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2014 November

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

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The-Coconut-Telegraph-w-CoconutsSince 2002. Anonymous Letters to the Editor with pictures. Published Monday through Friday by Noon.

vote for eleanorCitizens of Monroe County, today the big day has finally arrived. If you have already voted, good for you. If you have not voted, please take this last reminder to heart before you pull the lever. I am running for County Commission based on the idea that the Keys can be better then they already with more wiser policy and decision making, especially when it comes to spending your money. This last year has cost the taxpayers a lot of expense with little return, and now we have another law suit coming down the pike. A $10 million suit coming from the No Name Key people. Remember District 2 is the only district that has to sue the government in order to be heard. This suit was filed in demand for electricity on No Name Key. Once the island was electrified, no one on the commission was wise enough to get them to drop the suit. This was brought to my attention months ago by someone who lives out there and was against the electrification of the island. Now it has raised its ugly head, and as far as I am concerned it is just in time. Just in time for the voters of this county to see that a change is desperately needed in Monroe County. No other district is being represented by someone who does not live in their district. My opponent has turned his back on the little people of this county and is only interested in special interest groups. Please do not be fooled by endorsements. I know that the firefighters union “endorses” my opponent, yet when I talked directly to the firefighters on Big Pine Key the night of Lights Out, they realized that I understood what it takes to live here, and individually, they endorsed me. So if you want your tax dollars spent wisely vote for me.It will be up to the Democrats and unaffiliated voters of this district to decide the future of Monroe County. Are you satisfied with what you have received as a taxpayer over the last few years? Or do you want someone who hears you and understands your concerns? The choice is yours.But regardless of who you vote for, please vote! It is one of the greatest processes in the world that makes this nation great. Remember, we are still the land of the free because of the brave. Thank a Veteran this month for his and her service. They greatly appreciate hearing it.

Yours truly, Eleanor McAdams, Democratic candidate for County Commission District 2.

manley-deboer-7.11.14
[“‘Slow’ food“] Breakfast was at 07:00, Lunch was at noon, and Dinner was at 18:00, and I sat many nights alone in the dining room waiting to like something. We also had to ask to be excused from the dinner table when we finished our meal. Funny thing is, all those things I did not like back then I eat now, excluding Mayo, which I always got a pass on since I would sit until hell froze over before I would eat it.
doctor is in
I am looking for “Reef Counselor” who lives on BPK.
I truly enjoy reading the CT. I have visited the beautiful Keys a few times and love them. I hope you all can get the sewer system that will save the coastal waters. You all live in a paradise many would give their left nut to live there — no pun intended. As for a round house or an A-frame remember you live in Paradise and I may live there one day and who knows what I might be living in!
Coconuts-sign-ad-750w
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penguin-ctGlobal cooling.
[“Live and let live”] Bravo! Thank you for speaking for me and many others.
Springers-ad-750w
[“Eating meals as a family”] My mother would put a bit of the stuff I didn’t like on my plate because she said Dr Benjamin Spock said too and eventually I would start to like it. It took many years but I like everything now.
punctuation4
I am the recent punctuation critic commented on by another punctuation critic. A fine observation, friend; I am at a disadvantage. Yet, in my defense, I do not claim to be perfect in my grammar. I am learning. Thus my question: Why all these question marks at the end of statements? I read it all the time here and do not understand it. My missing comma, as bad as it is, is simply sloppy on my part. But the endless string of statements terminated with a question mark confuses me. I concede my mistake. I would like to know the answer to my initial question. (Ed: I don’t think you’ve seen multi question marks here because I spend half my time removing them and multi explanation marks and capitals.)
[iDefect] What do the new bent iPhones look like? Banana phone? Video
Phil-Goodman10.13.14
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vote booth eagleT’was the night before elections,
And all thru’ the town,
Tempers were flaring
Emotions ran up and
down.I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap,
Had shut off the TV,
tired of political crap.When all of a sudden,
There a rose such a noise,
I peered out my window,
Saw Obama and his boys.

They had come for my wallet,
They wanted my pay
To hand out to others
Who had not worked a day.

He snatched up my money,
And quick as a wink,
Jumped back on hiband wagon
As I gagged from the stink.

He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart.
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!

‘On Fannie, on Freddie, On Biden and Ayers, On Acorn, on Pelosi’
He screamed at the pairs!
And as they flew out of sight,
I heard him laugh at a nation,
Who wouldn’t stand up and fight!

[“Family meals”] This video is short and says a lot. Video
johnsons-7.9.14
The over spray from my windshield washer fluid just destroyed a Smart car.
girls-ice-fishing-A
The cold snap continues in the Florida Keys. A few of our visitors from the Midwest find the weather just fine. The Blue hole has frozen over and the all girls ice fishing team “Piner’s Rule” are practicing for the 1st annual Pine Key Invitational Ice Fishing Tourney. It’s time to put another log on the fire. Tight lines, good knots and sharp hooks and a blessed day.
Matthew Ribs does illegal building jobs around Big Pine Key.   ~bubbleburstin@gmail.com
eleanor-mcadams-9.18.14
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Beer4
[“Bad spalling repair”] Barlow Construction doesn’t return calls either; and when he does you find out that he’s not interested in doing your job. How much trouble can it be to let you know that he doesn’t have time for your work? Now I have to find another contractor. Any ideas who I can call to replace the siding and windows on one side of a stilt house? ~b33043@outlook.com
hareens-hats10.19.14
When a pedestrian tries to cross US1, what is more dangerous, tourists or drunken locals?
tail4
I found an excellent photo of the Zone-tailed Hawk at the landfill. That’s him (or his twin) alright, but he does not like his photo taken. None of us have gotten a decent photo. He is incredibly fast, even with hardly flapping wings, and is skittish. If he mistakes that recently sighted panther’s tail for a snake he will need all the speed he’s got!
(Ed: This probably doesn’t apply to any of you, but just in case… Our website is protected with an SSL certificate that supported SSL 3.0, a very old security standard that is vulnerable to security attack. Consequently we removed SSL 3.0 support and that will prevent visitors using very outdated browsers from accessing secure content on our pages. This will primarily affect Windows XP visitors using Internet Explorer 6, which Microsoft completely stopped supporting as of April 8, 2014).
bluewater-750w
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tappet-bros-tom-beard
[Dead Car] Click, one of the Click and Clack Brothers died. Tom Magliozzi (with beard), co-host of NPR’s ‘Car Talk,’ dies at 77. Link
The Internet is the nervous system of the 21st century.
Chamber-ad-750w
[“Finches in the Keys“] The Finch family lives 2 houses down from me on Bird Lane. Mr Finch, his wife and several young’uns and one of them looks prego.
shakes finger no smoking
Great American Smoke Out.
 November 20. Quit with local help. Link
[“Locals”] I would not buy a house down here even if it were a good deal because the locals are just bunch of bitchy cry babies that whine about tourists enjoying themselves.
Nira-Tocco-6.14
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scott4
[“Peanut brittle”]  When I was a lot younger my peanut was a hell or a lot more brittle than it is nowadays.
accurate-home-insp-750w
[“Mind your own business”] I agree with the old timer. I’ve been here almost thirty years. Who’s business is it if somebody wants to build something on their lot? If you didn’t want something there you should have bought it yourself. I’ve seen so many people down here buy a lot across the street from open water because it was cheaper than the waterfront lot. Then when somebody buys the lot on the water they bitch that they are screwing up their view. I’m amazed at the newbies sometimes. Just live and let live; we are only here for a short time. Use it living your life to the fullest. Don’t waste energy on stupid stuff like this. Grab a beer and go sit by the ocean. You never know you might get lucky and see the God out there.
rock the vote
Global warming and climate change are altering the traditional ranges and habits of many animals. Link
fanci10-16-14
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vote rotate
[“Republicans stand for the rich white man and his corporations”] There are about the same number of Democrats and Republicans living down here. I am sure the Keys Republican women would be surprised to know they are now white men who own corporations. Nice job of stereotyping, an action your ilk is quick to condemn.
Cousineau-Ad-7.3.14
[“Live and let live”] That is precisely the point; to let someone come into our gated community (rules made to keep it free of trash and trailers) and build an eyesore that does not fit the rest of the conservative buildings should not be allowed. We in Cudjoe Gardens like our mild conservative surroundings. But of course money talks and the rules are bent for the rich and infamous. Live and let live? Ok, then it is my turn to do what I need to do.
vote pencil check
[Snitch] I heard someone is working without a building permit on Eden Pines.
Radio-Shack10.31.14
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vote rwb
[“Wharf Restaurant sold?”] No! Don’t tell me it was sold. That was the only place in the lower Keys where you could get local fish such as dolphin instead of that farm-raised-feces-eating Tilapia from parts unknown in Asia.
lower-keys-boat-rental11.4.14
[Jeb] I love Jeb, he gave us stand your ground law.
hunter tree stand girl
Proud to be a hunter!
Video
[Timeline Photos] Voting and election images. Link
george-neugent10.21.14
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ballot box vote
Thanks to whoever posted Elvis’ “My Way” yesterday.  It was superbly edited! Video
Isaksen-ad-750w
[Ethics] As a county commissioner, Kim Wigington tried her darndest to get the other county commissioners to join her in passing a county ethics ordinance with real teeth, which ordinance would apply to county commissioners, as well as to county government management, staff  and rank-and-file employees. Boy, was that an eye-opener for Kim. The other county commissioners, including three of our currently sitting county commissioners, George Neugent, Heather Carruthers and Sylvia Murphy took high offense over Kim suggesting their ethics might need improvement.
voting4
[Sewers] I like the idea of the commemorative plaque mounted beside the grinder pump alarm-silencing button! This way you remember who to curse when the power comes back on at 2:00 AM and the loud alarm by your bedroom window startles you awake and prevents you from getting back to sleep without trudging outside in the rain to slap the button. And your neighbor’s button. I have prices quoted at only $5 each so far on fake brass, which is money well spent on commemorating the County Commissioners that shortchanged us. Money well spent, unlike the money spent on a sewer system based on high pressure E-one grinder pumps. When you slog through sewage to reach the alarm, you should remember the “gang of three” that authorized it. When the on-call pump tech comes to fix it, he should remember, too. Let’s all remember them for their real contribution. Send your suggested design lettering for these plaques to Dumpthepumps.com or bring it with you to their informal meeting at the Coldwell real estate office 6pm Wednesday. Let’s do this!
BP-Flea-Market10.10.14
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bill-SewerBB1
So you love the round bra-looking house. I wonder why? I bet you have a round trailer or at least an antique pick-up in your yard, huh? Do you rent or own?
politics-zone-750w
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I love how cult lefties love government until they get a job: “Voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C., will decide Tuesday whether to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana. But any new pot shops that voters approve may not be able to survive a tax code that already threatens many businesses in Colorado and Washington state.Under this tax code the federal government stands to make more money from the sale of marijuana than those legally selling it. And that could be enough to shut down many shops. “It’s almost like they want us to fail,” said Mitch Woolhiser, while walking through his store called Northern Lights Cannabis Co. in Edgewater, Colo. “Everything I do is aimed at keeping us in business because if I don’t, then (the feds) win. And I’m not going to let them win.”
Woolhiser believes the federal government is actively seeking to undermine his business.” Hey Democrats, welcome to the world of grow ups, Bwahahahhahah…
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/03/irs-limits-profits-marijuana-businesses/18165033/
from the right
vote republican shooting starYesterday, Steven Smith, current Chairperson of the FKMCD Board posted what was in fact a paen to the good old days. The days when fiscal irresponsibility was the norm.First we must remember a few things. Smith has been a member of the board for nearly 2 decades.

Second it’s only in the last 3 or so years that fiscal responsibility has finally reared its head at FKMCD. Prior to that, with Smith on the board, Monroe taxpayers, were suckered by the then Board to pay its Director $183,000.00 dollars per year. Making him the highest paid public employee in Monroe Countyand probably the highest paid mosquito control director in the state. Smith was on that Board. FKMCD had only a fraction of the number of employees that were then on the county payroll. Why the board thought that exorbitant salary was in the public interest is a mystery.

In his posting Smith wrote: “Benefits for FKMCD retirees has become a talking point.” I don’t believe that to be true, the issue is whether or not it is appropriate for a board member to receive a public pension and health benefits for life. I think not. Especially when you consider that the Board, with Smith leading the way, sought and received salaries well in excess of $20,000.00 for working 3 hours a month.

Mr. Smith seems to be mentoring and is supporting candidate, Roger Cousineau. Smith is a huge fan of attending conferences. In fact his attendance at conferences routinely consumed the lion’s share of the budget allocation for that budget item. We can expect that if Mr. Cousineau is elected he will be a compliant clone of Mr. Smith. Indeed he has promised to try and raise taxes and to “learn on the job” by attending conferences. Smith and Cousineau oppose term limits.

In Mr. Smith’s rose colored view of the history of the FKMCD, he failed to mention some important items.

In 2009, with Smith on the Board, Dengue fever appeared in Key West. It is a mosquito borne disease. Those were the bad old days that Mr. Smith longs for. Dengue fever, aka Break Bone is a mosquito transmitted disease. Many charged that it was the incompetence of FKMCD that left the door open for the mosquito borne illness.

Mr. Smith, while denying any corruption, failed to address the fact that an FKMCD employee was accused of grand theft from FKMCD in 2007, but the board apparently demurred on prosecution. Smith was on that Board. The Board permitted that employee to keep his job on the condition that he “behave.” Subsequently that same employee received a traffic ticket that he allegedly failed to report to his boss. The employee was fired for that infraction. The employee sued. After lengthy legal wrangling, and beacoup sums of your tax dollars paid to lawyers, the Board handed over $30k of your hard earned tax dollars to settle the case. Mah-velous, just mah-velous management and oversight by the then board. Who was there then who is here now? Smith
Mr. Smith is very eager to have you forget the culture of corruption that seemed to permeate FKMCD in the bad old days.

In 2010, in the bad old days, a year after Dengue Fevor reared its ugly head, The Florida Keys Keynoter – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, reported infighting among commissioners; a director bashing his own employers; accusations of board member pilfering a dead man’s identity; a felony grand-theft arrest of a FKMCD Superintendent for stealing usage of FKMCD cell phones; a TV show host with no TV show — the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District had it all in 2010. Those are the bad old days that Mr. Smith yearns to return to. Smith was there then and now.

Any sentient person would have to find Chairperson, Steve Smith’s comments on the loss of the Navy contract astounding. Incredibly Mr. Smith tells us that he has no firsthand knowledge of the contract executed between the Navy and FKMCD’s competitor. That loss of that contract cost FKMCD 6% of its annual revenue. That is huge. Instead he gives us a litany of excuses that include the claim that the new contractor is using many fewer personnel and procedures that are substantially different from the previous Navy/FKMCD contracts.

By so doing, Smith is suggesting that the Navy did not precisely define the services and methods to be used. That, Deer Friends, is not the Navy way. Most certainly the Navy in its Requests For Proposals (RFP), carefully delineated its requirements. It’s nearly certain that the Navy got exactly what it wanted.

vote republican rwbIt certainly appears that FKMCD failed to adhere to the parameters of the RFP. One has to wonder if management even read the Navy RFP or did management, as in years past, simply add 5% to the previous year’s contract and send it along fully expecting the Navy to play along.

Further, even more incredibly, Mr. Smith tells us that he “….inten(ds) to charge the Navy for any significant difference” in the cost to FKMCD for mosquito control in the environs adjacent to NAS Key West. Mr. Smith has zero chance of collecting a single nickel. His statement is pure puffery. NAS has no liability whatsoever. The NAS contract was lost by mismanagement — pure and simple.

The Bug Board’s bad old days should be banished forever. It was a time of waste, corruption, and ineffectiveness. Incumbent Phil Goodman has excelled as being watchdog and champion of the public interest. He has fought tooth and nail to improve service while reducing costs. He champions term limits and is always ready to find new, better, and more economical ways to get the job done. That is the way of a private sector executive. Do the Keys and yourself a favor and vote for Goodman