Wednesday, January 23, 2013

[Slavery] I just read a book about slavery. The worst plantation owners in the South considered slaves property not people. They would work the slaves from sun up to sun down. Then they were fed food that wasn’t fit for white people. After the ‘meal’ they were chained to their beds, often two to one rack, until sunrise, often pissing in their beds if they had to go in the night. They had no shoes and wore the same burlap bag most of their lives. This routine continued until they died.

[Changing ISP to Comcast] Go cable and you’ll never go back. It’s 60% faster download speed than AT&T and there are no peak hour slowdowns. It’s a lot more reliable as well, stream Netflix via Roku or computer, download multiple operating system updates and play 3D console games, all at the same time with no DSL like hiccups or major slowdowns.

I like the idea with Comcast that the modem is separate from your router, unlike AT&T which it is their overheating combined device. If there is a router problem on cable, one can quickly bypass it and connect one device directly to the modem and get online to test/get assistance. Also the AT&T router is rather lacking, no dual band ability and not enough Ethernet ports, if it goes down, so does your Internet, phone and U-Verse etc.

Customer service is bad just about everywhere where the public meets complicated technology they don’t understand. Hire theirs or a local geek, same like hiring a good car mechanic or dentist.

AT&T is trying to cram a lot of bandwidth down a single ancient and tired POTS line, thus they have to heavily compress the data stream. Cable has a wider broadband capability, why one cable can service a entire neighborhood.

Ideally, fiber optical cable would really be the screamer. Virtual reality for everyone, we can only dream of it now.

The Supreme Court ruled that not all houseboats are boats. This ruling raises all kinds of interesting scenarios.

If you have a houseboat/home at your dock, do you now have two homes on a single-family home lot?

Even though it floats, will you be required to have home flood insurance in a flood zone area?

If it is in a flood plain zone, will you be required to elevate this home?

Can the first floor be an occupied dwelling?

Can you now get homestead exemptions for a vacant lot with a floating home?

Would having a floating home increase the taxes on a vacant lot?

Would floating homes in anchorages have to pay property taxes?  ~Howard Gelbman, Key Largo 

27 Pythons killed so far in Florida’s Python hunt. Link

If there was a way to read a woman’s mind, I am not sure I would want to. I hate shoes, shopping, gossip, and I already know I am annoying.

Daddy Bones BBQ‘s 2D Amendment Party is now an officially sanctioned NRA event. 

[“Dear Springer’s, prime rib should start at 16 oz“] It’s not the money. It’s the health.  Do you know what eating 16 ozs of red meat does to the human body? Okay,  it is also about money and marketing.  Good businessmen just want to get people in the door and 10 ozs does that more that 16 ozs.   Because there’s more 10 oz eaters than 16 oz eaters.  Good marketing means sell whatever it takes to get the customer and make him happy.  

[“One of the two blimps at Cudjoe beams Radio Marti to Cuba”] There have not been two aerostats on site since Hurricane Dennis of 2005 (July 5th, I believe). That is the last time TV Marti had anything to do with aerostats. Since then they have left site and broadcast using a different method. 

TARS is not just here in the Keys. It is a system of 8 sites from Puerto Rico, to Texas, to Arizona, to New Mexico. All coverage areas overlap to help in stemming the tide of not only narcotics, but to thwart human trafficking, and to help detect folks who are trying to enter this country with ill will. Agencies such as the Coast Guard, CBP, Easter Air Defense and others use the data generated by all eight sites to help keep us secure. Is it the be all and end all? No, nothing is. But, it is, and has been for 30 years a weapon in the arsenal that helps keep you and I secure. 

[Golf Tournament] Big Pine & Lower Keys Rotary Club 22nd Annual Al Mueller Memorial Classic Scholarship Golf Tournament to benefit: Take Stock In Children Scholarship Fund Sunday, January 27, 2013, 7:30 am start Key West Golf Course $75 fee, includes golf, lunch, snacks, goody bag. Prizes on every hole For more information Bulletin Board

[“Tis the Season’ Blues”] I had a similar problem at that same ramp last year when another New Yorker couldn’t back into the ramp. When she finally did there was no boat waiting for her to retrieve. We all had to wait about fifteen minutes for her boat to appear down the canal. She absolutely refused to budge when waiting boaters mentioned to her that it’s customary to have a boat when using the boat ramp. She was really arrogant.

Stricken dolphin who ‘asked’ Hawaii diver for help: Moment mammal stuck on fishing line pushed itself into scuba instructor and waited patiently to be freed. Video

[Blimp Truths] It is a fact that the TARS site flies only one blimp. The TV Marti blimp has not flown at the Cudjoe Key TARS site since July of 2005.

The “Super Radar” at NAS Key West sees only to its horizon based upon that unit’s height (line of sight). The TARS Blimp flies much higher than that elevation and therefore sees much further.

When the radar at NAS Key West goes down, they call on the TARS Blimp site to fill that gap. This happened only recently when there was a fire at the NAS Key West radar facility. This also occurs when the NAS Key West radar facility goes down for regular scheduled maintenance.

It is important that people know the truth about such things and that people do not spread rumors.

[Man Boobs] Someone on the CT thinks that because he has grown moobs that he is now in touch with his feminine side.

The problem with American food is that it’s becoming homogenized and franchised to a point to where regions of the country are losing the culture of the Mom-n-Pop places that made them a destination. Big city people who search out familiarity when they go to eat have no sense of adventure. 

Take the Mensa Home Test (I flunked). Link 

[Huygens probe] Awsome! Many thanks for the video link. Video

If McDonalds wants to check my $20 bill for signs of counterfeiting, I should be able to check their chicken for chicken.

[‘Tis the Season’ Blues”] I absolutely understand all of this – except the extreme patience stated by the poster. I would have been less pleasant – much less – for sure. Boating, and trailering especially, are skills, and training should not be at the expense of the other boaters waiting to launch or retrieve their vessel. Much experience and skills can be obtained by backing your boat around your neighborhood and in/out of driveways. Lord knows I’ve waited untold time waiting for some novice to retrieve their boat in a ramp. But, rain water draining? lawn chairs? – please this can’t be real. Patience is a virtue, but there are limits.

The great sport, especially in the spring time (first warm boating day) is watching folks launching (or trying to) launch/retrieve their boats. Pick a ramp, they are all the same and are a great source of light sport. Multiple backings, turnings, adjusting, re-backings and finally shouting at wife (as if she was driving the tow vehicle) is the epiphany of the day.

Life is good, Florida (all of it) is unique, special and a really great place to grow up, a really great place to live. Protect it, preserve it and most of all, enjoy it.

The war on drugs was over before it really went very far.  In case you haven’t noticed, we lost.

Best burger in the Keys or just about anywhere can be found at the Rum Barrel. Black Angus and fresh snow flake rolls flown in from Philly every other day. Get it well or medium well because it’s big. My mouth’s watering just thinking about one.

[FAVOR General Annual Meeting of the Refuge Friends Group] Saturday, January 26th from 12-2 pm at the Lower Keys Property Owner’s Association building 1668 Bogie Road, Big Pine Key, near the Old Wooden Bridge Fishing Camp. Join us for a celebration of our accomplishments for 2012 and help set the stage for a successful 2013 season. Lunch will be provided. Current and former volunteers, seasonal and permanent residents and others who are interested in learning about the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges’ events and opportunities are invited to attend. For more information Bulletin Board

Prime Rib Dinner    Live Music

[“Navy’s new radar will do everything Fat Albert does”] Sorry, that radar doesn’t even come close. In fact, no ground based radar provides the coverage that an airborne radar does. Radar is line of site, so ground based radar is limited by ground features and the curvature of the earth. 

[“Use an accented ñ as your password”] Lousy advice, all the keyboard keys, dictionary words etc., are known and can easily be brute forced in mere seconds. For the best password, use one that uses characters from all the segments of a keyboard character set, in a randomized fashion and more than 25 characters in length.

Since long randomized passwords are hard to remember, one can instead use a self-created obfuscation pattern to turn long, easy to remember passwords into ones that’s complicated for the brute force attackers to break or guess. Segments of childhood rhymes work great as starter material as that’s something your less likely to forget. Creating the obfuscation pattern is left to your imagination, but as long as it’s results are long and appear randomized.

Great people talk about ideas. Rednecks talk about sports. Small people talk about other people. And legends, like us, never talk, we just drink!

[Breaking Bad] The kid partner of the school teacher Meth chemist is always screwing up because he’s a druggie and the school teacher is not. The show is intentionally showing the two personality types, one is stable and succeeds, the other is erratic and fails.

Druggies have their otherwise normal emotional/neurotransmitter equilibrium (with slight highs and lows) thrown out of whack for higher highs and crushing lows. During these crushing lows, the neurotransmitters in the brain are very low, the druggie can’t think as well as they can when they are high, often act confused and emotional. Unfortunately more drugs doesn’t always make one high again, the body has to generate more new neurotransmitters by eating the right balance of foods. The best thing to do is not to throw the body’s natural balance out of whack to begin with, rather accept that life has it’s slight ups and downs, thus try to remain in control. And if one is really down, to seek friends, family and/or professional assistance to cure the problem, not add a addiction, health problems and/or prison sentence to it by using illegal drugs.

Money can’t buy happiness, but I’d cheer up much faster sipping a margarita on the beach outside of my oceanfront mansion. 

Men Teaching Classes for Women

Class 1 Up in Winter, Down in Summer – How to Adjust a Thermostat Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.

Class 2 Which Takes More Energy – Putting the Toilet Seat Down, or Bitching About It for 3 Hours? Round Table Discussion.

Class 3 Is It Possible To Drive Past a Wal-Mart Without Stopping?–Group Debate.

Class 4 Fundamental Differences Between a Purse and a Suitcase–Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.

Class 5 Curling Irons–Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Bathroom Cabinet? Examples on Video.

Class 6 How to Ask Questions During Commercials and Be Quiet During the Program Help Line Support and Support Groups.

Class 7 Can a Bath Be Taken Without 14 Different Kinds of Soaps and Shampoos? Open Forum .

Class 8 Health Watch–They Make Medicine for PMS – use it!

Class 9  I Was Wrong and He Was Right!–Real Life Testimonials.

Class 10 How to ParallelPark In Less Than 20 Minutes Without an Insurance Claim. Driving Simulations.

Class 11 Learning to Live–How to Apply Brakes Without Throwing Passengers Through the Windshield.

Class 12 How to Shop by Yourself.

Call me old fashion, but I think shorts should be longer than your vagina.

[Captain Doom and Gloom] There you are, after working most of your life scrimping and saving to buy that piece of Paradise and finally achieving your life long goal here in the Keys by buying a beautiful home worth a fortune, only to have your dreams shattered by a uncaring profiteering real estate agent bent on sales instead of realizing the need to keep your neighborhood in the class it was designed to be, by selling the house next door to undesirables and riff raff because the law says so. Lightening strikes in the strangest places, as the old saying goes!

Ever watch the Girls play softball and bet who wins to take home the bat?

Never ever yell, ‘free food’ at Happy Hour, if you want to live!

Don’t you hate it when you see an Antique Tag on your old 55 T-Bird that you bought new?

You can buy plaques with the Pledge of Allegiance in Gold in any language. Their made in China.

Key West headline: “Sharks Throw Back Overboard NJ Fat Chick”

What is the difference between snowbird, snowcow and snowbuzzard?  Ans: size!

China is dropping the One Child Per Family Law because they are running out of food.

I set my DVR to record only the movie parts and not the commercials. It has been running for a week and only has fifteen minutes of movie so far.

Why do old men look at young girls? Do you really need an answer to this?

I love to look for woman drivers smoking and texting at the same time. I’m a breast person!

My friend has a auto supply store and will retire before he is 45 because of all the light bulbs he sells to Lights On For Safety nitwits.

I love Tailgater’s. I own several of them.

I refuse to buy from racially oriented advertisers so I do like they do, I steal the stuff.

Is there a weight limit to the catch of Snowbirds this season or are the fat one’s only allowed?  One could get the bag limit in a hour in KW!

A very simple way to delete the national debt and eliminate the invasion of illegal’s is to reactivate the Military Draft for a Four Year term. Those that do not leave the country, will be trained and Americanized to become a contributing member of our society or else be shipped back to their native country. The draft must include all persons, male and female, no exceptions or rejections. Anyone who cannot serve will be sent back to their home country. This should fix things in about a week.

“Why support a NJ owned franchise” That did it, I cannot stand the incompetence in the Keys any longer. We are heading back to where people walk up-right and have dignity, taste and teeth.

Food Stamps, welfare, and all charitable BS should be stopped completely to allow those who work for their living to rise up again and take back America from the blood sucking free loaders!  The survival of the fittest is now the survival of those who can con their way and not work for their keep. Enough already.

Why Cornel West is upset Obama was sworn in on Martin Luther King’s bible. Video

[Rebellion] Missouri Sheriffs pledge to not enforce Obama’s gun control laws. Link

[Government We Deserve] Let’s look at what we have learned from this election: Twenty-one of 22 incumbent senators were re-elected, and 353 of 373 incumbent members of the House were re-elected. The American people have re-elected 94 percent of the incumbents who were running for re-election to an institution that has an approval rating of about 9 percent. This indicates, as an electorate, we are a nation of idiots. We’re now stuck with the useless, dysfunctional government that we deserve.

[“Correcting MR FTR”] The news reports did mention that the corrupt Nagin was a Democrat. Arguing with FTR is useless. The problem with arguing with an extremist or fanatic is that they can only see one opinion.

Now I know FTR‘s losing it. Tuesday’s post had two Part 2s! Yep, they say it goes fast when it starts! (Ed: It’s not FTR that’s losing it, I am. I was the one who messed up the numbering. I have a hard time with numbers especially when they go higher than 1.)

[Hatred Expressed] East is East and West is West and Nere’ the twain shall meet, reminds one  of the differing view points expressed by progressives and Conservatives on these sites, this poster fails to see the hatred another poster expresses so vehemently against F.T.R., to espouse the conservative opinion , or what so many progressives interpret as hate I believe is in reality to express a genuine feeling of the inner worth of every individual to be able to be all that they can be, to encourage people to rely on Gov tends to . destroy the creative ability of the recipient. at first like so many things in life this may seem harsh, however it is just this type of attitude that was so instrumental in making the United States such a great country, indeed we had a good run over 200 Yr’s. but now it seems as if we are probably on a irreversible downhill ride as nifty slogans and political correctness seems to carry the day on our race to mediocrity. Where we can all share the misery together.

[Petty] In case you missed it: Obama offended FTR guy with his new poster for the Inauguration. 

What a damn shame, Obama prepares to Community-Organize America. In his latest unprecedented move in American history, President Obama announced he is converting his campaign apparatus into a permanent in-your-face campaign aimed at furthering Obama’s divisive, radical politics. The new tax-exempt advocacy group, Organizing for Action, will “play an active role” in “mobilizing around and speaking out in support of important legislation” during Obama’s second term, the president said last week.

In the same vein, in his second inaugural address yesterday, Obama bullied the opposition. Reinforcing his long-running “spread the wealth” theme, the president hectored successful people, declaring that “our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.” Obama also seemed to signal in his mercifully brief oration that he’s going to go all-out to make government bigger. 

FROM THE RIGHT

At last we have finally seen the face, the heart and the soul of Mr. Obama. He showed himself to us in his inaugural speech on Monday. Let there now be no doubt but that Obama views his progressive agenda and his Presidency above and beyond criticism or push back.  Obama and the left are anxious and dead set to gut the Republican Party and especially Conservative thought. He is focused not on achieving specific policy results, but in reshaping the American political landscape. He will use the next four years to make the Republican Party a toxic brand in many parts of the country. No matter the issue, each attack on Republicans is the same. Reps are villainized by calling them unreasonable, “crazy” or trying to “turn back the clock.”  Certainly you’ve seen anyone who speaks out in defense of the Second Amendment labeled as being a “gun nut.” The media and the progressive mission clearly is an to make Republicans and Conservatives toxic in any current or future debate.

Obama has a slavish mainstream media as his handmaiden.  Obama’s greatest asset is the media. They willingly parrot Obama’s talking points. On the “fiscal cliff” and the coming debt debate, the media coverage has been exclusively on what the GOP would or wouldn’t do. The issue is framed as if the GOP has the sole authority to set America’s fiscal policy. Hence, if we do breach the debt ceiling, their message will be that it is exclusively the fault of the GOP, rather than a failure of the two parties to reach a compromise. Obama and the media continually trumpet the same talking points.  One example is Obama’s current oft repeated line that “Congress must pay for what they have spent” when he is championing raising the debt limit.  You will remember that Senator Obama excoriated the Bush admin for seeking a small increase in the debt limit.

Obama is certainly a committed leftist. But, he is not an ideological leftist in classic sense. He continued most of Bush’s anti-terror policies, increased deportation of illegal immigrants and stepped up crack-downs of medical marijuana clinics. He ignored immigration reform and gay rights until the onset of the election. Obama is playing a long game. Over the next year, he will attempt to set up the GOP as an unreasonable party of obstructionism. The media will partner with him to amplify the charge.

Unfortunately the DC mantra of crushing or demonizing the voice of opposition is on full peacock display here in our very own CT community. The standard push back against these humble postings is not to try and rationalize the left/progressive or even to promote their agenda. The critics rarely, if ever, even attempt to tell us why their point of view is righteous. The default posture of the CT leftists is to assault the character of any who would have the temerity to criticize their agenda and their President. Just yesterday on critic told us that I’m a “bitter unpatriotic old man”.  The critic simply wants these humble posting to dry up and go away.  The critics are in for a long haul. These humble postings are here to stay as long as our Deer Ed will publish them.

I respectfully remind that critical poster that one of the most important shapers of American thought at the lead up to our War of Independence was Thomas Paine.  He wrote: “The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.”  Paine also wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”  Both of those quotes are as germane today as they were then. America was forged in a crucible, these current travails will be defeated and we will be a stronger nation because of the struggle.

Part 2) My, my how times have changed.  I hear even senior military officers are not even allowed to wear ceremonial swords when Obama is in attendance.  In this time period an entertainer had a machete, hatchet, and meat cleaver only a few feet from the Prez. Link

Respectfully submitted:  FTR@bellsouth.net