[FEMA To Raise Flood Insurance Rates Drastically] Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 was passed on July 6, 2012. FEMA however informed no one about it.  My insurance agent and real estate agent just found out about it last month and informed me that my premium was going to increase from $1300 annually to over $9000 annually!

This is effective on October 1st of this year or your next renewal date whichever occurs later.  However FEMA did not notify anyone of this and in addition has made qualifications to be given the Pre-Firm rates retro-active back to July 6, 2012.

To be more specific, I purchased a ground level home here in Key Largo on March 11th of this year and was eligible for the Pre-Firm rate since my home was constructed prior to 1975.  The Premium $1300 annually.  This new FEMA Insurance Reform Act states that upon my renewal my Pre-Firm rate is no longer available since my purchase was after July 6, 2012.  Thus my new rate will be $9189 annually plus an additional 6% that the rates are slated to increase for all others.

Again, the insurance and real estate agents did not know about this and thus did not disclose this to me during my purchase.  Had I known this, I never would have bought this property nor would they even had shown me the house. This increase will cause my house payments to increase by over $700 per month which will force me into foreclosure.  

Those who have been in their home prior to July 6, 2012 will be grand-fathered and allowed to keep the Pre-Firm rates but their rates will increase by 16% per year until their premium equals the Post-firm rate.  If they sell their home the buyers will be subject to the higher Post-Firm rates. Selling your home will be next to impossible unless the buyer is paying cash for the house to avoid paying insurance premiums. FEMA has basically made our homes worthless with this Reform Act and at the same time charging us with an 800% premium increase. Just how many of us will be “flooded” out of our homes with these huge increases. it’s time to scream at our elected officials for even allowing this reform act to pass.

 I have a beautiful house for sale in Eden Pines. Please watch this Video. ~Nira Tocco

[Climate Change] Two weeks ago it was snowing in Sioux City, Iowa; yesterday it was 106. Something’s terribly amiss.

[Electricity is a “right,” PSC rules] County to review Public Service Commission’s No Name Key decision at today’s meeting.

[Pier House Shakeup Releases Prisioners] The new management of an Old Town resort made its presence known on Monday, by “releasing” dozens of workers before possibly hiring them back as new employees.

Ashford Hospitality Trust last week bought The Pier House Resort for $90 million, and installed Remington Lodging as its property management firm.

Remington personnel started interviewing hotel associates over the weekend, said a spokesperson for the management company who asked that her statements be attributed to a representative of Remington. “Obviously, when new management takes over, you end up releasing all the employees from under the old owners,” she said. “Our protocol is to assess staffing levels and make decisions based on that assessement. We’ll be rehiring a majority of the associates, but not all.”

Many longtime workers refused to be quoted for this article, but said they were most concerned by whether they’d be rehired, but also about the seniority they have accrued over the past several years, while The Jacobs Group has owned The Pier House

An employee in the resort’s administrative offices on Monday emphasized that The Jacobs Group had not initiated any of the employee “releases” that were taking place Monday, and she referred questions about that to the Remington group. “It’s always a tricky thing, because those employees weren’t working for us for all that time, so their seniority isn’t with us,” the Remington representative said. “The transition is often very difficult for associates.”

She did not know how many employees were affected, or when everyone would know whether they still have a job.

The spokesperson also added that General Manager Joy Smatt “has decided to retire and we wish her the very best.” The Remington group already manages three hotels in Key West: La Concha, The Inn at Key West and Southernmost House. “We are very much looking forward to managing another property in Key West and remaining a partner in the community,” she said in an email late Monday.

[America might has failed every invasion of foreign lands since the Korean War]

1. With an American Invasion: A convoy of gunmen opened fire on a row of liquor stores in eastern Baghdad immediately after sunset on Tuesday, killing 11 people and wounding five others.

2. Without American Invasion: Islamic extremists now control some of Nigeria’s villages and towns, Nigeria’s president declared a  state of emergency Tuesday across the  country’s troubled northeast, promising to send more troops to fight what he  said is now an open rebellion.

Please don’t write about American heroes because you’ll be missing the whole shameful point that we could be just as effective (or ineffective) diplomatically; and a hell of a lot cheaper and make a hell of a lot less enemies. 

[“Apple Tracking Users”] Apple uses devices you buy to track your location, which isn’t too much of a problem for short term purposes to assist in locating somewhere you want to get to. However they have been storing a whopping year of location data regardless if the location services have been turned off by the user, then secretly uploading this information to the host computer in an unencrypted format for others to use third party software/hackers to track the person carrying the phone. Not to mention uploading a year of your movements to Apple.

Apple claims the data is anonymous sent with no personal information, however when your static IP address or registered device number is used to connect to their servers, they record all that as well and thus it’s a simple matter of cross referencing it all in their database.

Apple didn’t think they would get busted because many of their devices now are considered “closed” and they control the software sources via their AppStore, thus many users cannot install third party security software to monitor all the unseen operations to keep this sort of snooping in check.

Notice the two so called “bugs” Apple now claims they are going to “fix” on the last paragraph of the link. “Bugs” my arse, just another in a long line of serious personal privacy issues by this company. Link

”Bacon affects the brain the same way as cocaine” study concludes. Yea!

When two female Jehovah Witnesses came to our door I was standing unseen around the corner. My husband asked them to come in and said, “My wife isn’t home.”  They never came back.

Florida quietly shortened yellow light standards time lengths, resulting in more red light camera tickets for you. A subtle, but significant tweak to Florida’s rules regarding traffic signals has allowed local cities and counties to shorten yellow light intervals, resulting in millions of dollars in additional red light camera fines. Link

Today is the last day of Stone Crab season, one of the worst ever. The fishery in Gulf of Mexico waters were plagued by eight months of red tides. The stone crab fishery was also plagued by a fatal parasite, hematodinium.

A married man’s chopper. That’s what happens when you lose your nuts.

[Lights On All Night]  Turn those lights off!!  On Big Pine in Pine Channel Estates there is a certain neighbor that every night they go out they leave every stinking outdoor light on.  And there are a number of them, each being those very bright flood lights. They shoot down on the street and out towards their neighbors across the street.  It is very disrespectful to their neighbors.  I really don’t know their reasoning for doing this.  As soon as you turn onto their street you can see the house lit up like a Christmas tree, and they live almost to the end of it.

[Salt] “No Benefit in Sharply Restricting Salt” In a report that undercuts years of public health warnings, a prestigious group convened by the government says there is no good reason based on health outcomes for many Americans to drive their sodium consumption down to the very low levels recommended in national dietary guidelines. Link

Fanci Seafood will be closed on Sundays until August. Everyone have a great summer!

[To the chart guy or gal with “too much time on my hands”] Thanks for the pie chart. Now that I see a visual representation I hope all of us loyal readers will strain our brains and turn it around so that original content becomes larger than toxic content. I greatly enjoy reading about people’s ideas, experiences and beliefs even if I don’t believe it myself or agree with them.  I skip the cancerous posts as I don’t want to “touch” stuff that is ugly and possibly contagious. What I really treasure about being able to read is the ability to choose to not read something.

Planets aligning in the sunset sky. Link

[Pier House Workers Freed] Gee wiz, I just got “released” from my job. It feels so good having that iron collar off and the chains gone. Thanks management.

[Space Nuts] More than 78,000 people apply for one-way trip to Mars. Link

[Zipline Names] Potential names for zipline amusement park which will be at Crane Point:   Flying Iguana, No-See-em Aerial Adventure, Palm Tree Top Zip Line

The police want to interview me. Strange, I didn’t even apply for a job there?

[Butterflies] Plant Milkweed. Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed. Link

Yesterday US1 was closed for 5 hours at MM 89 due to multiple car crashes.

In 1972, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot in Maryland and left permanently paralyzed below the waist while campaigning on his platform of discrimination and hate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

[Keys Flood Insurance about to have huge rate increase] My friends just bought a house in Key Largo. It is a nice single level house and they live on a nice canal. Their flood insurance is $1300 per year.  Last week they were told the renewal cost would be $9,800 because they were pre-FIRM – built before 1975, because new rates go into effect on Oct 1, 2013. This law was enacted July 6, 2012, but nobody he knows was told about it.  His realtor didn’t, his loan people didn’t, nor anybody else he dealt with.

According to my friend the pre-firm buyers who bought after Jul 6 2012 get the increase immediately and the rest of the people who have flood insurance will get increased until they reach the same rate at an increase of 16% per year.

Anybody buying a house in the Keys should stop what they are doing and make sure they want to deal with this increase. He said he never would have bought it if this had been disclosed, so I am disclosing this to all Keys buyers.

This will devastate the Real Estate business in the Keys, but buyers need to know the truth. He called his State Senator’s office to get this ridiculous law changed but they told him they are only in session March through May and they have already adjourned before the middle of May.

Property values will plummet with this law. My friend says he can’t sell his new house because of the new additional monthly cost to a buyer, so he will have to let the bank foreclose.

The new law goes into effect Oct 1 but they don’t have to tell anybody before Aug 1, that is why I am telling you. Please tell everybody so we can change this craziness that the government created. 

[Voices] 3 out of 4 of voices in my head want to go to sleep. The one keeping me awake wonders if penguins have knees.

County to look at fixing canals. Link

Why is it that these snowbirds keep telling us about how cold is it up there in Wisconsin, or wherever, like we care?

The Pier House Chartroom is a landmark we all love. If the Remington managers need assistance keeping the CR as is, we have a local chapter of The Winchester Group to help manage it for them.

~Sincerely, The Guys!

A website for cat lovers in the Keys. Link

Today is the end of Stone Crab Season.  Come get your last fresh claws during the next few days at Fanci Seafood!

Nice graph of the Sea Surface temperature, only you didn’t say where it was measured.  The Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean, your canal, an average of different spots? It’s World Climate Change that we worry about.  If you think that the graph is of the world average, try to figure out how you could ever calculate that.  

Hint:  the Antarctic Ocean is always colder than the Indian Ocean.

Fishing is an acquired skill involving baiting, casting, trolling, and jigging while at the same time cussing, swatting, sweating, and drinking.

Ahead of time home design on Cudjoe Key. Link

[Guns] I pre-suppose that one cannot have a rational discussion about guns with the pro-gun faction because they are a bunch of irrational nuts.

[Canals] How do we stop ignorant people from filling up the canals?  Make it illegal? How do I get the county to prioritize my canal for improvement?

[Science Fair] The Key West Botanical Garden Education Department is hosting the 3rd annual “Go Green!” Middle School Science Fair on Friday, May 17. This year’s event will include over 100 students from the Lower Keys as well as prominent members of the local community who are involved in sustainable living. Bulletin Board

[“Lights on All Night”] Because the new residents moved here to get away from all the lights, fear, crime, alarms, overcrowding, congestion, traffic, rudeness, pollution, roadway trash, cold, taxes, high rise buildings, honking horns.

New residents want pleasure, peace and quiet, sunshine, relaxation, serenity, safety, starry skies and clean clear water, but guess what?  They brought all the bad stuff with them and now we are infected with ‘up North disease’   

It’s a hard disk drive back in 1956. With 5 MB of storage. In September 1956 IBM launched the 305 RAMAC, the first “Super” computer with a hard disk drive (HDD). The HDD weighed over a ton and stored a whopping 5 MB of data.

It would take 3200 of these units to equal the capacity of that little 16 Gig stick plugged into the side of your PC. Do you appreciate your 16 GB memory stick a little more now?

Sometimes I wonder how many CT posters are pro-America and how many are obvious anti-Americans. The Left and Right guys should be looked at closely!

The pie-chart person with too much time on their hands could spend some of the time chatting with the Jehovah’s or Mormons, then create another chart.

[Page and Plant] Another great thing about America and why we love her! Only a few years ago, this would not have been possible. Think about it. (Ed: I did, and still don’t get it. Were the former Zepplin’s cancer survivors or something like that?)  Heart — Stairway to Heaven 

[Weatherman Farce] A dissection of the words from “the Weatherman” on May 14th: refuse, outrageous, lie, lied, intentionally, fear, manipulate, tragedy, gross lie, cult, anti science, fanaticals, despots, fear, threats, wretched, intolerance, and hate.

The word that best summarizes his intended arguments: pathetic. 

[Guns] Since FL has a carry permit, can anyone suggest the best item to carry for street protection?

The concept behind One Human Family includes all humans and elevates our thinking to break down the divisions that tend to separate us. It’s possible that one may have been convinced by politics, religion or otherwise to consider themselves more or less, or not even human. Which if so one of course is still part of the One Human Family by birth, just their behavior needs adjusting or perhaps forced segregation from harming others of our One Human Family. If there are too many that won’t adhere to the new elevated level of thinking to denounce their race, religion or politics and join the One Human Family, substantial force will be required to eliminate “them” using the newly created One Human Family Army (similar to the Army of Islam). 

[Sore Loser] A welder lost a bet and had to fork over a bottle of booze. This is how he “gift” wrapped it.

One can’t help but notice the increase in the number of ‘seminar’ postings. Let’s not allow these to take over the local flavor of the CT. As the summer moves on, and so the visitors, perhaps there will  be less of them.

([?]Ed: Noun 1. A conference or other meeting for discussion or training. 2. A class at a college or university in which a topic is discussed by a teacher and a small group of students.)

[“One human family”] What a joke. Maybe if you don’t fish commercially or are a street performer or choose to not pay rent and live on boat or any other lifestyle that does not fit with TDC or the Chamber’s Disney Of The South image of the Keys. Otherwise you are a blight on the area and not welcome.

I saw this memorial in the Citizen and thought what a great photo of a WWII GI Joe. R.I.P. Lieutenant!

Marathon’s Zipline will be another loser. How many zippers will it take to get in the black? Don’t bother doing the math its a loser. Money loser. Let the bright boy who came up with the idea fund it. It will never ever save the hammock. Sell it, ‘doz it, done.

[Captain Doom and Gloom] My wife and I decided to get a Smartphone. We did and we returned it in a week. Why? Because we read the 25 chapter manual and viewed all the toys and gadgets the phone offers, and figured that it would cost us over twice our monthly income to have the debris we would never use. We downsized to a good old flip phone with a simple screen and simple tools. The camera is ok, but taking pictures with a tiny lens like that is useless anyway. Going back to basics feels great.

DEF: Ringworm n. 1. A greedy diamond jewelry nut.  2. A fiancé.

DEF: Airhead n. 1. A blonde 2. A politician who thinks he is valuable and justified.

DEF: Blog n. 1. A web site of questionable worth posting whims of frustrated semi-intellectuals who cannot get laid.

DEF: Laptop n. A electronic device that hides what the user really wants to do under it.

DEF: Dating Services n. 1. Legalized electronic prostitution. 2. Outlets for geeks and freaks 3. See: www.Quickies_Online.com

DEF: Pacifist n. 1. Any person not interested in war or killing who belongs to the NRA 2. Any high ranking military who likes very tight uniforms.

DEF: Brat n. That part of a ‘Child’ that should have been left on the sheet.

DEF: Fetus n. Any unfertilized female in 3rd and 4th world countries.

DEF: Fusion n. A power generating reactor that turns air into pure energy. See: Oops!

DEF: Stand Up n. 1. A comedian who is always ready to run off stage.

DEF: Alimony n. The screwing you get for the screwing you did!

“Childbearing should be a punishable crime against society” If it is not made a crime then open your extra bedrooms to the illegal’s and the muslims because they are conquering the planet with mutants offspring at 1288 per minute.

All figured out. The Orient from Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, through India and Malaysia all use natural recycled human fertilizer to grow their rice and other food, so I propose the Florida Keys ship all our “natural resources” free of charge to those poor 3rd and 4th world countries to help them grow more food. We don’t need no stinking sewer system!

Looking at China and other countries that produce so many irrelevant goods and how they are breeding out of control, should be studied by Americans so we know how to build manufacturing plants for the millions of workers we are starting to acquire and how to design debris to export to other countries to make life more profitable for our NWO companies. 

[IRS Scandal] 40 years ago this week, May 18,1973,  the House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon and one of those was misuse of the IRS to go after political enemies!

[IRS Scandal] Don’t criticize Bubba Dubya or the IRS will revoke your 501C3. Bush admin targeted NAACP. Link

[Benghazi]  The cover-up involves the rescue that should have happened.  Resources were available and in place.  No American should have died.  Help was requested and denied, multiple times.  That is what needs to be exposed and never happen again.

[“Climate Fail”] The Myth of the Scientific Liberal: Those who tout science should accept its findings.

The core trait of a scientific mind is that when its commitments clash with evidence, evidence rules. On that count, what grade do liberals deserve? Fail, given their reaction to the latest evidence on universal health care, global warming, and universal preschool. Link

I’m just so friggin’ incensed over Benghazi and the government’s obvious attempt to … Oh, look, a sandwich!

This just in from planet Rubio: “I demand president Obama immediately ask for the resignation of the (non existent ) IRS Commissioner.”  And the Mayor of Candyland, the Prince of Potato Chips and the Queen of Hearts.

[Benghazi] You liberals seem to be confused which isn’t surprising. People died. Maybe you ill-informed voters should study up on the candidates you vote for instead of choosing someone because CNN told you to.

[Liberal View] Of course the IRS was checking on conservative groups because it’s common knowledge that right-wingers think it is their traditional patriotic duty to stick it to the Man by cheating on their taxes (wink wink).  I am glad the IRS was doing it’s job.  Now if Congress would do it’s job and help move this Country forward.

[Benghazi] Apparently those who think Benghazi is just a small thing forget how they all voted for and they cried wolf when Bush presented “facts” to the UN and Congress to attack Iraq and Saddam. Of course they didn’t cry wolf until they discovered no chemical weapons were found.

Now a President has not been forthcoming to the people he represents about a serious charge which left 4 people dead. Was there any possible way to have saved them? Why was an order given to stand down any possible help? Instead of ignoring these things would you not like to know? Are you an American? If your son or daughter were over there, would you not care? It is like the question of waterboarding, it is not acceptable unless the life of your loved one was at risk, then go ahead and waterboard the SOB.

[Good News] The stock market has broken all records for the last fifteen days.

[Scandals] Evidently the Republicans have decided that the wealthy of this country are doing just fine and dandy as things are, so they are free to devote all of their time to screwing with Obama and the other Democrats, tying up the government and to hell with the nation’s problems.

If this were a Republican administration with this much scandal hitting, the lefty bloggers would be using the phrase “frog-marched.”

NO NAME KEY ELECTRIC

PSC says No Name Key residents have “right” to electricity. Link

Tuesday, May 14, 2013, the Florida Public Service Commission unanimously voted that their authority is “exclusive and preemptive”, and that the No Name Key homeowners are “entitled” to power. The items under consideration, and unanimously approved orders, are as follows:

Q: Should the Commission deny the County’s Motion to Dismiss the Reynolds’ Amended Complaint?

5-0:  Yes.  The Commission should deny the County’s Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint.  The complaint states a cause of action upon which relief can be granted.  

Q: Does the Commission have jurisdiction to resolve the Reynolds’ complaint?

5-0:  Yes.  The Commission has jurisdiction to resolve the Reynolds’ complaint, and that jurisdiction is exclusive and preemptive.

Q: Are the Reynolds and No Name Key property owners entitled to receive electric power from Keys Energy under the terms of the Commission’s Order No. 25127 approving the 1991 territorial agreement between Keys Energy and the Florida Keys Electric Cooperative?

5-0:  Yes.  The Reynolds and No Name Key Property Owners are entitled to receive electric power from Keys Energy under the terms of the Commission’s Order No. 25127.  

Q: How should the Commission dispose of the Reynolds’ complaint?

5-0:  The Commission should grant the ultimate relief the Reynolds have requested and order that the customers located on No Name Key in Keys Energy’s service territory are entitled to receive electric service from Keys Energy.  The Commission should find that its determination of the issues in the Reynolds complaint is exclusive and preemptive.