Monday, January 14, 2013

[New Head of Refuge] The U.S. Fish Wildlife Service has named a California field supervisor with extensive experience in coastal communities as the next Florida Keys refuge manager.

Nancy Finley will replace former Keys Refuges Manager Anne Morkill, who left the Keys to oversee the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Finley will oversee the National Key Deer, CrocodileLake, Great Heron and Key West national wildlife refuges.

Finley is expected to begin her duties in the Keys on Feb. 24. Link

Lighting the burners on a gas stove with a flame of any kind is dangerous if you are old and disabled as I am. I do not reflect what the Keys are coming to! I have never lived in the Keys. You should not make assumptions about things. 

Rockland Key shopping center goes to public hearing. Link

When the Marathon Home Depot opened I remember hearing that one of the reasons it was opening there was because that particular piece of property abuts a canal or the open ocean and that eventually Cuba will want the lumber, etc to rebuild their country and that it would easy for the Cuban boat owners to load up and head out. Could that possibility be a scenario?

Does Marathon’s HD abut a waterway? Does KW’s HD abut a waterway?

The attorney for Lisa Druckemiller, the former Monroe County Technical Services administrator charged with stealing and selling 52 Apple electronic devices, is still working with prosecutors on a plea agreement.

In a status conference Friday, Druckemiller’s attorney, Robert Cintron, told Circuit Court Judge David Audlin that he’s waiting to depose County Administrator Roman Gastesi, who was formally reprimanded by the CountyCommission for paying $899 for three iPhones and one iPad.

Cintron stressed Druckemiller’s case would not go to trial. She’s charged with felony dealing in stolen property and scheme to defraud.

“It’s just not going to happen,” he told Audlin. “We’re not going to be shifting into trial mode. We’re still in a position to enter a plea.”

Audlin set a follow-up hearing for Feb. 8 at 9 a.m. in the FreemanJusticeCenter in Key West.

Druckemiller, 51, is accused of stealing $23,311 worth of county-owned electronics and selling them for a combined $4,778, mostly to county workers. She abruptly retired last February when the scandal emerged.

Druckemiller admitted her part in the scheme before a grand jury in July and was booked less than a week later on the criminal counts.

Assistant State Attorney Mark Wilson is the prosecuting attorney. ~keysnet.com

[“Cancel the Ragnar Race. It’s not a good fit for the area anymore”]  It is easier to complain than to volunteer to help make it better.  However, the person that commented on Sunday is right, if you have complaints about these events you need to let the Commissioners know directly, do not stop at the Administrator’s office, he likes to sugar coat and outright embellish the positive impact that these events have on the county and it’s economy.  The Ragnar,  the Ironman and other events are not going to go away, but we residents need to show up at the Commission meetings and demand that they make them better, safer and with minimal inconvenience to the residents.  The Commissioner should also demand that the Administrator’s office provide them with the true cost of these events to the county taxpayers, including the time that workers spend getting the facilities ready for the events.  It is obvious that the Commissioners do not listen to the staff who actually do the work, but I am sure that they will listen to us residents if we show up in numbers

[“Sunday is a day of rest”] While I am not religious nor belonging to any sect or denomination, I take issue with anyone who chooses a day of rest for me based on their religion.

Jews are a living proof that Saturday and not Sunday is the day of rest that “God” gave in His 4th commandment as the sanctified day of rest. He also cautioned that anyone who transgresses one of His commandments, transgresses all 10 of them.

Sunday or Sontag (German)- the day of the son – was the day of rest of the pagans (son worshipers) before Emperor Constantine made the great compromise. Rome got tired of torching off Christians or feeding them to lions and managed to drag Christians out of catacombs to legitimize their faith.

Pagans accepted the symbol of the cross (until then Christians used the symbol of the fish) and, conversely, Christians accepted Sunday as their day of rest. Many, who refused, – on both sides – were summarily executed by having their heads chopped off. That is how Rome and the Vatican legitimized the historical record conversion.

Now go tell Muslims to worship on Sunday instead Friday and see how far that’ll get you.

[Murder For Hire] Federal Grand Jury indicts Zecca. Link

[Dog Control] Recently I saw news coverage about a couple grieving the loss of their dog, shot by a neighbor protecting his caged rabbits.  The picture of the dog showed it wearing one of those collars with the zap-gadget for an “invisible fence”.  I have only known one dog who obeyed an invisible fence. 

I’m sorry for the couple’s loss, sorry for the dog that they weren’t more responsible, but I’ve had to warn neighbors too, “it’s not working, find a way to keep your dog home or one of these days he won’t be coming back”.  I’m not your dog sitter who’s supposed to call you to come get poochie because he’s over here again, and my animals will feel safe in my yard.  

[Improper Gun Use — For the Record]

–Winnemucca, Nev., 2008: Ernesto Villagomez opens fire in a crowded restaurant; concealed carry permit-holder shoots him dead. Total dead: Two. (I’m excluding the shooters’ deaths in these examples.)
– Appalachian School of Law, 2002: Crazed immigrant shoots the dean and a professor, then begins shooting students; as he goes for more ammunition, two armed students point their guns at him, allowin…g a third to tackle him. Total dead: Three.
– Santee, Calif., 2001: Student begins shooting his classmates — as well as the “trained campus supervisor”; an off-duty cop who happened to be bringing his daughter to school that day points his gun at the shooter, holding him until more police arrive. Total dead: Two.
– Pearl High School, Mississippi, 1997: After shooting several people at his high school, student heads for the junior high school; assistant principal Joel Myrick retrieves a .45 pistol from his car and points it at the gunman’s head, ending the murder spree. Total dead: Two.
– Edinboro, Pa., 1998: A student shoots up a junior high school dance being held at a restaurant; restaurant owner pulls out his shotgun and stops the gunman. Total dead: One.

[Flu Germs] Have you avoided the flu so far? I just heard on the news that the number one place to pick up germs is from the gas pump nozzle. Think about it the next time you go for a fill up

I still don’t know how someone’s reproductive system can simultaneously be none of my business and 100% of my responsibility?

The gas verses electric stove debate is getting as old as Chevy vs Ford, or backing in vs straight in. It is becoming boring, or as the old saying goes, “there is no sense in beating a dead horse.”  What was great was the comment on not eating a NJ beefalo! I don’t care who you are, that was funny.

Ultimate 5.7 x 28 package includes
– PS90 with one 30 round magazine. Like new, only 30 rounds fired.
– FN57 with three 20 round magazines. Like new, only 20 rounds fired.
– Two 50 round magazines for the PS90. Brand new in box.
– Factory installed optical sight on the PS90
– 2800 rounds of 5.7×28 blue tip ammunition
– Blackhawk Serpa holster for the FN57. Like new in box.
Conservative value is between $8,000 – $12,000. Located in the Lower Keys. Classified Ads > Miscellaneous

When Texas secedes from the United States of America what’s going to happen to all of it’s professional sports teams?

You say Sheriff Ramsay is gay, then  obviously you’ve never seen his girlfriend.

I put the people fighting for illegal downstairs enclosures in the same category as the people fighting to preserve, protect and promote feral cats.

Jupiter is moving with respect to the stars, though slowly. It has now crept just to the right (as seen in early evening) of the upward line from Aldebaran through Epsilon Tauri, the other tip of the Hyades V pattern.

[Murder for Hire] Why is someone trying to make the Sheriff complicit in the murder for hire plot simply because the bad guy donated to his campaign? Does the poster have a personal issue with the new sheriff?

Girls, you marry the man of your dreams, but ten years later you’re married to a sofa that farts.

[Free Onavo Extend Data Usage] Get more from ATT or Verizon mobile data plans. “The bottom line is that Onavo effortlessly extends the value of your existing data plan” -CBS Money Watch Link

Does anyone own and use an electric stove on No Name Key? 

Keys tickets for all events. Link  

Electric bill discounts available for some. Link

Researching this online, I’ve come across an omitted detail: this list also includes past members of Congress all throughout history.  One automatically assumes the list is referring only to the present Congress. 

Once you add the volume of past members into the equation, it brings things more into proper perspective. Perhaps percentages and a more accurate description like for example: “Of all the past and present members of Congress…” then compare those percentages to the nation average to see how they fair next to the general population.

If your going to support your position and rightfully bash Congress (they do deserve it), at least make sure you don’t make a fool of yourself posting misinformation from some silly e-rumor in the process. Link 

Fanci Seafood has a fresh batch of delicious Smoke Kingfish in our case. 

There’s both a McDonald’s and a blood pressure machine in some Walmarts. Circle of life.

The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline baggage.  

Life always offers you a second chance. It’s called tomorrow!

Anybody know if the Golden Margarita is up for lease or sale?

Cajun rain gauge.

[Full Size Police Cars] In 1969 / 1970 the Police Dept of White Plains, NY used VW Bugs as many of their police cars.

All the quotes attributed to Einstein are great, but it does seem that as he got older he became windier than a popcorn fart. You can experience the same kind of bloviating at Springers any night of the week, but you might not understand it.

[“Cloud burst on the CT”] I’m using Internet Explorer as I type and it works just peachy. (Ed: I fixed a lot of the problems over the weekend. I think I hate computers.)

[Lookout Security & Antivirus Free]Cell phone security. Install it, 394,456 other Android users have. Link 

[“Ohio school arming it’s janitors”] Only after they undergo a training process. So what’s your solution? Are you berating janitors as some form of lower life form?

Oh damn, I’m out of the loop. Please elaborate on “two old farts fighting over a female”. I caught myself smiling as I finished the last sentence.

Three things we’ve learned from this ongoing gun debate. They are: nothing is going to come of it, gun sales will go through the roof and the NRA is no longer supported by members, it is funded by the gun industry.

[Ground Hog Day vs. State of the Union] This cartoon is more apropos than the one form Sunday.

Sunday a poster bashing FTR wrote he was from the Newtown, CT area and stated it is part of Fairfield County, which happens to have the highest per capita income of any county in the entire U. S. He said Newtown itself has a per capita income of $116,249 as of last year. He ended up saying they were all Republicans there.

Here we go again, bull shit. Check all the lists–no Newtown, CT or Fairfield County, CT on any of them. Why can’t people just tell the truth. Link

The actual per capital income for Newtown CT is not $116,249 as he posted but just $37,786. Link 

If you don’t agree with any poster, that’s fine, just stop making stuff up to try to discredit them. When you do that makes you look stupid.

[Groundhog Address] In regard to the joke posted Sunday about two events occurring on the same day this year. Inauguration Day occurs in the USA once every four years on January 20. It occurs in the year after presidential elections have been held. The new terms of office of the president and vice-president officially begin at noon in Washington DC.

Ground Hog Day occurs on February 2nd, every year. Both events occurring on the same date is impossible, even though it would seem quite apropos.

A Liberal’s answer: “I don’t have enough information to answer that question!” For example does the man look poor or oppressed? Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack us? Could we run away? What is my wife thinking? What psychic impact will this have on my kids? Could I possibly swing my gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation? Do our pistols have appropriate safety features? Why am I carrying a loaded concealed weapon anyway? What kind of message does this send to society and to my children? Is it possible he’d be satisfied just killing me? Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he stabs me? Should I call 9-1-1? Why is this street so deserted? Is this our fault? We shouldn’t have come this way! We need to raise taxes and clean up this neighborhood! We need to make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage terrorist behavior! I need time to discuss this with some friends and try to come to a consensus of opinions! I’m confused!

A Conservative’s answer: BANG!

A Southern Conservative’s answer: BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Click … (sounds of reloading) BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Click … 

FROM THE RIGHT

 On Friday, an ever loyal FTR critic wrote in support of gun control: “Are a few adjustments to gun control a bad thing? Who would it possibly hurt? Give me a scenario where some sensible gun control will cause actual real-life problems for anyone? The 2nd amendment was written when they used muskets.” 

This Olde Fart, like untold millions of Americans, is convinced that “adjustments” to our Constitution are anathema. The first ten amendments are the rock that this nation is built on.  Aside from that, there is absolutely no proof that the limitation on firearms ownership would curtail gun violence one iota. All evidence shows that the contrary is true.

What about the First Amendment?  That amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

So, given that TV was not even thought of when the Founders wrote our Constitution, and given that the media now has tremendous power over the minds of all Americans, why don’t we just tinker a little bit with the freedom of the press?  Why don’t we put limits on TV’s talking heads and their political posturing? And what about these damned riots and confusion caused by firebrand speakers and writers on the web, etc….maybe we should limit what folks can and cannot say. What about the nut cases of all stripes on the CT, why don’t we prohibit them from stating their nonsensical views? It’s revealing that so far, we’ve observed that the folks who usually demand that other posters “shut up and go away” are of a liberal bent.

The Second Amendment speaks for itself. It is crystal clear that the government shall not infringe on the right of Americans to possess firearms. In fact our Founders guaranteed even more than simple ownership, they guaranteed that all of us shall have the right to bear arms. What part of that can be tampered with? Personally, I say none of it.

Deer Friends, our Constitution is as relevant and important as the day it was ratified.

The Constitution can be amended.  If our left invested Politicos are truly committed to their belief that the Second Amendment is contrary to the public good, why don’t they attempt to strike down or to amend the Second Amendment?  The answer is simple: Most Americans are fully committed to the liberty guaranteed by our Ten Amendments and the Constitution. Look, Our Bill Of Rights, the Ten Amendments were specifically designed to limit the power of our government. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, and they limit the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings.

 The first Ten Amendments, our Bill of Rights, to our Constitution and  were ratified in 1791, in the subsequent two centuries and more than a score of years later; our Constitution itself has only been ratified 17 times. The Bill of Rights is sacrosanct.

 Americans are resistant to Constitutional change. Our Founders put in place a major shield against tampering with the Constitution. Amendments can only be ratified after two-thirds of the House and Senate approve of the proposal and then send it to the states for a vote. Then, three-fourths of the states must affirm the proposed Amendment.

 Mr. Obama has infamously told us that he views the Constitution as being nothing more than a charter of “negative liberties.”

 If you doubt that Mr. Obama is not dead set against the Second Amendment, then you really should think about the fact that as a state senator in Illinois, Obama opposed legislation providing an exception to handgun restrictions if the weapon was used in the defense of one’s home.

 Then you might consider Eric Holder’s infamous interview wherein he said: “What we need to do is change the way in which people think about guns, especially young people, and make it something that’s not cool, that it’s not acceptable, it’s not hip to carry a gun anymore, in the way in which we changed our attitudes about cigarettes.”  Holder went on to say that every day at every school at every level, we should have an anti-gun message. Holder, Obama’s long term friend, fellow traveler, and Obama’s hand-picked Attorney General admitted that such a program would be “brainwashing”  He didn’t care. He said: “We need to do this every day of the week, and just really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.”

Recently a poster claimed that Obama’s speech wherein he promised not to take guns away was proof of his true beliefs. I submit that his actions prove the contrary and again prove him to be a facile liar.

Then you should consider that in 1996, Obama answered “Yes” to a survey question asking whether he would support state legislation to “ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.”  In fairness, the Obama 2008 presidential campaign claimed the form had been filled out by an aide who mis-characterized Obama’s position, even though Obama’s handwriting was found on the survey. In any event, Obama’s actions certainly demonstrate his animus towards the handguns in particular and in the Second Amendment in general.

Obama has consistently demonstrated that he holds our Constitution in contempt. His sights are now on our right to keep and bear firearms.  

Part two: It looks like we’re getting caught up in yet another firestorm assault on our Constitution that is fueled by rhetoric not facts.  The left would have you believe that we are awash in mass murders and it is a new phenomenon.  But  history proves that even during the first years of the 20th century, mass murders were relatively commonplace.  Mass murder reached its peak in 1929.

There is an article in the unabashedly left wing Huffington post. What follows are quotes from the piece: “Grant Duwe, a criminologist with the Minnesota Department of Corrections who has written a history of mass murders in America, said that while mass shootings rose between the 1960s and the 1990s, they actually dropped in the 2000s. And mass killings actually reached their peak in 1929, according to his data. He estimates that there were 32 in the 1980s, 42 in the 1990s and 26 in the first decade of the century.”  

Criminologist James Fox is quoted: “”There is no pattern, there is no increase,” says criminologist James Allen Fox of Boston’s Northeastern University, who has been studying the subject since the 1980s, spurred by a rash of mass shootings in post offices. The random mass shootings that get the most media attention are the rarest, Fox says. Most people who die of bullet wounds knew the identity of their killer.”

 Just say no to gun control, it will destroy yet another freedom, and it will do no good.