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2018 March

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

The-Coconut-Telegraph-w-CoconutsLetters to the editor with pictures since 0202. Published on Big Pine’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.​​

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[FTR on Violence] Blame the NRA for mass casualty homicide?  Suggest that all NRA members are culpable in these tragedies?  Utter nonsense.  The blame for any homicide cloaks the murderer and the murderer alone.  It nearly always is an act of free will.

The goal is to kill, the means to that end can be anything.  In fact the FBI records 7 different modalities of homicide.  Rifles, all rifles, including the AR and AK pattern rifles are the tool used in but a fraction of homicides by handguns.  Hands and feet edged instruments, blunt objects are each used far more times in the taking of life than are rifles, especially AR’s and AK’ which are only rarely used.

America’s two most horrific mass casualty murders were accomplished with box cutters and airliners as the tools of death.  The second most horrific was accomplished with fertilizer and diesel fuel.  In fact, America’s worst school massacre occurred in 1927 in Bath Michigan. 44 kids and teachers were slaughtered, 58 more wounded.  Assault rifles were not even invented yet.  The weapon used was dynamite.

The anti Second Amendment crowd would have you believe that the AR and AK assault rifle lookalike sporting rifles are some sort of super weapon.  They are not.  They are at the very bottom of the lethality scale of semi-auto sporting rifles.  They were developed because the weapons of the day were extremely heavy and the ammo was extremely heavy.  Both the AR and the AK are lightweight and their ammo is light.  But they are ugly and look menacing, therefore some want them banned. I suspect that that view is ruled by emotion, not reality.

The fact is that the FBI includes them with all other rifles in their homicide stats reporting.  CNN is the darling of the left, and a furious propagandist for the Anti Second Amendment movement, I suggest that you read the appended article which declares that the AR pattern .223 round is insufficiently lethal for combat. Link

If the goal is to reduce the number of homicides, we should ban knives and all cutting instruments, because there were more than 4 times more murders with edged instruments than there were with rifles.  Those are not my numbers, they come from the FBI’s UCR of 2016.   When the FBI records rifles, it counts all rifles, everything from .22 single shot to the big guns.  You can be rock solid certain that if the FBI considered the AR or AK pattern rifles to be a serious threat to public safety, they would be keeping special statistics on them, but they are not.  You might want to think about the fact that there were more killings with rifles in 2011 than thee were in 2016.

Perhaps we should ban narcotics. They kills far more people each year than guns, and wreaks havoc on our society.  Perhaps we should ban movies, TV show, games that glorify violence and gore.  Perhaps we should ban Sly Stallone and all of that genre. Perhaps we should ban obesity, it’s responsible for 18% of all deaths in America.  If you folks on the left really want to feel good, set about banning Coca Cola, beer, booze, fried foods, cakes, bread, and on and on and on.  You’d be saving a lot more lives.

Isaksen-2.2016
[Security] Writing checks to strangers may open you up to check kiting. A banker friend warned me to never write a check to someone I did not know. My second bank account has under $1,000 to pay home repairs and the address on the check is the old address no longer connected to the account or the home address. If a bad contractor attempts check kiting – my account does not have a whole bunch of cash plus they need my up-to-date zip code and the one on the check is old.

Another vulnerability people ignore and makes them sitting ducks is not having a locking mailbox. And people mailing checks from their mailbox with the flag up! Many postal workers are awful, mail gets misplaced and they are lazy and mean-spirited. Buying a locking mailbox ensures your privacy and is almost as safe and less expensive as using a P.O. box. Our mailbox looks like a normal one, except when you open it, there is a lock with a slot. We don’t have our names on it, but our mail box and property have our house numbers. It is worth the extra cost to lock up our mail.

CreditKarma.com is another security tool to keep you safe. Free.

We know a realtor here in the Keys who routinely opens up front door locks with a pocket knife and we strongly suggest an alarm system with a good monitoring company who is not bubba-connected. SimpliSafe is an easy DIY and you can choose who monitors your system. Outside security cameras from Costco were easy to install and another layer of security. You don’t need no stinking flood lights on all night, since these cameras are infrared and you can see the varmints in the dark. You’ll want to install these items during the week while most neighbors are away from the hood. Shhh.

Be careful who you let in the house! One dude was so dumb he kept asking what kind of big dog that was, barking from behind the door. He asked what the dog’s name was. I gave him a fake name. So he could (try to) come back when we were away. Misinformation was given to this creepy guy and I told him I had three adult sons living at the house and one of them was a police officer with a German Sheppard. Criminals are mostly stupid people and it is entertaining to deter them

I saw in the Keynoter the other day that, as a result of a recent multiple fatality accident, that the sheriff is going to ask the DOT to reduce the speed limit and make the stretch on Indian Key Fill a no passing zone.  While I’ll admit that I have not read the details of the accident, I’d be willing to bet that it occurred when a southbound vehicle attempted to pass and had a head on collision with a car in the northbound lane.

The problem with that stretch (and so many others) is the frustration other drivers feel when spending miles following some dim bulb driver going ten mph below the speed limit without having the possibility to get around him/her.  Making the speed limit lower and creating an additional no passing zone there will not solve the problem — it will only move it further down the road.

What might have the desired effect is to follow the lead of the State of Washington.  On two lane roads out there, there are signs requiring drivers with five or more cars piled up behind them to pull over and let the faster cars by.  While out there I expect the law is directed toward getting the logging trucks to give way, it’s just as applicable here and will have a higher probability of producing the desired effect without just shifting the problem to another stretch of highway

[The Beginning of Fake News] No antiwar protester ever called soldiers “baby killers” That epithet was directed at Lyndon Johnson alone. Also, no one ever spit on a returning veteran–pure myth. Link
Johnsons-7.7.16
[Political Correctness] A place in KW is opening to help those with mental disabilities which is good. What is bad is they call those people “people with special abilities” Just what are those special abilities? Instead of calling a spade a spade they seem to say those people are better than us because they have special abilities and we don’t, instead of what it really is — dis-abilities. Don’t change the English language to make a few feel superior to the rest when just the opposite is true. Special abilities are what those athletes in the Special Olympics have.
Buttis a medieval unit of measurement for wine. A butt load of wine is 129 gallons. Hic!
Does anyone ever read those advertisements that come with their bills? I never do. I just throw them out. I’ll bet we could get lower bills without all those self-serving extras that no one reads.
[John Donnelly] A principled man of wisdom and experience. He’s passionately dedicated to his students and compassionately serves his fellow citizens. Anonymously attacking a distinguished teacher with a credentialed career of providing care to the less fortunate, did not set well with me.

Along with others, my life has been blessed with miracles from this acclaimed educator. His peaceful and loving manner provided key answers to critical concerns capable of destroying my family.

Mr. Donnelly is a kind and courageous leader possessing a keen intellect. To those actually interested in promoting school and gun safety he can advocate a stable discussion of solutions oriented programs capable of protecting our children.

Assailing an individual possessing a wealth of knowledge & understanding with vitriolic bursts of politically charged rhetoric, does nothing to create safe learning environments.

My wife asked me if I would be sad if she were to die.  I said, “Of course. I would be very sad.”  She asked if would remarry.  I said, “Well, I might someday.”  She asked if I did remarry if my new wife would live in our house.  I said, “Well there would be no reason to sell a perfectly good house.”  Then she asked if my new wife and I would sleep in our same bed.  I said, “Well, I suppose so.”  Then she said, “And would you let her use my golf clubs?”  I said, “No, of course not.  “She’s left-handed.”  That’s when the fight started.

 

 

[Icons] Mafia and NRA

The tax system, explained in beer! Video
In Florida’s Parkland School shootings, a stronger background check couldn’t help. Broward County conspired to keep school-student arrests invisible from FBI checks. With the goal of grabbing more Federal school dollars, Broward (Coward) County allowed the legal gun sales to the 19-year-old shooter.

 

Mixed feelings: Seeing your mother-in-law drive over a cliff in your new car.

[Hookers] If you’ve had sex, but have never had to pay for it, you’re a better deal maker than Donald Trump. His hooker is now willing to give back the hush money so she can be interviewed. Hookers aren’t altruistic, so someone probably is paying her more money for her story.
A con man doesn’t have to be clever if his victims are stupid enough.
[Haters] Shall a person of invaluable measure be hated and derided for their beliefs when their lives’ work has been for the betterment of all people. Maybe the person and association being hated are wiser, better versed and more aware than the haters. Could that be possible? John Donnelly is an extremely intelligent and spiritually attuned individual who has utilized NRA resources to protect and save the lives of children he taught. Those are the facts. If you must hate someone, start with the police, FBI and school system that did nothing to stop the murder of these students and teachers, even after the killer had been identified over and over to the authorities. Not focusing on the real causes behind these children being slaughter, will allow others to meet the same fate. Then you will also have blood on your hands.
Winn Dixie’s weekly ad. Link

I am the NRA.  I support education on gun safety.  I support strict enforcement of gun laws. I oppose any restriction on my legally purchased firearms because of how they appear and not how they function.  I fully support the Constitution of the United States of America.  I oppose anyone who tries to restrict any of my freedoms. Your wish to feel safe does not trump my right to be safe.

[NRA Scapegoat] Failed government policies, leaderless politicians, negligence boarding on the criminal (Broward County Sherriff’s Dept., FBI & School System), along with a culture addictively promoting gun violence and killing (movies, TV & video games); all coalesced together to play a part in the massacre of 17 students and teachers.

Partisan politics, race-baiting and basic ignorance has fueled intolerance and inflamed our baser instincts to a fever pitch. Few are held accountable for their bad behavior. Inappropriate conduct is justified by blaming someone else or it’s rationalized away by a myriad of illogical excuses.

Our double-standard of justice allows the “well-to-do” the ability to access another tier of justice, one that will accept their capitol in order to avoid punishment. There’s a lot of work to be done if we really want to safeguard our students and teachers. Denigrating the NRA should be last on our “to do list”.

When it comes to sacrifice and serving, John Donnelly’s actionable commitment to protect his students and other individual within his purview, has never faltered. If he is a Life Member of the NRA, the attractiveness of that association has just increased exponentially. Individuals such as Mr. Donnelly have demonstrated over the course of a lifetime their competency, intelligence and courage. They’ve developed and implemented real time strategies capable of delivering relief and security to those in need.

Censoring an accomplished member of our community, because he may experience events differently, is not smart. It will cost us our children and nation, in the end

[History] Key West was illuminated by electric lights in 1857. That information came from the diary of William Hackley on the day it happened in 1857. He didn’t “illuminate” his house because he couldn’t “see the need”.
Anyone considering buying a refrigerator from Home Depot should think twice. When my refrigerator arrived, the freight company Home Depot uses wouldn’t install it because it had a copper line and no dedicated shutoff valve behind the refrigerator. A plumber took care of the problem, so after some drywall repair/ painting, and ten days later, I had my new refrigerator with ice maker.
[Communism in Action] Last Saturday China removed any hint of democracy by removing term limits effectively voting the current President, Xi Jinping, president for life. Video

[Good News] What would the world be like if all news media only reported nice stuff? No crime, hate, killings, war, etc? Link

[Industrial Hemp] Natural fiber for paper pulp and textiles, potential new medicines for a better future. Link
[“Affordable housing”] It’s unbelievable that you still act like low renters with wheels and want to create a trashed out community with million dollar homes that allow junk people to live under them. This is paradise, not some skid row island chain in the Caribbean.

V Long before you got here, and long before homes in the Keys were over priced at a million dollars, “junk people” lived here. What you call paradise is really paradise lost. Lost to rich transplants who think the Caribbean is skid row. You missed the best of the Keys! It was so much more fun when guys like Mel Fisher were living their dreams instead of the retirees of today still wish they had them. You’re everything that’s wrong with the Keys, dear poster.

 

Sure, the egg came first, but what about the chicken egg?

[Guns] Here’s a no-nonsense identification of terminology. There is no such a thing as an assault rifle. Assault is a verb. There are Military automatic rifles. Their nomenclature is M-16, M4 etc. they can be purchased with special licenses that are very expensive. You have to jump thru a lot of hoops to purchase one. Then there is the civilian version which will fire only as fast as you can pull the trigger like a revolver. One bullet for one trigger pull. They are called AR15 and may look like a military weapon. You can purchase these civilian look-alikes. Now, an evil doer can modify a civilian model with bigger magazines (but then you can purchase large magazines for Semi automatic pistols like Glock and Ruger and Springfield. Up to 25 rounds) but then it’s the same, One bullet for one trigger pull. Now there is the modification of the rifle it self. It takes two internal parts in the firing system (which are available in gunsmith sites) and now you have an illegal automatic rifle. That’s prison time. Also, this device called the bump stock which is a delayed firing device. All these modifications are not part of the original AR15. And have to be installed with intent. How can we stop individual intent?  Cell phones in the hands of careless drivers cause more cumulative deaths and injuries yet no one would consider banning them. Yes, I’m a 30 year military retiree and a firearm owner, but I have no intent to do anyone any harm with my firearm or my cellphone.
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