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Letters to the editor with pictures since 2002.
Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Un-social Media with 60,000 Followers

[Lobster Mobsters] Lobster mini-season starts Wednesday in Florida Keys. The Monroe County Tourist Development Council has launched an extensive public awareness campaign to educate locals and visitors on the two-day lobster mini-season, set for Wednesday and Thursday, July 28-29. The TDC created a dedicated website that includes interactive videos with need-to-know dive and boating safety tips, up-to-date rules, regulations for lobster hunting within the Keys, such as daily limits and correct harvesting techniques. Link

[Movies] How come zombies don’t chew or swallow? And how do such small human mouths take such big chunks of flesh?

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Florida Keys has risen significantly since July 4, and Monroe County health officials said there are some very significant points residents should consider, specifically the Delta variant that has become the dominant coronavirus strain, and noted that the Lambda strain is emerging out of South America. “People think, ‘The outbreak is over,’ ” said Florida Department of Health in Monroe County Administrator Bob Eadie. “In reality, it isn’t. If you haven’t gotten vaccinated, you are no different than when we started with this.

I’ve run aground many, many times, but never this bad! The only way something like this could happen is if the captain left the engine down when towing down the road.

[“Old white folks are so scared of going in public in America that many of them carry loaded guns wherever they go”]
Uhhh, one word, Chicago! They aren’t old white guys, the mayor is not an old white guy, and it was dubbed ChIraq because of the violence. Chicago is a gang and drug controlled violent city, one of many. Many of us “old white guys” were raised to help others and step up when needed, unlike today’s mass of phone filming soy-boys and girls who’d rather upload someone’s ill fortune to YouTube rather than help a person in peril. We all see the videos online and we all see who is usually filming and narrating

[Netflix vs Prime Video] Netflix costs about $150 a year and Amazon Prime costs about $100. The advantage with Amazon is that you get free 2-day shipping and their Amazon Prime streaming service. I like Amazon Prime Video better because they have more movies that I like. They also have old movies and TV series, going all the way back. Netflix doesn’t have any really old stuff.

[Fantasy] Someone you admire from afar is not so admirable up close. (Bummer)

[Refusing vaccine] It’s remarkable the reason’s people give for not getting vaccines. If it wasn’t a matter of life and death it would be funny. They ignore all facts, one of which is that 99% of deaths are of the un-vaccinated

[R.I.P. Prince] My 17 year old cat from Forgotten Felines in the Keys transitioned on the full Buck moon Friday after a stroke. This cat was born feral then domesticated by a nice gal who then gifted him to me. Prince was the absolute best cat and the biggest cat we have ever known and loved. Mourning has been incredibly difficult for both myself and all the other pets in the manor. The way I am getting thru this is to “move a muscle – change a thought.” There are websites which help us with our pet loss grief and there are a large number of people who are still sad many months / years after their pets demise. At the vet, I sent up a prayer thanking the Universe for this beautiful soul and to let me know that he was OK after being PTS. At home, as I sat on the couch crying with Prince’s cat GF and lit a fattie and it somehow made a giant, plate-sized smoke ring which froze mid-air, right in front of us for an unbelievable amount of time and then it waifed slowly into the kitchen! It was a heaven hello. Remember, every time you get a pet, you are obligated to assist them over the Rainbow Bridge.

What extreme heat means for the future of the Summer Olympics. Experts are calling for changes ranging from the timing of events to the bidding process. Link

[Very Premature] Minnesota baby born at 21 weeks celebrates first birthday, sets world record. Guinness World Records declares him ‘the most prematurely born baby to survive’. Link

[“Gun control”] Someone asked how gun control could have stopped the little girl’s death, but doesn’t want to hear the answer. Right off the bat, I propose confiscating all automatic weapons except by special license, prohibit large capacity magazines, confiscate all illegal weapons by stopping and searching anyone — even if they are a minority. License only hand guns, shot guns and rifles. This is impossible to do, but it’s a start. There are far too many guns floating around. Do something about them!

Anarchy is the highest state of disorder.

Pretty soon barcodes will replace numbers on license plates so they’ll have every bit of our lives at hand.

[Blackout] A 2.5-hour power outage affected the entire Florida Keys early Saturday morning, according to Keys Energy Services. Initial reports indicate a fault occurred in Islamorada, outside of the KEYS service area, although KEYS spokesman Julio Torrado said the cause of the outage remains under investigation. Torrado said the transmission line outage was triggered at 5:06 a.m. and power was restored to a majority of the Keys by 7:45. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office sent an alert at 6:45 informing the public of the outage. The outage also appeared to temporarily affect internet and some cellphone service. By 8 a.m., service had returned, albeit still spotty in some locations.

Things no one said in the 70’s: “I lost my phone.”

[Bad Link] Deer Ed, I was looking at Friday’s CT edition when I clicked on the ‘Plague’ link – POW! My Malwarebytes blocked the link. Said it is due to a Trojan. Anyway, just FYI, I’m safe don’t know about other readers. (Editor: I tried the link on two different devices and they opened without any problems. You might have Malwarebytes protection set too high. Link

[Old School] Sears, Montgomery Ward, JC Whitney dominated all mail order commerce until the internet destroyed them. They never saw it coming. They were too steeped in their stogie cultures to see change coming. They thought they were untouchable. Too late they tried to gain an online presence, but they were to old school to really “get” it. By the time they did go online they had lost their customers.

[Plague Rebellion] Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine-passport protests erupted across Europe on July 24, according to media photos and videos. Thousands upon thousands of demonstrators came out in London, Dublin, Paris, Rome, Athens, and other cities across Europe, according to footage and news reports. The demonstrations in France appeared to be the most tense, with riot police firing tear gas as clashes erupted in central Paris. Video

Inside the surprisingly complex engineering process that creates an Olympic torch. A torch like the one in the Tokyo games is so much more than just a simple vessel for flame. This is how they spark into being. Link

[Devine Right Of Kings] The question as to whether there is such a thing as divine right of kings is not settled. It was found too difficult. That the executive head of a nation should be a person of lofty character and extraordinary ability, was manifest and indisputable; that none but the Deity could select that head of state.

[Medicine] Does anyone use OptumRx home delivery form United Healthcare? They say I’ll save hundreds of dollars a year. Link

[Dilemma] If you are born an American Indian, you should dress and act like an Indian and keep your traditions, language and superstitions alive. That’s a lot of responsibility to keep ancient ceremonies and culture alive. In order to keep the vanishing Indian culture alive Indians shouldn’t leave the tribe. That’s a burden they all have to face. Their choice basically is to go out into the White man’s world and prosper or stay on the reservation, collect welfare, get drunk, and work in the Indian casino. It is very sad how few practicing Indians are left.

[Food Labeling] Does a package have to say if it contains sea salt or land salt? I see sea salt listed on labels more and more.

[Caution] Vampires have to be invited into your house in order to do their mischief. Be careful who you let in.

[Gun Control] On Friday a person who views those who disagree with him as being “narrow minded asses” declared that America is not a safe place to live. That’s just dandy with me, it is his right to voice his opinion. It is his view that “Old white folks are so scared of going in public that many of them carry loaded guns wherever they go.”

It is precisely that poster’s racist mindset that is a prime contributor to the social turmoil and unrest that we suffer today. And perhaps the biggest societal problem that we face today: the growing schism between the races. That has become the prime mover in political machinations.

The facts are crystal clear. Persons of color, per capita, are far more likely to be the victim (and criminal) in violent crime than are whites. Homicide ranks No. 1 as the leading cause of death for African American males ages 1 to 44, and fourth leading cause for African American males for all ages. Far and away persons of color prey on other POC’s than do whites.

This current mess will not be cleaned up until we make deep societal change. We must regain respect for one another and for the laws of our land. We must hold offenders accountable for even minor offenses. We must abjure our addiction to violence in our media. We must convince all that we have a societal duty to report crime. We must end this war against cops. We must end this war against religion. We must rediscover the teachings of MLK.

I came, I saw, I forgot what I was doing, retraced my steps, got distracted on my way back, have no idea what’s going on and now I have to pee.