[Mosquito spraying temporarily stops on Big Pine Key] A pair of potentially endangered butterfly species have Big Pine Key residents concerned about the prevalence of a different insect altogether. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine, put a halt to the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District spraying adulticide on the island in mid-June so it could monitor dwindling Bartram’s hairstreak and Florida leafwing population. Both are candidates for the Endangered Species List.

That means the district has been unable to use its spray trucks — familiar sites to most Keys residents — to patrol Big Pine neighborhoods since then. The adulticide is dispensed as a fog from the trucks. “In past years, Mosquito Control has worked with us to get a special-use permit, and with the potential for listing these two species [as endangered], there was a request to do a conference opinion,” refuge Manager Nancy Finley said. “It’s about determining how to minimize the adverse affect to the organism; that includes making sure its habitat aren’t affected.”

Part of that is determining how much, if any, adulticide drifts onto the croton plant on which both species depend for survival. Croton is a small, low-lying shrub. “It’s the sole source plant for these butterflies,” Finley said.

Finley said Fish and Wildlife studies have determined that Bartram’s hairstreaks, once common throughout the state, are only found on Big Pine and on Long Pine Key, a tiny island in Everglades National Park. Its population is estimated at 100 to 800 adults total. The Florida leafwing population is thought to be “several hundred or fewer.” It’s found in the Everglades, sporadically in Miami-Dade County and “may be gone from Big Pine.

Mosquito Control Director Michael Doyle said larviciding makes up 90 percent of how the district kills mosquitoes. Adulticiding is a back-up plan, but a useful and important one, he said. Larvicide kills mosquito larvae in the water before they fly, while adulticide kills adult mosquitoes with a fine mist at night or early in the morning. District aircraft dispense many tons of larvicide granules up and down the Keys. “Over the Fourth of July weekend, we put out 17,000 pounds,” Doyle said. Doyle said adulticide used by the district is a “general low-level insecticide toxin” meant to kill mosquitoes and smaller insects. It’s not meant to affect larger insects like butterflies. “It’s been approved by the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] for use in mosquito control, but [Fish and Wildlife’s] view is anything that could possibly affect these endangered species, they want to restrict,” Doyle said.

Finley said the district and Fish and Wildlife are working together to get Mosquito Control spray trucks running again. The district provided information Tuesday that Finley said would be analyzed in Vero Beach. “They’ve done a great job getting information to us,” she said. “They have hundreds of them to do, but based on the urgency and the community concerns, we’d want to expedite. Hopefully it could be a couple of days.

In the meantime, Doyle said the district has been ramping up larviciding on offshore islands that are fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes. ~Today’s Keynoter 

The Underwater music festival got blown into a non-event again this year. I’ve lived here for 25 years and have had it howl out there like 20 out of 25 years on the day of the music festival. At what point is one of the organizers gonna say this is the wrong Saturday for this thing and move it to a day in August or September when we could use the bump to the economy. July is pretty good with the 4th holiday bringing in tourists, and of course, the sport lobster days.

US1 Radio and Bill Becker have done a fantastic job with this event. It really is fun.  I’m just sick and tired of throwing up all day out there year after year. Move this event to a better weekend so locals will show up. Zero pictures on here sure makes my point. (Ed: They did move it. It was originally held in January or February in 4- 6’ seas and 20 knot winds.)

[Garbage] I spent three months in Vilsec Germany two years ago and we didn’t have garbage pick up. There were no garbage trucks! We recycled everything that was purchased. The grocery store didn’t carry bags, period.

Recycling in this country is a joke and scam like all the other bullshit and lies we are told about America. The trash pick up is contracted out and run by who knows who (the Mafia typically controlled the waste business). I am glad I have traveled as much as I have so I am able to distinguish fact from fiction. America is like the bible, lots of good stories but little fact. You won’t get the real picture from the American media.

[“Septic Tank Conversion”] I think you’ll be required to fill in your septic tank when you get your sewer or private poop plant.

When we were finally allowed to have city water on Big Pine after hurricane Georges I wanted to turn my shallow well into a pond, but FKAA wouldn’t let me and they said I had to fill it in. I argued and they gave in because it actually made sense and they couldn’t deny that. But it was real hard getting that through their thick bureaucratic heads.

We have had this beautiful homing pigeon on our patio for the last day here in Key Largo. We have fed and watered him and he is quite friendly, but we can’t get close enough to him yet to read his leg bands. He is a dark bird with some blue and purple feathers on his back. Email me at bubbers44@yahoo.com if you are missing your bird. I have a picture of him if you want to see it. (Ed: We’d all like to see the picture.)

[Truthful Bigot] Paula Dean’s empire crashed over night because she admitted under oath that she has spoken the word “nigger” in the past. She could have lied, but she was under oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. If I was to place 50,000 people under oath and ask each and every one if the had ever used the “n” word, they would all have to answer yes. If not I would call them liars.

I am asking you, yes you, if you have ever used the “n” word  in your life. Well go ahead and answer me with the truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God!

Gator was seen Friday at dusk just offshore Spanish Harbor at end of Warner near Avenue A. Three footer is correct. No sign of mother in sight, guy just enjoying the water. Guess we have a new resident in town.

[“Martin/Zimmerman trial”] Mr. Martin picked the wrong guy to start something with and got what he was looking for– a fight. A fight he lost. Am I sad the kid chose to be a thug? Yes. Am I sad the kid is dead? No. We make choices that affect our own and other people’s lives every day and T.Martin was obviously making bad choices. How long would it have been before he affected someone else’s life negatively? Nobody can answer that. Try to teach a kid to do the right things while in the ‘hood. Good luck with that. Ponder this one. On a hate crime, when a white guy kills a white guy or a black guy kills a black guy isn’t  because they liked each other? Does someone have to be a different color for someone else to have a beef with them? How much longer will it be before it won’t be politically correct to say cracker? Or is it “cracka” now?

[“White Crowned Pigeons – Does anyone know what they taste like”] They are hunted in the Bahamas for their meaty breasts. I’m told that they are very good, you know, just like chicken.

[“White Crowned Pigeons–Does anyone know what they taste like”] Squab.

[“White Crowned Pigeons–Does anyone know what they taste like”]  Yes. Pigeon!

[“Want to know what White Crowned pigeon tastes like”] Ask the local feral cats or any other loose cat.

[Gun Nuts] While reading my gun supply magazine I saw the ultimate thing for paranoid gunners, a weatherproof container for burying your guns to avoid detection. This paranoia has been fueled because Obama wants background check to weed out the craziest of gun nuts. They also featured a 100 round magazine for AR-15s. Just what every sportsman needs!

I recently saw a report from an ammunition maker who said the panic buying, supposedly because of the fear of background checks on gun nuts, has subsided and manufacturers are building up supplies again.

[Coral] The staghorn coral they are “growing” grows and proliferates very well on its own and has many very healthy stands in the lower Keys. FKNM Sanctuary won’t even look at the locations they have been informed of , since it would prove there are very healthy areas also. Healthy corals don’t get money from the Government, so they aren’t recognized. FKNMS wastes the money they get, buying a $400,000 military drone that is illegal to use.

Commissioner Neugent is not going to run again and will need a job and he has been posturing himself for a position at FKNMS for some time. This is part of it. The Sanctuary produces no tangible product and inhibits commerce. Willing to prostitute themselves to Fury[?]. All while patting themselves on the back for being environmental heroes. What BS. Very few of them ever actually go on or in the water.

[Doomed By Bureaucracy]  Are you seriously going to argue about grinder pumps while your perfectly good septic systems are replaced against your will and your vote. You deserve the shit that will back up your pipes along with your neighbors shit.  It will flood your homes and canals and cause eco-hell. Ask those in Key West on North Side Drive how they like it. It will happen and you will still be occupied with the cost of running a pump on a system you do not need or want.

New sewers in Key West never knocked that coliform count in our waters down. What a load of crap for what, a billion dollars?

It is all phony. It was phony in Ft Lauderdale in the 70’s and it is phony now. Sewers are put in to allow for more construction. Height limits no longer will have meaning and you will be watching that grinder pump grinding away. You are distracted from the real screwing.

I am just not going to allow anyone to take away my septic system. It works and it doesn’t cost me a dime. Also it works when the power is out. The FKAA can shut off my water and I will make my own water. I will not take an unfunded mandate. I won’t take a funded mandate. I don’t like mandates. I will fight this til the cows come home. I have got nothing better to do than to fight for my right.

Thanks to Doctor Billy Causey the sewage plan is happening. “No to NOAA” didn’t get us far did it? All the lies are obvious now. Pay for the right to breathe in the Keys. The movie Popeye nailed it with the taxman bit – only it came true here in the Keys.

Go on and keep your efforts to focus on the pumps and overlook the monster called NOAA and the myriad of patrol boats and fish laws. More money is being made on undersize snapper fines than with traffic light cameras. It is government at it’s worst. I have lost all of my fishermen friends because they lost their way of living. My salvor friends were the first to go then the shark collectors, tropical fish collectors, lobstermen, crabbers, netters, mullet men, some divers–everybody who made a living, but not a Keys living, like those with only one job.

It is because we all let it happen and now it is here. Grinder pumps are the least of your problems. You better be richer than you are because only the rich will survive what is coming.

[Bullying] 60 percent of students in  survey report being bullied. So what? I was bullied. Everyone was bullied at some point. I’m not in favor of bullying, but it’s a right of passage. You can’t expect children to think and act like adults. Case in point: Older kids don’t bully any more, they grow out of it as their character and mind develop. Children are undeveloped, that’s why we call them children.

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[“Under Water Music Festival”]  Houston TV station showed video of it.  The live mermaid was a nice touch.

[Zimmerman case] While none of what I’m about to type proves anything, it certainly lends some additional credence to the validity of the jury’s finding in the Zimmerman case. This was not presented as evidence. Trayvon Martin was found carrying skittles and “Arizona” brand “Watermelon” flavor drink ( I’ve had it and it is good). Trayvon Martin was also known to have been seeking out Codeine. This is all captured on his Facebook status updates and conversations. Trayvon Martin’s autopsy showed liver damage and brain tissue damage (not caused by the fight with Zimmerman).

DXM is a street drug. The street name of this drug is “Lean”, but it also goes by other names. Lean is now popularly made by mixing skittles (also jolly ranchers depending on the person), Arizona brand Watermelon drink (some use Sprite) and cough syrup which contains Codeine.

This mixture in the proper dosages has been compared to PCP. Withdrawal symptoms from high-dose chronic use of DXM can lead to the development of toxic psychosis – a mental condition characterized by a loss of contact with reality along with a confused state – as well as other physiological and behavioral problems. Usage will also cause liver damage and brain tissue damage. Mixing it with other drugs will also cause side effects. Depending on the dosage, primary effects can last a day or more, with secondary effects lasting days.

Now this doesn’t prove anything, but it bumps up reasonable suspicion, for me, to a point where it is hard to imagine that Zimmerman’s story isn’t the most likely chain of events. If you see a 17 year old male, walking aimlessly in the rain, acting strange, acting like he is on drugs, as Zimmerman claimed in his 911 call before the shooting started, and that drug has unstable side effects and can lead to violent behavior, and which the withdrawal symptoms are also complex and disturbing, exactly what are Trayvon’s defenders basing their cries of “injustice” on?

Trayvon wasn’t just buying skittles and ice tea, he was actively trying to put together the ingredients for a hallucinogenic drug cocktail.

Again, this doesn’t prove anything, but it further makes the case that the not guilty verdict was correct, and the race baiters and others trying to paint a target on Zimmerman’s back should be ashamed of themselves.

[“Grinder pump fiasco”] Not only will we be in a sea of poop after the first serge in a hurricane, but we are going to pay for it. Feel better about protecting the reef and water quality now? I wonder how many FKAA people will have the grinder pump system. Do some research and I think you’ll agree this is a losing situation  for property owners. Good luck to all of you and enjoy the aroma of your poo bath.

This waterspout was filmed off of the Tavernier in the Keys in July of 2008. There is only one spout in the video and the other things you see in the background are rain storms.

One of the better images yet recorded of a waterspout, a type of tornado that occurs over water. Waterspouts are spinning columns of rising moist air that typically form over warm water. Waterspouts can be as dangerous as tornadoes and can feature wind speeds over 200 kilometers per hour. Some waterspouts form away from thunderstorms and even during relatively fair weather. Waterspouts may be relatively transparent and initially visible only by an unusual pattern they create on the water. The above image was taken earlier this month near Tampa Bay, Florida. The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida is arguably the most active area in the world for waterspouts, with hundreds forming each year. Some people speculate that waterspouts are responsible for some of the losses recorded in the Bermuda Triangle.

[“New recycling plan”] The new recycling plan is not new. I’ve seen it twice before and you guessed it, It failed both times. There is big money in trash, or refuse if you like, and as long as there is money to be made, bad ideas or systems repackaged and sold as the “new” solutions will be a reality. People will not take the time or go out of their way to recycle so someone else can profit from their efforts. Don’t you see the the futility in someone trying to profit from everyone else’s efforts? Oh wait, it must be that the recyclers are doing what they do because they are concerned about the planet and want to do the right thing. Why would they doing it for money? If you buy that crap go ahead and recycle every piece of garbage you can find and make them wealthy. They are laughing all the way to the bank and they appreciate all your efforts.

[Zimmerman Trial] Zimmerman was found not guilty according to the law, but politically he’s guilty. You shouldn’t fault the jurors for following the letter of the law. After all, this is a country of laws and one of our greatest strengths. What is clear is that the prosecution had no evidence that Zimmerman planned to kill Martin. Zimmerman should have been charged with a lesser crime where they didn’t have to prove he didn’t plan to kill Martin. It’s the prosecution who should be raising the ire of the masses.

[“Convert septic tank to cistern”]  I don’t know if this is true or not, but I heard someone else wanted to do that very thing and the permit got shot down. Why would FKAA want people collecting rain? That would be profit lost by them. If you gain, they lose.

If you want to collect rain water there are a ton of ways to do that. They can’t keep you from doing that–yet.

Grinder pump failures occur in every community that has them installed.  This becomes a financial burden for every Monroe County citizen, as we’ll pay millions in repair costs forever.  FKAA has no intention of listening to reason. The County Commissioners have washed their hands of all of it. The Bubbas will line their pockets again.

[Tweaked Twinkie] If you think that Twinkie looks smaller than you remember, you’re right. Link

[Zimmerman] A minority of protesters are violently participating in rallies and vigils held by Martin supporters in major cities since a Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty.  Yes this is a minority but is expected to carry on throughout the summer.  When OJ Simpson was found not guilty of a racially profiled murder, the general population accepted it as a miscarriage of justice but did it nonviolently.

[Midwest Prices] I was out to the midwest over the weekend and I’ve got to  tell you the Keys are way overpriced. There you get two breakfasts for the price of one,  but the fishing sucks the big one.

[Land of Milk and Honey] Requests for asylum in the United States have nearly quadrupled in the past five years, mostly due to claims by immigrants coming from El Salvador, Honduras and  Guatemala. The US received more than 19,119 asylum requests through the end of May.

George Zimmerman exercised his right to free speech and was almost beaten to death for doing so.

[“Pellet gun sights”] Farther target, aim higher. Closer target, aim lower. The most important thing is that there is nothing down range or in your case behind the target you don’t want to hit.  If you could not figure that high/low thing out on your own, here is a bit of advice. Please go talk to the guy at Newman Outfitters. I can’t remember his name off hand, on Quail Roost Rd, east of the flea market. You seemed clueless in your post and could hurt someone.

[Grinder Pump Support] A post  tells of a lawsuit in East Hampton Connecticut in which a dozen or so residents of a neighborhood are suing over the dreaded grinder pumps. Once again a link is given. If you google it, you will find out that the pumps were installed seven years ago and hooked into a system built in 1981. The best part is that the suit deals with the design and not the pumps themselves. What does a seven year old add-on to a 32 year old system have to do with us?

Grinder pumps remind me of the old saying that anything made by the hand of man will eventually fall apart.  Another old saying goes by KISS:  Keep It Simple, Stupid.

The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.

[Tool Booth Misprint] On July 16 someone said “How about putting up a tool booth” to pay for the sewage system. A “tool” booth? Also someone asked about info regarding turning their old septic tanks into a cistern. This has been explained numerous times here and many other sources.

Would someone please OK the Keystone pipeline if only to shut up the yammering  Tea Party Fox News coocoos.  The resulting peace and  quiet would more than offset any long term environmental damage caused by the burning of fossil fuels in our Escalades.

Thinking people should pay for their own bills and birth control now makes you a conservative. It used to just mean you are an adult.

FTR guy blames Obama and everybody else he doesn’t like.

Fox News doesn’t like Obamacare because it is too long and too complicated and uses too many big words

[Class warfare] The folks who are getting the free stuff don’t like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff. And the folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop. And the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting. Now the people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are receiving the free stuff that the people who are paying for the free stuff are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So the people who are getting the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff and giving them the free stuff in the first place. We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded.The reason? The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give

them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them. The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 236 years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff.

Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it. A nation of sheep breeds a government of wolves. For all our sake please take a stand. Obama: gone, borders closed, language English, culture God, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, drug free, mandatory drug screening before welfare, no freebies to non-citizens.

There is a nasty little truth that is starting to become more and more evident about Obamacare. The heart and back bone of Obamacare is that everyone, especially our younger folks will pay health care premiums. But its likely they won’t, most of them are not dummies. They will avoid the more expensive premiums by just paying a fine which will be small fraction of the premiums. The idea is that the money paid by the young folks will pay for the care of the older folks. The problem is that the disease rate among young persons is skyrocketing.  Without the premiums paid in by the younger people, and with an exponential increase in health care costs for those young people, the Obamacare system is doomed.

The entire premise of Obamacare is that the younger folks are much less likely to need expensive health care, and that they now will be forced to pay into the system.  Well, my Deer Friends, it now is becoming apparent that that premise is deeply flawed.

The latest stats show that more and more young persons are getting more and more ill with chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. More and more younger persons are suffering from heart disease in their 30’s. While deaths from heart disease overall is on the decline, deaths from heart disease from people 25-34 heart disease deaths have increased. 20% of our youth are obese, a near sure ticket to stroke, diabetes, or heart attack. Then there is the nasty little fact that most young people will be likely to pay the tiny fine than to pay the very expensive required Obamacare health insurance. Obamacare is based on the premise that masses of young people will be paying for the health care of older people. The fundamentals of Obamacare are fatally flawed.

Late yesterday we learned that even Obama’s unions are now resisting Obamacare. Bad news for O.

Part 2) We’ve been reading a lot of jawboning about Mosquito Control recently here on the CT. There’s been a lot of griping about the number of mosquitos, especially  here on BPK.  There is a reason for the number of mosquitoes that are plaguing us this this year. Here’s the straight story:

1. Each year Florida Keys Mosquito Control must sign a spray agreement with US Fish and Wildlife concerning spraying federal and state lands on Big Pine Key.  This agreement was necessitated in the past to protect the rare Miami Blue Butterfly found on Big Pine Key and on Bahia Honda.  The agreement is usually signed in the winter months well before the need to begin spraying for mosquitoes.

2.  This year the agreement was partially delayed because Ann Morekill left and a new director was named to head US Fish and Wildlife in the Keys.  The new director arrived within the past two months. As of now there still is no new agreement.

3.  Earlier this year the initial proposal from Mosquito Control was rejected by US Fish and Wildlife. They requested more information because several more species of butterflies have been identified on Big Pine. A second proposal was presented to US Fish and Wildlife. As yet, despite urging from our Mosquito board, they have taken no action.

4. Therefore, Mosquito Control is now not able to spray to kill adult mosquitoes on Big Pine Key. That will remain so until US Fish and Wildlife has agreed to terms with Mosquito Control.  Larvacides can still be sprayed to control mosquito larva on big Pine Key as usual but this will not kill the already present adult mosquitoes here.  Mosquito Control is working hard to examine options and to come to an agreement with the Feds soon, but there are no guarantees.

5. Certainly protecting our kids and ourselves from mosquito transported disease should be a higher priority to our Federal government than obscure breeds of butterflies.  It appears the Feds prefer to protect the butterflies more than Big Pine Key tax payers.  Most of the Feds making this decision do not live in the Florida Keys.

Part 3) Team Obama and others are doing their level best to ratchet up hate against white persons. If you listen to their rhetoric you will learn that they claim that Americans of African descent are routinely and cruelly killed by whites.

The facts prove their hate mongering to be wrong. In 2011 (the most recent stats available from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report) there were 2695 black persons murdered. Of those black murder victims, 92% were murdered by blacks. Only 7% of the black victims were killed by whites. Link

On Sunday I wrote:  “the term “cracker” is every bit a pejorative as is the term “nigger.” I believe that both are profane, hateful, and disgusting labels.  A poster disagreed and apparently took offense. The poster stated that my statement was “wrong in many ways”. But the poster failed to tell us any of the ways that my statement was wrong. I hope that the poster will take the time to educate us. That same poster made  oblique reference to the 3/5’s rule. That rule was in place 1787. Basically, our founders decided to count each slave as 3/5ths of person for taxation and representation purposes. I’ll spare you a long recital about the issue, but it is fascinating, I urge you to check out the search term “the three fifths compromise”.

I remind the poster that 226 years is a long time to hold a grudge. I remind the poster that hundreds of thousands of white and black  Union Soldiers fighting together  died  to free the slaves.  I remind the poster that the President of the our great nation is of African descent as are members of his cabinet, as are Senators, Justices, Judges, attorneys, Mayors, Chiefs of Police, City Managers, billionaires, airline pilots, cops, Generals and Admirals,  and on and on and on. Jim Crow is long dead and buried, good riddance. I remind the poster that black persons are not the only segment of our society that has been victimized by our society. My people, aboriginal Americans, were slaughtered and driven from their homes. Today, that is ancient history, it is behind us.  In today’s America, everybody has an equal chance. Unfortunately some people wrap themselves in in the noxious rags of victimhood, they use it  as an all purpose excuse  for their own shortcomings. Their outcome is determined not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. The proof of that is all around you, accept it. I urge the poster to put the hate away.

LONG WINDED TOMES

Our friends on the left will no doubt point out that the article on ice mass was printed in Nature, a publication owned by Republicans, the Koch brothers and Big Oil. Just kidding, but that is their standard MSNBC/CNN learned response to real science. BTW, do any of these liberal folks even take real, hard science courses?

Spain is the latest European country to regret its foray into green energy production. On Friday the Spanish government announced some contentious reforms to its regime of green energy subsidies, which were among the most generous in Europe.

Those subsidies (in the form of guaranteed above-market rates for producers) have been wildly successful at encouraging solar and wind farm construction. They have utterly failed, though, to help build profitable industries. Now the Spanish central government is dealing with a residual tariff deficit of €4.5 billion for this year alone. That’s the difference between the amount Spanish consumers pay for electricity and the cost of producing it.
While environmentalists will no doubt be upset, Spain made the clear choice. High electricity rates are an unnecessary and regressive tax on citizens and a serious drag on industry. Link