Monday, January 7, 2013

What I learned from a lot of years of reading the Coconut Telegraph.
1. If you want to know what’s happening, make sure you read everyday.
2. We all scan FTR, we read some, agree or disagree, but sometimes he just grabs our attention because his facts are dead right. He is very smart and I want to see who he really is.
3. Everyone who reads bizarre things is smart enough to know that it is only one side of the story.
4. During an election we are thankful there is a separate section for politics.
5. Editor has a different calendar than us. Sometimes days are the same for 3 days.
6. We read what Sloan writes, until he mentions dreams or angels, then we scan through the rest, but we still appreciate him.
7. We all go to the businesses that advertise here first, unless there is no other choice.
8. The girl who advertises as a realtor, works harder than most. If I was buying of selling I would hire her.
9. All the cartoons are funny, the jokes are great too. We look forward to them.
10. I don’t know much about YouTube. When someone posts a link, I usually watch 5 more in the same category.
11. I do not give to charity unless I can see results. Howard Livingston shows me results with his band and posts it here.
12. If your name is Tussa, we will not hire you to trim our trees…..we remember.
13. If you want to use a school credit card at my business, hell yes, you are a big spender.
14. I really like the sky clips that tells us what time to see planets or stars.
15. We can always tell when someone has an unhappy ex spouse, they try to trash them here–like showing IRS documents that are public info, but none of us would bother looking them up.
16. When one of our locals die or gets hurt, or gets real sick, this is the only place to find out.
17. Yes Vaseline and iodine mixed do help all infections, including cracks in feet.
18. The flea market is the best place to shop for bargains.
19. Our newspaper do not tell us about local events, Coconut Telegraph does. Only if the people who are sponsoring them, post them in time. Often they are posted the day of the event.
20. Big Pine has a really cool history and everyone that adds to it makes it better to read.

I hope everyone who reads this enjoys this enjoys it as much as me and no one should think it’s all negative. I miss Saturday when the Ed takes a day off, but he deserves it. I think he makes 1 dollar an hour for his time editing our posts.

There needs to be another day between Sunday and Monday.

[Dial M for Murder] As Middle Keys businessman Dennis Zecca cools his heels in a jail cell awaiting formal arraignment on a federal charge of trying to hire someone to commit murder, some details of his personal life are slowly coming to light. Among them is that his wife, Middle Keys real estate agent Mary Zecca, is now out of a job. She was affiliated with Coldwell Banker Schmitt Real Estate for around two years.

Dennis Zecca, 51, is charged with murder for hire for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill Bruce Schmitt, a Realtor at whose family’s company Mary worked. On Dec. 21, the day Dennis Zecca was arrested, broker Brian Schmitt, Bruce’s brother, fired Mary.

Bruce Schmitt apparently remains out of the country for safety reasons, and Brian declined comment.

Reached Thursday, Mary Zecca said, “You can talk to my attorney” without providing a name before hanging up or offering why she needs an attorney.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office hasn’t said what motive Dennis Zecca — or others — had to allegedly offer what turned out to be a federal informant $20,000 or a kilo of cocaine to kill Bruce. But the FBI followed the plot through wires worn by the informant, and arrested Zecca after Zecca thought the hit was carried out and was going to get a down payment to pay the hit man. Zecca faces formal arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow on Jan. 11 beginning at 2 p.m. in the Sidney M. Aronovitz federal courthouse, 301 Simonton St., Key West. Little was known about Zecca before his arrest.

The former commanding officer of U.S. Coast Guard Station Islamorada retired six years ago and was most recently a partner in the ownership group at the Marathon Marina and Boatyard on 11th Street.

The Zeccas purchased a house at the Indigo Reef Resort in Marathon on Aug. 28, 2012. According to the Monroe County Property Appraiser’s Office, the Zeccas paid $650,000. According to Monroe County Clerk of the Court records, the Zeccas received a $400,000 balloon loan from Robert Leef to help finance the purchase. Leef, part of the Marathon Marina ownership group, could not be reached for comment. Less than two years prior, on Jan. 26, 2010, the Zeccas purchased a house on Duck Key for $630,000. It’s reportedly for sale, with Mary Zecca as the listing agent. According to a Wednesday detention order issued by Snow, Dennis Zecca “owns four houses and three vehicles, with a combined mortgage and loan debt of $1.8 million.”

Zecca had been involved in local politics upon his arrival in the Middle Keys. Since May 2010, he and Mary Zecca have donated $5,800 to various campaigns, as well as another $800 from the Marathon Marina. “Everyone thought that was natural because he was looking to have the City Council go along with some of the modifications they were making down there,” Councilman Dick Ramsay said. “That involved turnarounds, road abandonments and buying of the [old Flamingo Inn] to transfer rights in for mobile homes.”

Ramsay said he unexpectedly heard from Mary Zecca the day of her husband’s arrest. “I didn’t know his wife at all. The first time I heard from her was the day he was arrested and she was concerned with where he was and hadn’t heard anything. I don’t think she was up on the situation,” he said. “I always thought [Zecca] was a good guy. He always contributed to things in the community.”

Former Mayor Pete Worthington had similar sentiments. “He was introduced to me as the guy buying the 11th Street marina with some partners,” he said. “They were going to do all this positive stuff. It was a total shock [from] someone who it’s been apparent wanted to make some positive changes in Marathon.”

At Zecca’s Dec. 28 bond hearing — Snow denied him bond — Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Coats said a search of his house (the one in Indigo Reef) turned up a safe containing four handguns, four rifles, two shotguns, “a large quantity of ammunition” and $42,600 in cash, Snow’s detention order says. She wrote “the weight of the evidence against the defendant is substantial.”

[An Idea Whose Time Has Come] When dining everyone has to place their phones in the center of the table face down. Whoever reaches for their phone during the meal pays for the meal. How many time have you gone out with friends only to have your conversation interrupted by your companion’s phones? What’s so important that it can’t wait until after the meal?

How about when, during a discussion, you start to ask questions and the other person wants to look it up on Google instead of using their mind to try to figure it out?

[Paranoia] Sundays post saying there are going to be riots and anarchy because they imagine our government confiscating all our weapons in 2013 is more rabid delusion from gun nuts. No one’s ever mentioned confiscating weapons. The only measures I’ve read or heard about are outlawing assault rifles, certain types of ammunition and extended magazine clips. Not all of us “gun nuts” are as nuts as that poster. Most of us base our decisions on facts not paranoia of extremist web sites.

Step-by-step directions on how to tell if an outside user is on your wireless network. Link

[Phony Fish] When I worked at the Village Cafe as a server, I was told to say the tilapia was either snapper or grouper. 

[Deer’s feet] I regret to say the bent hooves of the little fawn are no longer a problem. The neighbor’s dogs killed it to death.

Geraldo (aka Gerald Riviera) has come out for lots of gun control.  Most likely he will be finished at Fox News.

[Books] I also read Destiny of a Nation about Garfield’s 200 days as President and was surprised that the 1880 presidential election was worse that this past election as far as lies and viciousness abounding. 

[The Cost of Dying] Discovering a better way for our final days. Link 

[“Stop the Fox News take over”] Conservatives think this is a good precedent to set because Murdoch will be spreading their gospel. What would they feel if it were Liberals who were trying to control a region’s thoughts? What would it be like if a rich Liberal decided to control all the major media in one market, spreading their liberal opinions to the exclusion of conservative views? One sided stories are never good.

Deer Ed, maybe I need a hobby. I noticed that the Harlan Trammell logo says Wordworking, instead of Woodworking. Maybe I can be a “wordworker” volunteer for the CT! (Ed: Thamks. I fixd it. Not only don’t I know dates, I can’t even speel.)

For instance a hot button/gunshot listening early warning system could be employed that would warn all the other classrooms so even if a enraged teacher went bonkers on some snot nosed punk kids the other attended classrooms could be secured in their safe rooms (disguised as storage rooms) until the SWAT team arrived.

For athletic fields, entrance and exit by secure entry points only, an outer and a inner perimeter fence with a no-mans land in between protected by electronic sensors. The inner fence can be a solid block wall or covered by layers of Kelvar fabric for smaller fields to prevent someone from simply sticking a gun through the fence an firing into a small crowd. After all they can’t hit what they can’t see.

The US Military does a lot of physical “what if” scenarios to reduce the physical impact of attacks, so should that knowledge be used to protect our most vulnerable citizens from harm.

Removing the guns from the majority of the sane and stable population isn’t the answer, as that would make our country vulnerable to a invasion force and criminals. Securing locations of especially vulnerable types is the answer, since many people are natural born MacGyver’s, they certainly can come up with much more terrifying weapons of mass killing using ordinary, commonly gotten materials. So even if we remove the guns, then we also would have to remove gasoline, lighter fluid, gunpowder, fireworks and a host of other things, crippling our society in the process.

Even if we managed to remove any and everything that can be used in a hostile way to kill a lot of people fast, a nutcase could take a steel pipe, pitchfork, tree branch, base ball bat or sharpen a piece of scrap metal to cut helpless children’s and people’s throats with. After all the 9/11 terrorists were able to hijack planes with simple box cutters.

So the schools must be secured to prevent anyone with anything from just doing whatever they want. It can be done in a fashion that doesn’t look like it’s a prison or have a serious impact on people’s lives and perception of their freedom.

[Reasons George Washington Was Either Lucky or a Wizard] The fact that George Washington didn’t die in battle proves that he couldn’t die in battle, because he really really should have died in battle. Perhaps someone should have tried cutting his head off with a sword, because looking at the facts, the first real president of the United States was a f**king Highlander. He thwarted death, fell into the presidency, and succeeded only by the most fortuitous of flukes.

If a Native American says that someone is magic, that person is magic. Not up for discussion. Link

[“Stop the Fox News take over”] Thanks for the link. I sent the FCC my opinion that the rules should be relaxed. Current mainstream media only has one point of view. 

After downloading the Kindle app to transfer any of my file to my Kindle for reading, I realized I just gave away my private information to Amazon’s computers. Does anyone know if they keep my files and for what reasons? (Ed: Yes. Advertising.)

This picture is from the top of McCauley Mountain, Old Forge, NY, yesterday afternoon. It was 19º.

[No Stinkin’ Badges] On Jan. 1, five plainclothes Belleville Police detectives with badges in full view, who dined at the restaurant were approached by a manager on duty about a customer complaint. Apparently, a diner saw an exposed weapon and notified management. The irony is that even after management confirmed the five were police officers, they were admonished about having a weapon in the restaurant. And while another manager cleared up the confusion and apologized, the officers left the facility behind the embarrassing situation. 

[Murdoch Controlling American Thought] When someone owns the radio, TV and news outlets in an area, that person has the ability to control thought in that region. That is why there is a law prohibiting it.

From draft minutes from October 2012’s Sanctuary Advisory Counsel meeting.

Chair Ken Nedimyer of the Sanctuary Advisory Counsel said a lot of the wrecks in Key Largo and the Keys were primarily sunk for diving, whereas in other places in Florida they were sunk for fishing. He said the Spiegel Grove was sunk with dive dollars, so this may be one of the only places where one of those wrecks could be set aside for that type of study.

FWC had a significant artificial reef program and was the facilitator on a lot of this stuff, Mr. Morton stated, Fishing was the driver.

Joe Weatherby said some of the money was connected to the activities allowed. He agreed the state’s concerns were aligned with fishing, and he did not feel they were interested in no-take prohibitions.

Steve Leopold asked about the funding in the areas we were talking about; he thought in the Keys the wrecks were mostly for diving, and that elsewhere in the state they might be for fishing.

Sean Morton said state resources were invested in artificial reefs, including in FKNMS. The resources came out of FWC and that was an official program they supported.

John Hunt said the source of those funds was saltwater fishing licenses. The Bibb and the Duane preceded the FWC and saltwater fishing licenses; he was president of the Artificial Reef Association, and it was all local. The Association started with the bridge rubble concept, which grew into other issues. He was not sure the source of the funds was that relevant to the question. FWC made comments about moving into the future with artificial reefs, and when FWC staff members met with Mr. Morton to talk about the work plan, they agreed there was a need to come up with a better plan moving forward, including getting more information. A lot of folks liked diving and spearfishing on the artificial reefs, regardless of what the original intent was, but it was still important to know how artificial reefs fit into a broader marine context.

[“Fish feel pain”] So what? Fish are below us in the food chain (at least most of the time). It’s their job to die and sustain us. Come back when you figure out a pain free and economically feasible way of harvesting fish. 

5 insecure ways to secure your wi-fi. Link

Yesterday we showed Iran before and after Allah. Today we show Afghanistan.

[Guns in Schools] I agree most cops are assigned to schools because they are screw-ups to begin with. The only answer that makes sense is to arm the teachers and staff. If there had been a Remington 1100 loaded with 00 buckshot in the principle’s office 20 kids would be alive today. Of course if you think banning guns is the answer look at DC and Chicago to see how well that’s working out.

Mass-Murderers agree that gun control works. Hitler, Castro, Qaddafi, Stalin, Idi Amin, Mao Tse-tung, PolPot, Kim Jung-II, and Obama all supported gun control. 

What locations in Big Pine accept the tokens for drinks we were sent? (Ed: Any location where I am, hic! As of late it’s Springers.)

[Dial M for Murder] Anyone want to bet that the reason Zecca’s wife called Dick Ramsay after her ex-Coast Guard Commander husband was arrested in a cocaine smuggling / Murder for hire plot in Marathon? Could it have any thing to do with the fact both the Zecca’s donated to Rick Ramsay’s sheriff campaign the full amount allowable and also from their business? Maybe it’s because they donated also to Dick Ramsay’s commissioner campaign? Oh wait, maybe it was the fund raiser they threw for Rick. Is anyone now wondering why Dick Ramsay wants a noncommercial port of entry established in Marathon? Is it easier to smuggle cocaine into a no commercial port? Can FBI and DEA investigate this connection? After all you guys left the Monroe County Sheriffs office out of the sting on Zecca for a reason. The residents of the Keys who know, are hoping to see you clean out the rest of the garbage. 

You are 600 times more likely to die from malpractice than by a semi-automatic rifle. 195,000 malpractice deaths a year.

Thank you, thank you to who ever is responsible for emptying the poop barrels at the Bark Park. It was done Friday and what a difference it makes. Thank you so very much.

[Gun Control] I watched the No Guns for Jews video in its entirety. Interesting, but very extremist. I am not Jewish, own registered handguns, & have a CWP. I don’t believe that the 2nd Amendment will ever be repealed; if it ever comes close to a vote. Most gun owners would simply report their guns stolen or lost.  Link

[Captain Doom and Gloom] “violent riots, violent civil unrest and total anarchy over the government disarming its citizens” Nah, you sheep will not fight back to be free, you will just bend over an take it like good little peasants. The days of wine and roses are over and there is nothing you will be able to do when Martial Law is enforced by our loving brothers and sisters in our military. Yes, folks, culling time is here

“deer’s feet” It is called Limp Foot and is only seen on gay deer! They might have Limp Lips too!

“getting too civilized for war” Nah, not getting civilized, getting the MIC to do it without destroying property values and trade routes. It is all marketing and war toy mfg and always has been. The only things that make more profit per unit than cigarettes and matches are bombs and bullets, think about it and about WHO are the MIC owners. There are 24 Happy Hours every day, thank Dog!

If you are planning to drive to Port Everglades do yourself a big favor and Print Out detailed maps from Google Maps first. That area is a mad house of road construction and my GPS map directions are way off.

“Fish Feel Fear and Pain” I told you those lobsters and crabs scream when they hit the boiling water!

[Next Generation Ice Cream] Ice cream shop makes custom ice cream flavors in 55 seconds. Link

The “Acoustic Storm” show on Pirate Radio 101.7fm  Sunday mornings is the best thing going on radio down here, I think.

[“Stop the Fox News takeover”] Bull poop, the reason FOX does well is because folks support it. My goodness, man, don’t you get it. FOX makes bank. As for the Chicago Tribune and the L.A. Times, it’s simple, don’t buy the paper. They will go out of business. If the free market is allowed to work it does very well. Now you just settle down. Everything is going to be just fine. We have Mr. Obama as our President he can fix most anything, can’t he?

What’s wrong with Fox News and why do you want to stop their growth? You must think that everyone on your street is a confused leftest. Not so my friend, there are still common sense Americans around. I wrote to the FCC to promote Murdoch.

I’m willing to bet 90% of people who vote Left haven’t done a day of military service in their life. It was a shock to me, after coming home from being on active duty, to see the incredible mental weakness of most ordinary US citizens.

I honestly believe a term of active duty should be a requirement of all citizens, just so they see the world in reality, that it’s a very hostile place, human life is incredibly cheap, “joy” and “freedom” is not given, it’s earned. They certainly wouldn’t be trying to disarm themselves that’s for sure. 

What’s wrong with Fox News and why do you want to stop their growth? You must think that everyone on your street is a confused leftest. Not so my friend, there are still common sense Americans around. I wrote to the FCC to promote Murdoch.

[Solar Research is Bad] Tonopah Solar Company The Solar thing just got a little more interesting! The Tonopah Solar company in Harry Reid’s Nevada is getting a $737 million loan from Obama’s DOE. The project will produce a 110 megawatt power system and employs 45 permanent workers. That’s costing us just $16 million per job. One of the investment partners in this endeavor is Pacific Corporate Group (PCG). The PCG executive director is Ron Pelosi who is the brother to Nancy’s husband. Every American should know how their money is being stolen.

FROM THE RIGHT

Deer Friends, as you read this somewhere between 48-52% of Americans are pleased with Mr. Obama’s Presidential performance.

Yesterday we were treated with postings from three of them. The first had managed to dredge up a “birther”. Said birther is at best, an odd duck who is exercising her rights in court . That duck does not represent Conservatism or Republican ideals.  The poster tries to paint all Conservatives and Republicans with the “birther” brush. It just ain’t so. However, most certainly the poster believes it to be so because he’s been told it’s so by the Liberal propaganda machine. 

A second poster favored us with a hackneyed joke about puppies. That joke is older than I, and when I first heard it, the Democrat puppies not the Republican puppies, were the dummies. 

A third poster again, claimed that the Iraq and the Afghanistan wars are the handiwork of the Republicans and that therefore the Republicans have no standing in objecting to our current insane debt and spending.  That poster certainly lives so far in left field that neither light nor oxygen penetrates his lair. We must assume that the poster also is happy that our debt is headed to another solar system.  The fact is that both the Iraq and the Afghanistan wars are the product of the Republicans and the Democrats, walking hand in hand in a now failing  effort to conquer terrorism.  Yep, UBL is dead, but Obama is failing miserably in quenching AQI and the firestorm of Muslim fundamentalism that is consuming the mid east.  In only 4 years of Obama’s leadership, our influence in the mid east has nearly been eradicated. 

In each war, Democrat Senators and Congress persons voted overwhelmingly to start the war and then to continue the war. Since the Dems took control of Congress and the White House they have had the absolute power to shut down the wars by simply defunding them. They did not.  Good, bad, or indifferent, both wars are total bipartisan efforts.

Deer Friends, yesterday’s liberal lips told us loud and clear why a slim majority of Americans give Obama favorable grades.  The reason?  We are now devolving into a nation of dumb shits who are more interested in immediate gratification, feeling good, and  with an immense appetite for donkey dung. Our nation is seeing a huge increase in the number of folks who are convinced that, simply because they breathe, they are entitled to sustenance, shelter, clothing, and manifest comfort. 

These folks don’t give a damn where all of that comes from so long as they get what they demand and that it doesn’t cost them.   Their horizon ends at the end of their nose; they have no notion or concept of the future. They live solely for the comfort of now.

H.G. Wells in his 1895 novella, “The Time Machine” wrote of a specie of human, the famed “Eloi”.  In his work, Wells wrote of a time traveler who goes tens of thousands years forward in time.  There, the traveler encounters the Eloi, a society of small, elegant, childlike adults. They live in small communities within large and futuristic yet slowly deteriorating buildings. They do no work; they live on a diet which consists largely of fruit that is provided to them. The Eloi neither reap nor sow, all is provided for them. The traveler’s efforts to communicate with the Eloi are hampered by their lack of curiosity or discipline, and he speculates that they are a peaceful communist society.  The Time Traveler then encounters the “Morlocks”. Morlocks are the rulers the era. They provide all for the Eloi; food, shelter, sustenance, and comfort. The traveler is astounded to learn that the Eloi are food for the Morlocks. Eloi are butchered and consumed as cattle. The Morlocks are ranchers and the Eloi are cattle.  The traveler theorizes that intelligence is the result of and response to danger; with no real challenges facing the Eloi, they have both lost the spirit, intelligence, and physical fitness of Man at its peak.

Sounds fanciful doesn’t it?  But bear in mind that we have a President who routinely lies to the masses, and they believe him. Many choose to believe him even though there is irrefutable evidence that he is a chronic and facile liar. The do so because they want to believe him, because he is the provider. He makes them feel good.

Two examples: August 2008, Obama vilifies Bush as being unpatriotic for increasing our debt. Link 

Today: Obama is certain to increase our national debt twice as much as did Bush. Obama has cast a regal edict that he will unilaterally increase our debt limit. He vows that he will not permit any discussion of  the issue.

June 2008: Candidate Obama swore to us, “I just want to be absolutely clear. All right, so I don’t want any misunderstanding when you all go home, and you are talking to your buddies, and you say: “Ah he wants to take your guns away.” You’ve heard it here. I’m on television so everybody knows it. I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people’s lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won’t take your handgun away.

Today, Team Obama is ginning up for a full court press against private ownership of firearms of all stripes.  Put another way: Obama is again ginning up for a full court press attack on our Constitution. 

The next election is less than two years away.  I urge each and every one who reads these humble postings to seek out Congressional candidates nationwide who reflect your views and beliefs. Then support them with backing and funding. I urge each to shower our Senators Rubio and Nelson with your views. It will work if enough jump in.  I urge you to target CONGRESSMAN-elect JOE GARCIA, Democrat for MonroeCounty with your interests and your views.