Since 2002. Published Tuesdays and Fridays
Letters to the Editor with pictures
![]() This “last-minute attempt” is not so last minute at all. Victims of the grinder pumps have been loudly complaining since they first heard of it years ago, but as FKAA’s latest statement indicates, they haven’t been listening, hence the lawsuit. Link |
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[“FTR goes local”] “Hey, look over there!” Ah yes, another classic case of misdirection. FTR Guy and his ilk, having created a monster they can’t control, want you to look elsewhere and hope the problem goes away |
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[“Zika fear”] According to the Blue Paper if someone is going to make a bundle of money from their work, we should question that work. That sounds like another conspiracy thing. Oxitec’s genetically modified mosquitoes released in the Keys should not be questioned because they’re going to make ooodles of dollars if successful. They should be questioned about the implications of introducing an imitation bug into our environment. If not, we’re doomed. |
![]() The past, like the sea, beats inside me like a second heart. I will miss it. We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it |
Someone just honked to get me out of my parking spot faster. So now I have to sit here until one of us is dead. |
![]() So you, FKAA, are going to mandate that I sell you part of my postage stamp-sized yard for $1.00, and then make me rewire my entire house so I can provide electricity to your equipment. Will I also be ordered to put gas in your trucks? Do your laundry? Bring you Sunday dinners? And then pay for my water twice—once coming in and a second time going out? Something is wrong in Paradise. |
Do the doctors in the Keys take lessons in Advanced Banking and Investing along with their medical courses? Seems like it! |
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The street game to sucker punch people is a game of cowards. Hitting old people for the fun of it is like stomping a kitten. You punks need to be ventilated between the eyes. I am 75 and really wish you’d try it on my 45 caliber butt, sucker |
![]() Gee, I just won a $5000 Walmart Card and I never went there in my life. God is good! God owns Walmart! |
A way to stop texting while driving would be to have a 10-year old in the car. Kids that age are very aware of rules and will be sure to remind you how quickly an accident can happen. Even if you think you’re the master of the text message—you’re not! |
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Find out about yourself and your DNA. The National Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. Link |
Millions of Hindus plunge into Ganges River in India to wash away their sins. (Note: It doesn’t really work). It is a sacred honor for them to wash in the most polluted river in the world. I watched as hundreds of the faithful bathed in what appeared to be a green toilet. What are they thinking? Video |
![]() [County and FKAA – Off the Rails] She said what I just wrote only better. Link |
Monarch Butterfly recovery receives blow from winter storm kill. March winter storm in Mexico killed millions of the butterflies. An MSU researcher is helping assess the impact. Link |
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FKAA is in contract negotiation with the union. Not everyone is allowed to belong to the union, even lower paid employees with the minimum benefits; and not everyone that can join does. The union is weak because they lack the ability to call a strike. But they do have good employment lawyers to quell management abuse. It’s the CWA union (Communication Workers of America). A bottom tier employee who is not allowed to be in the union told me that the management email calling for a 10% reduction in workforce is just management subterfuge to help get the union to agree to no significant pay increase and more lost benefits. “Okay, everyone stays employed but they effectively work for less.” That would be in character. I think the CWA should call the bluff. If FKAA did lay off 10% of the workforce, they are so stupid that they would lay off the non-Bubbas, who tend to be the most competent and most productive. The FKAA infrastructure is falling apart faster than they can replace or even maintain it, and now they are trying to run sewers that are built as a time bomb with a short fuse. How well do you think they can hold it together with just glad-handing, bull-slinging Bubbas available? |
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The sewers will make a difference. Every year just before mini season for the last 15 years, I have looked at the clarity of my canal on Little Torch Key. It’s always clean and clear, however, after mini season, when all those from Miami, who are piled up in these trailers, sometimes as many as 20 on one toilet, it only takes a couple days before the beautiful clear canal is shit brown in color. I cannot wait for the sewers to be operational. |
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FKAA executives have decreed to management that they want a 10% reduction in the FKAA workforce. But don’t expect a 10% reduction of your bill! Instead, expect poorly maintained infrastructure and customer service that rivals that of infamous Comcast. Are they insane?The Cudjoe Regional Watewater System is just beginning to connect, is already having serious problems, and FKAA is way understaffed to properly maintain the system already. This is especially true since they promised DEP that they would do routine flushing to compensate for a reckless design that does not meet bare minimum standards. DEP accepted that “reasonable assurance”. Consider the DEP required minimum annual maintenance for grinder pump customers. Incorporated by reference into the Florida Administrative Code is the following language: “6. Installation of the system including on-lot facilities. Routine annual inspections of on-lot facilities include removal and/or visual inspection of the PU [pumping unit], controls, warning system and other ancillary items….., Routine inspection of pressure sewer main appurtenances should be made a requirement. Shut-off, air-release, and pressure-sustaining valves should be inspected at least once per month and exercised. Maintenance of air release valve assemblies should be performed as dictated by these inspections. Pressure sewer main flushing should be performed as required and with the necessary precautions for preventing cross-connections. Pressure sewer systems shall be administrated in the same manner as gravity sewers or treatment facilities. A central authority shall maintain ownership and responsibility for all components of the pressure sewer system.” (So much for FKAA’s threats of making you own and maintain your own grinder pump. It ain’t allowed by Florida law!)Pressure sewers are extremely labor intensive. A utility in Central Florida with a hybrid gravity/pressure sewer system monitored labor expenses. The pressure sewers cost 40 times that of the gravity portions, per connection! How does FKAA management expect their people to handle the huge increased workload with only 90% of its current work force? Either there is not a lick of common sense at the executive level of FKAA, or this is the first step towards outsourcing the work to private contractors. Who on the FKAA Board would be in favor? Toppino you say? |
![]() Happy Friday the 13th |
Bids in George Zimmerman gun auction top $65M! Bidding on the 9 mm Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol began at $5,000 and had reached more than $65 million by 5:45 a.m. Video |
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Anti-virus pioneer (and accused murderer) John McAfee warns on mobile phone snooping. Link |
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[Screwing Us] Have you noticed that your 8-ounce cup of yogurt is now between 5.3 ounces and 6 ounces? |
Marathon’s Royal Furniture is about ready to build a 15,000 square foot showroom. Video |
![]() 3.40 gigahertz Intel Core i7-6700, Multi-core (4 total), Hyper-threaded (8 total), 16GB DDR4 memory—real, real fast, 1 TB hard drive–big 120GB SSD. A solid state hard drive is the biggest improvement anyone can make to a computer. On it I have the operating system and all software. With this solid state drive I am on line in just 30 seconds from the time I push the power button to my first search on Google! NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 video card takes up two bays in the case and runs three 22” monitors without a hiccup. My old rig went through 5 motherboards in six years because of the demands of 3 monitors. This monster solves that problem and many more. The operating system is Windows 10 Home which I think is the most intelligent OS ever made. Just speak to it and it does what you ask. Link |
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Photographer, Mr. Larry Blackburn, please put a haze filter on your flash for in-door close-ups. You make us locals look like the walking dead. If you do not have a haze filter, use a Kleenex over the strobe to soften the flash! |
30 new hotel rooms, a 100 boat dry storage racks barn, a restaurant and a bunch of jet skis might be a little too much “progress” for the neighborhoods at the Old Wooden Bridge fish camp. Is it still a fish camp then? |
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Uber and other ride-sharing services could soon be operating in Key West, as city officials say it’s time to take another look at the currently banned businesses.
It’s time to stop protecting old business models like taxis and hotels from the new business models that people want like Uber, Lyft and AirBnB. Did they protect the cassette tape manufactures when the CDs became popular? Taxi companies and hotels need to change their business models and stop ‘raping’ the consumer. These new services are what the people want. Let us have it. Stop protecting dinosaur businesses who rip us off at every opportunity. |
![]() Fad diets don’t work. Only proper nutrition along with regular exercise do |
An outbreak of yellow fever in Angola could go global. Could happen here as it did before. Link |
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[Question: Do you trust the FKAA?] The FKAA lawsuit is “frivolous and without merit,” county and water company officials said. “Trying to stop the sewer system” they claim in their press release. False!
Oh sure, they’ll say that, actually they’ll say anything it seems, but there are about a thousand or so folks who got intimidated and were given a half-baked grinder pump system, having to rewire their homes, paying for electricity, and accepting said system along with an easement onto their property when we were promised a gravity system. They lied! |
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[Vandalism] To get even with your boss, reset the computer system password to a scrambled password by just mashing the keyboard to reset it. The only way to get the system running is to do a clean install of the OS. All information will be gone! |
[George Carlin’s 7 Dirty Words] That was from a different time. Now we hear those words in songs and on cable TV as we become desensitized to class. Video |
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For all you Hemingway wannabees, first look at the real man. And then buy yourself a thick turtle-neck sweater. Link |
Twelve Cuban migrants landed on Big Pine Key early Wednesday morning. The 11 males and one female plus their rustic vessel, known as a chug, arrived on the oceanside of the island about 6 a.m. and will now receive free everything from the government until they can land a good job and make all the money they always dreamed of. |
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What are the rules or laws for rain gutters on a house and storing the water? Video |
Dear Big Pine Key City Hall: May I introduce myself? I am Lou Shepherd, the Urban and Community Forestry Programs Coordinator for the Florida Forest Service in Tallahassee. Perhaps you can help me. Would you check on this and get back? I am updating my records. May I ask you to take a moment to have someone answer (4) quick yes/no questions? Is a city staff member devoted to parks, tree care or environmental management? Does your city have a tree ordinance? Does your city have an advisory tree board or department? Would your city like to receive assistance on your urban tree canopy by the Florida Forest Service? If you would like more information, please identify the person and provide their contact information. Thank you for your time. |
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Wind chimes are made from the metallic bones of robots that tried to overthrow us. Hang them outside your house as a warning to the others. |
[“Marathon Legalizes Pot—almost”] Cannabis is illegal. It can treat cancer, PTSD, seizures, anxiety, glaucoma, stomach disorders, and depression. Which means no money for the pharmaceutical companies. Which means it will stay classified as a narcotic for a while longer. |
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There is only one thing wrong with the sewer company’s sewer system design. It won’t work. That design has not worked in any area it has been tried in, so why are we allowing it to continue? Why didn’t they design a fully closed system like all big cities have? |
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[Beer For Breakfast] Before coffee became popular, watered-down beer was often served for breakfast in the United States. In the early days drinking beer was safer than drinking the available water. I wonder if that’s how they invented Lite beer? |
Since the CT has forbid the publishing of national political and governmental posts, nothing seems to be getting feedback from the people anymore. The secondary National Politics page sucks! Nothing is getting done in the Keys |
![]() [Garbageman] If I am outside when the refuse truck comes I help the guy dump my cans. I will say I never want to arm wrestle him, but come to think about it, if I was younger, I’d be doing that just for the exercise. Those guys have to be the strongest and healthiest guys on the street besides a mailman! |
[Developing Fishing Camp] Any of you moles have any encrypted thoughts about the new development Jim Hendrick is representing on Little Torch Key? When I read about that in yesterday’s Citizen, it felt like a knife had stabbed my guts. In a nap dream a little while ago, I heard, “Little Torch pier”. |
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Future development includes a resort at the Old Wooden Bridge Fish Camp on Big Pine. Does anybody recall Peg Legs? The resort that was not allowed to reopen on Big Pine and the County then turned it into a park. Pretty funny how the pendulum swings isn’t it? |
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Polish food is great, just don’t expect to live into your nineties. Up north in Detroit, MI when it’s cold that food can’t be beat! |
Reasons woman need to have a kid. 1 A meal-ticket 2 Abandonment Insurance 3 It is the largest thing she’ll ever feel 4 The ultimate ego trip |
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[“Leather” Belts] Have you bought a new belt lately? I have and every one of them is made of paper or some un-godly material and breaks on the first use. Test a belt before you pay for it. Just do a good pull and if it breaks easily tell the store manager he has been had |
Here’s the corrected AARP calendar for May. I forgot it had 31 days. Full Menu > Ongoing Events |
![]() My theory is only an educated guess, but the escalated decrease in water quality is following on the heels of the US effort to use more renewable fuel, i.e. ethanol. The more formerly unused farm lands in the heartland planted and fertilized, the more nutrient is washed through the streams and rivers into the Gulf of Mexico. Seaweed and algae are just plants and all plants thrive with extra fertilizer. So if you are looking to find someone to blame for the decreasing water quality in the Keys look no further than the environmentalists that are trying to save us from ourselves. |
The next meeting of our Big Pine Computer Club is coming up this Saturday, May 14, 10 am at the senior center. Hope to see you there. Full Menu > Ongoing Events |
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How, and who do, you see to start a class action suit to fire a public official in Monroe County? |
![]() Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, 35 East Quay Road, Key West, FL, Saturday, May 21, 2016, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. |
So some Keys Marxist has compiled a list of the only people who produce anything in this world and came up with the entire working class. Really? So the wealthy industrialists and small business people willing to invest in commercial enterprises that create jobs–they’re just useless. Obama has taught you well. Bernie…is that you? |
![]() DEF: Lido n, A ship board trough for feeding gangs of wallets. DEF: Wine n, Blood from dead grapes that makes people fake couth. DEF: Booze n, Liquids that separate the men from the cows. DEF: Guns n, Useless objects unless the bear is big. DEF: Car n, A transportation devise to house a cell phone. DEF: Teen n, A young human seeking free everything. DEF: Senior n, An older human wondering what is next. DEF: President n, A person that takes orders from their rulers. DEF: Newspaper n, Propaganda that parrots cannot read. DEF: Computers n, Something that they will burn like the books. |
It is amazing how slow the ISP connections are getting. Have you noticed? We pay for a fast connection only to get tons of spam and pop-up advertising we don’t want or need. Can we sue? |
![]() Here’s the corrected AARP calendar for May. I forgot it had 31 days. Full Menu > Ongoing Events |
Will a blonde turn as directed by her GPS even if she sees a wall? |
Submit anything but National Politics to island@bigpinekey.com For National Politics go directly to that page, log in, and post your comment. NATIONAL POLITICS |