Opponents of Big Box stores counter with the following arguments:

-Jobs created tend to be at minimum wage, meaning that they may not provide a living wage for people, especially those who badly need jobs and are impoverished. Some big box stores also specifically employ people at less than full time so they cannot qualify for health benefits.

-Lower prices tend to mean that local businesses start losing money. Large retailers can afford to cut prices and sell some items below what other merchants would pay cost for. Many of their cost savings are the result of using manufacturers outside of the US, and higher demand for cheap products means reduction in numbers of American made products.

If you think buying American is important to you, then do that.  I, on the other hand, want to save money and will shop for the best buy, meaning, the lowest price.

Generally the argument for building Big Box stores is as follows: Big Box stores create jobs, generate sales tax, and can make available products that are hard to find. They also tend to offer lower prices than local merchants. Many argue that the building of a Big Box store can revitalize an area where few jobs are available and encourage the building of other commercial industries in areas where jobs are badly needed.

If a Big Box store opens in an area, many financial problems of that area are solved. People are offered work, and revenue from sales helps to fund projects for the welfare of the public. Roads might be improved, or more money might be available for the impoverished. An abandoned  strip mall on US1 which might be a central point for crime, can suddenly become a pretty area that people want to visit, all at the cost of the Big Box store.

All of you who drive over to Home Depot  in Marathon, it’s a big box store.

[Toilet Water] I recently purchased from Home Depot a device for my toilet that allows me to choose the amount of water needed, either a small amount or the whole tank. It comes in either a level control or a push button control. I love it and wish that every American would purchase one, especially down here in the Keys.

Someone wrote that illegal immigrants cheat on their taxes.  I would call that the American way.  Shows how well they being assimilated and blending in to our society.   I wouldn’t worry too much about them voting since most of us citizens don’t either.  Welcome to the US of A.

3 out of 4 smokers die. Apparently the other 2 become immortal.

The New Jersey philosopher, Snookie, on lobster.

Your Local Authorized Representative. Sales, Installation, SERVICE!

Tired of your cable and U-Verse bills going up? Call SammySam the DirectTV man, don’t call the DirecTV 800 number.  I am your local authorized DirecTV provider. Lock in your price for 2 years. I’ll come to you for sales, service and installations.

Free NFL Sunday Ticket & MLB. Free HBO, ShowTime, Starz & Encore. Get the Entertainment package with over 140 channels and locals for only $29.99 a month for 1 year. Call SammySam 305-896-3017

Rabbits jump and they live for 8 years. Dogs run and live for 15 years. Turtles do nothing and they live for 100 years. Lesson learned. 

[Big Box Stores] Studies estimate the presence of Wal-Mart in a community reduces food prices somewhere between 10 percent and 15 percent. That’s equivalent to shoppers receiving an additional 5.2 to 7.8 weeks of “free” food shopping. The fact that Wal-Mart’s customer base is skewed toward lower-income shoppers reinforces the beneficent consequences of its price effect.

I’ll shop there. 

This is bud not hash. Eat your hearts out Piners!

I’m done!

[The Fruit that Meddles with Meds] It’s been known for a while that grapefruit juice can interact with certain medications and dangerously increase their potency, due to chemicals called furanocoumarins (also present in limes and Seville oranges). New research has found that the number of drugs that interact badly with grapefruit juice–including some common blood-pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications–has more than doubled since 2008 thanks to new drug formulations. Taking one tablet of certain medications with a glass of grapefruit juice can be like taking five tablets with water. A single grapefruit or glass of juice–even if consumed hours before or after a drug is taken–is enough to cause a reaction. Check with your doctor to see if any medications you take are on the new list.

Is That the President on a bicycle? Yesterday President Obama hosted the third White House Science Fair, bringing more than 100 student scientists and innovators from more than 40 states. Their projects included a robotic arm and a bicycle-powered water filtration system — which President Obama had a chance to test drive. See some of the best highlights of the White House Science Fair. Video 

”Peace, Love and Palm Trees” Domestic Abuse Shelter Spring Event. Fri. May 17, at 6:00 p.m.Hosted by Mirna Hormechea and Dennis Ward. Islander Resort – Conference Center, Islamorada, Florida. Cocktails – Music by Freddy Perez. Master of Ceremony Skip Bradeen to present Fashion Show by Blue Boutique and Tommy Bahama at Cheeca Lodge Bulletin Board

Golf bloopers. Video

A Brain “Pacemaker” for Alzheimer’s An electrical, pacemaker-like device is being tested on Alzheimer’s patients at Johns Hopkins University to see if deep brain stimulation will help slow, stall, or even reverse the progress of the disease. Already used for people with Parkinson’s disease, the device delivers tiny, imperceptible electrical impulses to the brain’s fornix-a pathway crucial for learning and memory-130 times a second. Doctors aren’t sure exactly how the impulses work, but they appear to increase glucose metabolism, which is an indicator of brain activity.

[Commander Howard Livingston] Hello Friends,  It feels a lot like summer right now. As I sit on the porch the bay is flat calm and there’s very little breeze. Last night’s sunset was reminiscent of a warm summer evening. Mirror like water on the ocean and a magnificent thunderstorm in the distance making the view off our dock look more like a canvas painting than real life. Somehow I never get tired of this and never ever take it for granted. I am ready to soak in some rays and to partake in some coconut rum while bobbing in the water. I am very good at this.

Conch Republic Independence Celebration is tomorrow, Thursday, April 25th 8:00 PM Worlds Longest Parade down Duval Street. We will be on the Schooner Wharf float and you are invited to dress like a pirate and join us in this walking parade. We will all meet at the Atlantic end of Duval Street and United Streets at 7:30.

The parade will take us right to Schooner Wharf where I will jump off the float and jump on the stage with the Mile Marker 24 band and party until midnight. Don’t miss this incredible party. Schooner Wharf Bar 202 William Street Key West

Has anyone else noticed that the most aggressive drivers on the road are young women?  I was passed yesterday by one doing at least thirty over the limit; she was weaving and cutting in and out. At the light I saw her texting- real scary. I thought teenage boys were the worst drivers. Are the times a changing?

Bob Dylan – Times They are a-Changin

Fast food places should have a third window, where you can trade in the wrong stuff they gave you at the second window.

Wringing out water on the ISS for science class on Earth. Video

Bulletproof whiteboards already installed in Minnesota school. Coming to a school near you? Bless this mess.

Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half.

[Captain Doom and Gloom]  “TP” What next on toilet paper, a photo contest?

“Big Box Store” You have seen the mutated humanity that slither into those stores, do you really want more of that in the Keys? There goes our property values!

Would not it be nice if every human paid their own way in everything like Health Care, Food, Housing, Education, Travel and all Charities and Free Lunches were banned, making each person responsible for their own existence without any help from anyone else? Gee, just think how nice a world this would be with all the blood sucker gone and how rich we would be too!

US hospitals send hundreds of immigrants back home. Nicely done, Iowa! Now I suppose o will ‘fix’ this. Link

Jason Chaffetz admits House GOP cut funding for embassy security: ‘You have to prioritize things’. Check out this link to see how Republicans really feel about security at our foreign embassies. Link

FROM THE RIGHT

Benghazi:  How long ago was it when Mrs. Clinton infamously belittled the deaths of the American Ambassador to Libya and 3 members of his staff at the hands of AQI?  It seems like just yesterday.  When queried about the circumstances of the murders she said “what difference does it make.”  Deer Friends as each day goes by we learn more and more about what actually happened and of the terrible failure of the State Department to protect the embassy. We learn more and more of the shameful perfidy of the Obama administration and Mrs. Clinton.

I trust you will remember that Mrs. Clinton testified, under oath, at a congressional hearing that she had absolutely nothing to do with the security at the embassy. She specifically testified that all such matter were handled by subordinates.

Now we learn that either she purposefully lied or that her memory is so faulty that she might be suffering from the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.  The truth is revealed in an April 19, 2012, cable bearing Clinton’s signature acknowledging a March 28, 2012, from the Ambassador to Libya requesting more security. Mrs. Clinton refused that request and ordered further reductions in security.  It is clear that senior State Department officials and Mrs. Clinton knew that the threat environment in Benghazi was high and that the Benghazi compound was vulnerable and unable to withstand an attack, yet the department continued to systematically withdraw security personnel. Four Americans were murdered as a result of Clinton’s decision.

The Obama admin, in its mad obsession with denial of the fact of Muslim terrorism, lied to the world in its early reports of the event. The cover-up efforts were sadly comedic. Who can forget UN Ambassador Susan Rice flitting from Sunday talk show to talk show so as  to parrot the line that the affair was nothing more than mob violence?

In the days following the attack, White House and senior State Department officials altered what the initial action report said were accurate “talking points” drafted by the U.S. intelligence community in order to protect the State Department.

And contrary to what the administration claimed, the alterations were not made to protect classified information.  We now know that concern for classified information is never mentioned in email traffic among senior administration officials. Link

Who can ever forget the Obama administration’s ham handed efforts to convince the world that the Libyan embassy assault was nothing more than mob violence. All of that simply to advance the Obama propaganda line that the war on terror is over. It is not.

Part 2) We hire our political leaders to solve problems, not to create them. Apparently Team Obama does not understand this concept. We now are seeing disruption of air travel thanks to Team Obama’s decision to furlough air traffic controllers.  The furloughs are not necessary; they are nothing more hard ball, naked Chicago politics. Team Obama vindictively set out to disrupt air travel and they have succeeded. None of this needed to happen.

Please consider that in general, fiscal management of the FAA is atrocious. Three key modernization programs had combined cost overruns of more than $4 billion. Amazingly, out of 30 modernization programs, at least 15 have experienced cost overruns, delays or both owing to mismanagement. Then there is the fact that the FAA In fiscal 2010 alone, spent more than $8 million on conferences for its employees. Three of those conferences, all held in the same city during the same three-week span, cost more than $4.5 million. But wait there’s more. Examples include $500 million spent on consultants and $200 million in supplies and travel. Think about that $500 million of your tax dollars paid to consultants.

The FAA has the authority and flexibility in their budget to use savings found in these areas to pay for air-traffic controllers and other critical personnel to avoid furloughs. But they won’t. Link

Please also consider the fact that the Republicans drafted legislation that would have given all Federal agencies the authority and flexibility to shift funds so as not to seriously impact the agencies responsibilities.  The legislation died aborning, Mr. Obama clearly stated that he would veto any such legislation. Link