Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Dear Mayor and Commissioners,

I have generally supported more recreational and greenspace areas for the taxpayers of Monroe County, but I believe that purchasing Rowell’s with infrastructure tax money is  ill advised and contrary to what the voters should expect from you. If you do decide to  purchase Rowell’s , please use other funds to do it and do not pay more than the appraised price. It’s just too much akin to the Hickory House saga.

Cordially,

Harry Powell

[Conspiracies] Yesterdays post (opinion) on conspiracy theorists, was a wee bit too naive. For one, if a person has any type of common sense, you should be able to filter out the most ridiculous conspiracy theories. Even though, some of the most ridiculous conspiracy theories have been proven to be true. But, considering that our government is supposed to encourage, and support all governments world wide, when it comes to spreading democracy. Then why did our government overthrow, just to name 2, democratically elected presidents?

In 1954,  President Arbenz of Guatemala, was a victim of a CIA sponsored Coup D’etat, because his ideas had created a conflict of interest on the 400,000 acres acquired by the United Fruit Company. A major American corporation, that viewed President Arbenz as a corporate threat, even though he was one of the 1st democratically elected presidents in Guatemala.

In 1953, the 1st democratically elected president in the history of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Was overthrown by a CIA, & MI-6 sponsored Coup D’etat, in which the U.S., & British governments placed the Shah in power, because president Mosaddegh wanted to democratically spread oil wealth amongst his people. The British Petroleum corporation didn’t appreciate this idea, and had the CIA & MI-6 oust him, and replaced with a corporate puppet, just like in Guatemala.

These are just 2 examples out of the many other CIA/MI-6 sponsored Coup D’etats around the world. Not to mention, Samoza of Nicaragua, Stroessner of Paraguay, Noriega in Panama, Ngo Dinh Diem of Vietnam, etc. Back in the day, any mention of any wrongdoings by our government was considered conspiracy theories until the Freedom of Information Act proved that these weren’t just conspiracy theories, but fact! Wasn’t Watergate a conspiracy theory when it occurred?

The OSS was transformed after WWII to the CIA, and it’s new counterpart, the NSA in 1947. The brains behind this change were John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, Prescott Bush and Herbert Walker. During their earlier years, the main priority of these 4 men were to protect the interests and investments of the most powerful corporations worldwide. They were, what is known as “fixers” today. They participated in the most horrendous and despicable acts you can imagine, in order to protect their clients financial interests. These 4 men implemented the same views and actions with the creation of the CIA and NSA still today. Did you ever wonder why the CIA is nicknamed, “The Company”?

If you seriously believe that a government can retain it’s title of being number1 in the world, by being a nice guy, then keep believing that and keep believing that you have the power of the vote. 

I live in the woods and just saw the first black snake in a very long while. There used to be a lot of them around my property, but they have all but disappeared. I hope sighting this little snake means they will be coming back.

[Jingle Hoops] I saw a house on BPK yesterday with their Christmas decorations already up. I guess they don’t have anything to be thankful for. Video

I read the CT daily and whenever I come upon those people that are pro-government and those that are anti-government, I smile thinking back when I worked for the Bureau of Land Management (government lands, etc) and I had a bumper sticker made up for me and it said: Sure You Can Trust The Government, Just Ask The Indians

It was scraped off my bumper by my boss and I never got another pay-grade raise again until the day I retired. I guess he didn’t have a sense of humor.

[Blast off!] NASA launches robotic Maven explorer to Mars to find out why Mars lost its atmosphere. Video

[Toronto Whacko] How much longer can Toronto put up with Mayor Ford’s disgraceful behavior. Not only is he a crack-smoking alcoholic, drunk driver, but every action of his is an embarrassment to the city. Link

Thank you Scott Russell for going after Balfour Beatty to support our schools and collect those overdue property taxes! Lesser men would have been cowed by the mighty corporation and their Navy ally.

If you don’t think there are corrupt Navy Admirals check out these two most recent shmos. Link

[Indian River County’s experience with grinder pumps] They had 413 grinder pumps fed from 58 power supplies, so there were not so many connections to make to pump out in a power outage. In three consecutive hurricanes, they had significant problems with sewage backing up into houses through shower drains. They had 6 workers with 3 generators working 12 hours a day but could not keep up with pump outs. They became disgusted with LPS sewers and replaced the whole system with a vacuum sewer!

Here, FKAA plans on installing over 4 times the pumps with over 28 times the power connections and expects to do pump outs with only 2/3 of the manpower needed to not keep up in Indian River County. Is this a well designed system or what? Don’t want one? Then you better make your voice heard clearly to every official involved. Petition 

[Conspiracy Man] Can somebody explain to me what happened? Our government invaded 2 oil rich countries, our boys & girls have sacrificed their lives, limbs & sanity and the only people benefiting, and getting richer, is not us, but the oil corporations, and the politicians they lobby? Yeah, keep waving the flag folks. 

See what you think of Bobby Mongelli’s new pizzeria restaurant on Stock Island.  I think it has  brick ovens.  It’s at the corner of Maloney and 3rd.

[“Rowell’s Marina will actually bring in money to offset the cost of the purchase”] Actually, yes it can offset the cost of purchase and much more. However, Rowell’s must be run like a business not like a welfare agency.  Unfortunately, what is going to happen is that the day the sale closes all the non-profits in the area and probably Miami, will deliver their letters to the county requesting fees to be waived for “special fundraising” events.  That is what will suck the money from us taxpayers, the waiving of fees.  Rowell’s can get off the ground paying for itself if the commissioners would grow a pair and learn how to say, NO!  The commissioners make crappy decisions because they have advisors that are not business people and have never been business people, and we as taxpayers allow it.  It is really sad that the commissioners do not consult their subject matter expert staff before making decisions that can affect the quality of life of every taxpayer in Monroe County.  Oh wait, the commissioners don’t know what their staff is capable of because they’ve never even read their resumes or interacted with them.

I have used County mulch – a lot of it! Truck load after truck load and have never worried about invasive seeds. They just did not happen, and if they did, really, how much trouble is it to get rid of a few peppers or lead  tree seedlings?  Animals spread a lot more pepper seeds than anything else. We simply need more organics and water retention in our “soil” here. To ship out all our yard trimmings is costing us a lot of money as well as environmentally stupid.

[The Man in the Iron Mask] November 19, 1703. A masked man held prisoner in the Bastille in Paris died. His true identity was the cause of much intrigue, and his story became the basis of literary works by François Voltaire and Alexandre Dumas.

I’ve used County mulch until they decided I couldn’t any longer, and that it would be better to spend tons of money shipping it out of the County. Stupid if you ask me. Screw the scientist who’ve never even used it. They don’t know jack about the realities of living on the rock. I think the heat generated in the mulching process kills most seeds that are below the top layer, but I’m not a scientist just an experienced land owner.

I’ve spread over eighty tons of County mulch over my low lying land and haven’t had any problems with invasives at all. The only problem with County mulch is the bits of chopped plastic that comes with it. I’m still picking those out.

Today in 1990 Milli Vanilli‘s Grammy award was rescinded after it was discovered they didn’t do their own singing.

Frank Zappa – Catholic Girls. Easy meat.

[“Conspiracies”] Most conspiracies are bogus but the rest are not. Study the American CIA and you’ll cry for America. Be ashamed, be very ashamed. Read All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer for a detailed account of the CIA’s overthrow of Iran’s only democratically elected President — all for the oil. In his place the CIA installed its puppet the Shah of Iran.

[Florida’s Dirty Little Secret] Eat more brook trout. This is the first in a series of posts focusing on the ecological issues facing the coastal estuaries of south Florida. Link

[American the Great] In 1932 the US Military attacked demonstrating war veterans called the Bonus Army who were camped out at the Capitol. I don’t recall this in my history classes, but is was a dark day for America and makes the anti-Vietnam demonstrations of my era sort of tame. Video

Why you can’t use a cell phone on an airplane. (Warning adult language). Video

[Old Septic Tanks] I haven’t read much about what we will be required to do with our septic systems once sewer lines are connected, be they gravity or LPS. I might have read “decommission” them…any definition of what that will mean?

And a more devious question: will there be anything preventing us from accessing them post hookup if problems arise?

Waterways episode featuring Big Pine, Key West, Everglades, Miami and South Florida. Video

How about the parents taking responsibility to correct the bad behavior of the brat. It is not the job of schools to raise the children, it’s their job is to hopefully educate them. You can change schools all you want but it won’t fix the attitude problem.

What is going to happen to Worker’s Compensation Insurance now that Obamacare is the law? Will I still be required to pay it even though my employees will be already insured? Are they to have two insurances?

Please keep in mind the Constitution is, in fact, the supreme law of the land. If you feel that it is “nutsy” to expect our elected leaders to follow the law then….well, words fail me.

The oath of office for the President is “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Congress is similarly bound by an oath to support the Constitution. There are no other requirements in their oath. The Founding Fathers clearly thought the Constitution, and adherence to it, was the cornerstone of our Republic. Without it many of the freedoms that I suspect you cherish would be long gone. Things like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc. In defiance of the Constitution lawmakers are now establishing “free speech zones” but outside the zone you may be arrested for expressing your opinion. Look at how many places in the world have a state religion! Try living under sharia law.

If you wish to look at the Constitution from a different angle, consider this. Do you buy a board game and throw away the rules? Maybe, if you have decided that you are going to make them up as you go. But how many people will want to play with you if that is the case? Now if you round them up and hold them at gunpoint they probably will play with you. But short of that, after a few games where they realize that the rules all benefit you, or are only what you think they should be it will just be you and and your game all alone. But cheer up, you get to write the rules so you win. 

[“Trucking yard waste outside of Monroe County to mulch it”] I disagree. Properly composted, the heat will kill the seed. If you stick your hand into a compost heap you’ll most likely get it burned. Now that’s the 3d side of the story!

[Windows 8 Upgrade] First the Bad. I upgraded to W 8.1. I shouldn’t have bothered. I don’t think there was any advantage for me. A disadvantage: after I worked so hard to make my pc start without a password I have to do it all over again. Nuisance!

The Good: Today I figured out how to send personalized emails. Still 1 or 2 little gremlins to sort out, but I got it to work. 

[Constitution Question] Answer to #7 C, Republican. This refers to a style of government, not a political party. The Founding Fathers were adamantly opposed to a Democracy for historically valid reasons. Under a Democracy your rights can be voted away. Benjamin Franklin described a Democracy as two wolves and a sheep deciding whats for dinner. It has said that a Democracy can work only until the citizens realize they can vote themselve largesse from the public coffers.

Question #8 The Constitution establishes the definition of treason to include:
A.     Speaking publicly against the duly elected President.
B.     Failure to register for the draft.
C.     Giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
D.     Failure to comply with orders of Federal Officers.

Copies of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence are now available for free at Jigs, Coconuts and Molly’s Pawn on Big Pine.

This is the question the right has to answer. Do you want smaller government with less handouts, or do you want a low minimum wage?Because you cannot have both. if Col. Sanders isn’t going to pay the lady behind the counter enough to live on, then Uncle Sam has to, you and I for one am getting a little tired helping highly profitable companies pay their workers.  ~Bill Maher

Both Medicare and Medicaid are socialist programs.  In the case of Medicare, employees and their employers pay taxes on wages.  That money is dispersed, as needed, to people 65 and over to cover their health related expenses.  In the case of Medicaid, tax dollars, both state and federal, are collected from the tax payers.  That money is dispersed, as needed, to people who qualify for Medicaid.  Those include low income as well as those on disability.Health insurance is also a form of socialism.  Many more people pay into the system than those collecting from it.  Insurance companies can’t print money like the federal government, therefore, they must collect enough revenue to cover expenses.

In all cases, money is collected from a large portion of the population and dispersed to a few.  That is socialism.  Once that ratio changes, ie. more people collecting than those collected from, the entire system fails.  That’s why Obamacare is doomed to failure (at least one of the many reasons).  In order to collect enough revenue to cover all the new requirements, premiums must rise.  Once they rise to the point they are no longer affordable, and in some cases they already have, people will stop buying insurance.  With the penalty being much lower than the premiums, it’s a no brainer. If you realize how things work in the real world, as most conservatives do, it becomes frustrating listening to the childlike whinings of the left.  Yes, it would be nice if things were as simple and easy to fix as they want it to be, but it’s not.  The solutions they come up with always seem to make things worse.   

[“Stock Market Breaks 16,000”] Since when is printing massive amounts of money, bailing out Wall Street, and running up an incomprehensible national debt considered a success? Oh yea, only in Obama’s administration! Good luck with that.

[Regressive Hypocrisy #8] Tea Party Republican Stephen Fincher from Tennessee voted no to a farm bill that included food stamp supplements to the poor and elderly. 22% of the people in his Tennessee district rely on food stamps. “No free money for anyone”, he said. Stephen Fincher, however, happily accepted 3.5 million dollars in free farm subsidies, courtesy of the taxpayers. The average food stamp recipient receives $257 per month. Fincher is one of the greedy Tea Party Representatives on his way out.

[Bottom of the Totem Pole] I guarantee you this much, people who work for the minimum wage, whatever it is, put every bit of it back into our economy, back into the Republican’s blessed and sainted businesses so they can skim off a bunch of cash and send it to the old safety deposit box or the  Caymans or Switzerland in order to hide it from the tax man.

[‘Sea level rose 9”] You mean to tell me that Republican canals are 9 inches lower than Democrat canals around here?  Who would have thought?

[Sarcasm] Now look what those damn Liberals are doing to George Zimmerman friend of the right and Sean Hannity. Its disgusting. It seems Zimmermans girlfriend called 911 during yet another domestic dispute. Its an outrage. Why do the hippies and the left fielders insist on trying to frame this man in a bad light? The caller went on to say he broke into her home and pointed a long barreled shotgun at her. I call B.S. Zimmerman is nothing more then a local hero of the right and this is just another case of Liberals attacking a Conservatives like they attack Christmas and Sarah Palin. According to police Scheibe was forced out of her house and Zimmerman barricaded the door. My guess is she really barricaded the door before calling the police and then climbed out of the window in the set-up. Yeah that’s what happened.

Officers were able to push away the furniture to get in so thank heavens no one was hurt. I suspect another call to rightwing hero Sean Hannity is in order.

Free George Zimmerman!

[Americans driving less] Charts showing decline in US vehicle ownership and miles being driven. Article states declines started in 2005, three years before the Democrats collapsed the economy in 2008, so the recession wasn’t the primary cause. However looking at the civilian labor force participation chart (look elsewhere for it), one will see that many started leaving the workforce about that time, notably the baby boomer generation retiring. Since the labor force is predicted to decline to levels pre-baby boomers, to about 33% (instead of 67% during Bush Jr), meaning even less driving, that can’t bode well for some car stocks or future gas prices if there is too little demand. There may be a vicious cycle of failing automakers and rising gas prices which in turn cause more to reduce driving. With 50% of US population spread out in non-urban areas, could cause more to shift to areas with mass transit. Link

Sewer socialists give lesson in governing. If government could show it isn’t inherently inept, maybe the term socialist would stop being the insult of choice. Link

My deep and sincere thanks to the poster who bragged about the Obama economy. That poster is of the view that the surging stock market is proof that our economy is thriving. S/he, could not be more wrong, but that posting prodded me to think about the real state of our economy.  First of all, I sure wish that I had had money to put in the market when it bottomed several years ago.  But I didn’t then, and I don’t now.

The reason that the market is doing so well is that the Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into the economy with the specific intent to keep interest rates so low that the market is virtually the only place available to invest.  

If you want proof of the sorry state of our economy, you need look no further than last month’s jobs report from Team Obama’s Bureau of Labor Stats. The unemployment rate is again up. The number of people with jobs dropped by nearly three quarters of a million in September alone. The unemployment rate for blacks is increasing, the unemployment rate for women is also increasing The employment/population ratio is increasing, it’s near an all time high. The number who have abandonded the labor force is at an all time high. The number of people on food stamps is at an all time high. Our Democrat run  economy sucks.

It’s impossible to refute the statement that under the Obama admin, the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer. thanks to the Federal Reserve’s low-interest rate policies and now no-interest (on overnight lending rates) policies and their quantitative easing scheming to pump up financial assets, the bulk of all gains in financial assets, principally stocks and newly purchased real estate, have gone to those that have the wherewithal to own those investment asset-classes, watch them rise and pay small taxes on their gains. The rich get richer.

In July ’13 the AP reported “Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.” I urge you to read the entire story to be found at Link

Data suggest that despite modest recoveries in many states, the middle class has been shrinking while households have been added in the lowest and highest income brackets. In many states and nationally, the highest income brackets saw more growth than the lowest, but households in the middle brackets continued to decline. The state-by-state data compare incomes from a pair of three-year periods: 2007 through 2009, a span that included the Great Recession, and 2010 through 2012, a period that included the ongoing and modest recovery. Thanks to Democrat governance, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

There is a remedy. It’s Republican governance.

Part 2) So, the sea level is rising! Whoopie! That is nothing new, it has been rising ever since 20k years ago. In fact it rose much faster from 20k years ago until 6k years ago when it slowed dramatically. Check it out at Link

10K years ago, BPK’s south shoreline was about 8 or 10 miles south of where it is today. 8K years ago, the western shore of Florida was 20 or so miles west of where it is now. Florida first had human habitation about 14k years ago. They thrived.

Is our climate changing? Certainly! Has is always changed? You’re damned right. Will it continue to change? Of course. It is the nature of humanity and all living things to adapt, to change. T Rex, Giant Sloths, Sabre toothed tigers, and mammoths no longer wander America  because of climate change. The southwest American Anasazi cliff dwelling  culture is extinct because of climate change. 1000 years ago the Vikings colonized Greenland and Iceland. They grew crops and raised livestock. Their colonies failed because of climate change. The climate is ever changing.

Perhaps we’re fortunate that there is now a growing body of scientific thought that suggest that we are about to enter into a time of global cooling.

Perhaps you would be interested in reading and excellent article of the subject to be found at Link

Part 3) Sen. Rand Paul speaks out against senators voting without reading the bills! Deer Friends, you really must watch the appended short video. It takes less than a minute, and it should make your blood boil. Video

For the cult left worried about ocean acidification. The last time I looked, the oceans were pronouncedly alkaline, and even the mad IPCC says the acid-base balance has been altered by only 0.1 acid/base units in the direction of slightly reduced alkalinity. However, that estimate, like much else in the IPCC’s mad gospels, is entirely guesswork, because there is no sufficiently well-resolved global measurement program for ocean pH. However, elementary theoretical considerations would lead us to expect homoeostasis in the acid/base balance of the oceans because the buffering influence of the rock basins in which they live and move and have their being is overwhelmingly powerful. Acid/base neutrality is at a pH of 7.0. The oceans are at about 7.8-8.2 (no one knows, so that the IPCC’s alleged dealkalinization of 0.1 acid/base units is well within the measurement error, so that we cannot actually be sure that it has occurred at all; and, on the elementary ground I have described, it is unlikely to have done so). Besides, there is about 50 times as much CO2 already dissolved in the oceans than there is in the atmosphere, so that even if all of the CO2 in the atmosphere were to make its way into the oceans the pH would scarcely change even in the absence of the overwhelming buffering effect of the rocks.

As for calcifying organisms, they are thriving. The calcite corals first achieved algal symbiosis and came into being 550 million years ago (you are too young to remember) during the Cambrian era, when atmospheric CO2 concentration was 25 times what it is today. The more delicate aragonite corals came into being 175 million years ago, during the Jurassic, when CO2 concentration was still 15 times today’s. “Ah,” you may say, “but it is the suddenness of the abrupt increase in CO2 concentration that the fragile corals will not be able to endure.” However, consider the great floods of the Brisbane River (eight of them from 1840-1900 and three of them since). The rainwater that pours into the ocean and meets the Great Barrier Reef is pronouncedly acid, at a pH of 5.4. Yet the corals do not curl up and die. “Ah,” you may say, “but what about the effect of sudden warming on the puir wee corals?” Well, the Great el Nino of 1997/8 gives us the answer to that one. Sudden increases in ocean temperature cause the corals to bleach. There have been two previous Great el Ninos in the past 300 years, and the corals bleached on both those occasions too. It is a natural defense mechanism against natural change. The corals continue to thrive.

Don’t hold your breath worrying about ocean “acidification”: it can’t happen, even if all the CO2 in the air goes into the ocean.