article if he would go back to Cuba, Danny said he didn’t think he would go back to his home country while the Castro government was still in control. Taking Danny at his word, his home country is Cuba, not America. It’s hard to imagine Danny doesn’t have deep ties to the Cuban-American community, after seeing in the Calendar of his campaign website that this past April he attended a kick-off campaign reception for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who has deep ties to the South Florida Cuban-American community.
 
Danny has come out strongly against the Keys remaining a designated Area of Critical State Concern under the Department of Community Affairs’ oversight, while George Neugent and I have come out strongly in favor of retaining the area of critical concern designation and DCA oversight. So I can’t help but wonder if the Cuban-American power brokers in South Florida would like to see the Keys look a lot more like Miami Beach and Havana. I can’t help but wonder if Danny Coll is their front man for moving in that direction in the Keys. But then, if he was their man, wouldn’t they make sure he was squeaky clean? Wouldn’t they see to it that he cleaned up his business troubles before he threw his hat in the ring? It just doesn’t compute.
 
I heard last night that yesterday was the last day for Keys registered Democrats and Independents to register as Republicans if they wanted to vote in the Republican primaries this year. Think about it, registered Republicans. If you don’t get George Neugent through the Republican primary, you will have to choose between Danny Coll and me on November 2.  The rest ... GoodMorningFloridaKeys.com

[Candidate Forums] The Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce will host two candidate forums for the August 24^th Primary. The forums will be Monday, August 16^th and Wednesday, August 18th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the Big Pine United Methodist Church Chapel on Key Deer Blvd, Big Pine Key and will feature 28 Candidates.

Monday, August 16, 2010
Featuring Candidates for:
Board of County Commissioners District 2
Board of County Commissioners District 4
Mosquito Control District 2
Mosquito Control District 5

Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Featuring Candidates for:
Monroe County School Board District 1
Monroe County School Board District 5
16th Judicial Circuit Court Judge District 3
State Representative District 120

Candidates will appear in race specific groups and will be allowed two minutes to introduce themselves to the audience.  Each candidate will be asked the same three questions and will have two minutes to answer each.  There will be no questions permitted from the floor. Candidates are urged to remain after the forum to meet attendees and address questions one-on-one. The forums will be moderated by US 1 Radio News Director Bill Becker and Steve Estes, publisher of the News-Barometer on Big Pine Key and are open to Chamber members and the community. Bulletin Board

Four planets shine in the western twilight. One dazzles; the others appear tiny by comparison. Watch them changing positions day by day! This is their arrangement at week's end. (The visibility of faint objects in bright twilight is exaggerated here.)

[New Blog] There is supposed to be a new free and uncensored blog starting up around here. Does anyone know of it? (Ed: Sal’s blog isn’t censored.)

Oh, the humanity.  How did we get to this point as a species?

[Call on the federal government to save more wildlife] Quit waiting for the Feds to do everything. Take charge of your own life and surroundings!

[Corpse Flower] Rare flower brings strange sight and sour smell to Houston. Like something out of a science fiction story, a strange-looking, foul-smelling "corpse flower" plant nicknamed "Lois" is about to bloom in Texas for the first time in six years. "It's this big, outer-space looking thing, purplish, with this big phallus -- and it reeks of corpse," Nancy Greig, a tropical plant botanist at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. "It just smells like a bunch of cadavers."

The plant, officially known as Amorphophallus titanum, was first discovered in a Sumatra rainforest in 1878 and can grow to about 20 feet tall. It often takes many years to bloom, and when it does -- as is now the case in Houston -- it gives off the very distinct odor of rotting flesh.

The first time the plant, considered one of the world's largest flowers, bloomed in the U.S. was at the New York Botanical Garden in 1937, where police were called in to control the huge crowds gathered to witness the rare flower and its pungent stench.

OIL SPILL

NATIONAL POLITICS

The mosque at Ground Zero. We need to fight for freedom from religion or the faithful will fry us all. http://tinyurl.com/34veb9a

President Obama is not unlike the dog that caught the fire truck. He's got it and has not a clue what to do with it. In less than 100 days we can send a message. Vote this November.

I knew FTR guy would get upset when I mentioned The road and bridge projects going on all around America. It is indeed taxpayers’ money fixing the roads, but it is also the roads my family rides on and the bridges my family cross. It’s also the roads my hard working family members pay taxes for. America’s infrastructure has been crumbling and we all knew that but diid nothing about it. This isn’t news. The fact that someone can find fault in the repairs is amazing. The roads and bridges can’t be ignored any longer. It’s American companies using American workers and American equipment paid for by the American taxpayer. A person would really have to be so full of hatred for our President that even making our lives safer stands in the way of that hatred.

The Republican Party has been high-jacked by the extremist from the Right that will do everything they can to harm our president. He told school kids to work hard and stay in school and they tried to disgrace him, he gave the Navy shoot-to-kill orders if the commander saw fit concerning the Somalian Pirates and they tried to disgrace him. Our own right-wing extremist, FTR, told us a lie that the President used a teleprompter when speaking to school kids and the President’s kids received a huge swing set using taxpayers money. Yet other extremist say FRT is always factual and honest. He has quite a few times told us lies. He will admit he told untruths because he has. I’ve read quite a few apologies from him. The hatred for the President is the motivating factor no matter what our President does.

America is waking up to the unfounded hatred and it’s starting to look like the Republicans won’t be cleaning house this election. In fact, since he loves polls he has to know that the American people are indeed unhappy with Congress but there’s more mistrust of the Republicans in Congress then there is for the Democrats. America is getting better and if you thought a President can come into office and clean up the disaster that struck our financials before he was elected you may indeed have ingested way to much hatred for your own President. America’s on the way back and no matter how hard you try and make it seem like the end of the world, look around. I see improvement everywhere and I really see it in money going to road and bridge projects.

I applaud the Republicans that are seeing the recovery and are starting to support the President and become a part of a team set on fixing America’s health. More improvements will be coming along. I am grateful that just saying no is going by the wayside.

[How to identify a lib over the internet] A lib who attacks a person with whom he doesn’t agree and has no facts to support his position, will immediately start calling that person names. Particularly if that person is overweight or is more articulate. Examples might be: fat slob, douche bag, neo con (whatever that is) Nazi. None of this has anything to do with the current discussion.

I’m not a lib but I can name call as well as them.  The current administration is using Nazi methods to push their agenda such as nationalization of industry, setting school curriculum, many emotional speeches pitting one faction of the population against the other, and just plain lying. Obama does do a pretty good Hitler.

The citizens of Arizona passed a law that makes it necessary to prove you are in their state legally. They are tired of paying two billion taxpayer dollars a year in medical and educational benefits to people in their state illegally. They are  tired of the Mexican drug traffickers, kidnappings (389 last year), traffic accidents, and crime caused by illegal immigrants in their state. They are tired of citizens of a foreign country overcrowding and bankrupting their emergency rooms and schools. They have the absolute right to defend their state when the federal government fails to do so.

Barack Obama is the best thing that has happened to America in the last 100 years. Truly, he is the savior of America 's future. He is the best thing ever.

Don't blame me I voted for the old guy and the hottie.

There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. ~American science fiction writer Robert Heinlein

[From the Right] It is a huge temptation to label yesterday’s poster who was critical of as being as being a doofus. Here’s why. He apparently found it humorous that I had reported that BP had intentionally turned off Deepwater Horizons safety alarms. As a result of BP’s action, 11 people died, and the resulting explosion/petro gusher has become the single biggest environmental tragedy ever to strike America. How can any of that be amusing? The FTR critic may have been suggesting that my reporting on Team Obama’s failure/refusal to supervise the Deepwater Horizon was somehow hypocritical, hence amusing. The horrible facts are that regulations and rules were in existence that could have prevented the disaster. Our government did not enforce those rules and regulations. This 3 month old tragedy could have been avoided if Team Obama had done the job that it had been elected to do. Team Obama did not do its job. Team Obama put the Gulf Of Mexico and you in jeopardy by either willfully or stupidly not enforcing existing law. Their nonfeasance has cost you and me Billions. It has cost jobs and money and pain beyond count in the coastal affected areas. None of that minimizes the villainy of BP, it simply proves that the villain had a partner. During the Bush admin the rig had received at least 6 citations from MMS, the enforcer. Some were major, some minor. Under Team Obama, BP received no citations and remarkably, was due to be presented with an Obama safety award. Team Obama’s failure or refusal to do their jobs will impact every facet of your life for years to come as knee jerk sanctions against off shore oil production will certainly follow. As yet we don’t know if BP’s political donations or contacts played any role in the nonfeasance of Team Obama. Some suspect so. Again I urge you to follow the search term “Obama safety award BP”.  Please don’t let the Obamaphiles divert you from the fact that Team Obama is every much a villain as is BP. And so my Deer Friends, that is why I am sorely tempted to paste the Doofus label on the forehead of my critic. In the spirit of generosity and comity, I choose not to. On the other hand, feel free to do it yourself.

(Part II) Some CT fans are eagerly awaiting the death of the so called Bush Tax Cuts.  If they expire, the result will be a whole passel of new Obama taxes. I suppose that the new Obama taxes could even be called Zombie Tax. Team Obama is bringing back taxes from the dead.  Fiscal Voodo. Even Mr. Obama’s fiscal guru, Ben Bernanke opposes bringing the taxes back to life.  Bernanke is the Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve. Bernanke believes that these new taxes will hurt the economy. The same petty folks who salivate at the idea of redistribution of wealth will be hurt. Those folks simply want to punish anyone who has more than they do.  It is wonderfully ironic that if they get their way, if the Bush Tax Cuts expire, if the Obama Zombie taxes come to pass, then it is a good bet the jealous ones are the ones who will suffer. You see about half of the revenue that will be gained from the new Obama taxes will be from small business. Yep, the new Obama Taxes will hurt mom and pop business a lot. If you work for a small business it will probably cost your business more to do business. That means fewer new jobs, and minimized pay raises. Repeat, half of revenue from the brand new Obama taxes will hurt small business and probably hurt the recovery. 

NO NAME UTILITIES

[Now it's on you NNK when other environmental areas are invaded]  That has been my point all along.  The pro-utility people on NNK have been claiming that they are so environmental, but this proves they are not, pushing to get the rule completely eliminated for their own selfish reasons, rather than working to get their homes exempted from said rule.

That's exactly why the DCA, USFWS, and Monroe County all chimed in, recommending that the rule not be eliminated. This rule was there to protect these sensitive areas and their endangered species.

Shame on FKAA and NNKPOA.  Thank the poster yesterday for giving Gov. Crist's address.  I have sent a letter to him concerning this.

I found an interesting website called http://forums.treehugger.com and found a group of posts titled No Name Key, FL,  Off Grid Solar Community.  I could tell there were a couple of the pro-utility people's posts on here, because of similar content that they keep ranting here, but I found one post rather interesting.  It was posted on July 1 by Offgridnick and it stated "I spent a long time on No Name Key last year for a book I was writing - 'Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America.'  I spoke to all the key players on both sides of the debate, and my conclusion is the same as the previous poster - why would someone choose to buy a home in one of the few places in America that is off the grid, and then promptly demand that it be on the grid? It has to be an attempt to increase the market value.

I think it is a good symbolic issue for the national environmental to organize around, as it is absurd that those who went there for a quiet and tranquil life should have their lives ruined by property speculators."

I looked up the book on Amazon, and it is real.

[Editor Sucks] Ed, if you decide to censor my statement re: the water to No Name Key please don't add to it. I never stated "To hell with the environment" as you so righteously added to my post. I do care about the environment but I do not appreciate the "got miners" running the real estate comp plan. Everyone who's been here for a while knows it's a game to get land for little to no cost. Sure, save the environment out of your wallet not mine. More homes built the bigger the tax base. Do the math if you know how. Build, baby, build!

[Water Approved for No Name Key] Doesn't the FKAA need a permit to run any pipe to NNK because of the endangered species? If so, this is far from a done deal. FKAA can say whatever they want and so can the Keys Energy Service. If a taking of an endangered species permit is required, this is far from over.

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Tuesday July 27, 2010

Monday July 26, 2010

Medical marijuana to be OK in some VA clinics. Medical marijuana to be OK in some VA clinics - Yahoo! News

Can anyone help identify this beautiful plant?

[Mini Lobster Season] Does anyone know of a place that sells fireworks that work underwater . With the mini season fast approaching, I thought about dropping some "depth charges" when I see bubbles where they are not suppose to be.

Rear view mirror on an F-18. Video

The water of Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's highest and drops 3,212 feet. They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.

Mel Gibson and Bruce Willis ripped my good friend off for $200,000 in a real estate deal in Costa Rica. Both you jerks hear this, “Don't let me catch you bums in the Keys. You’re not welcome here. Got it?”

[New Phone] I have been waiting two weeks to get the new HTC EVO 4G phone from Sprint. I’ve been on the waiting list in the Key West and Marathon RadioShack stores and tried ordering online direct from Sprint but no luck. Yesterday I stopped in the Big Pine RadioShack and their it was; the phone I have been waiting for. I bought two, one for me and one for the wife. This is by far the coolest phone ever! If you are on a waiting list somewhere call the Big Pine store next to Winn Dixie. They have them in stock. I guess it really is best to shop local.

[Home Foreclosure] What the hell does any political party or religion have to do with people who over pay for property? It is nobodies fault other then theirs. Take responsibility for your own actions, for Christ’s sake, and quit blaming others for your greed.

Today is the last day to register to vote in the August primary.  Want to get rid of a Republican commissioner? You need to be registered Republican.  It sucks, but it's part of the game in Florida.

[Snake Eats Deer] I guess the person taking the picture of the python and deer did not have a gun to kill the python before it killed the deer.

[AA] I followed what they told me to do in A.A. and was able to arrest my drinking problem. It certainly wasn’t a disaster for me. It really worked fine for me.

OIL SPILL

The Gulf's fragile ecosystems, including 36 national wildlife refuges, are facing unprecedented devastation. BP and the U.S. government aren't doing enough.

The oil spill's effect on endangered species is alarming. At least 40 species are seriously threatened in the Gulf, including Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, Sperm whale, Brown pelican, Bald eagle, Least tern, Piping plover, Manatee, Whooping crane, Alabama beach mouse, Bluefin tuna, and Gulf sturgeon.

Although wildlife rescuers are working tirelessly, they are overwhelmed. There are far too few people and resources to find and save wildlife in this vast area. In addition, rules and red tape are stopping qualified wildlife rescuers from helping to save oiled birds and other wildlife.

Please join us in calling on the federal government to do everything it can to save more endangered wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.

NATIONAL POLITICS

[Arab Kamikazes] It has been proven through the ages that you cannot win a war against a race who are willing to kill themselves. (The one exception was Japan because they faced total extinction from an unimaginable weapon before there were nuclear rules.) Let’s leave that hell hole and defend our own borders.

1.  You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.
2.  What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3   The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4.   You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
5.   When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.

The guy from the Right never seems long winded to me. I suppose that’s because all his posts are so factual an honest verses the mush that we hear from the juvenile Left.

FTR guy asked the question yesterday, "Why is BP responsible?" And he was serious. Then later in the post he said "BP turned off the safety alarms on purpose". Sometimes all you can do is laugh. We know it was the oceans fault or Obama’s.

Team obstruction, the day before the spill, were busy screaming from on high that, "Government needs to leave businesses alone. And we don’t need regulations on businesses in this tough economy".

The day after the spill we heard "why didn’t Obama step in and make stronger regulations and impose other safety requirements?"

[Minnie the Moocher] "Say goodbye to White USA" So far they can't vote us off the island so that doesn't worry me too much.  I am concerned about moochers of any color voting themselves more and more 'freebies' at the expense of fewer and fewer producers of any color.

[From the Right] Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times, an Australian news outlet, reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison. He is the convicted Lockerbie Bomber. The Australian has acquired access to a document that Team Obama has been trying to keep secret from the American press. The document puts the lie to Team Obama’s claim that they were “surprised, disappointed and angry” to “learn” of the freeing of the Lockerbie Bomber by the Scots. It appears that they were players in his release. He is now living happily, and proudly, in Libya. In one bomb blast he destroyed a 747, a village, and the lives of the families of the 270 people killed in the name of Muslim fundamentalism. When he was freed in Libya, he was received as if he were a rock star.

(Part II) Yesterday a supporter of Mr. Obama bragged that infrastructure projects from The Team Obama and Democrat Congress’s 18 month old American Recovery act were “starting to be put to work”.  My Deer Friends, the major selling points of the act was that we were in a dire emergency and we immediately needed mountains of money. They said that borrowing all of this money and immediately spending it was the only way to cure the recession. We were told that without the money from the Act that unemployment would go above 8% and that if the act was not immediately passed, we would plunge off a cliff. We were promised that the borrowed monies were only going to go to projects that were then “shovel ready projects”. I know that you remember that! We were told that those “shovel ready” emergency infrastructure projects” were sure to shrivel and die if the act did not pass. That act was signed into law on Feb. 13^th, ’09.  Remember we were told that that money was all that was needed to turn the economy around, solve unemployment, restart the economy, and would only go to “shovel ready” projects. Now here we are 18 months later. I don’t have to tell you that the bill was a huge waste of money, it did not work. Unemployment is nearly 10% and the economy is far worse than before the act.  According to the Govt. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we have lost 2.53 million net private sector jobs since the act went into effect. The economy and unemployment is much worse than it was then by several magnitudes. Team Obama and the Democrat Congress had purposefully decided not to spend all the money immediately as they had promised. They only spent half.  I hope that you are asking why! They saved half of the money so that they would have it ready to spend in the last months of the upcoming campaign season. They won't spend it all, they will save a bundle and wait for the '12 presidential election.   Team Obama and the Democrat Congress will now flood venues which they think can be influenced by a torrent of taxpayer money. They hope to buy votes.  Withholding half of the Recovery Act money was craven politics. Proof of this can be seen in the several millions of dollars spent just for road side signs bragging that the money is from Mr. Obama and the Democrats.  Now you see examples of the signs every time you drive to Key West. It's hard to believe that they’re bragging about spending millions for a bike trail.  A freaking bike trail! How many people have you seen actually working on the trail?  Or riding on the trail? Soon the signs will be sprouting like sand spurs.  Team Obama and the Democrat Congress borrowed and are now spending billions of your dollars to try and buy your votes. The act might have put money into carefully selected local district projects, but it damned sure did not do what it was supposed to do, it did not add jobs to the private sector.

NO NAME UTILITIES

[Water Approved for No Name Key] I have to say that the fighting over the water has been ridiculous. Thank God board members on FKAA can see beyond all the tree-hugging idiots. I have a real problem with people who come here from other countries trying to run our small county for their own benefit. Maybe all the decisions should be made a public vote every time, including our County and school budget. Let’s face it, the people who have been elected are not watching out for us who live here.

The first positive light in ten years has been the FKAA's recent ruling. It's time to move the Keys into the 21st century. Let people have utilities and let them build on their land or pony up and pay fair market value for what they own. If No Name Key residents don't want water then don't hook up. Some people who live out there seem to believe they are the gods and protectors of No Name and the environment. Face it, when they are dead it will eventually get built anyway. You really will make no difference in the long run. Besides after Hillary put up all our states and federal lands as collateral for our debt to China do you think when the US defaults China will care about your environment?  If you environmentalist don't want utilities why don't you move to a off shore island where you don't bother anyone and you can do what ever you want? And before you try it remember No Name Key is not off shore it's connected by a tax payer paid for bridge. 

Hopefully this is the first of many turn around for Monroe County. Next get that 4 lanes in from the mainland to Keys West, lose the Area of Critical Concern crap and “Build, baby build!”

Increase that tax base and make programs for our kids. To hell with the environment. Maybe the environmentalist should go after bars not builders. If the environmentalists don’t want the land built let them pay fair market value for it and quit robbing my tax dollars.

[FKAA, citizens of Monroe demand better]  To this poster, do not include me, also a citizen in Monroe, in your demands. You do not get to demand for me.  I like Steve Estes. Since the NNK Water issue first came up,  I wanted you to get your water. Then I started doing a lot of of research about the FKAA eliminating their environmental policy, and found many documents between FKAA and other gov’t agencies regarding this policy. Based on those documents, FKAA was incorrect in deleting their policy, and now I fear many lawsuits will ensue, and us ratepayers will eventually have to bear the financial burden of their defense. The sad thing is you could have moved your issue forward without FKAA deleting their policy and setting up future environmental ruin for the rest of the Keys. FKAA has made exceptions to their policy in other locations, and they could have made an exception on NNK also. Instead of excepting, they chose to delete. So, now it's on you when other environmental areas are invaded. And the really sad thing is that you are no closer to getting what you want and you probably never will be. There's an alphabet soup of gov’t agencies' laws, policies and procedures standing between you and your "demands".

One, not so secret gossip is that a high-up FKAA employee is personally involved with a NNK woman who wants water.  I don't know any FKAA employees, but I hope that gossip is wrong. Otherwise that's just polluting the issue more, and I'm guessing you don't need that extra hurdle.

The pro-utility people on No Name Key have been touting all along that they will pay for their own utilities to be brought to their homes, and that no one else will have to share the burden. They’ve said that over and over.

They persuaded FKAA's board to eliminate the rule which banned FKAA from ever being able to run water to several enviro-sensitive areas throughout the Keys.  FKAA must now decide who will pay for the infrastructure, the residents of No Name, or all of us?

Now the lady, who started all of this, was quoted that she and other NNK residents are looking into securing grant money.  Whoa, lady, I thought you said that you would pay for your own utilities?  Do you know where grant money comes from? That’s right, our tax dollars.

I suggest everyone write Governor Crist about this, since he appoints the FKAA board, letting him know of your disappointment in this board's vote (three of the five voted to eliminate the rule. Board Chairman David Ritz and board member Rose Dell voted to keep the rule).  Governor Crist has the power to do something about this.  His email address is Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com  and his snail-mail address is Office of Governor Charlie Crist, State of Florida, PL-05 The Capitol, Tallahassee, FL  32399-0001.

[Water Approved for No Name Key] The three Directors of FKAA who voted in favor of eliminating the water prohibition did their homework and additionally voted for what is morally right.  They are to be commended for their stance when faced with spurious political pressure and misguided information.   It is disappointing to hear the BOCC, who has repeatedly said they would not tell the FKAA how to do their job (in reference to sewers), feel compelled to reverse their stance to pressure the FKAA Board in reference to NNK.  For any commissioner to make negative remarks about a board member or members of any board is the height of hypocrisy.  For a newspaper editor to do so makes his paper a house organ.   Lip/computer service to misinformation continues to burst forth like a broken record stuck on a voodoo mantra song telling the citizens of No Name Key how they need to live, or they need to move.   One scratch on the record is mindlessly repeats,   (primitive drum beat…) “They knew when they moved…They knew…”  It is well documented, Keys Energy, then Citizen Electric was then, and is now willing to bring electricity to the island for the good of all Monroe citizens via unused solar collection.   One citizen asked them not to bring electricity to NNK, yet Keys Energy said they would, and under what parameters.

Another scratch on the record is the loan agreement. “Prohibition was meant to be in perpetuity.”  Who says?  Cite the reference.  Read the loan agreement, read the biological opinion yourself.  Read the lawyers opinions.  Read the section that speaks of advantages to the ecosystem and future ecological improvements.  Yet another scratch is the comp plan. “Comp plan mumbo jumbo” Read the county attorney’s opinion on the comp plan, read the state law which governs the comp plan.  Anyone can choose to be a parrot and like parrots only repeat words, sans comprehension.  It would be helpful if individuals acting as broken records would get their assertions in line with the facts of the matter.  Your comments, yesterday, should be retracted.  Unfortunately, you can’t put toothpaste back in the tube; therefore your uninformed rant needs to be answered.  

My congratulations to the FKAA and their recent vote of approval concerning water on NNK.  People are finally coming to their senses.

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Monday July 26, 2010

Sunday July 25, 2010

[Death to Paper] Amazon said they are selling more eBooks than paper books.

I read the paper every day waiting for Monica Acevedo’s trial to begin.

Did you get to read the Key West Citizen article Saturday about DiGennaro and Rice?  DiGennaro was talking about friendships with Gov. Crist and Mike Sole, secretary of DEP.  DiGennaro is quoted in this article saying his friendships helped get the Keys an extension of the wastewater deadline.  I have been told when DiGennaro is up in Tallahassee trying to get in to see the Gov he and his cronies are left waiting, and waiting outside his office.  Also DiGennaro claims he was successful in having the state Legislature appropriate $200 million for the Keys, appropriation and approving are hundreds of miles apart, so much for his solid relationships with big wigs.  The dollar donations you give to Crist might be a factor, could it be like hanging a bone around your child’s neck to get the family dog to play with him?

Go back to the Hickory House, $3.6 million dollars, the Vandenberg, $2 million dollars (your hard earned tax dollars) DiGennaro voted with the other members of the Gang of Three to spend your money.  Your votes got rid of Spehar and McCoy.  Are you voters going to do the same with the last member of this gang? ~mollyhanson18@gmail.com 

Hispanic shooting range. Video

I stopped by Innerspace Dive Shop today because I saw that they were having a clearance sale and holy cow they have changed things around!  All kinds of new stuff in the store. I picked up a killer new mask for cheap.  I love it  The new owners are doing something right.  

[Lovely Women] I dedicate this video to all the women out there! http://www.TheOneFlawInWomen.com

Otis Redding singing Dock of the Bay. “Wasting time...” YouTube - Otis Redding-Sitting on the dock of the bay

The Eisenhower Interstate System requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

[Joke of the Year] Two women were sitting quietly together, minding their own business.

Humming bird photos. #mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=3&a=0&at=0

[Fun with Islam] Pat Condell is a British stand-up comedian, but this video isn't comic, it's pure truth, and utterly brilliant.  Pat Condell on Ground Zero mosque: "Is it possible to be astonished, but not surprised?" - Jihad Watch

[Snakes and Deer] The first documented photo of a deer being strangled to death by a 12 foot Burmese python.

It’s estimated that there are over one hundred and fifty thousand pythons living in the everglades, and growing!

Lost Kayak, single, yellow, on Cudjoe Key off 120 Spanish Main Wilderness. Classified Ads > Lost & Found

Goin’ to a Go-go (at Wal-mart). Go white guy, go! http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/go_white.html

Somehow I just can't picture non-toxic pesticide being very effective. Isn’t that an oxymoron?

No more toll booths and you pay with even higher taxes. It would be a hell of a lot easier to eliminate all tolls because most roads are Federal roads or already paid for many times over with gas taxes.  You buy gas and you pay for the roads. It's mostly the private or locally owned roads that suck your wallet dry. There's no need for tolls anywhere.

[Tax Hike for Pay Raises] The average property owner would pay $448 per $100,000 worth of property value next year, compared with $377 per $100,000 this year. Am I calculating this correctly: 18.8% property tax increase?

I would like a raise too.  Unfortunately I cannot vote myself a raise. I do not work for the government.

The only way for me to earn or keep more money is to work longer hours or come up with solutions and improvements that would save money by creating efficiencies and increase productivity.

Although the above philosophy is a second nature for small businesses, it appears to be a completely foreign concept to most government officials.  Our elected officials should give this concept a try, you may create your raise without having to increase our tax burden.

[The end of the middle class] This pretty much lets us know what is in store for our kids and grandkids. http://tinyurl.com/2clrhs7

[Bruce Willis Sucks] One of the people defending the fact that Bruce Willis was in Pulp Fiction took that incorrect, yet innocuous, statement and barked back with a comment about opinions of the "libs". "Bruce Willis sucks" didn't seem to be about Righty-bashing, but some neo-con fruit-loop took offense because Willis is one out of the handful of celebs that support the GOP.

I hope nobody says anything regarding the acting skill of Chuck Norris. You, my friend, are the douchiest of douches. 

Also, the fellow that didn't know Bruce Willis wasn't in Pulp Fiction may not have his head screwed on too tightly either. Someone better "bring out the gimp."

I was going to convert to Islam, but I have bad knees.

[Tech Support] Have you noticed that when you call tech support and you are finished with the problem you can’t just say, “Thank you and good bye”. They always have to say something else. You answer, “No thank you. Good bye.” And they have something else to say. After my second “Good bye” I hang up because they’ll usually ask me more and more questions.

How about the crummy voice recognition software? They’ll ask a yes or no question and I’ll answer “Yes.” And the machine will say,” I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Did you say yes or no?” How can they misinterpret yes for no? I’ve never figured that one out.

Thank God for Steve Estes. He is one of the few people down here who exposes the twisted facts, distortions, lies and character assassinations of the "70% No Name Key Majority" we keep hearing from.

Steve would make a great county commissioner. Keep up the good work Steve.

Bruce Willis also stared in the greatest science fiction comedy of all time, The Fifth Element. 

[Do I look fat in theis dress] Another way to anger a woman:  Buy her a scale for her birthday.

[AA Basher] If you see no reason to bash AA, let me give you some. The recovery industry is in an incestuous relationship with AA. Unfortunately this industry has promoted the teachings and theology of the AA faith as medical fact. The misinformation and disinformation promoted, marketed, and proselytized as medical fact by the AA faith and the recovery industry is neither medical nor is it fact. Unfortunately, mainstream medicine that should be based on empirical scientific fact has “sold out” to a religious organization that continues to promote incorrect information. There are people that are incarcerated, have lost custody of children, have lost employment, and have been denied organ transplants for failing to participate and convert to this religion.

The simple fact that the AA faith goes to great length to have its membership and governing leadership instructed to be deceptive about the religiosity and evangelical goals of the organization does not mitigate nor negate that fact. “Spiritual not religious” is cheap, sophomoric, overused cliché that just does not carry credibility. US courts have declared AA to be “unequivocally religious” The misinformation and disinformation that is promoted is dangerous and deadly. People are actually trained by tax funded, and insurance paid rehabs they have a progressive, incurable, and terminal disease, without any mention whatsoever, that the disease model of addiction is extremely controversial in the scientific community. The disease model of addiction is also far less prevalent in countries where it is not insanely profitable as it is the United States.

The current substance abuse system is the worst health care failure in the history of modern medicine. AA is truly a disaster.

OIL SPILL

BP is starting to drill off Libya next week as payback for being instrumental in getting the Lockerbie bomber freed last year in a deal brokered between Libya and England for the oil.

NATIONAL POLITICS

FTR, you certainly are windy. Your fingers never stops running. If you’re so damned right about everything why aren't you out there running for office? Why? Because you probably couldn't get enough votes to fill that trash can next to your chair. Why is that trash can empty? Because you never throw anything out. You just put it all on the CT.

[White Power] If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to White USA in fewer than five years. 

[Team Obstruction] I see trouble brewing in the camp of Team Obstruction. It seems according to various reports Republicans are starting to tell one of their own, Transportation Secretary LaHood that the stimulus is starting to work. Finances for much needed road and bridge projects are starting to be put to work from the American Recovery Act. There are road and highway projects starting all around America. It’s about time our bridges and highways started to get the repairs they need. The work is putting thousands back to work and we are making our infrastructure a lot safer. That’s change I voted for.

It also appears that all around the country record numbers of republicans are lining up to have their pictures taken in front of the road projects to show how "they" were able to secure the funds for the projects. Yep, some people have no shame. They love those big “Clearing House” checks they can sign and head back to D.C. to bash our President again. The man reporting the news of republicans telling him they hope other agencies can free up even more stimulus funds was a republican.

So when you hear the Team Obstruction complaining, just slow down by the nearest road project and think to yourself  Is this bad having these folks fixing our roads? Remember those that didn’t want to put this country’s infrastructure back into working order. Imagine that, a program that’s making people work and fix roads for their money -- not a handout.

Tax payers’ money going to tax payers’ roads and bridges. I now return you to the rehashing of democrats mistakes from the 1970s.

[Right Talk Shows] “people who want the lies to be truth” That says a lot. The hate-mongers among us really do want to believe anything negative about the President. They shiver with glee when they hear an especially hurtful thing or see a Photoshopped picture showing the President in a bad light. All these radical talk show hosts feed the division in our country and get rich doing it.

[Why we shouldn’t be in Afghanistan] Nation building sucks especially when you’re fighting people who want to stay in the middle ages.

We should totally pull out and bomb training camps with drones. They’ll hate us either way; and with drone strikes we won’t lose any troops. This is an impossible war that no one thinks we can win.

A soldier recently said it was like fighting in the bible.

“Pulp Fiction: Another stupid lib whose opinion is worth what he knows—nada.” It's true there are some ignorant liberals, but what's that got to do with Bruce Willis and Pulp Fiction?  

How did they detect the liberal tendencies displayed in that post?  If on-line mind-reading is something I can learn at a conservative university or on Granny's knee, sign me up!

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.

[Homes] I’m not financial wizard, but I think it’s a bad thing when there are more homes reprocessed than sold new. Was this under Bush or Obama?

[From the Right] The clamor to permanently halt all off shore drilling will soon be deafening.  Already Team Obama’s efforts to vilify BP and the petro industry are extraordinarily successful. BP is a villain. BP is also a fall guy. There is no doubt about it, BP, the villain, could not have harmed us unless it’s partner in villainy had the unwitting help of MMS. The situation is exactly the same thing as a bank guard opening the door to robbers then eating donuts while the robbers knock over the bank.  Our government has been on notice for many years that Mineral Mining Services had been doing a rotten job. In fact MMS was cohabiting with BP.  Team Obama knew it and purposely did nothing. Nothing. In fact they acknowledged the danger and promised to fix it. It was to be one of their top priorities. OSHA  had found  BP operations to be a hotbed of violations, but Deepwater Horizon had been lauded by MMS. Mr. Obama had actually planned to give BP an award just before the Deepwater explosion.  MMS was supposed to regularly inspect the rig and its operations. It did not. We have just learned that the primary safety alarms on the rig had been disabled, on purpose, for over a year. They had been shut off by BP. Please note that they had been shut off for over a freaking year. No one from MMS discovered this outrage. In fact, MMS rarely even visited the operation. You’ve got to wonder why. BP is at fault, but the disaster could not have happened if Team Obama’s MMS had been doing its job.  The search term “Obama reward BP” will give you plenty of scary reading.

(Part II) It is commonly accepted that our economic implosion was directly caused the ruinous lending practices and the bundling of subprime mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We must now note that F/F’s practices could not have started without the fiscally insane regulations forced on lenders by the Community Reinvestment Act courtesy of Mr. Carter and his Democrat controlled Congress. It’s very much like the beginning of a rock slide. First one pebble drops, which knocks over a small rock which knocks over many larger rocks, and so on. The grotesquely overheated real estate market fueled by the lending began to concern many economists, politicians and legislators. We must note that F/F are Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s). GSE’s are a quasi partnership between private enterprise and government. Essentially that means the American public is on the hook for losses, but shares little or none in the profits. Fannie is a financial juggernaut, the USA’s largest mortgage buyer and it is in the top 500 companies in the world.  Shortly after Clinton appointed Janet Reno as A.G., she concluded that banks were illegally “redlining”. She threatened “investigations” if they refused to comply. Banks began practices that included no down payment and giving loans secured by property worth much less than the amount of the loan. Around 1998 Clinton apparatchiks,  Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelik were appointed to run F/F. In short order Raines received over $90 million in bonuses, Gorelik received $75 million. That compensation was based on thier achieving or exceeding their “loan asset targets”.   They “cooked” the books. They claimed massive earnings when there had been losses.  They repaid only pennies the dollar. During this time period, many were alarmed at the danger posed by Fannie on Mae and Freddie Mac and began to demand reform. That’s for tomorrow.

NO NAME ELECTRICITY

[Steve Estes' summary of FKAA meeting]  I say, right on Steve! He hit the nail on the head.  Not only did FKAA thumb their noses at the Monroe County Commission, but also thumbed their noses at the DCA and the USFWS.

Shame on three of the FKAA board for not listening to three of the powers that be who recommended that the rule not be eliminated. This rule was put in place to help protect environmentally sensitive areas throughout the Keys, not just No Name Key. The rule was intended to be forever not until the loan was paid, but forever.

I say shame on three of the FKAA board for listening to the so-called majority of No Name Key.  They brought a bottle of what looked like used toilet water and claimed it came from the cistern of the lady that started this all (who just bought there a few years ago).  Do they not know how to maintain a cistern?

I say the 70% of the people already had a choice in this situation. Either move to an island without utilities and accept it, or move to another island that already has utilities.  They made their choice, and should live with it.

Steve Estes is not working to "incite outrage from the County Commission and DCA".  FKAA already did this, when they eliminated this rule.

Kudos to Steve Estes for his excellent journalism.  We, the citizens of Monroe County, salute you!

[Water Approved for No Name Key] In one vote of 3-2 the FKAA managed to spit on the BOCC, DCA, Fish and Wildlife, and the Monroe County Comp Plan.  The rule they dropped was meant to be for perpetuity which means forever!  The people who chose to live on No Name Key knew it was living off the grid.  They need to move elsewhere.

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Sunday July 25, 2010

Friday July 23, 2010

[Mosquito Hawk] I’ve never heard the Antillean night hawk called a mosquito hawk. I have heard dragon flies called mosquito hawks many times because they eat their weight in mosquitoes ever hour they feed.

My friend had a nasty-ass woman living inside his house. It costs him over $10,000 to get rid (divorce) of her. He said it was well worth the money.

[Iced Tea] I drink a lot of different kinds of iced teas. I thought I was doing something healthy, drinking no more pop. Read this article that says iced tea can cause kidney stones. Is anything good for you? Popular Summer Drink Raises Risk of Kidney Stones - AOL Health

[Bees] The next time your neighbor gets bees, ask around, there are lots of beekeepers who will take them for free. A guy in Key Largo came to BP to get mine.

[Famous Last Words] "Hey y'all, watch this." A 23 year old Summerville, S.C. man died early this morning after he reportedly tried to slap a train and got sucked underneath while outside of bar where he was celebrating his 23rd birthday.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959

[Bruce Willis Sucks] Bruce Willis wasn’t in Pulp Fiction, that’s why it was such a great movie.

[A Nickel Costs 6¢ to Make] The mint lost $22 million making nickels and pennies last year. The price of copper actually has a greater effect on the cost of nickels than on pennies because nickels are made of 75% copper.

[Mario] Here's the really biggie we can "thank" Mario for: Mario's Folly aka the Vandenberg. 3 million down the hole, literally.

Finally a true map of Florida that explains this weird, but wonderful state. Those of you who live in Florida will recognize it, and those who don’t have been warned.

[Toll Booth] Here's a better question for whoever's in charge of the toll collector operation.  Who decides when to put the gate up and let everybody out (leave) without paying the county piper?

On July Fourth weekend Monday or Tuesday, I was northbound and did not have to pay to get out. All northbound traffic got out for free. And there was a lot of traffic (tourists). What a terrible waste of a great opportunity to collect a lot of greenbacks.  But on the southbound return, yup - they got my dollar.  As I sat there paying, I watched at least 8 vehicles go through northbound without ever letting off the gas. The northbound gate was up and the toll collector was standing on the northbound side of the road waving all the northbound traffic though.  Somebody made a bad call. Monroe should have collected a lot of money instead of rushing the leavers out.

[Mini Season] Lobster ban sought. My canal has been active with lobster hunters for 3 days already. Lobster ban sought for southern New England

You know you're a Floridian if…
Socks are only for bowling. 
You never use an umbrella because the rain will be over in five minutes. 
A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade. 
Your winter coat is made of denim. 
You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites. 
You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65. 
Anything under 70 degrees is chilly. 
You've driven through Yeehaw Junction. 
You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.  
Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.
You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for. 
You dread love bug season. 
You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Wilma, Irene, Cheryl, Rita, Mary and Alison.
You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.
You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average. 
'Down South' means Key West
Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before. 
You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt. 
 You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls. 
A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level. 
You know the four seasons really are: Hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.   
 You've hosted a hurricane party.
 You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee, Thonotosassa and Micanopy. 
You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself. 
You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim. 
You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years. 
You recognize Miami-Dade as Northern Cuba.

[The Quiet Man] No one’s ever been hurt by what I have not said.

[Bad Operating System] Deer Ed, does this describe yesterday’s computer mess? S.H.I.T. (So Happy It's Thursday).

[A Dying Breed] I haven’t seen anyone I know in the obituaries lately, oh, oh!

[Slogan] This story made me immediately think of Sloan's various efforts to get him elected to something.

A legislative candidate from Wisconsin can't use a profane, racially charged phrase to describe herself on the ballot, an election oversight board decided Wednesday. Leshuh Griffin, an independent running for a downtown Milwaukee seat in the state Assembly, wants to use the phrase, "Not the white man's bitch."

So, what might Sloan's campaign phrase say positioned underneath his middle finger logo? Perhaps it would say "Not the Florida Keys bitch?

[Mekong River Catfish] If the Fla. Marine Fish Commission and the Federal fisheries Mgt. Councils have their way, this will be the catch of the day at our local restaurants after they put our commercial fishermen out of work. Click here: Mekong River / Catfish on Vimeo

[County Employee Cost-of-Living raises]  I am the one who chose steady, conservative career options.  I am the one who absorbed the workload of two previous County employees.  The CPI index has risen 12% over the last four years.  My dedication and efforts have save the county taxpayers the expense of two loaded salaries, or roughly $150k.

You are the one who made three times as much as me for numerous years in a row, choosing to live with risk.  Well, your "risk" has arrived.  Please do not penalize me for serving you, the taxpayer, or for the choices that you chose to make.  I have a family to feed as well, so give me a friggin 3% break! I pay taxes too.

Australian statisticians have just completed a massive study of measuring the breast sizes, weights, and full ranges of movements of these feminine objects.

Many women may have long suspected it, just as many men have secretly hoped for it. But it's official: women's breasts, and particularly those of younger women, are getting bigger. While implants have been putting that little extra va-va-voom into some busts, mostly it's a phenomenon that has occurred naturally in women, and exponentially so over the past 50 years. In fact, their cup size has tripled.

I don’t know what connections the very fine folks at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, commonly known as CSIRO, have with United States’ scientific survey agencies, but I would like to project my name as someone well able to conduct these kinds of studies in the USA. For example, I have my own tape measure. Vitae supplied on demand, of course.

Anyway, among other fascinating facts, CSIRO tells us that “Running makes the breasts sway in a figure eight, while cycling causes an up-and-down movement; a 16D pair move as much as 27 centimeters.” Unknown is what geometric objects are inscribed by playing a round of volleyball.

Deer readers, 27 cm is a lot: it is nearly a foot! That range of motion, starting from zero and soaring up some 10.6 inches, and then gracefully returning down the same path, must have been incredibly difficult to measure precisely. Just imagining the dedication required makes me break out into a cold sweat.

Another fact: “the average breast weighing about half a kilo, and making up four to five per cent of our body fat, or one per cent of our total body weight”. The question that naturally pops to mind is: what kind of specialty scale is necessary for this kind of work? One can only guess that “Made in Japan” is stamped on the apparatus.

But all these findings pale in comparison to the news that breast sizes are on the rise. “In 1960, the average bra size in Australia was 10B. Ten years ago, it was 12B. Today, it’s 14C.” I’m not certain of the conversion between American and Australian units; still, the results are tantalizing. Skipping ahead four full measures! Plus tacking on a whole cup.

The most important fact to glean from this remarkable finding is that Australian statisticians have been wielding their tape measures since at least 1960. Talk about job perquisites!

Deer Ed, It looks as though you are having a lot of technical difficulties getting the C.T. out .Please don’t give up or feel discouraged. There are many faithful readers (myself among them) who look forward every day to reading what ever you send  us.

[Hurting the Keys Atmosphere] Oh, believe you me, the locals see it.  And it's better to stop the cancer where it is rather than let it spread.  No Big Box stores south of the 7-mile bridge please!

The next meeting of the Big Pine Computer Club is coming up this Saturday, July 24, 10 am at the Senior Center. Bulletin Board

I too miss the RedBox. I tried the video store and found the people were rude and everything was way too expensive.  The owner wants us to care that it cost more to run a small business, but what about our cost? Doesn’t the owner care about his neighbors and what they can afford?   I can not afford their prices. I could see if it was a little more expensive, but five dollars for one day is too much.    For the price of two movies, I could go the theater or rent 5 movies at Marathon’s RedBox and still cover my gas for the drive.  Perhaps if they lowered their prices they would rent more video's, making up the lost revenue. I have owned a successful small business (which I sold to move here), and also had to compete with big retail.  Giving good services at fair prices was what worked for me. Perhaps the video store could try that.

OIL SPILL

Gulf oil spill leadership timeline. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGzUJezAQy0

NATIONAL POLITICS

[Waste] Most people I know are against tax increases because of the way the government wastes the money, not because of the services they can provide. If you have ever worked for or dealt with governmental agencies, you know exactly what I am talking about. If our government cleaned up its act (not likely), it could get by with a lot less tax money then they currently receive.

[Immigration] The other day I needed to go to the emergency room. Not wanting to sit there for 4 hours, I put on my green hat that I got from Newsmax when I subscribed to the magazine.

When I went into the E.R., I noticed that 3/4 of the people got up and left.  I guess they decided that they weren't that sick after all.  It cut at least 3 hours off my waiting time.  It also worked at the DMV and saved me 1 hour. At the Laundromat, 3 minutes after entering, I had my choice of any machine, most still running.

Don't try it at McDonald's though. The whole crew got up and left and l never got my order.

Beck has a hilarious time ridiculing Olbermann. http://www.thehopeforamerica.com/play.php?id=4638

[From the Right] Obama must be getting dizzy; just look at how Team Obama screwed up the Shirley Sherrod mess. Team Obama is now the dreidle administration.  The spin that they have been tossing is the stuff of legends. First the economy. Team Obama incessantly brags that the economy is improving, he and his bray and hee haw that they’ve turned it around with massive Keynesian spending. Even worse, they want more bucks to spend. The un spun facts are a lot different:  Team Obama’s Fed Reserve Chair, Ben Beranke just testified that our economy is “fragile”. He testified, under oath, that the economy is “unusually uncertain.” That sounds a lot like a forecast for a double dip recession.   New unemployment claims increased again last week from 427K to 464K in only a week, the biggest jump since Feb. (Remember their promise that the rate wouldn’t go over 8% to snooker us into supporting the stimulus rip-off.) If we simply look beyond the major media sound bites we learn that new home sales have plunged off of a cliff to record lows. The rate of sales is now lower than it has ever been as long as the records have been kept (1961). The Team Obama program to decrease homeowner foreclosures is an atrocious failure, a miserable failure, an expensive failure. The $50 billion program has only helped about 390K of the 4 Million who were supposed to be served.  Team Obama’s goofy plan sure as hell hasn’t helped the foreclosure rate. The foreclosure rate in March was up 47% from a year ago, and up 7% from the previous month. Left wing mouth piece Huffington Post says that about 1 million homes will be in foreclosure this year. Yessir, a new record for Team Obama.  Consumer confidence cratered when it fell 10 points to 52.9 in June. 100 shows decent growth.  My Deer Friends, the foregoing is only a tiny scratch in the surface of Team Obama’s shiny, spinning façade of lies about our economy. More, lots more to follow.

NO NAME ELECTRICITY

[Water] No Name Key is one step closer to getting water. The Aqueduct Authority lifted its ban on piping water to that island against all objections.

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Friday July 23, 2010

Saturday July 24, 2010

(eD:  No edIT SatuRDAY!!!!!!......b-cuz u assd 4 iT!!!!!!!!!

[No-Edit Saturday] For those of you visiting for the first time, don’t judge the Coconut Telegraph by today’s un-edited episode. This is almost the Editor's day off. Tune in tomorrow for the edited version. You’ll find its format and graphics more pleasing. (Note to friends of the Editor: I can get out of here a lot sooner on Saturday if you don't send in any photos, attachments or Classified Ads for Saturday publication. That's because it takes a lot of time to resize and re-format them. Please email them to us by 6am on Sunday  for Sunday's publication. I'll appreciate it a lot.)

Dr. Doug Mader (left) accepts the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Regional Conservation Award from Anne Morkill, Refuge Manager of the National Key Deer Refuge on July 20, 2010 at a celebration honoring Dr. Mader’s outstanding contributions to the conservation of native wildlife in the Florida Keys.

 

OIL SPILL

NATIONAL POLITICS

Saturday July 24, 2010

Thursday July 22, 2010

[Wetstock 6 Pictures] It looks like most of these shots were taken early in the afternoon because by 2pm there were about three hundred boats there. It was the biggest Wetstock yet. If any of you have more pictures, please send them to the CT so the Editor can add them to the Gallery. Photo Gallery > Wetstock 6

[More School Board Bad News] Here's a crunchy little morsel for you to chew on. In the last five years from 2006-2010, School Board members Debra Walker and Duncan Mathewson have been reimbursed more than $30,000 in expenses (Walker: $13,392.96, Mathewson: $16,838.57).  The other three members, Dick, Pribramsky, and Griffiths have totaled less than $1,000 between them for the same time period (Dick: $0, Pribramsky: $341.80, Griffiths: $447.00).

Source:  Freedom of Information Act request for School Board records. ~Tryin2FindIt@aol.com

[Why would Winn-Dixie gave in to the whining of the local Big Pine video store] If you were a regular CT reader you would already know this: it's all about a legal contract. WD had no choice.  The video store's lease protects it by preventing other stores from competing with the video store.  And, that's that. It's called free enterprise and that's how businesses are supposed to work. America was built on the small mom and pop stores. I applaud the video store for being smart enough to put a "no compete" clause in their lease. 

Once again I've overstepped the bounds of stupidity. ~Hawkeye Pierce

[Wal-Mart] Every year or so some people wish they had a Wal-Mart so they wouldn’t have to drive 100 miles each way to make a major purchase and save a few bucks. We won’t even consider the green impact on this waste of natural resources. Bear in mind that the government allows $.50 per mile when personal vehicles are used in government business.  

The bottom line here is that money or other considerations are being given the powers-that-be to keep out Wal-Mart in order to protect local business. This ignores the fact that there is plenty of room for local businesses if they are willing to go the extra mile on services. Now, it’s if you don’t like it the highway’s there and 100 miles Northeast are more choices. Competition helps the consumer.

This whole rotten kettle boils down to the fact that our government and affected business owners are in effect taxing their consumers without representation to stay in business and live they way they like.

As to a Wal-Mart’s hurting the Keys atmosphere more than Home Depot or Walgreens; look around, we are early Newark, New Jersey or Detroit, Michigan right now.

[Sloan] The Wisteria developers withdrew their application, to avoid giving the County Commission a chance to vote to deny and kill it, which would have caused the developers to have to wait two years to file a new application and pay new application fees. Now, through, the developers can resubmit the same application whenever they wish, without paying new application frees. I heard one of the developers’ talking heads say on US 1 Radio yesterday that they will continue to work with county (and city) staff, to educate the City and the County on the many environmental and economic benefits for the City and County (think economic benefits for the developers). The amount in fees paid by the developers to the County so far is $11,500, give or take small change. The amount of county staff time expended so far probably is ten times that in staff salaries, which was paid by, yep, taxpayers. I wonder how much more county staff time will be spent at the taxpayers’ expense on this what we briefly thought was this deep-sixed application?

I wonder if county staff will be instructed (ordered) not to talk with the developers about Wisteria Island until the developers have a firm commitment from the City of Key West to provide everything the developers need for the development? I wonder if county staff will be told, henceforth, they work for the taxpayers of Monroe County, and not for developers bearing gifts from Troy? I wonder if county staff will told any further appearance of their putting developers' interests over the taxpayers’ interests will result in immediate termination of employment? I wondered if the County Administrator will be told he is in charge of enforcing this radical taxpayer protection policy, or himself be terminated? I wonder if you think I’m holding my breath.
  
What I want to know, and I’m sure I’m hardly alone, is who in the hell in the County is supposed to see to it that county staff are competent and represent the taxpayers of this county, instead of developers and their lawyers and their lobbyists? Will somebody please step forward and say he or she, or who, bears this responsibility? If I was a county commissioner, I would have raised bloody hell in yesterday’s commission meeting over how county staff had handled the Wisteria application. I would have raised bloody hell about staff entering into a cozy courtship with the Wisteria developers before Key West was firmly on board. I would have raised bloody hell over the application being withdrawn until after the primaries. I would have told the people of this county the real reason the application was withdrawn was give the developers a chance to defeat Commissioner DiGennaro in the Republican primary, so they can stack the County Commission with three sympathetic commissioners: Commissioner Carruthers, Commissioner Neugent, and David Rice. Make no mistake; Commissioner Neugent is relieved the developers withdrew their application. He never opposed it, but deferred to what DCA might say against it and the perceived high odds against the Governor agreeing to the bay bottom swap. Make no mistake; Commissioner Neugent and David Rice are best friends. Make no mistake; the developers knew Commissioners DiGennaro, Wigington and Mayor Murphy would vote No, if the application was not withdrawn yesterday. Do you think maybe the developers were advised by Commissioner Carruthers to withdraw their application, to avoid having it decided against them yesterday? The rest ... GoodMorningFloridaKeys.com

My friend had these bees inside his house. It cost him $400 to get them exterminated.

I wouldn’t know how to keep up with the action without BPK.c with my breakfast every day. (From Arizona)

[Key Deer Protection Alliance Litigious] Donors beware!  KDPA is asking for donations by credit card to cover expenses. The website list litigation as one of  those expenses.  If you do not want your funds used for frivolous lawsuits then restrict your donation.  In the event that KDPA loses a lawsuit and is ordered to pay the other parties legal expense, ask for your money back.  

Litigation does nothing to help the Key deer and this organization should not be used as a political action group for the vested personal interest of a resident living on No Name Key.  ~brown.ronny65@yahoo.com

[Low Spark of High Heeled Boys] Have a look at Sarkozy's high heels.

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, U.S. Department of Commerce 

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem. 

[Illegal vacation rentals--documenting the problem] From where did you bring the Police State NIMBY mentality?  As I understand it, a property owner can rent his property out for 30 days or longer, or alternatively rent it out once a month for less than thirty days.  Of course, friends can use someone's property free with permission anytime. Am I correct?  

[Wetbacks] This week over 50 people that were trying to make it to the United States were repatriated to their homeland by the U.S. Coast Guard. Many thanks to the Coast Guard for doing an outstanding job of protecting the Florida border from unwanted immigrants. Maybe they need to send some of the people that are protecting the borders of other states down here to learn how it’s done.

To the poster who wants to thank Mario DiGennaro for the appointment of Planning Commissioner Jim Cameron I can name a few more things we can thank the last member of the Gang of Three for.
1.    Fees for county services increased
2.    Budget targets libraries, buses
3.    County had no money to hire leader
4.    Hickory House purchase
5.    County poised to make more layoffs

I can name a few more things that the last member of the Gang of Three has caused you the taxpayer and resident of Monroe County, but I will save it for another day or another post.  Just remember these dramatic events in our lives when you absentee vote or vote on the 24^th of August. 

Did anyone get to see the BOCC meeting on Wednesday the 21^st of July?  Did anyone happen to notice how Mario DiGennaro was interrupting, halting, and disturbing the speakers, also how he interrupted the Mayor and other Commissioners? 

Commissioner DiGennaro what makes you think what you have to say is important or that your question is more important than the speaker (s) who has the floor?  It is impolite, rude, and bad mannered to break the thought pattern, or speech pattern of the person who is speaking. A lot of residents who make the effort to come before the BOCC and speak are very nervous, anxious, and edgy to begin with, why do you want to make it more panicky and uneasy for that speaker by stopping and interrupting the speaker?

Do you voters think come August 24^th that the (the third member of “The Gang of Three”) Mario DiGennaro problem will be taken care of?  We voters took care of Spehar and McCoy, now let us take care of the last member.  Get out and vote.  ~mollyhanson18@gmail.com

Top 50 wackiest pet names. Top-50-Wackiest-Pet-Names.aspx

Poop Toll?  In order to help pay for sewer connections (up to 20 K each) the County Commissioners are looking into collecting a toll from locals and visitors alike as you enter Monroe County. Now here's the 64 thousand dollar question:

How much does it cost to run the County Toll Booth on Card Sound Road and how much does it collect?

I bet you a Key Deer to a donut it's a money loser.

[AA] I am really thankful for the 12 step A.A. program. By following those steps I was able to arrest my suicidal drinking. They also showed that by following those 12 steps it almost completely removed my compulsion to continue the insanity I was caught up in. I am doing okay. So far I’ve got about forty years sobriety by following their suggestions. It sure has been working fine for me. 

[Antillean Nighthawk] Now I know where that buzzing noise is coming from. I didn’t realize their wings make that noise while they feed. Yes, me and my family will be careful walking in their area. It’s amazing what you can find in your own area. 20 plus years and I still love living in Big Pine Key.

[Red Box] Why on earth would you pump your money into some stupid vending machine when you can support a local business that’s only a couple of doors down. So if it is a couple of dollars more to rent from the local video store, big deal.  Maybe you should go live near the Red Box corporate headquarters because its nowhere near here. You belong on the mainland (CENSORED).

[Refresh key on a Mac] Command  + r or also referred to as Apple Key + r

The land that time forgot. A time the Keys you will never see again. That's not all bad, we now have water, few mosquito’s, Castro is not on TV and we have more than 3 channels, a few doctors and dentist and a big food store. I would not trade it for the world. Enjoy the Keys and your life here.

The crawfish is over 15 lbs. and the guy is Tommy T.  (That’s another story.) Photo Gallery

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The 40-ton whale crash-landed on their boat. The dismasted yacht struggled back to port under engine powerThe cockpit of the yacht after the breaching whale hit the yachtThe pair were enjoying calm seas off the South African coast when the animal flipped into the air and smashed into their mast. Ralph Mothes, 59, and Paloma Werner, 50, were helpless as the beast thrashed around on their 33ft vessel before slipping back into the water.

Miss Werner said: “It really was quite incredible but very scary. The whale was about the same size as the boat. “We’d spotted it about 100 metres away and thought that was the end of it. Then suddenly it was right up beside us. “I assumed it would go underneath the boat but instead it sprang out of the sea. We were very lucky to get through it, as the sheer weight of the thing was huge. “There were bits of skin and blubber left behind, and the mast was wrecked. It brought down the rigging too. “Thank goodness the hull was made of steel and not fibreglass or we could have been ruined.”

Moments before the animal leapt it had pounded its tail on the surface of the water in a ‘lob-tailing’ ritual to communicate with other whales. The shaken couple, who are experienced seafarers with the Cape Town Sailing Academy, used their engine to get back to shore in Table Bay. Whales are a common sight in the Atlantic Ocean off the Western Cape coast at this time of year as they come near the shore to breed. Thousands of tourists flock to the region’s seaside resorts every year to spot the mammals during the South African winter from June to November. Hermanus, a popular destination around 80 miles east of Cape Town, employs a ‘whale crier’ to walk through the town announcing where whales have been sighted.

[China?] It’s scary, but it will happen if we don't do something now.

The science of Google web presence. Wait until you read this! Big Brothers is alive and ill, searching the web for your dumb ass remarks and attitude. The horror is, who is interrupting the data and whose side are they on? Censorship to the hilt or what? Big Google is Watching

[Mosquito suggestion] Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts if you can't keep moving about. It works for me.

The Air Force’s Warthog packs just about as heavy a wallop and you can get.

Sport lobster season and regular lobster season and what you need to know. No rule changes this year, but license fees have increased. I got my year around resident saltwater fishing with the lobster endorsement for $23 at K-Mart. Here are the regulations. http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/regs/mc_lobster_2010.pdf

Where not to lobster. Do not lobster in Sanctuary zones know as SPAs or ERs. http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/regs/welcome.html#byzone

Be safe and fly your diver down flag like your life depends on it. http://www.dive-flag.com/Florida.html

Spear fishing while lobstering? http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/edu/spearfishing_brochure.pdf

Fish Identification. http://www.flkeys-diving.com/files/fishidentification.pdf

Printer friendly July 2010 Fishing Regulations. http://myfwc.com/docs/RulesRegulations/2010_Jul_RegsSummary_Chart.pdf

The Existing Management Area is the larger zone (approx 5 square miles) surrounding Looe Key is closed to spear fishing and tropical fish collecting

Have fun, be safe.

Sloan thinks that David Rice is a psychopath? That made me laugh. Enjoy your libel suit.

[Red Box movie rental] What a mean person. I do think he has a great idea though. When you drive to Marathon to do your shopping at Publix's and rent your video -- keep driving and have a blessed day.

[Paved Roads] Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A.: 1%; in Canada: 75%

OIL SPILL

[Florida Seafood is Safe] Although a portion of Florida’s coastal waters offshore of Escambia County are temporarily closed to the harvest of saltwater fish, crabs and shrimp, Florida seafood products remain safe and plentiful and have not been affected by the oil spill. Most of the Gulf of Mexico is untouched by oil, and Florida’s commercial fishermen continue to harvest products from these clean waters. In addition, Florida government agencies continue to monitor water samples off Florida’s coast for any potential impacts by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

NATIONAL POLITICS

The rule placed by FKAA, initially created because of the loan they received from the federal government, should not be eliminated for many, many reasons.  The pro-electric proponents on No Name Key are using any means available to try to further their agenda of bringing utilities to NNK, which they claim is their guaranteed right.  Where is it stated that these are guaranteed rights, other than in your postings?

The long-winded post yesterday was again very boring.  I pictured you, thumbing through your Webster's, picking as many big words as possible to make you sound intelligent.  You are wasting your time as far as I'm concerned.  I hope FKAA realizes that the possibility of eliminating said rule today is a moot point, given the letter they just received from the DCA, which is, by the way, the state's opinion, that eliminating this rule would be inconsistent with their guidelines on a number of issues.

[Fix Our Government] The only way is for each State to take control. Keep all money in the State. Screw the Federal Government and their spending.

Florida? You won't drill off our coast or we will sink your rigs. Got it?

[Wrongly Accused and Fired] Conservative activist Andrew Breitbart sifts through miles of video to unearth this gem, "I didn't give him the full force of what I could do." Without providing any context for USDA Official Sherrod's remark, he broadsides it through the conservative ranks. FOX immediately seizes upon it as damning evidence of liberal racism. The s**t hits the fan and everybody, including the White House, the NAACP, and the Right, offer their knee-jerk responses to a couple of seconds worth of video, making complete asses out of themselves because no one bothered to look at the facts before opening their mouths.

This is a brilliant example of "shoot first, ask questions later" all around.

FTR keeps mentioning the tax debt we all have and how he’s against any new taxes. I’ll bet he’s at the front of the line and is all for the 1 cent sales tax increase to help pay for sewers. Its called "selective politics". Tea party member in name only: Tin man.

[Economy Blame] The posters remarks pinning the present state of our financial system on Bush's last term in office is ludicrous at best, the poor soul is dwelling in a teacup when the ocean is at his door. Of course Bush contributed his share, but to blame our current deficit of over 130 trillion dollars on anybody besides all politicians is just pure nonsense. No country has ever been able to sustain itself using fiat money and it surely is coming true with the U.S. All Americans are to blame for this, at least for the last hundred years.

We have been trying to defeat the laws of economics which are as immutable as the law of gravity. I don't know where we go from here, or how to fix the present shortfall. Short of hyper-inflation that debt will never be paid off.  If we inflate, it is nothing but camouflaged default.

I asked the FTR guy his opinion concerning Michael Steele the head of the Republican party telling us Obama is the one that started the war in Afghanistan. He called me a racist because I asked that question. I never mentioned race because, let’s face it, why would the race of a person telling us who started the war matter? Someone’s flipped off the track. I can understand his rage at his own party. I may try to divert the question away from the subject myself if I was him.

I think the leader of the Republican Party is wrong telling us that’s not the right fight. Just so I don’t get called a racist. That goes to everyone else that agrees with Steele, even honkies like myself, that think it’s not the right war. This Democrat thinks it the right war at the right time and nothing would make me happier then to see Bin Laden’s head on a pike. If that makes me racist, okay I can live with that.

[Lying Liar] U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R) of Illinois has freely used "swagger and braggadocio in talking about his 21 years of military service" as qualification for office. When one contrary fact after another about his record was pointed out by reporters, Kirk explained, "I simply misremembered it wrong."

He admitted that, contrary to his numerous public statements, he was not actually "in" the Iraq Desert Storm war; did not actually "command the Pentagon War Room" when he was assigned there as a Navy Reservist; and was not actually once Naval "Intelligence Officer of the Year."

He is now vying for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Barack Obama.

[From the Right] A confused poster yesterday told us that he/she just couldn’t figure out what the Tea Party Movement is. How odd. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Mr. Obama know full well what the Tea Party Movement is, and what it stands for. They are very, very scared of it. Indeed, Ms. Pelosi was just forced to acknowledge the reality of the Tea Party Movement by establishing a brand new caucus in the House of Reps. The Tea Party Caucus is official.  I hope you will understand the implications of that. If you don’t, you should educate yourself.  Some other caucuses include The California Democratic Congressional Delegation, The Congressional Black Caucus, and a whole host of others. I could explain what a caucus is, but the only way to shed ignorance is to learn how to shed it for yourself. So look it up. I repeat, the newest caucus in the House of Representatives is the Tea Party Movement Caucus. The Movement is largely decentralized, with each individual local group setting its own priorities. The core beliefs of the movement include the support of freedom, a government that is subordinate to the governed. We believe that government must serve, not rule the governed. We believe in the immediate cessation of our current ruinous government spending. The movement stands for individual liberty and strict interpretation of our Constitution. It stands for patriotism and the proud recognition that America is a historically exceptional nation.  The Tea Party understands and supports the fact that a thriving business community is essential to our recovery. The Tea Party stands for economic freedom. The Tea Party Movement understands that we cannot tax and spend our way out of this recession. The Tea Party Movement understands that the debt accumulated by the Democrats presents a real and present danger to our nation. The Tea Party stands for individual responsibility. The multihued Tea Party practices religious, racial, and political tolerance. We believe in right and wrong, justice, family, pride in self and duty to country. The Tea Party Movement believes that our liberal entitlement society has become a dire threat to our nation.  Our Liberal populace holds views that are nearly perfectly the contrary of the above. It is easy to understand why our liberal friends feel exceptionally threatened by the existence of the Tea Party, they show their fear. I trust the foregoing will suffice to inform the confused poster as to what the Tea Party Movement stands for.

(Part II) The more we see of the machinations of Charlie Crist, the less we respect him. It’s worth repeating that Crist is not an honorable man. We know that he has no core convictions. Crist is not a man of his word. We know that he accepted campaign contributions on false pretenses. Crist had every right to change parties, but he had no moral right to keep even a penny of the millions that were given to Crist, who was then masquerading as Republican.  He told the contributors that he was a Republican, a candidate who shared their beliefs and goals.  Now we know that he is a thief, a liar, and a cheat.  When Crist thought that McCain might select him as a VP candidate, he was the loyal Republican making kissy-fanny on McCain. It was a huge smooch when he dropped his long-standing support for the federal government's moratorium on offshore drilling and endorsed Sen. McCain’s pledge to let states decide.  Only two years ago Crist was a committed advocate for Florida offshore drilling. He was a fervent supporter of the Florida State Statute that currently forbids that drilling. Since Crist’s sniveling conversion to a Team Obama acolyte, he has now wasted long tons of money and time demanding a Constitutional amendment to our Florida Constitution to ban the drilling. He knew that the Florida Stature already accomplished that prohibition. Crist knew that he had no chance whatsoever to win. Crist sought only the publicity of the special session that he chose to call. Crist’s arrogance rivals Mr. Obama’s. Crist knew that his Constitutional Amendment was DOA, still he pressed for the special session. When legislature rebuffed Crist he cried "When President Truman was president, he called the Congress the do-nothing Congress. Well, I call this Legislature the do-nothing Legislature, and I'm going to give them hell for it." For Lord’s sake folks, now he’s comparing himself to Harry Truman! What is it with this guy?  If you’re a Democrat, how can you trust him? If you’re an Independent, how can you trust him? 

(Part III) Do you think that Mr. Obama’s recent “fiscal reform” legislation will be the mechanism that Mr. Obama uses to nationalize BP? DO you think that he should nationalize BP?

NO NAME ELECTRIC

[No Name Key] I've enjoyed reading the post from a person who sounds kind, loving and a compassionate, an old-spirited soul seeking peace on No Name Key. He or she reminds me of Rodney King's statement, "Can't we all just get along?"  Well, no we can't get along as long as a neighbor continues to attempt to control what we do in our homes, steal our civil rights, and diminish our private property rights. Our military men and women are fighting a war in a foreign country for our freedom.  Folks on No Name Key will do no less at home until the enemy among us is defeated and our rights and freedom are restored.  ~brown.ronny65@yahoo.com

Thursday July 22, 2010

Wednesday July 21, 2010

The bird is an Antillean night hawk. Some people call them mosquito hawks. Sometimes when they dive to catch a bug and then pull up real quick you can hear their wings buzz. It’s neat!

[City kills Wisteria Island development] The whole commission voted no. Yea, Key West!

[Ferry to Marecumbe] I think that the picture in the NNK postings was a picture of the foundations of the old ferry landing building at the east end of No Name Key. Am I right 

(Ed: I think yesterday’s picture was of the cistern for the ferry keeper’s house. The picture today is what I think is the ferry keeper’s house, a real fixer-upper.)

How to throw a block party. This will be no easy task, as nobody talks to anybody anymore. How to Throw a Block Party | Taste of Home Recipes

Your bird is a Nighthawk, sometimes called a nightjar. They lay eggs on the ground among the rocks, so please don't be walking around.  Where-abouts do you live?

St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first business there.

[Sloan] Actually, I see Mario crystal clear, as anyone who has kept up with my posts certainly knows. My critic either is new to the Keys, or has not kept up with my writings, or is drinking spiked Kool-Aid. Or maybe all of the above.
 
My critic would have me support Mario’s Republican opponent, David Rice, a psychopath?
 
David tried early last year at a County Commission meeting in Key West to win me over, or at least get me to lay off of him. What was to lay off? David wanted to be a county commissioner again, but he didn’t want me to know how much money he had made off the Sheriff’s Office when he was a county commissioner. He tried to play it down, make it sound like he had only earned peanuts off the Sheriff Office, where his son is number 3 in command. I said the only way I would be convinced it was only peanuts was for him to show me his federal tax returns for all the years he was on the County Commission. ”My tax returns?” David asked, as if I had maybe gone loco. Loco like a fox, I repeated the request. So far, I haven’t seen Resident Evil’s tax returns. I heard last night of a 2006 Key West the Newspaper article about the mint Resident Evil had made off the county taxpayers via the Sheriff Office while he was a County Commissioner. I will try to run that article down for you.
 
I hear a lot of griping and complaining from Keys people about crooked government officials, backroom deals, favors being granted. Rest assured, if I see or hear Mario, or any county commissioner, again belittle or make light of State Attorney Dennis Ward and County Commissioner Kim Wigington’s noble efforts to give us a lobbyist registration ordinance and a county employee ethics ordinance with real teeth, and enforce the Sunshine Law, I will skin the scoundrel(s) alive. As should you.
 
You have a right know who is lobbying your county staff and commissioners, and who they represent and how much they are being paid. You have a right to know who is buying county staff and county commissioners meals and drinks, and providing favors such as fishing trips, social engagements, sponsored private club memberships, etc. You have a right to have the press present at any dinner hosted for your county commissioners by, say, the Ocean Reef Club, to protect you the people from Sunshine Law violations. Any county commissioner who argues against any of that very definitely is not in favor of transparency in government, and, alas, must be viewed as on the take in some way.
 
Along that same line, last night, five Key West city commissioners (one commissioner was out of town) and the city mayor resolutely ignored the Wisteria Island developers’ request that they put off voting on the mayor’s Resolution to tell the County that the City wants nothing to do with the development of Wisteria Island. They voted 6-0 against the City participating in the development. Slam, dunk. Kaput.

The rest ... GoodMorningFloridaKeys.com

[Democrat Candidate Forum] The Monroe County DEC will hold its monthly meeting Monday, July 26, at Annette’s Steak and Lobster House, 3660 Overseas Hwy, Gulf side.

The Democratic candidates for School Board (Ron Martin, Robyn Smith-Martin, Bruce Swango and Debra Walker) have been invited to speak at 6 PM.  The working meeting will be held from 7-8 PM.

All Democrats are welcome! For more info Bulletin Board

One nice thing I learned in A.A. was not to get to bogged down in details. Just take the simple things that are suggested  and pick the ones that work for you. Don't mungle you brain up with a lot of complicated mumbo jumbo. That really worked for me.

What seemed to really work in A.A. was that I could focus in on what seemed to work the best for me.  And with the conversation with other alcoholics I was able to stem my suicidal drinking. What a relief that was!

[Night Vision] The screen goes black after the introduction and you think nothings there, but hang on, then it starts. In case you are not familiar, FLIR is Forward Looking Infra Red, night vision thermal imaging. You'll see darkness at first, then the sound of the helicopter. http://blutube.policeone.com/Clip-fs.aspx?key=5E1E72EAE53841E3&overrideCF=FullScreen&playTime=0

[Broiler Pan Man] He doesn't use spoons. He uses knives to annoy the ever-living-crap out of us. Management needs to step up to the plate and do something. I know he means well, but the incessant clatter of his "music" drives us away and forces us to spend our disposable income elsewhere. Maybe if he went back to a wooden scrub board it wouldn't be so bad.

Is anyone else upset about the Red Box movie rental being removed from Winn-Dixie?  Red Box is the new wave of movie rentals with movies costing only $1.00 per night, plus the convenience of renting during all hours that Winn-Dixie is open.  So why would Winn-Dixie Corporate HQ not want their customers to save money in these dark economic times?  Perhaps, because they gave in to the whining of the local Big Pine video store.  I for one will never give another dollar to the local video store and if I drive to Marathon to rent a movie I will be sure to buy my groceries at Publix.  If the local video store didn't want to lose business, than they should cut their prices and offer more selections.  I believe in supporting local Keys businesses but when new technology comes in, it is time to move forward.

[Cool PC] Even if the AC craps out at the super secret world wide headquarters of the Coconut Telegraph, Deer Ed has a back up plan.

[Tag Team] A woman’s 2 ex-husbands tag team against her, sending her junk mail, and someone is collecting a whole lot of IP's proxy and subnet juices!

[Howard Livingston] Please join me Wednesday evening (tonight) for an acoustic evening with my special guest Tim McAlpine at the Sugarloaf KOA.  This is the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce's July Business Social.  It runs from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and you are welcome to bring your swimsuits and enjoy the cool and refreshing pool. Bulletin Board

[Washboard Dave] My wife and I have known him long before we moved to the Keys. He is a great guy and does no harm. We find his addition to musical groups a lot of fun. That's part of the Keys way of life.

PS: Apparently you don't sweat. Ah, yes, you just got out of your air-conditioned Cadillac.

[Going Buggy] I live in Eden Pines and I just got off the phone with Mosquito Control.  Our home faces the refuge.  The mosquitoes are so bad it is ridiculous.  When I requested that they come and spray, I was told that they were not allowed to spray because of some butterfly that is protected by the refuge. 

I have made several attempts to call the Refuge Center and all I get are a bunch of voice mails.  Aren't our tax dollars paying their salaries?  If you live in Eden Pines and are getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes please join forces by complaining to the refuge.  Leave a message if you cannot get anyone.  I was also told that this particular butterfly has not been spotted in years in our neighborhood.  I guess they think that the butterfly is more important than us getting sick from mosquito infestation.  If anyone has any suggestions, please tell me. 

You can thank Mario DiGennaro for the Planning Commission "Gang of Three". He made certain Jim Cameron got back on the board after the BOC tried to tighten the appointment rules to avoid this very problem.  Cameron has never met a developer or development he didn’t like.  ~epf@fuse.net

The ground hawk is actually an Antillean Nighthawk, which is really not a hawk at all.  It is a Caribbean species only found in the United States in the Florida Keys.  Be careful, because it could be sitting on its eggs, or a baby could have been hidden under it.  They nest in sand, gravel, leaves, etc, in a scrape on the ground with no actual nesting materials.  That was a great picture!

Where is the refresh key on a Mac?

[Illegal Rentals] One way to get rid of the illegal vacation rentals is to start documenting the problem. Get a calendar and start writing down the dates and the license plate numbers of the cars trucks and SUVs. There are usually 3 or more vehicles involved.  Don’t forget there boats registration numbers.  After a month or so turn all the information over to code enforcement; it’s amazing what they will find in there investigation. It works. Try it. If they can’t do it legal then there’s no way they should.

[Wind turbine gone bad] You ought to see what happens when a nuclear reactor goes bad! 

[AA Basher] I love that line about “religion by stealth” of AA. When I was reading a sociology text last night, I came across a paper on convicted rapists and their reasoning, in relation to their crimes, particularly the excuse of “disease”. When I read the following I was struck by its relevance: “sick people are usually blamed for neither the cause of their illness nor for acts committed in that state of diminished capacity; thus, adopting the ‘diseased’ role removes responsibility by excusing behavior as being beyond the individual’s ability to control”.

I am not saying that I was always in control, but rather, that addiction is not a disease and that when I wanted to badly enough, I certainly had enough control to cease the bad behavior.

AA tells me that “it wasn’t me, it was my addiction” and while that might be a convenient and soothing little fairy-tale, it isn’t true. I was an a**hole, I did horrible things and I take full responsibility for that.

Most alcoholics do not recover from their disease, they die. Those who do recover using a 12 step program fight constant cravings to drink and suffer with a variety of other symptoms like irritability, anxiety, tension, fatigue and depression that has a deep impact on the quality of their life and forces them to be dependent upon attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings the rest of their life.

Staying sober is a constant battle and they continue to be addicted to a variety of other substances and activities like sugar, caffeine, sex and cigarettes. Even Bill Wilson (aka Bill W.), the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, was plagued with symptoms like depression and fatigue and remained an incurable addict in more ways than one until the day he died. The infamous Bill Wilson was severely addicted to nicotine, caffeine and sex. His, so called divinely guided messages from God, were actually the result of hallucinations, sexual obsession and shame.

Additionally, we’re talking about long-term sobriety, not short-term. Sure, a good deal of people can get a few months of sobriety or a year under their belt with some serious white knuckling, but in the overall picture of life, one year is not a long time. That does not constitute long-term, stable sobriety. Not only that, continuously fighting overwhelming cravings to drink does not constitute success.

Regardless of how defiantly AA denies it, the bottom line is that AA and all 12 step programs are religious programs that employ the use of a variety of cult-like practices that drive many people out the door and back to the bottle.

OIL SPILL

[Water Samples] News Five in Mobile collected samples of water and sand from Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Katrina Key and Dauphin Island and had a local lab test them.

Water and sand along Alabama’s coast should contain no more than five parts per million of oil or petroleum, but some of the samples tested much higher, from 16 ppm to 221 ppm.

Even more disturbing is what happened to a sample collected from the Dauphin Island Marina near an oil containment boom. It contained so much methane that the test tube exploded.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in conjunction with Ducks Unlimited is investing $2.5 million to create critical wetlands along the coastal plains of Texas and Louisiana.

[Fish kill] That’s not snow in the picture, it’s dead fish. fish kill

And you wonder why we have Obama as a president? The dumbing down has worked beyond expectations.

BP acknowledges it posted on its website an altered photo that exaggerates the activity at its Gulf oil spill command center in Houston. The picture posted over the weekend showed workers monitoring a bank of 10 giant video screens displaying underwater images. Spokesman Scott Dean says Tuesday that two screens were blank in the original picture and a staff photographer used Photoshop software to add images.

Unified Command has embraced new technology to enhance our unprecedented cleanup efforts by touring ‘Big Gulp’ skimmer, a locally-developed, one-of-a-kind skimmer made out of a 4-million-pound barge, the size of a football field.  Visit Morgan City Shipyard, where owner Lee Dragna invented the vessel which can collect 300,000 gallons of oil a day, 10 times more oil than many of his counterparts. This new technology is contributing to the fight of containing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and preserving fish, wildlife, wetlands and the marshes. 

"Do you know how the pelican's die of oil?" asked Dean Wilson, executive director of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper. “They open their wings, thinking they are drying them in the sun, and they just cook in the sun. Thousands of birds are dying like that because of the greed of a foreign oil company.” 

NATIONAL POLITICS

[Here Come da' Judge] Tuesday the US Senate Judiciary Committee approved Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan. Now her appointment (for life) goes to the full Senate.

Kagan will put her political views ahead of the law and the constitution. She has her own (liberal) agenda on abortion (it's good) and gun rights (they're bad).

As Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama said, "she will not be the objective, impartial arbiter and settler of disputes, but someone who would use the opportunity to redefine words to advance an agenda that's not in the court's role to advance."

Racism and exercise combined. Video

Poor FOX News!  After spending months supporting the Tea Party Express and encouraging participation and rallies, the Tea Party Express has shown its true colors.  It was kicked out of the other Tea Party group because of racist remarks.  Exactly how many Tea Party groups are there?  Quite a disorganized movement. Who knows what they are and what they stand for.

[Red vs Blue] While humorous on the surface, this constant bombardment of Republican vs. Democrat is tedious at least and divisive at worst. More important than the differences are what makes us the same. American tolerance, belief in right and wrong, justice, family, pride in self and duty to country.

Somehow, because of this social process of working against each other,  we're defeating ourselves. We've made ourselves our own enemies.

One result, and the most critical, is we're losing our country to outsiders moving in.

Regardless of what political party label people wear, the problem is Americans are being outnumbered by non-Americans.  Eventually groups of people kneeling down in the streets will be the majority and the culture of standing when the American flag goes by will be lost. 

Protecting and preserving our culture trumps this pervasive "Us vs. Us" attitude which is currently distracting our country.

[Ludicrous (not the Rap star)] There is nothing ludicrous at all about pointing out that Bush never, ever, over two terms, vetoed a spending bill. You want ludicrous? How about "The Presidents not an American' or "The President used a teleprompter while speaking to school kids".

Strange you pointed out the true factual one as the one that’s ludicrous and never said the same of the others. That’s ludicrous, 1/4 truth guy!

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is optimistic about the future. He and the 2,365 others that benefit from corruption.

FTR thank you for admitting the last Conservative in office was just as much a spendthrift as the current administration was. Currently a hell of a lot more is needed to be spent because the year before Bush left office the financial house of America caved in. Bush told us that entire year that the "economy was adjusting" then disappeared for the last 6 months of his reign.

There’s still a long way to go, but it is getting better and I’m thinking the republicans may just be a bit surprised when the elections roll around. They will gain some seats but don’t be shocked when the Dems still hold both houses. The average working American sees what’s going on and its getting better everyday. Not bad for a man that’s been in office less then 2 years. I’m damn glad I voted for the President.

You can’t save businesses and let them fail without the government’s help and now billions of interest payments are rolling into the treasury. That’s change I voted on.

[From the Right] Wasn’t it just a day or so ago that a CT poster assured us that the NAACP was not a racist organization? Haven’t we been reassured and lectured that the Obama Presidency is “post racial”?  I suggest that you enter the search term “NAACP bigotry in their ranks.” It is a video that went viral recently. When you watch and listen to the video speech please pay careful attention to the NAACP audience when Obama Admin official, Shirley Sherrod, who is black, speaks about limited the assistance she provided a client because he was white.  Please note that this speech occurred before Sherrod was an Obama staffer.  I suggest that you view the video several times, the nuances are startling.  This is a breaking story with major implications. I urge you to follow it. As a consequence of the foregoing, Team Obama urgently forced the resignation of  Sherrod. The NAACP condemned her. They had both automatically believed that her comments were racist. Then knee jerkers accused her of  racism without any proof. That suggests that to those folks, racism is common in their ranks and that they are afraid of it being revealed. Then they punished her without any process or respect for her rights. It smacks of punishing her for revealing a family secret.  It is obvious that, to our left wing friends, simply making the charge is enough to prove guilt. It is obvious that the Obama Admin and the NAACP believe that racism is extant in their midst. Then Fox revealed that the episode was 28 years old, and it was part of a speech about how damaging racial ideation is.  At that juncture, incredibly, the NAACP blamed Fox for the entire mess. Ms. Sherrod should be reinstated and she is owed an apology from the NAACP. Racism in the Obama admin is no surprise.  It is surprising that the NAACP does not have more respect for the rights of their members.

(Part II) An offended FTR critic has demanded an answer to “The burning question of the day!”  The question is: (drum roll please) Is FTR ashamed of RNC Chair Michael Steele’s stupid Afghanistan comments?  Now we know that The “Offended Critic” is a noxious racist. He strikes out against Mr. Steele because Steele is a Black Republican, and worse he is a black man that is successful. The answer to his racist question is: FTR is not ashamed. But FTR is irritated. Steele was right when he said that Mr. Obama now owns the Afghanistan war. Here’s why:  Mr. Bush started the war, won the war then he veered away into Iraq. Mr. Bush won the Iraq war, but in doing so he failed to secure his win over the Taliban. Afghanistan backslid into anarchy. After the Iraq victory and tamping down the Iraq insurgents, Mr. Bush had, by then, began to refocus on the Afghan insurgents.  Shortly thereafter Mr. Obama was elected. During that entire time, nearly every single legislator voted overwhelmingly to support the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. When Mr. Obama took office, he had the power and the ability to end the conflict. He chose not to. He made the proper decision when he said that we must win in Afghanistan. That decision infuriated his left wing base. At that instant the war became Mr. Obama’s war. Next, he embraced the Bush plan and policy. He expanded the war against the insurgents, he added thousands of troops. He accepted and enlarged on Bush doctrine. That Obama decision further alienated his left wing base. He has replaced Mr. Bush’s Afghan theatre commander and replaced him with his own personal, handpicked, and disrespectful commander, General McChrystal. Mr. Obama couldn’t handle McChrystal, so he fired him, and replaced him with Mr. Bush’s victorious Iraq commander, General David Petraeus. The same General Petraius that had been slandered by Democrat leadership and the liberal media. Do you suppose that Mr. Obama sent a little thank you note to Mr. Bush? So, the fact is that Mr. Obama has owned the Afghanistan war, lock stock and rifle barrel since he was inaugurated.  Next, Steele was an absolute bozo for saying that the war could not be won. Steele has been roundly excoriated by the vast majority of Republican rank and file and by leadership. He stands not a chance of reelection as Republican Chair. His foolish remarks were his remarks alone and are not the position of the Republican Party. Unlike the left wing, Mr. Obama’s primary base, we Republicans support the Afghanistan war. You have not heard a single suggestion from this writer or any other conservative poster that suggests that we abandon the conflict. Steele has offered an apology for the remarks. Aside from being politically foolish for even making the utterance, he was wrong. We can, and we must win the Afghan war. The only question is does Mr. Obama have the will and the skill to get the job done? Mr. Bush trounced the Taliban, but failed to smother the insurgency. Let’s hope that Mr. Obama will do better. If Mr. Steele’s stupid remarks and FTR’s opinion of them are so important to the inquiring poster, then he just doesn’t have a clue as to problems in the real world. It is obvious tht bigotry rules “Offended Poster’s world.  I suggest he occupy his mind by tamping down his bigotry and by trying to figure out a way for him to pay his fair share of the debt that the Democrats have heaped on us. By the end of the year it will be $47,000. That will be the debt owed by each and every American.  Just one more thing: The truth is that I don’t know if “Offended Poster” is a bigot or not, I doubt that he/she is. I tossed the racism nonsense in just to demonstrate how easy it is to make the charge without any basis or any proof. Infuriating isn’t it!

NO NAME ELECTRIC

Great post yesterday about the FKAA rule change affecting so many other areas besides No Name Key. It was well put.

Now the DCA has sent a letter to FKAA, chiming-in on why the rule should not be eliminated.  Since the pro-utilities folk have been screaming all along that the state says they can have utilities, I wonder what they will dream up on why the state says no to water.

The state has expressed concerns about a proposed rule change that would lift a ban on extending water lines to certain areas of the Florida Keys -- including No Name Key.

The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority board will vote Thursday on whether to change the rule, which has been an obstacle to some No Name Key residents who want utilities extended to their island. The utility has conducted meetings in the past month to get public input, and has been researching records to learn more about the genesis of the rule.

The restriction was a condition of a $60 million loan the utility received in 1980 -- and since has paid off -- from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmers Home Administration, said utility Executive Director Jim Reynolds. The money was used to replace the main water line from the mainland to Key West.

On Friday, the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) sent the utility a letter listing concerns about proposed rule change. The agency states the change would be inconsistent with Monroe County's comprehensive land use plan, which discourages extending utilities to certain environmentally significant areas of the Keys. It also would be inconsistent with guidelines set down by the U.S. Department of the Interior for sparsely developed, flood-vulnerable areas such as No Name Key.

The federal government prohibits the "extension and expansion of specific types of public utilities to or through lands designated as a unit of coastal barrier resources system," wrote Charles Gauthier, DCA's director of community planning.

Gauthier requested the utility "consider the above identified inconsistencies with the referenced sections of the Monroe County comprehensive plan and land development regulations and the potential impact associated with the environmental and land use protections long established for an Area of Critical State Concern."

"They want to be consistent," utility board Chairman David Ritz said of the letter. "Simply read, they don't want us to repeal the rule. We are a state agency and we are not bound by county rules. The DCA wants us to be consistent."

Earlier this year, No Name Key resident Beth Ramsay-Vickrey requested the utility provide water service to the island. She contends cistern water poses a significant health risk.

If the utility decides to extend service to the island, it must decide how to pay for it -- charge No Name Key property owners or distribute the cost among all utility customers -- and it must obtain Monroe County's approval to run the pipes across a county-owned bridge to No Name Key, said Reynolds, adding that the county must have a technical reason for declining. A Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit for a potable water distribution system also must be obtained, he said.

The utility board will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District building at 503 107th St. in Marathon.
~Timothy O’Hara Citizen Staff tohara@keysnews.com

[No Name Key] Just leave them alone. We all know why the power and water companies want to "starve out" the locals there. It is the same ploy as the rest of the Keys, to get the land for big shot developers. The Keys need only one thing done to give the big buck guys the power to scrape off these islands and that is deep water inlets and dockage. With that the Keys will look like Boca in a year. What do you think all the beautification plans have been about? The purposed 4-lane super highway? The Wal-Mart and big box stores? We locals are on our last leg here, and Wisteria, No Name, and other locations are the fuses being lit. Party now or forever hold your peace.

Not to very long ago, there was a burnt out Old Wooden bridge. I fished on it for years. You took your life in your hands to get to your hot spot. It should never have been touched. The CIA trained Cubans out there and the ferry put in there. A few families farmed there too. I f you wanted to go there you had to work at it. Why anyone would want to buy a home on that island with the hopes they would get water and power was, at best, a long shot.

I once owned several lots on a closed canal next to Sea Center. They’re still closed these many years latter. Maybe after you get your water and power we can get those closed canals opened too. I sold the lots and didn't buy on NNK. I hope you are very, very young because this will take some time, work and lots of money. Some folks have lots of money and can pay someone to do the work, but time -- we are short on time.

Enjoy your time and get on with life. It's what's happening while you make all your plans about tomorrow.

[Recalling my challenge] What can you offer to offset the multiplicity of advantages to the health, and safety of the island ecology, and even more cogent, the moral issue of denial of choice in a democracy.  You folks just don't want to speak to this.

I appreciate the testimonial of the first person who has access to central, regulated, and certified healthy water, yet chooses his cistern.  Want to bet he is hooked up to county water?  It doesn't matter since he has a choice, and I don't.  The next person who expounded about the earlier settlers of the island and the history of cisterns on the island is equivocal, and irrelevant.  The settlers moved, and the island returned to jungle.  The Ferry Landing was supplied with electricity by generator, but that, too, is irrelevant to the central question I pose. Your case rightfully needs resting.

Probation certainly has the effect of discouraging development, though it is neither just, legal or needed.  Development has nothing to do with the DCA, FKAA, or Keys rights to provide services.  Development is not the issue.  Prohibition is the issue.  May I infer that if it were not for your paranoid concern about development you would favor providing infrastructure to residents who are tax paying homeowners, with no connection to any of the agencies that regulate development?  Are you saying that those who enjoy the perks of civilized living should cast judgment in a referendum on their fellow citizens?  I yield to experts and law; not to emotional politics of unaffected others, as in the past.  Your thoughts, of course, are irrelevant to the matter of the rights of citizens and choice.  Your conclusion that there is only so much water to go around, therefore, some citizens need to be sacrificed, is morally, ethically, and legally wrong regarding both assertions.

I don't see your comment as sarcasm.  The standards applied to NNK have not been applied throughout the county as they should have been.  The roadblock has been put in place quite strategically, without concern for the welfare of neighbors, and the citizens of the county.  Everyone could have benefited years ago from a truly sustainable source of energy which stands opposed to their reactionary views, and beliefs.  FKAA water has many benefits to the island.  The island simply doesn't have adequate water protection at the health or safely level.  Those are guaranteed rights, yet prohibited at present.  Grid tie electricity will benefit all citizens and wildlife in the preserve, yet you given a dogmatic statement to the effect that extension of water would be a detriment to all citizens.  It is mandated that all citizens be hooked up to the County central sewage system, yet there are areas termed (arbitrarily) "cold spots".  Folks are wasting their time, and your money exploring "options" for cold spots. All known alternatives are not up to standards, and cost more than can be supplied otherwise. The bottom line is that citizens have been misled, and misrepresented for a long time.  It is purported that both sides have hidden agendas.  One group, albeit tiny, want no change and are afraid of the possibility of future development.  I, and my friends, only want equity and the opportunity of all NNK citizens to have the same choices all other citizens throughout the U.S. have and deserve.   

[No Name Key] Is this still America?  Someone actually said that we should have a county-wide referendum ballot to vote for which citizens get the safe drinking water in the Keys and the water can be rationed since "there is just so much to go around"?  All Monroe County homeowners pay the same mileage tax rate each year which does include supporting the water districts.  What is next: rationing police service, fire service, emergency services, schools, hospital, etc?  Safe drinking water is a public health mandate. 

Whoever proposed the above brilliant idea needs to go to drug rehab and get off the crack. 

No Name Key.  "only so much water FKAA water to go around."  May I suggest that the writer of this post be the first person we deny drinking water because obviously he or she is already brain dead and cannot recover from terminal stupidity?

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Wednesday July 21, 2010

Tuesday July 20, 2010

I think this little critter is a ground hawk. Its been hanging around my yard. It let me get close enough to take pictures. I’ve spoken to a few folks who say it is protecting its real nest that’s nearby. Anybody have any insight on this. It’s such a beautiful little bird.

Ms. Walker did not want to involve herself with the independent and philanthropic instructional project called Task Force Achievement. Her claim that she was never contacted about this extraordinary undertaking, does not bear up under the weight of truth. As customary for Debra Walker, she has once again aligned herself with the Tallahassee bureaucrats for another round of failure and nonperformance. ~gaffer12333@bellsouth.net

After reading (on the CT) about our local DirecTV guys down here at the Keys, I figured I'll give them a shot. Wow! I'm sure glad I found out about them through you guys. The DirecTV 800 number was trying to push all these things I really didn't want or care for, but Sammy and Lewis just went straight to the point and came through on their promise of cutting my present cable bill in half. They cut through the bullcrap and gave me exactly what I was looking for. Kudos to that dynamic duo! I'm not sorry no more.

[Sloan on Corruption] At the Planning Commission meeting the Wisteria Island developer’s people and county staff, including county legal counsel, told the planning commissioners that Wisteria Island is not an offshore island, because it does not meet the narrow environmental definition for a spoil (man-made) island being classified as an offshore island.
 
Wisteria Island not being an offshore island had hinged the developers’ entire argument, for if Wisteria was an offshore island, it could only be allowed to have two residences. This was explained to the public a number of times at prior public hearings by Christine Hurley and other county staff, and by the developers and their people.
 
Enter a surprise letter from Charles Gauthier, Director of Community Planning, Department of Community Affairs, to County Mayor Sylvia Murphy, which all five planning commissioners had before them. Among other things that did not make the developers or county staff’s year, Gautier said Wisteria is an offshore island and is subject to development restrictions that apply to offshore islands.
 
Enter Townsley Schwab at the Planning Commission meeting. Townsley is the County's Director of Planning and Environmental Services. From out of the blue, he said he had to correct the developers and staff. He said staff had always viewed Wisteria as an offshore island.
 
I could not believe my ears. County Commissioner Wigington later would tell me she could not believe her ears when she heard it, as she watched the meeting on television. Mayor Murphy would later me she heard it, as she watched the meeting on television, and it perked her up.
 
Alas, three planning commissioners ignored the Gauthier’s letter saying Wisteria is an offshore island. The same gang of three ignored Townsley’s comment that Wisteria is an offshore island. The same three ignored me, when during citizen comments I told them not to ignore Townsley and the letter from Director Gauthier.
 
I remain convinced that gang of three were in the developers’ pocket and need to be removed from the Planning Commission. I also remain convinced the developers somehow got to county staff, Townsley Schwab excluded, and County Administrator Roman Gastesi and the BOCC need to take a real close look at that.
 
I believe if Roman and the BOCC are diligent, they will find Jim Hendrick at the bottom of staff’s defection, Townsley Schwab excepted.
The rest ... GoodMorningFloridaKeys.com

I want to vote for a commissioner who puts first the ordinary tax paying homeowner, the backbone of the Keys who actually lives in his house and doesn't use it as a vacation rental business, and follows the rules and hasn't snuck in an illegal downstairs enclosure. 

After doing this he can tend to the wants of the chamber of commerce, the developers and the realtors as long those wants do not infringe on the rights or disturb the peace of the law-abiding ordinary homeowner.   

[Broiler Pan Man] My friends and I go to Jam night at that bar just to watch and listen to broiler pan man. 

So stop hating. You are in the Keys. Enjoy all the entertainment and characters the Keys have to offer.

[Lackanookie is not an Indian Tribe] Lack of sex could be killing you. I think I’m dying. Dr. Oz: Lack of Sex Could be Killing You - AOL Health

[Spoon Bum] The bum who plays the spoons at various bars is exactly that, a smelly old bum.  About 5 years ago, he was doing it at Boondocks and kept bumping his drunken butt into my wife and I.  Finally when I told him to stop and leave us alone he started a fight.  I initially started to hit him, but did not want to embarrass my wife by killing this drunken idiot so we left.

To my amazement the owners of boondocks did nothing to correct the situation.  We have not returned and, yes, we are locals.  What is wrong with management?  Do they have any idea how much money they lose by not taking appropriate action?  I am sure it has happened to many other people besides us. Print my email address all you want if that makes you happy, but that drunk can't read anyway and management could care less. ~joln99@bellsouth.net

When wind turbines go bad. It looks like a bit of reengineering is needed here, huh?

Please no Wal-Mart in the Keys.  Homestead is close enough.  It will put too many people out of business.  The locals can't compete with Wal-Mart’s prices.  I vote no to Wal-Mart.

[AA] So now it's "The Bible is a weapon!" Is the AA basher switching gears? Some people just never get over acting out.

Mario's campaigning is really getting out of control.  I went into my favorite Upper Keys locals’ eatery, a place well-known by all the locals to be a 100% politics-free zone, and there on the counter right next to where people eat were Mario's cards. The eatery owner has a strict rule - no politics, only great food.  Too bad Mario's woman campaigner did not either know the rules, or know enough to respect the rules. 

But it will not happen again. The eatery owner was not happy that her place had been tainted, and her eatery disrespected.  Mario's - and only his - signs are all on public state and county land along US1 in the Upper Keys. Again, disrespect.  Yes, other candidates' signs are out in the Upper Keys, but on private properties, exactly where they belong.  Maybe Mario has to put his signs on public land because no private property owners want his signs on their property. Or else he and his campaign people just don't care, or recognize that disregard and disrespect do not impress voters. And on another campaign sign note, bigger does not equal more votes. But then, neither does money.  ~sunnyiceny@yahoo.com

[Illegal Rental] In regards to the person who wrote in about the rental homes in Big Pine. I also live near one of the three that the gentleman in PA owns and rents out weekly.

I also have been to code enforcement and have spoken with them on numerous occasions. Code told me that all the properties will be posted because they have received many complaints. As I understand it, the weekly rentals will end very soon. 

For the AA Basher, when he finally comes back to A.A. providing he doesn't die first, and that is a big if, he should remember the wisdom of  Reality Therapy which goes something like this: we don't care why you drink the point being you have to stop. 

And that worked real well for me.

[Wisteria Island] Here is my plan. Go ahead and develop the heap of rocks and pine trees, but give back a little by creating a small sand beach just off of the Wisteria wreck for public use so we can snorkel on the ship. And also give us a dock for us to tie up to in order to get to the beach so we can snorkel. This ship is about 100 feet off the island land and would be a tourist attraction to snorkel on a bit of history. If the developers won't do that then tell them, no way Jose.

[Cease and Desist] How do you go about getting one?  Our neighbor claims he is not doing weekly rentals, but they are just friends staying at his place. He has new friends every week.

[Rogue Hummer] To the 911 dispatcher and law enforcement officer(s) involved: Job well done on catching the black Hummer that was driving 80 plus mph on US1 and passing on the yellow line on Monday. It was in the Long Key- Marathon area. Thank you for the quick and precise response on getting this insaniac off our road.

 If you are the dumb ass driver, take your piece of crap Hummer out of our islands and stay off our roads. Go endanger yourself or your own family—not us. The only redeeming thing you possess is that you are biodegradable.

[Wal-mart People] I love those photos of the too tight clothes, horrible miss-matched outfits, etc.  I know it's not the nicest thing to laugh at those people, but in the privacy of my apartment, I'm laughing my arse off. Sort of like why I enjoy America's Funniest Videos.

If you would like to be informed of any Big Pine Bark Park news or events please send us an e mail at BigPineBarkPark@aol.com and we will add you to our database.  We respect your privacy. Info on an upcoming fundraiser is coming soon.

[The F5 key is the screen brightening key] The F5 key on your Dell is a dual function key, it controls the screen brightness but is also used for refreshing the screen. Try pressing the F lock key or the function key if you have one that is separate then press the F5. Dell does not set the keys to default to their F functions. Very useful key on the weekends when Ed is recovering from the previous night and the CT doesn't get posted on time.

Pick your disease from the list. A good link to save. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/site-map/smindex

[AA Basher] We are told at the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous in the Big Book that alcoholism is an illness and, by implication, nothing to be ashamed of.  This idea is not supported with any evidence, only with a brief piece by Dr William D Silkworth, who treated AA’s co-founder Bill Wilson for alcoholism.  Silkworth speculates that alcoholism may have something in common with allergies, but offers no evidence, and the idea is not explored in any depth.

There is no further discussion of alcoholism as a medical problem. Instead, the discourse shifts abruptly to discussing alcoholism as a matter of alcoholics’ supposed lack of contact with God, and of their moral shortcomings. Thus it is, by definition, presented as a cause for shame after all.
There is then a blatant attempt to convince the alcoholic reader of the need to develop a spiritual orientation, with the odd proviso that the nature of the spiritual power believed in remains so undefined that it may take any form which appeals to the individual, from some personal conception of a supernatural “power greater than himself” to AA itself.

The thinking behind this idea may be summarized as follows:
Because alcoholics are supposedly powerless to do anything about their problem themselves, they must develop a belief in, and reliance on, a “power greater than themselves, which can and will do for them what they cannot do for themselves.  What is implied, though not explicitly stated, is that this “higher power” must be amenable to entreaties to solve alcoholics’ drink problems, being somehow crucially interested in their welfare in this specific respect.

When the book goes into detail about how the “higher power” is to be approached by alcoholics, it becomes clear that what is really required of them is belief in a God who must intervene at their request to relieve them of their alcoholism, and who is bound to remove their “defects of character” on demand. Thus not only has the supposed need to believe in God been intruded into what was at first presented as the discussion of an illness, but the nature of the belief required, involving God having to perform miracles on demand, is seriously at variance with all mainstream religious faiths. It really constitutes a peculiar occult religion in its own right.

The subject of this book shifts far from its original ostensible theme, rendering it not only logically inconsistent and self-contradictory, but disingenuous.  The pretence that the “recovery” doctrine offered does not ultimately entail a very specific (albeit religiously heretical) conception of God is downright deceptive. Under the guise of offering a plan of recovery from a medical problem, this book introduces a superstitious form of religion by stealth.  GOD = Good Old Doorknob

OIL SPILL

NATIONAL POLITICS

[No Freedom of Religion] This is in NYC on Madison Ave., not in France or the Middle East. We either stand up and fight to take this country back or watch it slide into oblivion for our future generations who will never know the values that America was founded on and stood for. Remember, this will happen in your neighborhood, town, and city! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9rofXQl6w

[Fun with War] It is a shame that the hard rock music and the Military.com entertainment logo are there. Sort of makes it look like a kids’ war game. It would sink in to adult minds much better if a good narrator read a mature script. After all, humans, good or bad, are dying  here, not cartoon characters with electric guitar/machine guns!

http://shock.military.com:80/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=204937&page=5

[Climate Change] The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record says NOAA.

[Afghanistan was Obama’s choice] It’s been 3 days since I asked FTR his opinion of the head of the republican party, Michael Steele, telling us Afghanistan was Obama’s choice who then gave us reasons why we shouldn’t be in Afghanistan. The Republicans don’t think we should be fighting the war In Afghanistan, the country that housed and allowed the training of the attackers on America. The head of the Republican Party tells us it’s a lost cause. I disagree with him.

But then it was GW Bush that was walking lovingly thru the Rose garden hand in hand only to stop for a second and man kiss.

I take FTR’s silence as a man ashamed of his party and their stance on fighting the war in Afghanistan. His silence speaks volumes. That’s why the republicans may not get the vast majority they are expecting in the next election. Americans pay attention.

Which side of the fence are you on?
If a Republican doesn't like guns, he doesn’t buy one.
If a Democrat doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.  

If a Republican is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat.
If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.  

If a Republican is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.  

If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A Democrat wonders who is going to take care of him.  

If a Republican doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Democrats demand that those they don't like be shut down.  

If a Republican is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A Democrat non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

If a Republican decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A Democrat demands that the rest of us pay for his.  

If a Republican reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A Democrat will delete it because he's "offended".  

Arizona High Schools To Now Teach Spanish Entirely In English. (See, you can find anything on the Internet to support your beliefs.)

The System put into place to keep us safe entails1,271 government organizations and 1, 931 private companies work on programs related to counter terrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10, 000 locations across the U.S.  An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances. In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since Sept. 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost 3 Pentagons or 22 U. S. Capitol buildings- about 17 million square feet of space. And we can't build 1 monument at Ground Zero? Are you feeling safer? A hidden world, growing beyond control | washingtonpost.com

Democratic party investigating Obama.

[From the Right] Main Entry: cor·ol·lary; 2 a : something that naturally follows : result b : something that incidentally or naturally accompanies or parallels.

Just the other day an Obama advocate lectured us that: “Propaganda is not founded on facts.” The corollary of that statement is “facts are not propaganda.” That poster was complaining about criticism of Mr. Obama and any who would dare to make any criticism. That poster ignores the reality that most of the criticisms seen here of Mr. Obama are supported by long and sometimes tedious citing of fact and proof thereof. To that Obama supporting poster, any criticism of Mr. Obama is a lie. We have all noted that the loudest supporters of Mr. Obama have been reduced to name calling and demanding the silencing of Mr. Obama’s critics. They shriek that criticism of Mr. Obama is lies, all scurrilous lies; hence they label any criticism as propaganda. Yet, they never offer any proof of their assertions that the criticism is untrue. They never support their contentions in praise of Mr. Obama with facts. They refuse or simply fail to support their arguments with facts. Their complaints are devoid of fact, the are propaganda. Weak propaganda.  

(Part II) To quote Mr. Obama again, “let me make this perfectly clear”. FTR is convinced to a moral certainty that the Democrat controlled Congress is responsible for our current fiscal melt down. Yesterday an Obama supporter suggested that Mr. Bush bears responsibility because he failed to veto any of the budgets that crossed his desk. That My Deer Friends is a ludicrous argument. It’s like saying: “My drinking buddies are to blame that I’m a freaking alcoholic, they never stopped me from drinking.” It is ls true that the Republicans spent too much money. In the 2006 mid term congressional campaigns the overriding complaint by the Democrats against the Republicans was that they were spendthrifts. The Dems were right, and the won control. But then, in an ongoing saga of blinding hypocrisy, they set about spending money by the long ton. Their spending dwarfed the Republican excesses. They piled on suffocating national debt and deficit. The Democrat spending is gutting our economy and is sucking the vitality of our nation.   It is true that when the Dems seized control, Mr. Bush did not veto the orgy of Democrat spending.  He could have tried, but it would have been a waste of time, money, and effort. The Dems then had a veto proof majority in Congress. Permit me to again make the point that Mr. Bush presided over the spending of way too much money. He was wrong. Those mistakes should have been cautionary. The current Democrat majority ignores those lessons and uses those mistakes as a cover for the current level of debt accumulation that is beyond all reason. Bush’s mistakes dwarf the current Democrat economy wrecking spending. If anything, the Democrats should have learned of the perils of massive government spending. The hypocrisy of the Democrats is stunning.   

NO NAME ELECTRIC

[Cisterns] I don't live on No Name Key and my house has a cistern. I prefer it that way. FKAA ran a water line down my road a few years ago and because of past experiences with their arrogant got-you-by-the-balls business practices, I won't hook up. They are even worse to deal with than the electric company.

You're among the “first to build on No Name”?  How old are you anyway, since people have been living on No Name since the late 1800s.  The 1870 census showed 16 occupied houses and six unoccupied, with 45 inhabitants.

So you're not one of the ones that didn't notice that the house you were purchasing had a cistern for water?  You actually knew you needed a cistern, and built it?  I rest my case. 

The prohibition of water to designated areas of the Keys was put in place to discourage development in those areas.  It is both counterproductive and illegal to bring water to those areas because people decided to build and move there in spite of this limitation.  The health issue is a red herring; there are numerous ways to cheaply and effectively sanitize water such as UV or chlorination. 

The real issue is people are now trying to turn seasonal residences into year round residences to increase there property values and there isn't enough water collected for year round living, this is also the issue with electricity. 

Due to the fact that that all of the Keys will be affected by a FKAA rule change as there is only so much water to go around, a county wide referendum should be placed on the ballot prior to any change.   

Sometimes the NNK water thing reminds of the quest for peace in the Middle East - it's complicated and has been going on forever (sarcasm on)

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Tuesday July 20, 2010