Categories
2013 August

Monday, August 5, 2013

CT-Banner7.3.13

Classified Ads     Events     Business Directory      Contact Us      Menu    

[Monday] One day on Mercury lasts 1408 hours, the same as one Monday on Earth!

jimbeam5jimbeam5[The Joy Of Flight] On a flight from Miami to Houston to make a connection in Houston to Cozumel,  I purchased two little airline  bottles of Jim Beam from the flight attendant.  I drank one of them with water and tucked the second in my carry-on bag.  On the leg from Houston to Cozumel I asked for water from the flight attendant and poured the second mini bottle of bourbon into the cup of water.

A few minutes later the same flight attendant (who obviously had been flying for too many years) said very loudly, “You brought alcohol onto this flight. You are not allowed to do that.”  She proceeded to give me a loud mini lecture.  She grabbed my cocktail and marched down the aisle.  When she returned I said, “Sorry for the misunderstanding, but I bought the bottle from this airline on a connecting flight, I didn’t know I broke the rules.”  She had a nasty reply.  I said, “So, how about giving me a cocktail since you dumped my previous one.”  She ignored me.  Another flight attendant came by my seat and asked me if I would like anything.  “Yes,” I said, “I would like a bourbon and water if it won’t upset your co-worker or get you into any trouble.”  She smiled and came back to my seat with two mini bottles of Jim Beam and a cup of water and said, “Sorry” she said,” have a nice stay in Cozumel. No charge.”

After landing and clearing customs I went to the curb and saw my ride holding a sign with my name on it.  I also noticed the nasty flight attendant waiting at the curb for her ride. I approached her and said, “Excuse me but I apologize for any breach of protocol on the aircraft.  Perhaps you would allow me to buy you a cocktail or two this evening.  She looked at me like I was a derelict and said, “No!”

I replied, “Sorry to hear that because I thought that a little alcohol might kill that ugly bug you have up your ass.”  I got into my limo and left her at the curb.

fanci ad 7-16-13

[Dog Poop Good For Fish] While at a friends house my big dog took a big dump.   My pal said not to worry and picked up a big shovel full, lugged it over to the canal and made a big splash with it.  After the waves subsided I watched in amazement as every big mangrove snapper in the neighborhood fought over it until nothing was left, and then hung around waiting for more.

map5[Regulators] Folks there is a storm coming to the Florida Keys. Its called the National Marine Sanctuary. Formed against popular opinion and vote back in 1990. These are the same rock stars that took away the Dry Tortguas, Rileys Hump and many other prime fishing destinations from recreational and commercial fishing. Until lately they have been a stagnant cancer to the communistic regime of water area management.

Lacking scientific data that makes any sense the Sanctuary staff holds themselves as a band of do-gooders that provide knee-jerk reaction and implementation of boundaries that make no sense at all. Now they are flaring up in a big way with the largest closure of water here in the Florida Keys to date.

The areas in Red on the picture are already taken from our use. The areas in yellow are their latest proposed ‘taking’.

When is enough going to be enough? They will never stop. If they take these waters from our use the areas that are still available will be so over-run by people, boats, and fishermen they will surely need help and we will lose it all from their next closure.

If you know anyone that matters, tell them of this travesty. Its ridiculous. We have fished these waters our whole lives and seen no sign of a need for this kind of jurisdiction or the wasting of federal funds to patrol it.

 Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to the email.    

[NAS KW comment] Odd that people buy a home next to an airport and complain about the noise.

tarps bungee cords

[“Off the wall”] Wow, you are off the wall all right.  Florida Keys lobster fishermen supply 90% of the lobster caught commercially in South Florida. They sell their catch to local fish houses that in turn sell to larger Miami fish houses that contract with overseas markets.  The biggest purchasers of fresh fish and lobster caught in the Keys and South Florida are (come on you know this) the Japanese, foremost, and China.  They will pay top dollar to get that fish. They buy all the softshell turtles that can be caught from Florida lakes.  It’s all supply and demand.  The oriental overseas market for fresh fish is virtually insatiable.  The local restaurants are cutting their bottom line, and refuse to pay the price for fresh Keys fish and have found a way to fool the tourists who wouldn’t know a hogfish from a grouper, from a snapper, from tilapia.  Forget the local restaurants.  You want fresh off the boat fish?  Go to your local fish markets and buy it (Fanci Seafood), and cook it yourself. You will pay a premium for it however, so brace yourself.  It’s a bit out of my budget, but I’m trying to add more of it, as it is wild fish, not farm-raised in poop water, and a lot better for me to eat than red meat.  Actually, for reasons referenced below, I am sticking to wild caught Alaskan salmon, halibut, and tuna for my fresh fish. I’m a little concerned about the toxicity of any seafood caught in Florida Bay waters and the Straits.

Secondly, the reason the season was so bad last year for fisherman of all seafood in the Keys was not because of overfishing as one poster suggested.  They actually had very good, record catches in previous years before the BP oil spill.  Our waters and Florida Bay is suffering from the effects of the BP oil spill and the vast amounts of toxic oil dispersants put into the waters.  It is killing the young. Fishermen are catching fish with sores and tumors. It will take many years for the Bay to recover, if it ever does in our lifetime.  The fishermen that can see the writing on the wall are selling their gear and getting out while they still can, BP put the killing blow on the Keys fishing industry.  A way of life — the last of the hunter-gathers — is coming to an end.

vietnam-war-protest[“Pathetic Protester”] I understand your outrage that people were protesting the war you fought, but your post on Sunday made no sense at all. Protesting an unjust war at home is where protests should take place not in Vietnam as you suggested. The politicians causing the war were only in Vietnam for a few days to get their pictures taken. If the protesters traveled there they would have been made out as fools like they did to Jane Fonda when she protested there. The real politics of the war took place here at home. That’s where the protest had the most effect.

I can understand your bitterness, but protesters were trying to protect you from dying in that unjust war. We did “have something to protest about” —  your lives and the lives of two million dead Vietnamese. What did all those deaths accomplish? Nothing but sorrow and bitterness.

The North won and reunited all of Vietnam and we got our asses kicked. Don’t be angry at the protesters, you should direct your anger at the politicians. The protesters saw what was happening and tried to save American lives. All Vietnam veterans are entitled to be bitter, but not at the protesters. You should be thanking the anti war movement for the pressure they put on the government to end the war. That pressure worked and the war ended.

[Redux] Magic body parts. Video

ad-manley-deboer6.27.13

17th Annual LobsterFest. Link

pet-deer2[Refuge Management Solution] Let’s keep the deer watchers entertained and contained at a new Key Deer visitors center up at US1, and let the natives (residents and deer alike) live in peace

The Key Deer Refuge purchased that piece of property on US1 (you know, that old Coconut Farm nursery) to build a visitors center. This is a large piece of property, certainly large enough to house a Key Deer viewing and interactive center (think the Sheriff’s animal farm, but with only Key Deer). If the refuge took some of the old, sick, injured Deer and/or abandoned fawns and housed them at an interactive public visitor center it would greatly reduce the number of tourists stopping in the middle of the road and feeding the Key Deer.

Such an interactive Key Deer visitor’s center would drastically reduce both the unwanted traffic in the residential neighborhoods, and the deer’s learned behavior of thinking cars equate to food. A win-win for the residents and the deer alike.

 Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to the email.   

illinois an

 

Illinois is the 20th Medical Marijuana State. Why do states continue to fight the inevitable. These guys want their high from deadly booze, their drug of choice, but deny us our harmless high from pot. Go figure. Link

Health risks of GMO corn. Worse than I knew, but Monsanto is making a bundle. Link

Radio-Shack2.20.13 

America has become a nation of overweight wimps in the last 50 years because of 3 inventions — AC, TV and junk food.

zombie_headshot

The deal with all the Zombie movies is because its OK to shoot them point blank in the head and chop their heads off with blood squirting up. If you made movies that did that all the time with living people the bleeding hearts would protest and the public would boycott them

[Pay To Pay] I just paid my Keys Energy bill via electronic check (funds transfer from my checking acct. to Keys Energy)  The charged me $3.85 to pay my bill!  In other words, I had to pay them to pay them.  There is something very rotten about this “Pay Them-to-Pay Them” scam.  I’m sure that I am not the only person who is very unhappy about this blatant ripoff.  I plan to Call Keys Energy today to find out how I can pay them without incurring  the Pay-to-Pay fee.  I suppose the state utility board approved this theft.  There is probably someone in Tallahassee driving a new Mercedes or enjoying an extended European “fact finding” tour.

Note: It’s much cheaper for Keys Energy when we pay online than them having to pay a human to take our payments in person. How do you spell rip-off: k-e-y-s e-n-e-r-g-y

Let’s hope the FKAA doesn’t get wind of this.  We’ll have meters on our toilets so we have to “Pay-to-Flush.”

an_marilyn-skirt

 

Today in 1962 Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home from an overdose.

Aquaculture would allow humans to have another source of fish.  Why is it so difficult in the Keys to have an aquaculture farm? The practice of commercial and non-commercial fishing which depletes a fishery by catching so many adult fish that not enough remain to breed and replenish the population – you think that’s the problem.  So, Sanctuary, why not make the answer easier to obtain?

It’s a redundant question because the Sanctuary wouldn’t benefit. No money in it for them.  Not enough money into their pockets.  There’s more money in the County’s pockets if the recreational  fishermen keep coming.  Bed tax, shopping in W/D & Publix, gas for their boats and trucks–the County benefits that way.

Bluewater-Ad

[Term Limits] “Service to the community” — this is what we hear when candidates first campaign for office. In their  first reelection campaign,  we hear about the learning curve the candidate has overcome, and the experience a second term will bring to the table.

While this refrain continues in successive campaigns, after two terms, most opportunities to improve an organization have already been encountered and the candidate’s fresh ideas have been either implemented or discarded. There is no doubt that institutional knowledge helps the incumbent quickly grasp new issues, but the status quo, often the results of the incumbent’s efforts, becomes a routine that is vigorously defended. The organization becomes family; no longer a business to be managed for maximum efficiency. This is one reason the private sector routinely rotates  leadership positions.

zoo-deer-small

 

[“Fence in the Deer”] A refuge is not supposed to be a zoo. Fencing is a foolish idea to say the least.
Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters–Don’t Fence Me In

 

 Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to the email.    

Osprey cams from The University of Montana are very cool! As was the Ry Cooder photo posted on Friday! Video

direcTV-ad-4.26 

[Fl Keys Journal] The Journal interviewed Marathon’s Planning Director George Garrett. He has a long history serving the people of Monroe County. His current stint with the City of Marathon has demonstrated his professionalism, quality work ethic, and leadership.

What is the most important thing right now: He along with staff is working on getting transient hotel/motel units back online. Faro Blanco, Marriott, Tranquility Bay, and Hyatt are the current projects now. While we see a vacant lot, that does not indicate the degree of activity. Ninety per cent of the work is paperwork, permits, and a whole lot of similar requirements before shovels are in the ground.

How long have you worked for the city: George worked a long time for the county and has worked for Marathon going on 5.5 years. He reminisced about his time as the Planning Director and about his staff.

What’s the future for the Planning Department: Developments waiting for the economy to recover and new developments are coming on line. The local economy needs the infusion of dollars to feed a slow recovery. As Garrett pointed out, heads in beds is a key feature to economic success. There are still affordable housing lots throughout the city. They, too, will come online. There are eight middle-income units at the slumbering Marline Bay Yacht Club. That failed development will come back with new ownership and dollars.

How is your cadre of great staff members: He reported that they are great people, experienced, and produce quality work. George praised the interconnected Planning, Building, and Code Compliance Departments. Of course, all staff of city hall is needed for the day-to-day operation of Marathon.

How well is Marathon today: We are looking forward and preparing for the future 5 to 10 years down the road. Currently, the focus is on the city hall project. We have been preparing for this regarding dollars, permits, and the development of how the building will look and function.

What are your last thoughts: The City Hall and Marathon have bright futures. The city is looking good. The beatification project continues. Other projects will continue into the city’s future. 

beer-holder

 

 

My beer! How did I ever forget I left it there? 

[“Canal Front Vacation Rental Home on Ramrod Key”]  I sure hope you are legally licensed to operate that vacation rental on Ramrod, but I kind of doubt it.  There are only a couple of legally zoned areas in the Keys for vacation rentals, and I don’t recall Ramrod being one of them.  If you’re not legal, (registered and licensed with the State of Florida, paying bed taxes to Monroe, proper exit signs at doorways, fire alarms, all those important things that make your home a hotel room), then I’m sorry, but you are so busted, and you busted yourself, thank you.  Code Enforcement will be receiving your ad and opening a case to investigate you Monday morning I would wager.  I’d be curious to know just how many calls and emails they actually receive on this one vacation rental.  Mine will be one of them I can assure you. 
isaksen-flood 4.23.13

[“Can’t Find One-Piece Snorkel”] Yesterday’s poster described his 2-piece snorkel as a one piece snorkel. If it is truly a one-piece snorkel please tell us where you bought it. I want one!

moon5

 

[Rare Historical Photos] During the Apollo 16 mission, Charles Duke left a family photo on the moon that was enclosed in a plastic bag. Link 

 Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to the email.     

Record high temperature recorded in Greenland. Ice sheet surface melting above average in July. Link
“We’re Having a Heatwave”

[Term Limits] FTR’s Sunday post deserves re-posting above the political fold. This is more than just politics. This is about our financial future.

Without term limits some politicos see public office, such as a position on the Mosquito Control board, as a career choice. Unfortunately tenure can sometimes breed complacency. Term limits would return MCB Commissioners to the ranks of public service rather than providing long-term careers.  If term limits are good for our President, our Governor, our State Legislators, and a host of other public servants, term limits should be good enough for our Mosquito Control Board.

Term limits will allow more people to participate on this board and allow a better chance for generating more and new ideas to solve problems.  Many long serving commissioners on any board can run out of fresh ideas, which can result in their reliance on the all-too-common default answer – throwing more tax dollars at problems. This can include salaries and benefits at Mosquito Control which are now among the highest in the county.

Please send the MCB an email urging their support of the TERM LIMITS resolution
District 1 Jill Cranney-Gage:  jcranney_gage@keysmosquito.org
District 2 Phil Goodman: pgoodman@keysmosquito.org
District 3 Steve Smith: ssmith@keysmosquito.org
District 4 Bill Shaw: wshaw@keysmosquito.org
District 5 Jack Bridges: jbridges@keysmosquito.org

bandcamp5

 

[“Open Stage”] Just contact mike at Daddy Bones. We let local bands practice all the time right out front with no noise problems to be had. Just give us 24 hrs notice and your good. local Monroe county bands only though and no Buffett sorry. “Jimmy Buffett doesn’t live here anymore.”

[“Where is our seafood coming from”] A couple of years ago I looked at the shrimp at Efish and suspected they were not local or fresh. When I asked the clerk where they came from, he replied,”They are flash frozen in Tampa.” Everyone here gets them from there. I don’t suspect he is in the seafood sales line of work anymore.

tibetan_monkeys

 

How much do Tibetan monkeys eat?

[Sorry State of Food] We can’t eat fish (deplete the ocean), red meat (e-coli), chicken (salmonella), peanut butter (allergies), wheat (gluten intolerance), milk (lactose intolerance). How can we be the 2nd fattest nation on earth (we just got bumped down by Mexico’s beans, lard, rice and tortillas)?

springers-ad12.30.12

While Ho Chi Minh quoted the Declaration of Independence and Jefferson in his 1945 Declaration of Independence from the French, no reputable scholar of the Vietnam War would ever claim that he aimed to adopt American notions of a democratic civil society. Quite the contrary. His goal was to prevent the French from reestablishing their hold on Indochina once the Japanese were expelled. To that end, he did everything possible to ingratiate himself with the in-country American military advisers—and that included salting his declaration with cherished phrases from the American founding fathers.

FishTilapia

 

Just because you have never seen a Tilapia, doesn’t mean you haven’t eaten one. Here is a picture of one with all the fixins. Poop sauce available upon request.

 Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to the email.    

Tibetan Monk(eys) coming to the Keys. Just what we need,another invasive species!

johnsons-ad-7.25.13

A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies.  ~Nietzsche

an_oil-spill[“Lobster fishermen are coming off one of the worst commercial seasons in decades. Last stone crab season, which ended in May, was equally dismal”] Lest we forget, the BP oil spill happened in 2010. Here we are three years out and we see a decline in fish, crabs and lobster.

Anyone want to guess that the oil and CorexIt sprayed to sink the oil to the bottom of the Gulf interrupted the egg and larval cycles of many species that breed in the Gulf? That’s why there’s no dolphin, lobster, barracuda or crabs. BP killed off the babies that would have made this generation.

Wouldn’t that make more sense than the excuse they gave us that octopus were eating the stone crabs?

It’s time for the new breed tree hugging corporate retirees that have moved here to accept the truth. Corporations and profits have killed the seas, not the fisherman who made a living from the seas.

[Regulators] Doesn’t the size of a marine reserve network depends on the goals established by the community.  I thought I read that on page 20 of the ‘To Fish or Not To Fish’ role playing activity issued by Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures issued by PBS and National Marine Sanctuaries. Link

steve5

 

 

Stephen Mallory of Key West grows up to become a U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Confederate Navy. Link

[Drone Cam] When I visited Niagara Falls, the water going over the edge was about six feet deep.  It boggled the mind. Video

nira tocco realtor 9.12

[“Ed: I’m not aware of any problem”] Then you did not closely scrutinize the forwarded that I sent you. Look at the FROM.  They were using bigpinekey.com  as their FROM address.  They designed their email to look to the receivers (me,  FTR & emni) like it came from you.  That’s my objection.  They got our addresses from you somehow.  So, of course you don’t see a problem – because it looks like you are the originator of the offending email. (Ed: The only thing coming from Corporate Headquarters would be email titled: island@bigpinekey.com never: bigpinekey.com. I wouldn’t even know how. So if anyone receives something from bigpinekey.com, can it because it’s from the bad guys.) 

loud5

[“Jet Noise”] Sunday’s NAS KW comment spoken like a true sour homeowner who did not do any research on the neighborhood or his realtor. Please be quiet and turn the volume control on your TV up.

 Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to the email.    

[Captain Doom and Gloom] “Fence in the Deer” Good luck trying to fence in deer. All my 75 years of hunting and game control, I have never seen any fence high enough to keep deer from their food sources, being a farmers crops or wild. The Key Deer are tiny but you would be surprised how high a fence they can get over if hungry enough. The only way to control the deer population is by sterilizing the females. The best way is to use an air rifle with a medical dart that also marks the deer that has been treated. If you only drug their food, you will kill off the entire heard.

religion politics zone

FTR was mad that after receiving credible information of a terrorist attacks the Obama admin closed Embassies around the world and heightened security. Wasn’t FTR the same wing-nut who criticized Obama for not doing that in Benghazi? In Benghazi the Ambassador refused the offered help by the Obama admin and FTR criticized Obama for not forcing the extra security on Benghazi. This time the admin overrode various ambassadors and closed the embassies anyway and beefed up security anyway. Now FTR is mad that Obama took his advice and overruled some of the ambassadors, closed the Embassies and beefed up security.

hero5

[Snowden-Manning] One of the problems with zealots is they can’t recognize a hero when they see one unless it’s within their narrow view. A hero is someone who gives up the life he knows to expose evil with no financial gain and most assuredly prison as his future.

[Regulators] Independents’ views are similar to the national average. Americans say there is too much (47%) rather than too little (26%) government regulation of business and industry, with 24% saying the amount of regulation is about right.

Manning revealed realities of war that armchair warriors want sanitized. Support whistleblowers & freedom of speech. Link

Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to the email. 

[Loser] One of the best things a person can do when they are failing is to point to the other guy and say “yea but look at him”. I believe that is why we are hearing the daily whining from Conservatives and Tea party members. Take a look at how the Tea party is quickly fading into the rear view mirror of America.

The Tea Party when it was at its height in the 2010 elections had 31% of people surveyed considering themselves tea party supporters. This past May the same polling people did the same survey and their numbers had fallen to just 24% of the people surveyed.

Look at Tea Party hero Rick Scott for example. He won his election by attacking the health care law and calling for deep cuts to state spending. Scott then went on to endorse Obamacare and signed one of the largest budgets in state history. Yet Tea party members still hail his leadership and send him flowers daily while he did a 180 on them politically. Scott after railing on teachers pay during his election supported raises for teachers which was Kryptonite to the Tea Party.

This forces the Tea party supporters to step up the anti Obama rhetoric so the facts of Scotts flip flops become second to the anti Obama hatred.

Tea Party supporters of Marco Rubio denounced his support for an immigration overhaul because again like tricky Ricky he turned a 180 from what he said during his campaign when he was dead set against any type of amnesty. There were only 6 tea party members at that gathering and reports said that it ended up with four men and two women complaining about how he flip flopped them. They expected a much larger crowd it ended up with only 6 supporters and a large don’t tread on me flag.

So when you read the daily anti Obama diatribes on here remember they would rather you pay more attention to anything other then their dying numbers and politicians they put in office that don’t really mean what they say.

Its easier to cope that way.

from the right

an_magnify_glass_searchThe Washington Times has revealed that Homeland Security has lost track of more than 1 million people who it knows arrived in the U.S. but who it cannot prove left the country, according to a recent GAO audit. That audit also found HS probably won’t meet its own goals for deploying an entry-exit system. That news will probably torpedo any immigration bill because lawmakers in the House and Senate have said that any final deal must include a workable system to track entries and exits and cut down on so-called visa overstays. They “think” that visa overstays average 2.7 years.

The government does track arrivals, but is years overdue in setting up a system to track departures.  GAO investigators reported: “DHS has not yet fulfilled the 2004 statutory requirement to implement a biometric exit capability.” Don’t you wonder how many jobs those folks are soaking up? Good job Team Obama. Kudos to Big Sis, and well wishes to the students of the university that she will soon become President.

Bush_mission_accomplishedPart 2) There was an interesting posting yesterday that claimed GWB took a 5 month vacation immediately after his remarks on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a banner that had been put in place by the ship’s crew that read “mission accomplished”.  The banner was the Navy’s idea. They were bragging of their stellar performance in completing their assigned mission. By the way, in the speech, GWB never said that the mission was accomplished. Rather he noted that even though classic combat was over,  the job in Iraq was not complete, promising “difficult work” in Iraq “bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous,”  The left wing falsehood concerning “mission accomplished” is getting tiresome.

Personally I don’t recall any such vacation, nor can I find any mention of it on the web. Perhaps the poster will be kind enough to provide us all with the source for his statement. Deer Friends, don’t hold your breath.

Whatever you’re feelings about Bush, you can’t deny that he defeated Sadam, one of the most aggressive, sadistic, and murderous dictators in the 20th Century. Bush precipitated the formation of a Democratic government in Iraq, and negotiated and signed a treaty with Iraq guarantying the end of war on a date certain. Obama had no choice but to honor that treaty. Bush, not Obama ended the Iraq war.  Whatever your feelings about GWB you cannot deny that Obama has followed in his footsteps in the war on terror.  But there are differences, one is that Team Obama has declared that it is politically incorrect to refer to it as being a “war on terror.” Way back in 2009 the WH decreed that certain words and terms are no longer acceptable in the White House. They tell us that the United States is no longer engaged in a “war on terrorism,” fighting “jihadists” or in a “global war.” The only terminology officially permitted in the White House to describe our fight against terrorism is that we are “at war with al Qaeda.”  And, they’re kicking our butt.   Mahvelous, just mahvelous!

dog5

 

Part 3) If you’re a dog lover, you’ve just got to check this video out! Link