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2019 December

Tuesday, December 31, 2019 — New Year’s Eve

Letters to the editor with pictures since 2002. Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.

[Killing Coral With Fertilizer] Thirty years of unique data reveal what’s really killing coral reefs. Study is world’s longest record of reactive nutrients, algae concentrations for coral reefs. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University gathered data from 1984 to 2014 and collected seawater samples during wet and dry seasons.

Coral bleaching is not just due to a warming planet, but also a planet that is simultaneously being enriched with reactive nitrogen from sources like improperly treated sewage, and fertilizers. Nitrogen loading from the Florida Keys and greater Everglades ecosystem caused by humans is the primary driver of coral reef degradation in Looe Key. These coral reefs were dying off long before they were impacted by rising water temperatures. Elevated nitrogen levels cause phosphorus starvation in corals, reducing their temperature threshold for bleaching.

Data revealed that living coral cover at Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area declined from nearly 33 percent in 1984 to less than 6 percent in 2008. The annual rate of coral loss varied during the study but increased from 1985 to 1987 and 1996 to 1999 following periods of heavy rainfall and increased water deliveries from the Everglades. Between 1991 to 1995, significant increases in Everglades runoff and heavy rainfall resulted in increases of reactive nitrogen and phytoplankton levels at Looe Key above levels known to stress and cause die-off of coral reefs.  Despite reduced Everglades flows, the water quality has not yet recovered to the levels of the 1980s. Link

[“Y2K 12/31/99”] Yes, I remember. I saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden and N.Y. city was a ghost town. Upon checking into the hotel we were given flashlights, emergency instructions and a wrist band to prove we were staying at that hotel. Times Square was cordoned off by concrete barriers as well as huge dump trucks blocking the road. We all thought that Bin Laden was going to drop biologicals onto the crowd. It was a very scary time, but I still had a great time. New Yorkers were fearless then, but then 9/11/2001 happened and everything changed.
We’ve entered the post-truth age

 

[Manatee] There was a very large manatee in our canal Sunday. I was told NOT to give it fresh water from our garden hose, but why not? I have seen them drink gallons from hoses over the years without harm. Can someone elaborate on this?

[Bottled Water] People who only drink bottled water ingest 90,000 microplastic particles per year. For someone in Lendra Brown’s shoes, who primarily drinks bottled water, the intake of microplastics jumps to 90,000 particles annually. Compare that to 4,000 microplastics annually for those who drink only tap water. Link

 

[All You Need is Love] It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love, or how you love. It matters only that you love.  ~John Lennon
Love someone in 2020. Happy New Years, Deer Ed

[“Tavernier fight where a machete (Cubans) was likely used”]  Where are you from you racist phuck? What cracker barrel northern city did you move to the Keys from? (OH, IN, IL, MI, WI would be my guess) Those two young men are now identified as “Latino” (legal or illegal) and you can rest assured machetes are used by MS13 gang members, a cancer spreading from Central and South America and crossing our southern border as fast as the northern cancer is moving to Florida. MCSO lists the criminals home address as Homestead, meaning they traveled to Tavernier (South Homestead) from the mainland. Probably to pay a debt to another gang member. The best thing that could happen is MCSO would call ICE and deport them, but in the Keys there’s an old slogan “One Human Family”. You must have mistaken it to say no human in your family. Singa te’ pendejo. Tu esposa y su hijas estan perras en la calle! Sign me “Blessed To Be Florida Born, Bi-Lingual By Education And Wishing The North Will Leave The South Soon”

 

 

[Y2K] Turn off your computers and don’t fly in planed at midnight because the Y2K error will ruin everything.

[English Exclamations] In the 1950s it was Gee! In the 1960s it was Boy! In the 1970s it was Man. In the 80s it was Like. In the 90’s it was actually. And in the 2000s it is Wow

 

 

[Pythons] Researchers believe that pythons have swum across the open saltwater of Florida Bay from the Everglades to islands in the Florida Keys. Video

AARP’s activity calendar for January is here. Full Menu > Ongoing Events

 

 

Google is Big Brother! Link

The snowbirds are flocking in mass. I like some of them as individuals (except the ones from New Jersey) but really dislike them as a group. They make a trip to the Winn Dixie a life-threatening event, both in the store and parking lot. And don’t get me going on their boating skills.
Tell me who/whom the “greedy bastards” are? Is it all those who have more than you?

 

 

Progress.

Divided States Of America or the United States of America, Inc. Please bring back the plain ol’ United States of America. Thank you.
[Taxpayers Expense] I suppose everyone received or will soon receive a very heavy-stock, glossy, colored, self-promoting fold-out mailing from Congressional Representative Debbie Muscarsel-Powell sent as a “Public Document, Official Business” free mailing with the note that “This mailing was prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense.” That’s your tax dollars at work, folks, as prioritized by our elected Representative. Remember how your tax money was spent come election time.
The purpose of a political campaign is to get money from the rich, votes from the poor, and promise to protect each from the other.

 

[Doris Day] Different films resonate with viewers for different reasons, but the common thread seems to be that my films are uplifting.  ~Doris Day

Rotary meets on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month at noon at the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce building. Contact the Big Pine Athletic Association for more information. Our phone is 305-304-5424. Full Menu > Ongoing Events
[Cloudy Water] Tons and tons of fertilizer is flushed through the Everglades down to the sea every year. This has been going on for the last 50 years and that’s what’s killing the reef and making our waters cloudy.

 

[Stuff] When you get to a certain age you realize all the stuff you collected is useless and will be tossed into the trash after they recycle you. The only beneficiaries will be the retailers you gave your money to. If you think this is wrong, try to sell your stuff for what it’s worth. Good luck.

Florida python hunter, Mike Kimmel, bags 3 pythons with 1 bag. Video
[Dying Reef Video] Here is a 2-1/2 minute video of Looe Key reef from 1980 to 2019. It’s no surprise that dive shops are closing. The TDC is showing promotional videos of the reef that mostly show footage from decades ago. I can tell by the vintage of the scuba regulators used by the divers in their new gear; and by the radical difference in water clarity.
I was talking with Dr. Brian Lapointe recently about the research he released this year showing that sea temperature rise is not responsible for coral decline, but the nitrogen load on the reef is; especially without balance by phosphorus. His data was drawn from a 30-year period at Looe Key. Big coral bleaching events always coincided with nutrient rich water discharges from Lake Okeechobee which is the drain for development pollution all the way to Orlando. He just returned from visiting the Pacific island reefs that have much higher sea temperatures but very healthy coral reefs. Video
[“Deer still need our protections”] Thank you very much to the Barometer for their opinion published in December 27’s paper: “Deer still need our protections”. It was spot-on, eloquent and honest. Bravo!  ~Valerie Preziosi ,President,  Save Our Key Deer, Inc

 

 

Google Glass is the future device as cellphones are slowly replaced by this futuristic technology. They were an idea that was released before it’s time. They will be popular decades from now when we no longer have an expectation of privacy. Link

Sleepy Labeef – Tore Up

 

Have you noticed how skinny the pelicans that bothered to stay here are? The problem appears to be the absence of bait fish. A friend who is a bait fisherman says, “No majua, no pilchards!” The pelicans are lamenting the same. I even saw two pelicans digging for clams on a sandbar the other day. Sad.

[Jealous of Fame] I look at the Bing Famous People Birthdays and am amazed that those that make the list are the useless eaters of society. From Generals, porn stars, actors, musicians, writers, politicians, criminals, religious cons, and anyone that produces nothing of real value for this rock. I have never seen a highly regarded farmer, production worker, well driller, carpenter, or anyone else that works for a living on this web page. Something is wrong with this picture.

 

 

 

 

[Hardest 3 Things to Say] I was wrong. I need help. Worcestershire sauce.

[Crooks] I wonder how many KW and Monroe County officers have a criminal record. I wish someone would take the time to investigate/search and publish the public records.