[Canals] After hurricane Wilma thousands of propane and small fuel tanks, coolers, refrigerators, cars, furniture and lots of other crap was washed into and sunk into our canals. Some canals just filled up with fill.

A cleanup contract from FEMA was drafted (by Monroe County) and boats were ordered into the canals to start the cleanup and perform some dredging on over 300 miles of canals.

After just three days of pulling junk out of Riviera Canal in Key West the County called off the contracted cleanup.

FEMA had pulled it’s millions in funding as did the SFRDC.ORG. Monroe county couldn’t (wouldn’t) come up with their share of cleanup money–they wanted that money for the Hickory House purchase–so that is why you didn’t get your canal cleaned up for pennies on the dollar. The canal money went to buy the Hickory House.

This is true. I was the cleanup contractor who lost money, big time, gearing up for it and starting work on it. I was told by George Garrett to take my crews and boats and go home. Over 12 Big Piners with families were out of work. George was double-crossed by the County he worked for. Ask him. I was double-crossed too and you citizens were double-crossed.

[Blue Angels Spectacle]  What a fantastic weekend we had at NAS Key West. Thank you all for your coverage of our 2013 Southernmost Air Spectacular Before I head home to die of exhaustion, I wanted you to have our final attendance numbers for the two days of shows.

Saturday: 26,635

Sunday: 10,357

Total: 36,992!  

And just for another interesting tidbit: 7,544 vehicles safely entered and exited the air station over those two days. Whew!

Thank you, Trice Denny Public Affairs Officer Naval Air Station Key West

[Beautifying the Keys] We drove through Islamorada yesterday and saw the hundreds of new plants along the highway. They will surely look beautiful when they grow. My problem is that Islamorada looks like every other ritzy city in Florida. They all look the same. You don’t know if you’re in Sarasota or Key Largo. They all have the same plant layout at the same sections of the roads, the same railings, the same bike paths, the same strip malls with the same stores. Same, same, same.

That’s why I like Big Pine so much and why I left Florida. I’m an individual, I just came that way. It’s nothing I’ve tried to do. It’s not good or bad. That’s why I moved to this Key, it’s original and I like it the way it is. No cookie-cutter anything for me.

I think the people who want to change BPK miss the cookie-cutter security of living with the masses and want us to look just like them where they’ll feel right at home. I feel right at home here.

Did anyone else see the ad for a local dentist using the owner of Marathon Deli and Liquors? “Ralph said he likes the blabla best”

[The Dutch East India Company] Neither Apple nor the oil giant Saudi Aramco can even begin to compare to the inflation-adjusted value of The Dutch East India Company.

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602 when the Netherlands granted them a 21 year monopoly colonizing Asia in return for using their ships to defend Dutch interests. The Dutch did not have a navy.

The company was enormously successful in establishing colonies in Asia and that, combined with the tulip mania which was a bizarre speculative bubble in Northern Europe fueled by a runaway tulip bulb market, led the East India Company to become the most valuable company in the world with a total worth of 78 million Dutch Guilders. Adjust that amount into modern US currency and you’re looking at a company worth 7.4 trillion dollars.

[Cushman Davidson] Iron Head Sportster motor all set up. It Rocks ‘N Rolls and does burn outs. Take the pipes off and drive up and down the street at 3 am and drive everyone crazy that you don’t like. 

Just because you’re offended, doesn’t mean you’re right

Taking the penny sewer tax for other purposes is insulting to the citizens and to businesses. Most people shop the internet to save on sales tax. When the local sales tax was raised 1 cent that hurt business, but it was for a good cause–sewers. Now if the County Administrator gets his way that 1 cent will go to other projects. 

[Disability Checks] Do you think welfare is a big problem? Do you know what is worse than welfare? Disability checks. There are some counties in America that have a quarter of their citizens on disability. Not only is that absurd, but did you know that with every disability check comes free health insurance and other benefits.

Bum knee? Hip doesn’t work? Back pain? No worries. All you have to do is go to a doctor over and over again, you must be persistent, until you wear him down and he signs the paper and then it’s payday! You never have to work again. Your money worries are over. You can now suck the welfare teat for the rest of your life. Once you get on disability you can keep on getting more and more benefits as you learn to work the system. 

Kudos to B.P.K. Radio Shack. Kevin and his staff are always so helpful, and nice. Customer service is excellent.

[Environmentalist Bad] A long time ago, I drove to No Name Key looking for a lot to put a house on. I found one I liked very much. I asked the price and it was $50,000. I didn’t have that much so I saved more money and tried for it again. They then wanted $70,000. I gave it up. Alicia Putney bought that lot and built her house on it.

Several years later Mrs. Putney came out to our neighborhood in Port Pine Heights and demanded that we stop mowing our field by Park Ave. She must have had pull somewhere because the mowing stopped as did the kite flying, golf playing, and parachute landings.

Now on No Name Key the fight for electricity boils down to the not-scared-of-Mrs-Putney vs the scared-of-Mrs-Putney.

It’s interesting to watch and reflect upon the fact that I wish I had the money to have bought that lot long ago. (Don’t worry Ed she knows who I am.) 

[Golf] Why doesn’t somebody deck those louts who scream “in the hole” for their buddies watching back home to hear during the TV golf tournaments?

There is no problem with feral cats in Cambodia, they are on the breakfast menu. Problem solved! Beer Roasted Cat

Anybody who does not want the Old 7 Mile Bridge to be restored should take a walk on it. After you have done that – make your comments.

[Politicians] The poster who said give them over two years in office and they will screw you is partially correct — it’s two hours!

Welcome to 300 BC with air conditioning. 

[Captain Doom and Gloom] The Bureau of Labor Statistics You forgot U7: The majority group who know there is a job for them, but get pissed off because the Welfare and Unemployment Departments will not mail their support checks to their Miami Condos.

Damn, I wish I was a politician with lots of kick-back relatives “in the businesses’.  I could retire before anyone catches me easily.

Who owns the cruise lines? The question is, who controls them?  Le Mob, eh? They control most of the hotel chains and gambling places, so what is the difference besides the wawa? Link 

Woah, woah, woah, FTR! Your rant Sunday about the airport tower closures is rife with bullpucky. First off is this “team Obama” garbage. The House passed the Budget Control Act on August 1, 2011 by a vote of 269–161 with the understanding that the sequester was intended as an ENFORCEMENT tool rather than a true budget proposal. 174 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted for it, while 66 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against it. House Speaker Boehner then announced that he got “98% of what I wanted” in the deal.

As far as your lack of understanding, the reasons for the cuts being done the way they are is because of the Budget Control Act and its specificity. Remember the understanding that the sequester was intended as an enforcement tool rather than a true budget proposal? The Budget Control Act says that these reductions must be made by budget account at the program, project and activity level. This is the smallest division that the annual U.S. Budget normally uses. Thus it makes it very difficult to effect which government programs and activities are being cut.

From a recent article concerning this: “Under the sequester, our flexibility is very limited because we must cut proportionally from all affected accounts. We can’t move money around and we have limited flexibility to choose what it is that we are able to cut,” Huerta said.

“Looking at the budget, there are places you can shift money around and make the tough choices you need to make,” said House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican.(unfortunately Mr. Shuster forgot to actually read the Budget Control Act along with FTR!)

Additionally, since I am involved with the General Aviation (GA) community, and hold a valid pilot’s license, I will call your bantering what it is: hogwash and uneducated/dishonest baloney.

1. Your statement: “Second: Not a single tower that is operated by the feds is impacted.” > Baloney! Read your own ‘Fourth’, Mr slicktongue! Furloughs are being given, Hours are being slashed (mainly at night during off peak transit times)and new hires are being frozen.

2.”There are about 5000 airports in the USA; most of them do not have towers” > Lets get the FACTS straight, shall we?

According to the 2011-2015 National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), released by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there were over 19,700 airports in the U.S. Of these, 5,170 airports are open to the general public with 503 airports offering commercial service. The majority of public airports — 2,829 — are designated as reliever or general aviation airports versus commercial service. Of that, 14,532 are private use airfields.(dirt runways)

3.Your statement: ‘At airports without towers, air traffic functions just fine. Pilots rely on standard radio practice and standard flight paths and procedures to avoid conflicts.’> Yeah! at dirt runways! The towers being closed are NOT dirt runways FTR!

4. Your statement: ‘Each and every one of the towers to be closed is run by a private contractor. If the private contractors are driven out of business, new, unionized controllers can be hired by Team Obama.’> HOGWASH!

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told Congress Feb. 27 there wasn’t a choice on whether to shutter most private towers.* The private tower program is one of the agency’s largest contracts. (*see the BUDGET CONTROL ACT of 2011)

Now, is there a concern here about these sequestration cuts? Yes.

Have you ever actually piloted an aircraft? No.

Do you even have an inkling of how the ATC system operates, especially in airspace not over the top of BPK? I didn’t think so.

How about a 20,000 flight per annum GA field under the class A airspace? I didn’t think so.

I guess you should talk to those 174 Republicans who voted for this. Quit using Obama and his ‘team’ of 174 GOP congressmen as a scapegoat for your lack of actual knowledge.

Try for once to admit that this is a mess of things, made by those just like you and me. It’s just that they live in D.C. Enough of your finger pointing, uneducated diatribes. People tire of old windbags that just whine with nothing positive or constructive to contribute. My contribution today was the education of those reading this that really might want to know the real facts, not the FTR “facts”.

Paul Ryan’s proposed budget cuts. Link

[Free Money] US unblocks $500 million in aid to Palestinians. State Dept announces move on the heels of Obama’s visit to Israel, West Bank; US president asks Abbas to avoid ICC. The US State Department announced on Friday that nearly $500 million in aid had been unblocked for transfer to the Palestinian Authority, months after Congress froze the funds in late 2012.

“To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

And we can’t find a way to balance the budget.

Michele Bachmann considers running against Al Franken. The matchup would pit famous   comedian against nationally respected politician who used to be on SNI.   

FROM THE RIGHT

Team Obama is being very inventive in devising schemes to make Americans terrified by the 2% cut in the rate of growth of government spending required by THE devilish SEQUESTRATION….BOOO.  But, I guess even The Obama has his priorities. Let’s explore one of his priorities.

Please think about terrorism. Please think about the bond that Obama claims to be attempting to establish with our good friends, the Israelis. Please think about the faux sequestration crisis’s that Team Obama is visiting upon the American public. Then, please think about the fact that Team Obama has very quietly slipped about $500,000,000.00 in cold hard cash to the Palestinians. Isn’t that a half a billion? Yep, he did.

He released about $300 million of 2012 money to them, money that had been embargoed by Congress.  Then he upped the ante by dropping an additional $200 million of 2013 money that had also had been embargoed. Now, Team Obama is back to the tax dollar well. He is in progress of trying to send yet another bucket of about $200 million to Palestine.

While kicking that around in your head, add the fact that Hamas, the rulers of Palestine are the sworn enemies of the USA. They are whale donors to any Muslim fundamentalist AQI clone that is engaging in Jihad against any nation that is not Muslim controlled.   I think I forgot to mention that Palestine was the launch pad for missiles that rained down on Israel while Mr. Obama was visiting there.  It’s enough to give all of us a huge headache. Link

Part 2) Kudos and a tip of the FTR fedora to the poster who favored us with a photo that depicted a donkey pulling the gutted cab of a wrecked truck fitted with wheels and converted to a cart. The photo was shown as the Presidential limo under Ryan’s budget.  That pic perfectly captured the mess that we’ve had to endure under Democrat governance.  Think about it. A Democrat donkey pulling a wreck.

The pic was nearly a perfect metaphor. The FY 2007 budget was the last budget passed by the Republican Congress and signed by a Republican President. For the 3 previous years our deficit had been declining. By 2007 our deficit was reduced to only $161 million. That’s slightly less than  what it was in 1995 during the Clinton era.

After ’07 the Democrats seized control of our spending and ran the government.  They  went crazy. Today, only 6 years later, with the Democrats in control, our deficit is $1,327 trillion. Our Democrat government has ballooned our deficit by nearly 10 fold. Shameful. Soon all of us will be commuting in wrecks pulled by donkeys. To our liberal friends, that mode of transportation is to be desired, it’s eco friendly.

Part 3)  It appears that there may well be a few Senate Democrats who are still capable of genuine thought.  The proposed ban on hunting rifles that look like military assault rifles appears to dead, a stake driven through its heart by a bipartisan Senate majority.

There are more questions than whether electricity will be allowed on NNK. Another would be is how long before the noisy smoky generators will be allowed. Remember gas weed whackers, gas lawn mowers and other gasoline powered tools are banned in LA. Why not in Florida.

Maybe there will be a carbon tax. 20″ under water in 2010 Gore is now pushing for it. I wonder how much Al Gore’s running his mouth have to do with the property value decline in the Keys?