[Millions in BP Money] While the centralized sewer is incomplete and still unfunded there should only be one place where the Restore Act funds should be utilized.  That is a very easy decision and the right one!

[Sewers] I understand that Monroe County residents are under a non-funded mandate to get sewers. I understand that the rationale for the mandate is to maintain the quality of our near shore water.  What I don’t understand is how the grinder pump that I am getting is better than my fully functional Advanced Wastewater Treatment system.

My current system costs less, treats my wastewater to the same standard as the future sewage plant and will still work in the likely event of a short, or long term power loss. In addition, the effluent (outflow) from the future sewage plant will be concentrated in a small area. How is this good for water quality?

Pay more, get less and still degrade the nearshore water quality. (Insert head smack and eye roll here.)

We took a trip over to Little Cayman Island for a week of diving and stayed in a lovely ocean front room, all inclusive but very expensive.  Why would people brag about how many times they’ve been over there?  It’s a big world to dive and these group sheeple return to the same cattle boat because…?  We petted a bunch of groupers and filmed our dive master feeding a speared lionfish to one.  

After going over the fiscal cliff it was awesome to hit the wall. Since there is no SCUBA dive rehab, I figured all that diving would help me move on to something else, but I’m still addicted and continue to fill our passports before we get much older and fatter.  This is a very hard habit to break and the industry really needs to hook the younger generation, who after paying off their college loans and working shitty jobs may not be able to enjoy the final years of seeing living coral reefs and fishies which are currently being fished to extinction.  

Lionfish are very tasty and if the over-fishermen could please over-fish them varmints we may be able to see more queen angel fish underwater. Because I don’t see many anymore.  The Caymans are actively hunting the lionfish and we did not see very many because they go spearing every Wednesday.

[Complaining About the Weather] How come the weather is always so crappy? We’ve only had one or two pretty days an a couple of months. When the weather is lousy so is my mood.

[Grinder pumps] Yes they are that bad, but sitting at the computer posting complaints will not solve the problem.  Get off the keyboard, go out and get activated. Start citizen objection campaigns. Make your collective organized solidified presence known to FKAA and BOCC. Lobby the BOCC commissioners individually, to first educate them so they understand the science,  then to agree to tell the FKAA how to revise their plans.

Right now,  BOCC is taking a completely hands off attitude, leaving it all to FKAA.  Yes, the BOCC has sublet their responsibility along with the sewer contract.  

All of you with your lives about to be forever altered need to stand up and get moving to make this grinder pump takeover stop. 

[Recycling Solution] Recycling, the perfect hobby for convicts!

[Flood Insurance Protests mount over rate hikes] Just a year after Congress imposed significant changes in the government’s oft-criticized flood insurance program, howls of protest from homeowners facing higher premiums have coastal lawmakers pressing for delays.

At stake, losing below-cost rates for hundreds of thousands of people in flood-risk areas, including the Florida Keys. Link

[My Body, My Problem-Not yours] I heard a pitiful exchange in the Texas House where one Rep asked what happens if a woman is pregnant, by whatever circumstance, and doesn’t want it. The other Rep said, Well she should’ve taken precautions.

That’s their answer to unwanted pregnancies.

[Zealots] Chapter I: Around 1928 the French went into Algeria and took everything they wanted. They merely had the courts they installed write deeds. With these deeds they evicted Arabs families who’d lived there for generations. The Arabs had to leave their homes, sometimes with just three days’ notice.  They had no deeds–no kinds of papers at all. Just dirt and a goat or two. That’s how the Colonial French were ‘legally’ able to take their homes by writing their own deeds. By 1930 France had completely ruled Algeria and the north coast of Africa as a colony for their exploitation. The Arab residents tried to expel them in 1954, but the French secret police brutalized the Arabs. Killing them indiscriminately to create fear and thus quell the revolt. It didn’t work. The French were defeated by 1962.

Chapter II: The French Sureto, like the German SS, the American CIA, and Russian NKVD, are zealots who brutalize and kill thinking they are protecting their countries. These are the scariest people on the planet because they kill when their bosses tell them to. Or they’re told to go into the streets and start riots against their own, so their bosses can ‘justifiably’ send in the troops to kill the citizens in mass and quell a revolt that way.

Chapter III: Brutal, elite government police only work for so long. They are the scary people, without guilt, who can kill in cold blood in the name of their version of patriotism. People like G. Gordon Liddy will do anything in the name of patriotism, never thinking about the consequences or the irony that their patriotism is for a country that protects the weak and innocent and is steeped in truth and justice and the rule of law. If a government needs a secret cold-blooded force like those to stay in power, that government is doomed and should be changed. Repression always benefits those seeking freedom.

Don’t ever let go of your guns.

[“Recycling. 1 The only way recycling will be feasible is if we place all our garbage in bags and place the recyclables in the same container, and let the garbage men sort it at the dump.  2) I don’t recycle and this is the only way I’d bother.  3) That simple solution will save us millions a year and will get almost 100% stuff recycled.  4) Why have two separate trucks and crews pick up stuff at your home?. Put it all in one can (garbage in a bag) and sort it at the dump.  5)I’ve never studied the problem and came up with this simple solution in five minutes. Imagine how much better it could be if someone who knew the business gave it some thought.”]

1) Easier for the originator, but more expensive way to get to the final objective.  2) You are part of the problem.  3) That is not the simple solution.  Many communities with successful recycling have learned through actual experience that sorting at the curb is the cheapest (not the easiest on the originators – just the least expensive for the taxpayers).  Where’s your backup for your “million” claim?   4) Even 2 separate trucks is still cheaper than sorting at the plants and landfills. 5)Thanks for that admission. We never would have known. Call Waste Management sometime and ask them how much they make now (with curbside sorting) – net – for a ton of recycling.  Then ask them their net if they had to sort themselves.

Take a minute to please answer this question: Do you pay property taxes? If yes, would you recycle at your curb if that kept your property taxes lower than recycling at the landfill? 

[Grinder Pumps No One Wants] Why can’t we all ban together about the grinder pumps and say no! Last I heard this was America and we had freedom. Our electric service is a very touchy system and goes out frequently. If a hurricane comes and we do not have power for days then what? The information I am reading seems to indicate grinder pumps are not good for our situation.

If the sewer backs up and ruins our houses and contents wouldn’t that be grounds for suing the FKAA for making us have the grinder pumps when we all oppose? I think we should get a group together before it is too late. All we need is a leader.

[Restaurant Review] A&B Lobster House at the harbor in Key West. It’s great if you like butter and heavy cream and you got new batteries in your pacemaker. Other than the artery clogging food they wouldn’t know what to serve.

The beautiful wide, wooden shutters with their dark finish, are on the many interior windows of the room making for an invitingly beautiful interior. Except the shuttered windows are too high to see anywhere other than up when you try to look out the windows. They’re placed too high. Whose idea was that? You can only see the marina and cool boats when you’re standing. I guess that’d be okay during Passover, but this was a Tuesday night. ~ppthree7@aol.com

[Crooks] Key West to get one day a week trash pickup instead of two, but the collection fee will remain the same even though Waste Management’s costs will likely be halved.

[It’s the 50′s again: Black Man Acquitted of Murder; Powerful & Influential Outraged] George Zimmerman is blacker than Homer Plessy. For those of you who are not schooled in American History Homer Plessy subject of the famous Supreme Court Case Plessy v Ferguson that established the doctrine of “Separate but equal” until Brown vs Board of Education overturned it.

As Ann Althouse and Michael Barone pointed out George Zimmerman is 1/4 Black (via his grandmother)

The Irony is overwhelming, it’s the 50′s all over again!  Consider: A 1/4 black man has been acquitted of murder and we are seeing a  group of powerful and influential people determined to make him pay. A 1/4 Black man has been acquitted of murder and we are seeing a mob of people willing to publicly threaten to kill him for it.

I guess they were right, Jim Crow is back after all

The Marathon Journal had the pleasure of interviewing Florida Monroe County Mayor George Neugent at Leigh Ann’s Coffeehouse.

Among his most important issues is the environment because it is our economy. We need to manage our natural resources and sustain our water quality. He is an oilman big on the environment. He lived on the hook 28 years ago. His sailboat was moored in Boot Key Harbor. He had been on the hook in New Orleans waters near the Houma people. George told me to look up Houma. The Houma people are a Native American tribe. The United Houma Nation is a state recognized tribe in Louisiana. They number approximately 17,000 tribal citizens residing within a six-parish (county) service area, which encompasses 4,750 square miles. The six parishes are the following:St. Mary, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard parishes. The city of Houma, west of the mouth of the Mississippi River, was named for them.

What’s being Mayor like? He is on his eighth month this stint. This is his 3rd tour. Every commissioner should be mayor once. Primary job is to run meetings and represent the county at public functions. He said that the job was mostly ceremonial. I still maintain that given the support of two others, the job of Mayor can be quite powerful.

The current commission has worked hard to improve itself with the public and business people. How is the County Commission’s relationship to its cities? The Mayor feels that the interrelationships with the cities are good overall. There was an early history of acrimony with Marathon, but that has long past.

Is economy turning around? Sales tax revenue and the like are increasing indications that the economy is heating up. Still, the economy is fragile due to things like hurricanes, lesser windstorms, and insurance woes. Wind and flood insurance are kind of like four letter words. Another indicator is the garbage rate is up. Yes, that is an indicator. That makes me laugh though.

What more can the county do to improve the local economy? He answered that capital projects like Higgs Beach, wastewater and stormwater projects, and projects like that generate jobs and keeps small government staff employed. Employed public sector workers put dollars into the economy.

Last thoughts: Neugent seemed interested in 3 on 3 basketball playoffs as part of the MLK celebration in January. The playoffs could be centered on Jesse Hobbs Park with the use of the Community Park across the road to handle lesser playoff games before the big ones go to Jesse Hobbs Park. Pretty soon the community will celebrate the long awaited new unisex restroom

~Upcoming Journal interview will be with Cash Flow owner. The interview will be the Journal Week in Review July 15th edition. Here is some background ahead of the interview. Link

~Here are some observations after reading some great stories in the Keynoter. This dust up over Halioua’s Lu Lu’s and Lucignano’s Plaza Grill is more amusing than alarming. Is there some great conspiracy? Really now, no. The players involved are not that motivated or savvy to pull off a conspiracy. In the interest of the local economy, the greatest need is for new businesses to be fully successful. That means the free use of liquor licenses, allowing the old Overseas Lounge and Mermaid Club back in business, and expediting the building of a city hall complex. The current Council is not motivated to address all the above.

~The fact that there appears to be conflicts on the Marathon Planning Commission concerning Commissioner Lucignano, former Commissioner Halioua, and city administration has gone on long enough. I feel alarmed that the upcoming city election could go unopposed. I just might spend my own money to contest these two seats. Considering the above two items, it is time for a different degree of guardianship. ~Publisher@MarathonJournal.US 

[Grinder Pumps] The grinder tank will hold maybe 24 to 36 hours of daily household flow. That gives us up to 36 hours to call and get the system going if there is a failure.
-How many hours of storage does a grinder station have after storm surge inundation?
-If my power is off for seven days like after Hurricane Georges, do I just use a bucket, or jump in the canal and pass some blind mullet?
-What portable generator starting wattage do I need to run the grinder. How will I connect portable power to the grinder?
-Do I need to buy a new generator and have a transfer switch installed.

[Niles Channel Pipe] Does anyone believe that the plan to run the sewer pipe under Niles Channel will: cost only 3 million, be completed in six weeks, be accomplished without widespread damage to surrounding waters and work for any period of time before it springs multiple, undetected leaks that will further “improve” the quality of our near shore waters (sarcasm font)?

No photos of the Under Water Music Festival? Maybe everyone was too busy looking for the band (on the north side of the reef) or because of the chop “feeding the fish” over the side of the boat.

What’s so good about America other than freedom of speech? We’re just as bad as any other country, no better. We’ve been brainwashed.  Freedom of speech is the only thing that truly makes us great. I used to think it was that we were a country of law, but since the Supremes ruled that corporations have the same rights as people that has all changed. 

The heron chicks continue to grow. A few more days and they will be perching

Zimmerman is cleared and his attorney says Zimmerman’s safety is now a concern. Video

[Sewers] What’s best for everybody – all the homeowners (aka victims of this county run debacle) is for the county’s electeds and staff to do their due diligence to protect the county homeowners from any future financial devastation.  $4500 up front is meaningless compared to a forever of maintenance and electrical financial burdens.

I live in Key Largo, so am suffering at the hands of Key Largo Wastewater. But at least here,  we have the opportunity to vote out the people running the thing (the KLWTD Board). To some extent, that makes the KLWTD Board accountable to their customers,  because their customers are also voters.

Unfortunately, Cudjoe system users will never have the ability to affect any changes.  The BOCC subjugating to FKAA is the cast die. And the added insult is that somebody on some payroll somewhere thinks they are entitled to “preach” to Cudjoe users,  that the users should be grateful.  To say something as imperial as “It’s Economics 101” – how rude !

[The Garbage Racket] It is quite obvious when ‘systems’ like these suddenly pop up all around the country, there is something more a-foot than simple local governments being involved. It happened years ago with Trash Pick-up and Garbage Collection. Home owners had to sign up and pay up, but all the “facilities” companies just happened to be owned by ‘dos guyz’, capuche? I really think this is the same scam.

[Recycling] Here we are in the year 2013 and people still believe it is not their obligation to have their own recycling method.  Thirty-five years ago recycling was mandated in New York State.  Your household trash was put in a clear garbage bag.  Recyclables were sorted and separated in a number of bins.  If there was any recyclables seen in the garbage bag, the solution was very simple, the garbage was tagged as not separated and left for the homeowner to correct the problem of his garbage not being separated.

[White Crowned Pigeons are back. It looks like this guy is wearing a white hood. I sure hope that some vigilante doesn’t decide to take him out.

Try recycling for one year. Look at the amount in your recycle bin and decide if you are willing to leave this — to live forever — in the trash hill.

[Zimmerman] The bad news is Florida is involved in another questionable legal decision, but the good news is George W. Bush will not become president as a result.

[“Nobody has a right to tell a woman what to do with her body”] Very reasonable, but what if there are two ‘women’ involved? Why does one get preference over the other? The first woman, the mother, didn’t practice birth control and got pregnant. Why should the second ‘woman’, the child, be penalized (murdered)?

Please don’t give me the excuse that the fetus is just a mass of cells. From conception the mass of cells is human. Just count the chromosomes. If if wasn’t so then Maury Povich would be out of business when she hollers, “He is not the father!”

Mass of cells is just another way of thinking so one can live with ones’ self when committing infanticide.

[Irony: Stolen Peace Bell] Thanks Deer Ed, We appreciate the help in getting the word out about the missing Peace Bell from the Community Peace Park at West Martello Tower/ Key West Garden Club/ Keys To Peace. May the karma be with you! Namaste.  If anyone sees it, please contact: ddmermaid22@bellsouth.net

That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.  -Aldo Leopold

[Zimmerman] Justice in America for $300,000 in bail and legal fees. Now Jesse Jackson and other Blacks are asking for the Justice Dept to prosecute Zimmerman for depriving the 17 year old of his civil rights. Zimmerman will never be able to go in any store and buy Skittles and a fruit drink. His life, as he knew it, is over even with the acquittal!

Compose your own music on the run. Try all the instruments.It’s fun. Link

[Gun Nuts] I don’t consider myself as a gun nut because I carry a gun, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Emergency Pooping]  In earthquake prone areas, it is recommended by officials that people have a supply of those heavy duty black plastic bags. They don’t tell you where to put them when, you know, they are full. Here we can just take them to the nearest dock and pump out station assuming they have back-up power). It’s not the answer, but what else can we do if we are required to have grinder pumps? 

What makes you so tasty to mosquitoes? Link 

[Waiting to Marry] For those women who plan on waiting to date or get married until their late 20s or early 30s, watch this. The difference between dating At 29 and 31 Video

That crocodile picture Sunday is proof that people are the same the world over.   It was obviously composed the same way fishermen do when they hold the fish out towards the camera to make appear bigger.  The distance they hold it out is inversely proportional to the IQ of the fishermen.

[My Body, My Problem-Not Yours] My money, my problem and I don’t want you using it to abort late term pregnancies. Texas law stops you from aborting past 20 weeks. It also makes it mandatory to use a hospital and not some quack’s office. Your body, that’s funny. Why don’t you show some respect for it. This photo is a 20 week old fetus — a baby.

[Zimmerman] What the heck has our country become when we have to beg a group of people not to riot if a court decision doesn’t come out like they want it to — even though it pertains to people they don’t even know.

I really liked the grinder pump/chum grinder idea. May I suggest adding a mixing valve to the tee connector. That way you could add your own personal touch to the chum. The blend would depend on what your household had for dinner the previous night. Imagine the possibilities for marketing this stuff: Grind House Chum with a hint of Mexican, or Grind House Chipotle Chum, or Chock full of Nuts Chum. And if the yellowtail went crazy over a certain blend, all the better for the homeowner. The only downside is that FKAA would want their share of the profits.

[“When will we drop this sick preoccupation with race”] Your little blurb stank of racism. Look in the mirror then answer your question mate, it starts with you.

Ocean life series looks at coastal storm impacts. The impact of storms on coastal areas, particularly beach erosion and sea level rise, will be the topic Friday, July 19, at the Ocean Life Series being held at the Murrary E. Nelson Government and Cultural Center in Key Largo. Florida International University’s Stephen Leatherman will discuss the impacts on coastlines from 6-8 p.m. His talk will include policy issues that underlie protecting vulnerable coastal areas, federal responses and insights gleaned from scientists studying the issue up close. For more information: Bulletin Board

[Zimmerman] To the folks who want to blame the President for what happened to Trayvon Martin and are upset because the issue became racial: Okay let’s leave race out of it.  That means that your son or daughter, going around in the rain wearing his or her hoodie, in the dark, could have been a victim in Zimmerman’s world, because he or she looked like possible criminals.  The bottom line is that Zimmerman ignored the instructions that the police dispatcher gave him.  Instead of staying in his car he decided to go and engage Martin, who responded by defending himself.  Ignoring police instructions made Zimmerman guilty no matter how white, Hispanic or black the kid was or how much marijuana the kid had in his system.

The prosecution presented a crappy case because they gave in to the  pressure from the powerful members of their community, who did not want Zimmerman convicted in their county.  And please don’t deny that your kids have hoodies or that they would not be out in the rain at night.

[The Cost Of Amnesty] Explosive new expose on terror and border security. Video

Why did you put a coat hanger for the picture on the Texas Abortion bill post? You must be one of those religious nuts who think women have no right to do what they want with their own bodies. It should be that woman can also get sterilized when they want to for free to. Keep your nose out of our business.

Who to send your praise or complaints to:

Mayor George Nugent; (305) 872-1678; boccdis2@monroecounty-fl.gov
Mayor Pro Tem Heather Carruthers; (305) 292-3430; boccdis3@monroecounty-fl.gov
Commissioner Danny Kolhage; Phone: (305) 292-3440; boccdis1@monroecounty-fl.gov
Commissioner David Rice; (305) 289-6000; boccdis4@monroecounty-fl.gov
Commissioner Sylvia Murphy; (305) 453-8787; boccdis5@monroecounty-fl.gov

FTR’s Sunday post surprised the heck out of me. I thought he’d be the first to defend the White man.

I never thought the day would come when I could get all the way through an FTR post but I have to applaud Sunday’s

Obama, a flat-earther on Keystone XL, denies detailed 8-volume report from his own State Dept. Obama himself is a flat-earther. How else would you describe someone who ceremoniously overlooks three years’ worth of scientific study watched over by a goodly portion of the federal government and summed up in eight volumes of precise, explicit, verifiable detail?

A: Its a cult! Link

FTR, a dare! After reading your piece on the Martin/Zimmerman fiasco I dare you to admit that your rhetoric is just as culpable and responsible for this travesty as that from the Left. I really don’t think you will admit that, but I will.

A lot of us just respond with a languid Ho-hum when we hear about our current government’s ever growing appetite for snooping on us. We shouldn’t. We have just learned that Team Obama’s Homeland Security is now bugging the city buses in many of our cities at the cost of tens of millions of dollars. Yep, even while our vets are suffering for lack of care because Obama chose to cut back on vet services, we are spending millions to eavesdrop on the conversations of bus riders. San Francisco is the recipient of one of the grants. The grant will wire 357 buses at a cost of about $16k per bus.  The equipment will capture individual passenger’s conversations, record them, and analyze them. Please think about the fact that the microphones will not simply monitor the behavior of the driver, they will capture and record the personal conversations of people on the bus..

Deer Friends, will taxis be next, or will your new car be next? As you read this, it’s possible that the car that you drive is equipped with a device that can track your every move. GM brags about their capability. Not too many of us ride busses, so not too many of us will really care. But please recognize and think about the fact that the government has now decided to capture your private conversations in public places.

Add that to the fact that the federal government has declared that that it has the right to “search, seize, and read your communications” without warrant. Deer Friends, there is big trouble in River City.

Orwell wrote 1984 in the mid 40’s, his predictions are coming true today.  Do yourself a huge favor and read 1984. Link

Part 2) The adjective “shameful” just doesn’t adequately comment on the hateful and un American acts of some of our politicos. These atrocious people are seizing on the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman to court votes. One of the most egregious and hypocritical comments came from Harry Reid. He joined the chorus of those who are demanding that Zimmerman again defend himself against the might and resources of the government. This time the federal government. Reid and the chorus are demanding a Justice Department investigation to determine if Zimmerman violated Martin’s civil rights. If such an investigation is begun, and given the nature of our Attorney General and our President, it likely will, Zimmerman, who was trying to save his own life, will first be pilloried by our ravenous leftist major media, and then burned at the stake by AG Holder. I fear for him.  Even more I fear for our society when the government in power engages in such egregious behavior.