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
 [Mosquitoes] Deer Friends: We’ve been deluged with misinformation about the two proposed methods to decimate our hordes of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Here’s the facts:One involves germ warfare — wolbachia, the other genetic engineering – Oxitec.Both will likely have very similar results. Both have been demonstrated to be effective. Over many years, hundreds of millions of mosquitoes that have been infused with wolbachia or Oxitec have been released, not a single organism has been harmed, except mosquitoes. The government has yet to approve either method for commercial application against Aedes aegypti.The upcoming demonstration of the Oxitec method is a part of that process. It is to demonstrate to regulators the safety and efficacy of the process. The process has already been used in other nations and is currently in use in Brazil.It’s likely that both processes will be approved for commercial use. It’s also likely that the Oxitec process will be far less expensive simply because it requires magnitudes less infrastructure. |
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 [“County didn’t provide mobile Wi-Fi trailers after Hurricane Irma”] I was so disturbed that the county didn’t provide an emergency wifi trailer that I arranged to meet with the agency head to suggest a mobile trailer like the one Verizon Mobile had after Irma. He thought it was such a good idea he bought one, but being a bureaucrat, he bought a stationary wi-fi unit for the County Emergency Management Center. He bought one for him but not for us. He said the mobile unit that the County really needed was too expensive. I think he figured if people wanted wi-fi so badly they’d make their way to Marathon or wherever the building is.
We need to contact loved ones and associates. My argument for mobile wi-fi trailers to the County was that every emergency agency, SBA, church group, and FEMA, all told us to go online to get help. Every one of them! Even though there was no online except for Verizon who parked a mobile trailer on Big Pine on US-1. We don’t need water and ice, we need wi-fi and UPS service. Video |
| [How Politics Work] “Key West Captain asking Governor DeSantis to help Key West repel the large cruise ships” Where has Captain Will been? Has he not followed the DeSantis administration? All it will take is a donation from the cruise ship guys and the debate is over and he’s moving on to his next “contributor.” Sad but true |
 [“Rolling In It”] On his blog, Sloan wrote about leaving some of his inherited money to the homeless alcoholic gal before including his two daughters and his ex-wife, who may have paid for their college educations. One would think the granddaughters were included in the Sloan Sr. estate plan, but maybe it all went to the stepmom and then over to her only grandson, who now has all the dough. Sloan kept saying he would get 1 million and now he says it may be multiple millions! I hope for his daughters’ sake that he sets up a trust fund asap and they get the bulk of it and it’s not given to the homeless alcoholic broad. |
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| Florida must stop infringing on home rule. Some legislators seem to think they know better than locals when it comes to managing our ports, enforcing building design and allowing businesses to operate in homes. There’s the ongoing vacation rental issue, where legislators, lobbied by such national corporations as Airbnb, want to forbid local governments from passing and enforcing laws to protect homeowners who don’t want to live next to glorified boardinghouses. Perhaps the most hypocritical proposed legislation this year relates to elections. Now they want to make it tougher to vote, telling local supervisors how to do their jobs even better? Link |
Big Pine Appliance Repair 305-975-7914 is a new listing in the Business Directory > Appliance Repair |
| [Vaccine Update] One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve gotten my first vaccine shot is that when I stand near the TV we can pick up all the premium satellite channels. The funny thing is, we don’t have a dish! Should I be worried? |
[Vaccinated] Krispy Kreme offers vaccinated customers free ride on glazing conveyor belt. |
| [Dummies Pay More] We’ve all heard the sales pitch — Flo from Progressive and the Gecko from GEICO promising us big savings on our auto insurance. But a recent Consumer Reports investigation has revealed a potentially discriminatory practice that Flo and the Gecko don’t mention when quoting a rate: Both companies asked some prospective customers about their education level and job title to help set their rate quotes. And in some states, Progressive and GEICO actually quote higher premiums to those consumers who have less education and lower-paying job titles! No one should have to pay a penny more for auto insurance just because they haven’t graduated college or have a lower-paying job! Sign our petition to Progressive and GEICO to immediately stop this unfair practice. Link |
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| [Friday Joke] My wife ran away with my fishing buddy. I miss him, he had an awesome boat and new some great fishing spots. |
[Why You Should Plant Oaks] A very nice article and good photography. Link |
| [“Termites are attracted to light”] Maybe one of those paranoid light pollution snowbirds will read that about the termites and turn off their goddamned lights when they’re not using them. |
Why Floridians Hate Snowbirds and What We Can Do About It. Ex: Floridians hate your rules. Nearly all the rules in Florida were created by northerners who moved down and then wanted to change Florida to be how they wanted it. |
| [Homeless Gadfly Sloan to Inherit Millions] Condolences to Sloan for the loss of his mother. Now he can pay back “biker chick” the $300 he was gifted. Plus all the others. Yeah, just gave him several hundred dollars and not even a thank you note. Reckon that he did not get proper upbringing in learning to write thank you notes and have chores around the mansions. Link |
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| [Getting Rich] Hello Dear. I want to inform you about the success in transferring the funds. I left $5.8 Million compensation for your efforts. Do contact my secretary Mrs. Cynthia Innocent for your money. I appreciate your efforts so much. ~Regards, Patrick Ozougo Esq |
 [No Coconut Telegraph] Dunno what happened, but so glad to see the CT alive (resurrected) maybe since this is the season… Be and stay well Deer Ed.(ED: Believe it or not, since 2002, the few times that bigpinekey.com was offline, none of them were my screw ups. It’s always been the web hosts’ fault. Boo on them.) |
| [Electoral College] “I don’t know how elections would be determined by NY and California without the Electoral College?” The poster’s logic isn’t clear? If people in the USA elect someone by 1 vote, that person would win in a democracy. Why do we need an Electoral College when the majority rules in a democracy? What’s wrong with majority rules? I like it. I think it’ll catch on once people start think about it. |
 I didn’t realize that in the past the Germans and Puritans had a problem with COVID-19. And I was really misinformed about the yellow star and the red letter A. I always thought the star signified the wearer as Jewish and the scarlet letter as signifying the wearer as an adulteress. Now I know, thanks to the poster, they both signify that the wearer refused to get vaccinated! Thanks for the comprehensive history lesson. |
| [GMO Mosquitoes] -Neither the Mosquito Mate (wolbachia) nor the Oxitec (genetic engineering) process have as yet been approved by the EPA or the CDC for commercial use in vector control of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. And both vendors are seeking approval. -Both processes have been used against the Aedes aegypti successfully in foreign venues. Neither has resulted in any reports of harm to any organism, human or otherwise. -The Mosquito Mate (wolbachia) process has been tested/demonstrated in the Keys. That demonstration occurred a number of years ago on Stock Island. Hordes of wolbachia infected mosquitoes were released. It’s reported that the results were “inconclusive.” – The wolbachia process requires the release of millions of live wolbachia infected mosquitoes. Hence it requires facilities for maintaining a brood stock of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, facilities for raising, maintaining, and keeping alive millions of mosquitoes for an extended period of time. |
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| [No Fishing Here] Starting April 1, all fishing will be prohibited from April through July in a 1-square-mile area near Western Dry Rocks, about 10 miles southwest of Key West. This science-based recommendation has been endorsed by many of our major fishing and conservation groups. Link |
The First Baptist Church on Eaton Street in Key West was destroyed in a fire on this date in 1956. |
| The April AARP calendar is here. Full Menu > Ongoing Events |
Flat Earth Society makes trip to bottom side to prove their point. |
| [Friday Joke] Helvetica and Times New Roman walk into a bar. “Get out of here!” shouts the bartender. “We don’t serve your type.” |
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