Archives of Old Kudos and Whiners


BigPineKey.com

In order to save computer space we delete all pictures after six months.

December 2007

Monday New Year's Eve 2007




This is the last day of the year.
Every year around New Year’s day people write in here with their opinion of snowbirds. Snowbirds, take heart, we’re just in shock from the mass migration changing our quiet keys into bustling keys. Don’t fret, the snowbird talk will die down in a couple of weeks as soon as the shock wears off and we get used to the inconvenience of this influx. And as far as you other locals go, at least we have someone new to talk to and don’t have to listen to each other’s old stories and jokes.

[snow birds] The problem that I and many of the other "local yokels" have with them is their attitude that "the way it’s done up north is better." If it's so great, go back and stay there. That along with the driving way under our already slow speed limits, sitting through the very short left turn light at U.S. 1 and Watson, bitching about the way working peoples’ yards look, bringing all their necessities down with them because its too expensive down here, fishing with resident licenses, (owning property does not make you a resident in any state that I have checked) and anchoring right next to other boats that are fishing or diving when there is a whole ocean out there. Their sheer numbers overburden our already strained infrastructure. I could go on and many others have their own pet peeves. I will admit however that I know many snowbirds that are fine people and neighbors. I also know a few locals that would fit into the same classification as the worst of snow turds.





[Bush can’t do anything right Department] While running for governor of Texas Bush was trying to glean votes from the pro gunn folks so he shot a bird to demonstrate his machismo. The problem was that the bird was on the endangered species list and he had to pay a fine.

[mentally challenged daughter] Incidents as were described are what give flea markets a bad name and make people wary of buying from those places.








Here are some new year thoughts for us all. http://www.angelrays.com/greetingcards/diary.html

[snowbird who asked "why do locals hate us so much?"]. Well do not hate all snowbirds. I have lovely friends who come down every year and enrich my life. Unfortunately, there are snowbirds who, for some obtuse reason, think they immediately own the place. It's just silly. I've had times when I'm riding my bike and see people walking and I am always compelled to say, "Hello". Well, they just stare me down like morons, and that is rude and classless and pisses me off. But that's not to say that they are all that way. And yes, I was indeed born in FL, not in the Keys, but in Miami. I am a local, born and bred and married to a snowbird. So of course we are not stupid enough to dislike the people who love this place too. It’s just that some of them need to be more social or friendly. Of course, those people won't read this, or give a rat's ass, but welcome—absolutely!

[que tenga un buen día to all who refuse to become politically correct] Please translate, because I only (now and forever more) speak the language of my country. A Googled translation indicates you're saying have a good day. If that's the case, I don't understand the position or point of your post. Also, it's pretty bad and sad when I have to have to Google to understand something on the Coconut Telegraph! (No disrespect to Ed)

Why is my Big Pine Key property assessed and taxed for half a million dollars, yet the same house is now selling for $300K?  Has anyone else noticed an increase in homes which are condemned, dilapidated eyesores with trash, old broken boats and cars around it and criminal renters who have been on the arrest pages?  The foreclosures are happening and I hope the wealthy Asians buy them up and fix them all nice and neat.  Our neighborhood has pockets which look like the housing projects of cities.  Even our entry signage looks trashy and there is glass all over the roads.  I have seen nicer trailer parks and it's embarrassing what is happening to our community.  No wonder they are not giving us our sewers.  The people here are too lazy to pick up the telephone and call Waste Management for their neighbor’s heavy trash and old furniture which sits on the curbs for months.  Yes, months go by and everyone just drives by the crap.  They obviously do not care.  It's such a shame to work so hard on your little piece of paradise and then have to live near scumbags.  How are they able to afford it down here anyway?  The snow birds take care of their homes and this local actually prefers them to the local Keys diseased gossip hounds.



I just read in the paper how much the cost of the 18 mile stretch road project is escalating.  This is what we have to look forward to with the sewer project thanks to our various county governments who’ve listened to the obstructionists over the years.

There’s a new counter-terrorism unit in the Keys, which you can learn more about and join by going to savingthekeys.com or savingkeywest.com. One of the ringleaders is Suki Miller of Island Image & Design on Stock Island. Suki reminds me a whole lot of Sandra Downs of Cudjoe Key, whose steel-magnolia, heart-felt viewpoints can be read in the “Believe It or Not” menu page of goodmorningfloridakeys.com. If I knew how to provide easy-to-use “click-here” web links, I’d do it.
 
Meanwhile, a correction to yesterday’s posting, “Development. Religion.”  What I was sent by a third party looked to me like it said Pritam Singh got his spiritual start reading the autobiography of an India yogi named Muktananda. Actually, this is what happened to someone who had been to Pritam’s posh spiritual retreat in Woodstock, Vermont, paid for with money Pritam had made of his developments in the Keys. How Pritam got started spiritually, I was corrected, was with an India yogi, whose face appears on the packaging of herbal teas, the writer said. And, when Pritam realized this great man was raping his young female students, he spoke against it, and then had to get the hell out of Dodge, so to speak, with a pack of eastern-style Elmer Gantry-worshipping vigilantes hot on his tail. Later, Pritam became a Sikh, and even later, a Zen Buddhist, as well. Even as the original great one still resides in Pritam, pulling pretty near all the strings, unfortunately. Unfortunately, because Pritam has enormous potential for good, but it cannot be realized because of this yogi residing in him, who has enormous potential for whatever suits him. GoodMorningKeyWest.com



To the snow bird who wants to know if we were born here. In most cases no, but we live here all year, and we are not trying to make the keys like the place we came from.

I will tell you what the problem is with snow birds. They are rude and drive like they are speed racers. They complain about having to wait in line. They treat the people who live here like they’re crap. They think they should be taken care of first. I could go on and on. I was born in the keys and I have seen this for the last 48 yrs. There is not a thing anyone can do about it.

While she was 'flying' down the road yesterday, a woman passed over the Whale Harbor bridge only to find a cop with a radar gun on the other side lying in wait.  The Village of Islamorada cop pulled her over, walked up to the car, with that classic patronizing smirk we all know and love, asked her, “What's your hurry?”  To which she replied, “I'm late for work.” “Oh yeah” said the cop, “what do you do?”  “I'm a rectum stretcher” she responded. The cop stammered, “A what?” “A rectum stretcher?” “And just what does a rectum stretcher do?”  “Well” she said, “I start by inserting one finger, then work my way up to two fingers, then three, then four, then with my whole hand in. I work from side to side until I can get both hands in, and then, slowly but surely stretch it until it's about 6 feet wide.”  And just what the hell do you do with a 6 foot asshole?” he asked, “You give him a radar gun and park him behind a bridge”  Traffic ticket $95.  Court Costs $45.  Look on the cop's face...priceless! For everything else, there's MasterCard.

[snowbirds comments] I left BPK Saturday at 2 pm after a short stay at my home in Eden Pines.   Never in all my years in Pinellas County (I was born there 60+ years ago) have I seen traffic jams like what I saw on US 1.  From the light at Key Deer Blvd the Overseas Hwy. was backed up all the way off Big Pine and past the boat ramp on West Summerland Key.  There was a solid never-ending line of cars and motor homes southbound all the way out of the Keys.  The stretch is under construction with widening and the big bridges are being built to replace Jewfish creek. From the entrance curve at North Key Largo the cars were stopped and creeping all the way to the passing zone!  For almost 10 miles cars were stopped and nothing was wrong just too many cars for the construction zone. 

I guess now I know why I've never been down there after the 1st week of Dec. What a mess. God save the Keys!

The people who run the flea market booth are clearly not Keys people.  Just two weeks ago my son was laughed at when he popped a gag gift that when opened gave off the odor of rotten eggs.  He shouldn't have been touching the merchandise, but it was mixed in with the toys.  He was the better person by offering to pay for the item.  The lady wouldn't take his money. She said it was worth seeing him suffer. 

This story was in Sunday's Parade magazine "Why Deport A Hero"? In the on going war against extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan, our military has been hampered by a shortage of Arabic speakers. So why are authorities trying to deport U.S. Army sargent Hicham Benkabbou, a decorated soldier who is fluent in Arabic as well as French and English? His offence: Not reporting an annulled marriage in his immigration papers. (Moroccan-born, he came to this country in 1998). The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau has begun removal proceedings against him and Sgt. Benkabbou faces deportation if he returns to American soil. At press time, he remains on combat duty in Afghanistan. Our lawmakers and government agencies say let's give millions of criminals, who spit on our laws a path to citizenship, but we'll deport a decorated soldier who’s risking his life for America because of a non-notice! It's the American way. If this immigration story pisses you off as much as me, contact your lawmakers and give them your opinion.

We recently got Comcast high speed DSL. It's great. So great that other people apparently wanted to use ours too. There are different kinds of Trojans I guess. Comcast is nice enough to provide free McAfee service to it's customers to clean up all the spyware though. So now that we have the protection of the McAfee service I get the following message when I try to go the Monroe County Sheriff's Office website:  Request Denied by WatchGuard HTTP proxy.  Reason: IPS matched signature "Bleeding-Edge Malware Fun Web Products Spyware User Agent, etc." I would ask our government but I don't suppose there would be an answer, so I post it here. Something smells bad.

Dear Snow Birds, You were wondering why we locals pick on you. Believe me it's nothing personal. If you survive the summer here your brain is little fried and your claws are showing. We just need a little controversy to prove we're still "in the loop", whatever that means. So please cut us some slack and think of all the tales you'll have when you go home.

[Monroe county is #1 in DUI drivers] There is a difference between drinking and partying and drinking and putting your dumb ass in a car and driving.

[mentally challenged daughter] I bet if you had taken out your cell phone and called the sheriff their tune would have changed.



Deer Kay Thacker, Why don't you run for a Commissioner seat?  I think you would win and you've got my vote.  We need more Kay Thackers in our government down here and to weed out the crooks and Guidos.  I would also suggest some of the retired folks run who have been here for a long time and know what's going on. This would give them something productive to do, other than gossip over the fence.  They could actually do good things with that energy.

If you have a beef with MCSO Deputies, blame the man on top.  Sheriff Roth has refused to pay his troops and won't even give them a cost of living allowance. The morale is low and some of the good cops are quitting.




[The Plan] That sounds like a great idea except what will we do with all of the "toe tapping" Republicans hanging around public bathrooms?

[mentally challenged daughter] The sun glasses booth at the flea market needs to be put out of business. They should take your $10 and get out of the Keys.

The Snow Birds across the street just came down a few days ago and already their yappy dogs are barking. I know that in a few days they will be putting out their store-bought feed on the ground, so that the deer will become a super pet again as the tip over my garbage cans many times during the night, and eat ( and kill ) any small plants that I have been trying to propagate. If that sound like what you do every year when you come down here, then that's why I wish you would stay up north.

I just realized that snowbirds are like the illegals invading our country; only snowbirds don't work and thank God they do go home.








A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Glen Reber on Avenue E. Hope you are well and happy. Your family up north would like to hear from you.

Thank god for the snowbirds. Otherwise, it would be this crowded all year long!

I quit trying to read Sloan's incoherent ramblings a long time ago.





Thousand Islands are more than just a salad dressing. Slide show

[The Plan] Thanks, you made this democrat laugh. Whoever said Dems don't have a sense of humor? That's how we survive!

A US man has stunned friends and relatives by sending them Christmas cards - two months after his death. The 34 handwritten cards were sent and signed by Chet Fitch, who died in October aged 88, with 'Heaven' given as the return address. Mr Fitch, from Oregon, wrote that God had allowed him back to Earth specially to deliver the cards. His barber, Patty Dean, 57, said that Mr Fitch had approached her with the idea in 1987, saying he wanted to play one last trick on people after his death. Mr Fitch wrote the cards and gave them to Mr Dean to post in the run-up to the first Christmas after his death. The cards showed Mr Fitch square-dancing with his wife Jessie, who herself died in 1995.

The other day I said that many Republicans and most Democrats are flat wrong on the immigration issue.  The point is that we must control illegal immigration.  The consequences of failure to succeed are catastrophic in social, fiscal and security ramifications.  Most Republicans and a few Democrats are of like mind.  There’s no confusion there.  That has been my point in previous postings.  No confusion or wavering there. I believe that refusal to consider new or changing components of any problem or to accept dogma of any party demonstrates weak or lazy thought process.  As to Bill Clinton; he carries some of the blame load for immigration, but the genesis of this mess goes further back.  On this issue, the Republicans are a lot more right, and most certainly, correct, than the Democrats.  We’ve all seen the efforts of the Democrat party to guarantee floods of new potential Democrat voters crossing our borders.  You’re absolutely correct if you’re saying that this staunch Conservative Republican has independent thought.  Now if only more Democrats would critically rethink Democrat dogma.




Happy New Years Eve!
Remember were better off than people in Baghdad, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Michigan. Be thankful.

[War on terror]  From 1979 until 9/12/01, world wide, there were at least 21 attacks on American interests or lives by Islamic terrorists; (2 in America), these attacks killed nearly 4000 people, all non-combatants.  Since the beginning of the war on terror, world wide (except in the battle areas), there have been 7 such attacks (none in America), which killed about 128 people, all non-combatants.  Wow!  I extend my sincere and reverent thanks to our warriors.




I liked those hand paintings, but was disappointed because I didn't see Cartman's hand painted to look like Jennifer Lopez. Ed, good luck finding that picture!

[Summary of my last year on the computer] I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing. Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason. I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time. I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program. I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.  Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains. I no longer can buy gasoline without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas. I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans. I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer. And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life. I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.  I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me. I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise. I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army. I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. I no longer have any sneakers, but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike. I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe. Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt. Thank you too for all the endless advice Andy Rooney has given us. I can live a better life now because he's told us how to fix everything. And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 I dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg. Oh, and don't forget this one either! I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies! If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...



Have a Happy New Year and, oh yeah, A South American scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain and sexual activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse. Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late

[All smokers have a bad sense of direction] You stated that smoking is a privilege not a right! Smoking is for the most part still legal, government supported and sponsored. As much as it may burn your ass, smokers too are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, bla, bla, bla and the pursuit of happiness. Hell, the fact lawmakers want to raise taxes again on "the right to smoke", this time to pay for children’s health care proves it's a government supported right, not a privilege. Until the government stops subsidizing, taxing and finally outlaws smoking completely--smoking is a right!

How about drunks, speeders, litterbugs and cell phone users? As a non-smoking, non-drinking, non-speeding, anti-litterbug cell phone hater, I find them all far more annoying. And yes, I do lead a really boring life, but it is my right!




The sky at dusk on the first day of 2008.

I agree with the poster that said anyone getting welfare should pass a drug test. The entire Iraqi government should line up because they are getting the largest welfare check in the world’s history. And if you think it will save money to create a new drug testing program and to open up drug testing facilities where people can be tested you’re day dreaming. We don’t need a larger government since we cannot afford to pay the one we have now.


Just in case this global warming turns the other way in the Keys. It’s best to be prepared. http://www.benmeadows.com/refinfo/Tips/Article1.htm

[What is it we Snow Birds do that tick off the locals so much? I haven't a clue] That, my dear Snowbird, is the problem, You have no clue what you do. The majority of snowbirds come down here and leave common sense, simple logic, and manners at home. You people do not own the Keys, you just borrow them for your whims and pleasures. Most all snowbirds I have met, think we locals are here as servants and handymen. Most care nothing for the environment and the peace and quiet that's here when you are not. Please respect the local inhabitants and our rights and ways. We are the ones that suffer the egomanias of the politicians who kiss your asses for fun and profit because you have more money than God. I pray for April.




I saw an ice cream truck on our street the other day. He had signs all over his truck that said “Slow Children”. I felt so bad for him I bought a whole box of fudge cycles.

The story about the flea market sociopaths ripping off the mentally challenged daughter was horrible. Did you talk to the person who rents out the spaces? (Although that may not do much good. As I recall, he's the one who tried to rip off Publix when they were going to buy the property to put in a new store.) We don't go there much, but have relatives visiting and planned to go over this morning. We'll avoid that booth. Thanks for the warning.



We are sorry for the porn link on Keylargokey.com.  I can assure you that was put there in error.  We have since corrected this.  For the concerned viewer the new exit link was prepared just for him. Thanks for visiting us.
KeyLargoKey.com

If the post about the flea market guy and the mentally challenged girl is true, he is a low rent piece of crap and should be thrown out on his ass. There's enough thievery going on in the County without the likes of him.




Now you've gone and done it. There is urine for sale on eBay so the welfare recipients can pass their test.

For the "Wondering Snowbird".  There are the locals who just quietly live here full time and enjoy their good fortune in being able to and don't mind sharing.  And then there are, (ta daaa) "The Locals". It's the same the world over.   PS You're probably forgetting to genuflect to them.



Stupid
don't know they were stupid because they are stupid!

[Snow Birds] It's not  all of you just some and for those they are just plain rude, inconsiderate on the water and of our environment, slow as turtles on the road and have little consideration for those that work their butts off to live here year round.  Plus we just really like the emptiness of our islands in the summer.



Link to Sheriff’s website. http://www.keysso.net/

[mentally challenged daughter] Please clarify your complaint (what stuff do they sell) so not to bad mouth other sunglass vendors at the flea market.

I'll never make it out of snowbird land. In fact I came down every 3 months and I was a summer bird.  Every time I came down I spent at least 2000 dollars in 12 days, eating out, buying boat gas, hiring mechanics, buying building supplies, renting cars, shopping, buying presents, drinking liquor and beer.  I think I benefitted the islands and contributed to the economy.  No natural animal migrates this way so I guess I am a freak of nature.  I just want to end it all; the way you people talk about how bad it is down there.

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Photo Gallery

Monday December 31, 2007

Sunday December 30, 2007

I took my mentally challenged daughter to the Flea Market and at the booth (two down from the silver lady and across from the end of the covered eating area) they had a table with glasses for a few dollars (they were plastic animal shapes like you'd find at a dollar store).  I went to get some water and my daughter asked if she could look around the booth.  She asked the man how much for the black bat glasses and he asked her how much she had, she told him she'd gotten $10 from grandma and he said that's what they cost and took her money.  When I came back I asked the woman about the price and she said "go away for a few minutes and I'll talk to the guy in charge"...so I walked away and when I came back she said they were there to make money and that if someone was willing to pay they were willing to take the cash. I mentioned (still trying to be polite although I was getting quite upset) that this was a special needs child and they were clearly taking advantage of the situation. She said, "I don't care. It's not my child so it's not my problem." I know there's nothing I can do now, but I just wanted to let you know that for every honest and pleasant sales person out there, like the doughnut guy who always gives my daughter and extra mini donut with a wink, and the hammocks people who gave her a kite that made her day, there's another piece of trash like the ones working the booth I mentioned. but it's ok, what goes around comes around and they'll get theirs.

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but Ed Swift and I agree on something!  His piece in The Keynoter about how inappropriate it is for Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties to be allowed to dump billions of gallons of barely treated wastewater in the ocean was spot on.

I like reading Sloan Bashinsky's political stuff, but his love life? It's hard enough to follow stuff he understands, but his writing about romance is horrible. I think poor Sloan's wasting his time with that woman. Does he think she'll date a man who won't take responsibility for his own thoughts? Every thought he has he blames on something else (God dreams).




What on earth is it that we Snow Birds do that tick off the locals so much? I really try to get along and haven't a clue?

This was too easy: "Look at the party affiliation of the leaders of the sanctuary cities--Democrat all." Please cite where Rudy Giuliani drove all the illegals out of NY City when he was Mayor. He is a Republican and is running to be the Republican nominee for President (He even wants to give drivers licenses to illegals). As for "sanctuary" states, let's not forget Arnold. The problem crosses party lines and until we the people understand this it won't be fixed. 




Miss January
al Jazeera calendar

One crisis followed by another crisis and all mishandled. Every seat on the Islamorada council is up for election. Let’s clean house and bring in a new crew that might make the right decisions.  We are still missing six months of financial reports for 2005, one month of September 2007, (end of fiscal year) and nothing beginning October 1, 2007 until now. The fact is, folks, we are broke and they don't want to tell you. They can't pay outstanding bills and keep hoping for a miracle.


Thank you police officers for getting some of the drunken people off our roads.  There are so many who are still out there driving around on our two lane highway.  I wonder why you announce road blocks in advance.  Should I Google that?  AAA will tow you for free or maybe you could designate a driver, call a cab or even better - do not drink to the point of intoxication.
Recently, I received an email about Pritam Singh’s spiritual path and the very posh looking spiritual retreat he built on several acres of land in Vermont with money I suppose he made in the Keys. The retreat didn’t appeal to me. His spiritual journey was reported as having been ignited during his reading of the India yogi Muktananda’s autobiography. Then, Pritam became a Sikh. Then, Zen Buddhist.
 
Every time I’ve been around Pritam, I’ve gotten the willies, felt something bad. Similar to how it goes for me when I sit through church services, or am around County Commissioner Mario Di Gennaro, Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson, and local developer Ed Swift, to make some analogies.
 
I read about half of Muktananda’s autobiography in the early 1990s, when I lived in Boulder, Colorado, because quite a few people I was getting to know thereabouts had spent time with him in India and in California. I also read stuff Joseph Chilton Pearce wrote about Muktananda, based on his own personal experiences with him in India.
 
People I knew who’d had contact with Muktananda had received what they called Shaktipat, which was supposed to trigger or activate the kundalini, which is a supra human energy that used to run more freely in people than it does today. Pearce said the inhibition had to do with modern ways of raising and educating children, which are unnatural in the soul sense. A friend of my wife ditched Muktananda after learning he was having sex with teenage women in his ashram. She ditched her husband, too, who, as I recall her telling it, remained with Muktananda and was messing around as well.
GoodMorningKeyWest.com





My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch. ~Jack Nicholson

I just took a look see at the Key Largo Key web site. All I have to say is, they print what people input and that is fine, but the site’s layout is too hard to read (type font-wise) and the Exit Page button goes to a XXX porn page, which is ok, if you like that, but I feel it isn't cool for what this site stands for. I wish the Coconut Telegraph was that uncensored as KeyLargoKey.com is; then we lower Keyers could make our points better. KeyLargoKey.com






The other day my wife was talking to our very young and cool looking neighbor. She was listening to her complaining about having no privacy in the Keys. It seems she is always being looked at through her shade-less windows by other neighbors as she dresses in her string Bikini for her trip to Marvin Key to sunbath in the nude. There's no respect anymore. I sure hope she doesn’t get shades.

The Plan
a.. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.
b.. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.
c.. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.
d.. In three generations, there will be no Democrats.
Damn - I love it when a plan comes together


[
urine test for welfare] that’s a great idea and it should be done nation wide

[The Democrats deny the threat of Islamic terror] The republican writer is really wrong--right?.

[My God, they’re here!]  Shopping in Key West is now the seasonal horror it always is. Brain clouded, narrow minded, old fuddy-duddies in their Cadillac’s swerving and speeding every which way, thinking they own everything and demanding the right of way over your body if you happen to be crossing anywhere. God grant us a fast safe Snowbird season!

[Pledge of Allegiance] In 1923 the National Flag Conference called for the words my Flag to be changed to the Flag of the United States. The reason given was to ensure that immigrants knew to which flag reference was being made.  The words "of America" were added a year later. The U.S. Congress officially recognized the Pledge as the official national pledge on December 28, 1945. 

If I remember correctly, about 20 or 30 years ago if you were on welfare and finally got a job you had to pay back all the money the state "loaned you". I don't remember if you had interest on that money though.




[Monroe county is #1 in DUI drivers] It couldn't be that the Florida Keys are the party capital of the world, or that there's more places to libate than to park, or that the holy rollers are making it seem that we are the bad guys cause we drink and party, could it? Come on people, if it wasn't for the drunks and the tourists wanting to party their asses off, you would be living in God fearing gated communities and having the dullest lifestyle imaginable (without sex too).

[Sheriff Rick Roth] You would think he would want his deputies to obey the legal speed limits.

[Ask the Navy] The photos at the website are indeed real.  They are part of the Valiant Shield 2006 exercise, which included creating photo opportunities, known in military jargon as a "PHOTOEX", a Photo Exercise.  A PHOTOEX is usually a small part in a bigger, major exercise.  It allows for the visual recording of the event for history, distribution, and various other uses.  It would also seem the photos can be used for "some awesome photos" to send via email.

This is the most popular photo of the exercise.  At one point during the exercise, it was the most downloaded photo on Yahoo! for a day. 

A Malaysian church and a Christian weekly newspaper are suing the government for banning them from using the word "Allah," alleging that the prohibition is unconstitutional and against freedom of religion.




Reverend Charles speaks--or at least he tries to.  Video

The "who is Neil Chamberlain?" post and the "use the www" reply are terrific examples of why I hope Ed doesn't engage the Stupidity Filter if it's ever offered to the general public.  Yes, I understood what you were trying to say, but the misinterpretations are hilarious!

Isn’t Commissioner Spehar a realtor? Didn’t she vote to buy the old Hickory House (that was built in the 1940s and has almost no room to park) at the peak of the inflated housing boom for 3 million dollars thus helping to sending the county into poverty?

[Drug test] What a great idea!  Yes to the welfare and any socialist give-a-way takers having to take drug tests. If they fail--no money.  There goes Clinton’s whole platform.

For a man of small statue Dallas MacDonald will leave a large hole. This mild spoken man could get more done than most people. I always looked forward to seeing him whether it was bowling or around AARP. My prayers go out to Norma, his wife.

I love this site. Someone referred to me as a "sputtering democrat"  when I said the last 8 years of a mostly Republican controlled government has  watched the largest increase of illegals entering the country in American history. I thought he was disagreeing with me until the very next thing he said was that he agreed his party has dropped the ball. He then said I was tough on Rudy for turning New York City into a large "illegal sanctuary" city. Then again he agreed with me. Maybe you are not a republican as you claim. You change your stance every other sentence. You have more flip flops then Jimmy Buffett. I guess that makes you the "confused republican" and I will stay the stuttering democrat. One thing is for sure, if I have a strong opinion on a political matter today I will have the same opinion tomorrow. I was impressed though that you didn’t pull out the ole Bill Clinton excuses as most Conservatives do and I applaud that. I’m thinking you’re a closet independent--Welcome.

Has anyone else had this happen? All of a sudden when I try to access keysso.net, (after doing so for years) I get an "access denied" message. For those who don't know, the site is Rick Roth's Sheriff web site. Maybe I'm considered a terrorist because I support Ron Paul for president. I guess they don't want us to find out who has been arrested and for what. Fine. I guess it's time to go fishing and watch the black helicopters fly over. (Ed: Try our link Arrest Reports Mug Shots we’re in cahoots with the black helicopter guys.)

[I can't wait for April when all the snow-birds go home] Just out of curiosity, were your born in the Florida keys?

Thought you and your many readers would enjoy seeing the talent of this artist. they are all hand painted.

[web design] Take a look at Hema’s (a Dutch department store) product page. You can't order anything and it's in Dutch, but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens. http://producten.hema.nl/

[Oh, oh!] Attention computer techies: I have a computer virus, called VIRUSPROTECT, that claims to be part of Comcast Security, but it's really a scam and Comcast security doesn't get rid of it. It's icon is in my system tray and constantly pops up a security violation warning. It does not respond to right click, and of course, Comcast Support denies knowledge of either this scam, or why their security can't find or get rid of this virus.  A Google for this has many entries, a lot if info, but no help eliminating it. I also used AOL and McAfee security software, but they didn't get rid of it either. Could some kind fellow Coconut'er please help me get rid of this?

Funny how someone should mention passing without the right of way.  The other day I was turning onto First  St, by the old House of Music and some A-hole had the audacity to pass on my left as I was turning left.  Any police around--absolutely not!  I have seen several police vehicles pass on the right when there was no reason to.  I guess they give a license and a badge to anyone who applies.

Crap. Now we’ve got to listen to the local yokels complaining about the snowbirds for another four months. Damn.




[Email Stupid Tourist Questions]  Nothing wrong with soliciting a good laugh. 'Tis the season!

[20 types of tortillas at my old food store] El plan de Aztlán is progressing as planned! Viva Republica del norte! As Americans we should never forget that 12-20 million illegal immigrants have more pull with our government than law abiding Americans do. To all politically correct supporters of illegal immigration, que tenga un buen día to all who refuse to become politically correct, want illegal immigration stopped and want to keep America’s sovereignty.

[open letter Dixie Spehar] Commissioner Spehar, you have been well aware of those folks suffering from the noise level of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, sometimes upward to 150 times a day. Further, you have been well aware Navy and Monroe County are both guilty of encroachment. At what point will you protect the citizens who live in your district?

At the December 5th BOCC AICUZ meeting you stated this was “all new” to you and was the “first time” you had heard about the 88-120 decibels these magnificent aircraft generates while soaring above your constituents. In case you didn’t notice, there were sounds of gasps thundering from the audience, almost as loud as the airplanes in question. Aside from massive phone calls, emails, and letters you’ve received about unbearable living conditions, you could have taken the collective looks of disbelief as another clue.

Commissioner Spehar, the voters of your district have pleaded with you for immediate relief from this noise level. You also requested from the Navy, at this same meeting, to get equipment in place to measure the real noise level of these F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. Has this been done?

We call on you to protect our citizens by requesting immediate action, directing the planes to go back to the original flight path. Given the change in the AICUZ, it is insupportable to ask people to endure the uncomfortable conditions now being created by these new aircraft.

Your choice here is between cowering to the Navy or standing up for your citizens. You didn’t take an oath vowing to protect the expansion of the Navy. However, you did take an oath to protect the safety, health and welfare of the citizens of Monroe County.

Do your job.
Kay Thacker





[something in the way of a contrite apology] Ok, I'm sorry you're stupid. Say, that was easy! I look forward doing this all through 2008.

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Saturday December 29, 2007

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them? Understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their butt, doing drugs, while I work. Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check? Something has to change in this country -- and soon!

Bhutto was a frivolously wealthy feudal landlord amid bleak poverty. The scion of a thieving political dynasty, she was always more concerned with power than with the wellbeing of the average Pakistani. Her program remained one of old-school patronage, not increased productivity or social decency.  bhutto_assassination

Dallas MacDonald has passed from this world. Dallas was active in the Senior Center, Big Pine Key Computer Club and Coast Guard Auxiliary. He will surely be missed. No services have been announced as yet.

[blame the Democrats for the amount of illegals]  It is no political parties' fault that illegal's are taking over the country. It is your fault. You the people, the citizens of the country are about to lose to third world invaders who will trash you out of your home, your wealth, and whatever else they can scrounge. You are allowing them to do this, so quit bitching and moaning and do something about it.


Just what this site needs. http://stupidfilter.org/wiki/index.php?n=Main.About

Why can't we consider DEVELOPER a four letter word?




[Speaking of pistols]  I was wondering if anyone has a Glock Model 36 slim-line .45; and if so what they think of it.

[American heroes Video] This has got to be the best post I have ever seen on this site.


Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army. On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb. That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair. On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush. That afternoon the Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth. On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap. The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

[Illegal aliens] Yesterday a poster sputtered that Republicans, not Democrats are responsible for the illegal alien debacle.  I had written the day before yesterday, that the Democrat party is conflicted and seems to have positions that are most assuredly lenient and forgiving towards illegal aliens.  I’m Republican and ruefully state that many Republican politicos, President Bush included, have refused to take strong and meaningful action to right this wrong.  Nonetheless, for the most part, it is the Democrat party that is ready to trade open borders for the chance to recruit new Democrat voters.  It is the Democrat party that embraces “motor voting”, it is the Democrat party that rails against requiring voters to demonstrate proof of citizenship to vote, it is the Democrats that champion free medical, and education for illegal aliens, the shameful list could fill this entire site.  Let there be no doubt that anyone, Republican or Democrat who favors these abominations is just flat wrong.  There is no doubt in this Republican mind that President Bush has been weak on immigration. President Bush and the Republicans have been weak, on cutting spending as well. 

But he, and they are right, and they are strong on national security. He’s right about cutting taxes, the war on terror, the economy, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Republicans believe that we must win the war on Islamic terror.  The Democrats deny the threat.  The sputtering Democrat also railed against Rudy G. He cited Rudy’s reported granting sanctuary for illegals in NYC.  Rudy was wrong, it may cost him the nomination.  Even so, his overall record as mayor is exemplary, and his announced positions on national immigration reform pass my muster.  My guess is that the sputtering Dem poster is not in favor of the immigration positions of any of the Democrat hopefuls.  I’ll just bet the poster is for tight borders and booting out the illegals.  Could he be a closet Republican on this issue?  If so, welcome to the fold my friend.  If not, hope springs eternal.


Football commentator and former player,
Joe Theismann, 1996:  "Nobody in football should be called a genius.  A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

Hi Betty!




The Village of Islamorada has refused to provide me access to a public document.  I complained to State Attorney Mark Kohl and he has refused to do anything.  Time to get somebody that will enforce the Florida Public Records law.

I know they just got here, but I can't wait for April when all the snow-turds go home!

[blame the Democrats for the amount of illegals] It’s easy. Look at the party affiliation of the leaders of the sanctuary cities. Democrat all. Congress should withhold all federal money to states and cities whose policy does not report illegals to ICE.

Every conversation I have with the woman I’ve been writing about lately leaves me feeling that I’m talking to myself; that we just do not seem to be on the same page. When I told her she was at the center of why my trip to Oregon was scrubbed (the angels told me so) she said they had nothing to do with her. I said they have to do with all of us. She again said no. She wasn’t denying them, only that she is connected elsewhere and not to what, clearly to me, brought her and me together. Objectively, it was clear. Subjectively, it was clear. To me. The odd thing is, she says stuff that I really need to hear. Hear subjectively, as well as objectively. She said she was going to see No County for Old Men again, at Tropic Cinema. She said there was a lot to it. I said I agreed, tried to talk about it, and was left feeling like I was talking to myself. So I went to see it again, last night. Yep, rough as that movie is, I needed to see it again.
 
How often, I cannot begin to count, have I run into this. The soul and the personality speak, using the same words, the same phrases, and two entirely different meanings are expressed, which I see and have to get to the bottom of, to determine what is really going on. At the level of soul, this woman and I probably are perfectly matched, or close enough to have a very good experience together. But at the level of this world, we are two ships passing, one knowing it, the other seeming not to. One knowing there is nothing whatsoever he can do about it; knowing there is nothing he is supposed to try to do about it, unless specifically instructed to try, which I truly hope doesn’t happen. I’ve been there, many times. It never worked, and I doubt it ever will, unless the angels take an entirely different approach from the way they have dealt with me and women. That is, the angels deal with women as they deal with me. Not the same as they deal with me, but equivalent, for women and men are not the same, although they are equivalent.  Or maybe I have this turned upside down. Maybe I need to be treated like the women are treated, instead of getting the living shit beat out of me, like I’m just an old dirty rug. Maybe I need to file a Civil Rights action. But where? GoodMorningKeyWest.com







http://www.angelrays.com/greetingcards/new-years.html

I have a suggestion for the New Year. If you decide to call someone else a moron or a c**t or an idiot in a posting, try your best not to appear like one yourself. A few days ago, someone asked, Who is “Neil Chamberlain?”

I regarded this as a tongue in cheek posting referring to Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister who established a policy of “appeasement” regarding Nazi Germany and signed the Munich Agreement, giving Hitler Czechoslovakia and paving the way for the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Netherlands, France and Belgium without fear of British reprisal. Some believe that he was responsible for millions of deaths in World War II by allowing the Nazi to build a vast army and gain control of continental Europe.

Another poster didn’t recognize the first name difference and posted:
“If only there were some easy way that people could look up information like this. Some sort of world wide web, maybe using search engines to access a vast database where terabytes of information is stored. Ok, sarcasm off. What kind of moron would go to the trouble of posting a question like that to this web site when the answer is only a mouse click away? Same kind of moron who would dial information to ask what the number for 911 is probably. Of course it goes without saying that this is something you should have learned in high school. See what you missed by dropping out?”

I would suggest that this person is drinking too much caffeine – or perhaps, just maybe, isn’t as smart as he thinks. A Google search for Neil Chamberlain returns nothing about Neville Chamberlain – Garbage In – Garbage Out.

But I won’t call the poster a moron. Especially if he were to post something in the way of a contrite apology.


Go wash your hands again, Dick and then find yourself a new target.  Maybe you can have another friend arrested or harass some more happy neighbors in your hood.  Too bad that karma tornado did not do more damage.     

If you're going to be down in Key West tonight night, Injade is performing at Virgilios on Applerouth Lane (from10pm-2am) and they're known for their delicious Martinis. As usual on Sunday nights you can hear Adrienne at the Parrotdise. New Years Eve Injade will be rocking out at the Looe Key Tiki Bar. Come on down to the best party in town!




[What kind of moron would go to the trouble of posting a question like that to this web site when the answer is only a mouse click away?] What kind of moron would post such a stupid response? Are we supposed to stop asking questions? (I’m sorry, I should have Googled that question instead of posting it here.)

[Snow Birds] I work off US1. Today I was actually let into traffic numerous times. Thank you.

Cumberland Sauce
This is one of the great classic English sauces. Cumberland sauce is always served cold and is a wonderful accompaniment to either hot or cold ham.
1 medium lemon
1 medium orange
4 large tablespoons red currant jelly
4 tablespoons port (I used burgundy cooking wine I found in the vinegar section of the grocery store)
1 heaping teaspoon mustard powder
1 heaping teaspoon ground ginger
First, thinly pare off the rinds of both the lemon and the orange (either with a very sharp paring knife or a potato peeler), then cut them into very small trips, about ½ inch in length and as thin as possible. Boil the rinds in water for 5 minutes to extract any bitterness, then drain well.
Now place the redcurrant jelly in a saucepan with the port and melt, whisking them together over a low heat for about 5 or 10 minutes. The redcurrant jelly won't melt completely, so it's best to sieve it afterwards to get rid of any obstinate little globules.
In a serving bowl mix the mustard and ginger with the juice of half the lemon till smooth, then add the juice of the whole orange, the port and redcurrant mixture and finally the strips of orange and lemon peel. Mix well - and it's ready for use.
Cumberland sauce stores well in a screw-top jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Note: This sauce should not be thickened - it is meant to have a thinnish consistency.






 






12_tenets_for_a_happy_2008

In a dream before dawn, I’m given a small case by the District Attorney to prosecute, even as I’m charged from another quarter with murder of a woman I claim not even to know. The setting is Nashville, Tennessee, but the woman is from outside Nashville, in the countryside. I tell the D.A. I can’t accept the case assignment because I have to stand trial for murder today. So began another day in the school of very hard knocks, as I lay in bed wondering who I murdered? Was it my first wife? We met at Vanderbilt, in Nashville. Was it the creed of my college fraternity, “Deus et les dames,” Latin for, God and the women, I killed? Was it yesterday’s posting, “Objective. Subjective,” in which I described how it’s going for me with the woman I’ve written about some lately?
 
A Key West friend called me yesterday, said I was crazy for publicly sharing yesterday‘s posting. But by the time we were through talking, he thanked me for what all I shared with him. I said the woman and I haven’t even been out together. In all, we had talked maybe an hour. I just didn’t have it in me to enter a relationship with another woman with whom I can not relate. It was not against her. She is a nice person. But he and I'd both learned learned in spades what it’s like to be in relationship with a woman who is not on the same page we're on. He said women are crazy. I said they are a different species. It wasn’t so in the beginning, but that’s how it ended up, because of how it had gone for women on this world. But what did I know? Maybe I was full of shit, I said. Maybe he was sent by God to let me know that. I said, I was asking God to show me what I needed to see. GoodMorningKeyWest.com




Woman need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place. ~ Billy Crystal

I heard Sheriff Rick Roth on 104 radio yesterday morning saying Monroe county is #1 in highway deaths and DUI drivers. He said he was unhappy about that. When I moved to the keys 20 yrs ago as you passed Bahia Honda there was a speed trap as well as one entering Big Pine. In the last week I was passed while driving 60mph by many people doing 70 mph at Bahia Honda. I also noticed that when they enter Big Pine they think the speed limit is still around 60. Today going to BPK from Cudjoe I watched a sheriff's car heading west crossing a solid line and pass several cars. If Mr. Roth wants a safer Monroe County get more patrol cars out and have them obey the law. Mr. Roth, spend some of your budget and make the people visiting the keys understand we like it safe in the keys. This is not Miami-Dade or Broward where the normal speed is 75 to 80.



Who owns key largo key .com?   Is it for real? (Ed: It is owned by Sal Gutierrez Jr and it is for real.)
KeyLargoKey.com

Did anyone notice how hard DiGennaro was going after our acting County Administrator Debbie Frederick at the last BOCC meeting on the 19th of Dec.? Ms. Frederick said she would do the job until someone was found and she has good staff backup and advisors to do the job. Lay off her Mr DiGennaro or are you wanting to put another one of your "yes men" into the County Administrator position that will bankrupt Monroe County to sink another one of your ships (Vandenberg) or ideas?

Why when I move my cursor over your “I Have Something To Say” box does it switch to “Email Stupid Tourist Questions”? (Ed: Oh, my goodness, it sure does and we can’t figure out why so we’ve removed the whole thing and replaced it with a new thing. Thanks for letting us know.)

Don’t Rush unless you've got to. Video



Since the original reference was political, I think the poster meant Neville Chamberlain – a British Prime Minister that signed a treaty with Hitler most now regard as pure appeasement.

Margaret Thacher's grandson becoming American Football star






Happy Birthday Kevin!
I’m looking forward to you getting back down this-a-way.

[Honey Bees Found] Where are the WASPs?

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Saturday December 29, 2007

Friday December 28, 2007



[Who is Neil Chamberlain]  I thought he was a very tall basketball player or a football player. I don't think he killed his wife. 

The Reporter looked at Village of Islamorada government and labeled them "dysfunctional". Now the Free Press takes a look at village government. Do we need a village government that spends wildly, borrows millions of dollars and can't figure out how to spend it wisely and efficiently? They’re spending over $200,000 just to study the Key Largo wastewater pipeline issue that will never happen. Time to admit failure and unincorporate.

The original Pledge of Allegiance never used the words "under God". The idea for such a pledge probably originated with one of the editors of The Youth's Companion, a magazine for children. By a proclamation from President Benjamin Harrison, the pledge first appeared on October 12, 1892 during Columbus Day observances in public schools. The original wording appears as follows:

I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands: one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

In 1954, several Christian anti-communists urged a bill to change the pledge further by including "God." Another amended pledge came by a joint resolution of Congress in 1954 with the addition of the words, "under God."

Kudos to Ms Druckmiller for trying to save the County $80,000 on new telephone service. That’s what we need—someone who’s looking out for our wallets. And kudos to commissioner Neugent for defending county employees.

[Treaty of Tripoli] Barbary pirates captured about one and a quarter million Europeans between the 16th-19th centuries. In the 18th century they started to capture American ships because we’d lost the protection of the English and French by then. In 1784 The Americans paid $80,000 tribute to the Barbary states. This went on for a while until we’d had enough and sent our Navy and beat the crap out of them. For a while the state sponsored pirates stop attacking American shipping. Somewhere in between that time the Americans presented the Treaty of Tripoli which they thought would stop the piracy, but it didn’t stop it until we finally threatened to bombard Tripoli. That stopped it.

The developers who are trying to buy the Hickory House from the county now want the County to deed them the road in front of it for their private use. Of all the nerve!



[Honeybee] I saw a whole bunch Christmas day on my basil plants which are flowering and yesterday I saw a bunch on my Datura tree.

I'm still confused from being off Christmas day; I don't know what day it is.

For those of you that have a wheat allergy we now have a line of gluten free bagels we have brought in along with some pastries and other goodies. Donna, the owner, has this allergy too and can help cater to your needs. We have a grill that is only used for this purpose. So feel free to stop by or call Bagel Island and let us fill your needs.

Bagel Island Deli as a new web site and a new menu http://bagelislandcoffee.com

How can you blame the Democrats for the amount of illegals in the country when we've had 6 years of a Republican Congress and Senate with only 1 year of democrat control and we've had over 7 years of a republican President? The President has had going on 8 years and did zilch.  In fact he looks at the American Patriots organization as a rouge bunch of Americans. Sorry you’re pointing in the wrong direction. If republicans get their way they will put Rudy in office who oversaw and created the largest sanctuary city for illegals in America. I guess it’s easy to see which way you’re leaning and its not to the side of legitimate responsibility.


The real American heroes. Video

All smokers have a bad sense of direction (they never can tell which way the wind is blowing). Smoking is a privilege not a right!




On returning home from a visit to my family, I saw the bright new fire trucks and paved roads in Islamorada. What's the matter with Big Pine Key? Do we need to put up a road block to Key West so our gang of 3 will be forced to fix our roads and fire and rescue facilities? Why the hell are we the poorest county in Florida?

[2007 Most Ridiculous Excuse for Not Coming to Work]  (quote from a past Big Pine Key Professionally Licensed employee)  When asked why she stopped coming to work without ever calling, she replied, "My friend called the office looking for me,  and was told that I didn't work there so I figured I better not come in!"



[Mile Marker 24 Band] The fun kicks off on
Saturday December 29th at Boondocks on Ramrod Key, at mile marker 27.5. This place is always a blast and we will be outside on the patio under the stars, starting at 7pm.

A few folks are wringing their hands because there is apparently no money in the current county budget to pay a new County Administrator.  Commissioner DiGenarro stated that Mr. Willi should have been allowed to stay until his contract expired or until a new administrator was hired.  Terminating Mr. Willi’s contract was the right thing to do and a couple of our commissioners aren’t happy about losing their favorite administrator and will now wag their fingers saying “I told you so.”  However there is no justification for a lot of transparent worry about not having money in this budget year to hire a replacement.  Debbie Frederick, the Assistant County Administrator is taking the helm for the present until a new administrator is in place.  She is capable and experienced, but doesn’t want the position full time. In the meantime she can still run the ship.

In the interim, the position will have to be advertised in various publications to attract interested parties.  The starting date for the new administrator should coincide with the start of the new budget year.  Then applications will need to be submitted and reviewed.  From those applicants a list of qualified persons will be created and telephone interviews may be conducted to create a list of perhaps six or so individuals.  Then come the in-person interviews where candidates will be selected for a short-list.  A second round of interviews would then take place to select the final candidate and result in a job offer.  Then a contract will need to be negotiated and approved and the successful person will probably need time to give notice to his/her present employer and re-locate.  (At least that’s how it works in most places)  All of this will obviously take time, and by the time the process is complete and a new administrator is ready to come on-board we will be in a new fiscal year. Problem solved.  So enough of the phony hand wringing and finger wagging.  Just move along with the process and let time take care of the rest. 

And just to be sure there is no funny business or political shenanigans going on, the county should publish the job opening including the required educational and professional requirements in local media and keep the public informed of the results during each step of the process.




New non-profit club forming on Big Pine Key.

[smoker at the bar]  Maybe he thought your wife was attractive and that is why he sat next to her; or she looked bored with you.



Need a new calendar? http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101425391033.aspx

I have nothing else to say except, after reading Sloan’s crap, I think he should be in a nut house! ~imba@vnet.hu

The 3rd Annual Dachshund Walk will be next Monday, December 31 (always on New Year's Eve Day) at noon.  You and your dachshund(s) are what make this event, so please come and tell other dachshunds about it. We had approximately 120 assorted sizes and lengths of dachshunds last year. We meet at the corner of Fleming and Whitehead and then head over to Duval St. for a short walk. In the past we've gone down to Angela  and then crossed over, perhaps this year depending on the attendance, we may cross over at Southard St. We will have a supply wagon for any tired dachshunds.

The Tourist Development Council may have a video person attending this year, so if you want to make any special effort (re. dress) please feel free to do so. However, this is not a costume contest just a hilarious event for you and your dachshund. As usual, it is free and just for fun!

If you have any questions, please e-mail rlreiter@earthlink.net or call Ruth Reiter at 293-8019. Bulletin Board

[when women say “Fine"] I had one girlfriend that told me it meant f**ked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional.  


[New women Marine Corps uniforms]
If this were only true, recruiting would increase 1000%

I can't wait to tell my conservative republican friends that they are actually closet Liberal Democrats because they support legalizing their workers. They'll be sputtering.




I just looked up my zip code demographics for my neighborhood I grew up in Dallas, Texas. It is now 97% Mexican (not Hispanic, Mexican! ). I left 20 years ago. At that time my food store had no wheat bread they only had store brand white bread, but they had 20 types of tortillas.

How it will feel if Hillary is elected. Video





Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.  ~James Dean

[Who is Neil Chamberlain] If only there were some easy way that people could look up information like this. Some sort of world wide web, maybe using search engines to access a vast database where terabytes of information is stored. Ok, sarcasm off. What kind of moron would go to the trouble of posting a question like that to this web site when the answer is only a mouse click away? Same kind of moron who would dial information to ask what the number for 911 is probably. Of course it goes without saying that this is something you should have learned in high school. See what you missed by dropping out?




[Highest bridge in the world] Henry Flagler started doing the impossible. I wish he was here to see this one. Slide Show

This evidently inexorable march to spend this huge amount of public funds, $34 million, on fixing the nearly useless Pigeon Key bridge, which is really just a driveway to a little used island, reminds me of the old fable about the Emperor's New Clothes.



[
honeybees] There was a bunch around a flowering bush in my yard all this week.

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Friday December 28, 2007

Thursday December 27, 2007



Benazir Bhutto
has been assassinated this morning in a suicide attack in Pakistan. As usual, they got fifteen other innocent bystanders.

Who is Neil Chamberlain who was compared to Ron Paul yesterday?


We had dinner recently at South Beach in Miami. We expected it to be overprice ($28 for spaghetti and meat sauce), but when the waiter asked if we’d like water with our meal and we said “Yes” he brought us a $6 bottle of water. We were offended and deducted $6 from his tip.

Have you noticed that there‘s seldom any talk about stopping the Iraq war anymore? That goes to show that we think it can be won. Although I doubt anyone really thinks it’ll be the Iraq promised us.



Congratulations to David and Summer.  They are now engaged to be married and they sure make a wonderful couple! 

I think it’s safe to say that most folks who argue in favor liberalizing illegal immigration and providing amnesty for illegal aliens are Democrats, and most of those Democrats are from the liberal side of that party.  These folks argue in favor of a higher minimum wage, and accuse employers of exploiting their employees, especially those who are illegal aliens.  In these liberal minds employers are money grubbing, evil thugs who profit from the sweat of the poor oppressed workers.  Folks, our liberal friends are seriously conflicted. 

Just yesterday a poster argued against stifling the flow of illegal aliens into our work force.  Why?  Well, believe it or not the poster suggests it would cause American farm workers to make more money, and he believes that it would cause prices of produce to rise.  To this poster rising wages for American farm hands is a bad thing, his love of cheap produce trumps all.  This poster also believes that eliminating illegals would escalate wages and prices here in the keys.  This poster apparently wants to keep our wages here in the Keys as low as possible.  It is suggested that simply eliminating the “illegalilty” from their status would have some magic impact on the costs of their employment.  I guess he believes that once they were legal, their wages would rise, and yet prices would go down.  I think what the poster really wants is status quo, he wants to turn a blind eye to the illegal aliens and what they cost our society.  The poster really wants to continue the exploitation of these throngs of illegals.  By the way, I really wonder where the poster found the data that suggests that eliminating illegals will triple the price of produce. 

The real solution?  Enforce immigration laws and let the free market define wages and prices.






Good Morning. It’s time to get up and spend a day with Big Brother.

Many religious right activists have attempted to rewrite history by asserting that the United States government derived from Christian foundations, that our founding fathers originally aimed for a Christian nation. This idea simply does not hold to the historical evidence. Unlike most governments of the past, the American Founding Fathers set up a government divorced from any religion.

An insight from at a little known but legal document written in the late 1700s explicitly reveals the secular nature of the U.S. government to a foreign nation. Officially called the:
 
"Treaty of peace and friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, of Barbary," most refer to it as simply the Treaty of Tripoli. In Article 11, it states: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

So here we have a clear admission by the United States in 1797 that our government did not found itself upon Christianity. Unlike the Declaration of Independence, this treaty represented U.S. law as all U.S. Treaties do.  Although the Treaty of Tripoli under agreement only lasted a few years and no longer has legal status, it clearly represented the feelings of our founding fathers at the beginning of the American government. Treaty of Tripoli



One quarter of all US intelligence is involved in warrantless wire taping. Just about any phone call you make overseas is listened to. Does that make you feel safe because you "have nothing to hide" or do you give a damn about out Constitution and the rule of law?

[7% pay cut] They are talking about it, but it will be for every county employee not just law enforcement.

[For sure the Virginia cattle pictures are real]  What nut would leave the Keys and all the wonderful fishing to hightail it back up here to 40 degrees and sleet and rain most of the week (Thank God we need the rain to make spring hay). Hubby and I get all the babies on the ground healthy in January and then when all settles down around the first of Feb we scoot back down the east coast to warmth and fishing. 


Once the calves are born and the mama cows are doing their duty, feeding, guarding and teaching; all the farmer has to do is roll out the hay and that wonderful good old cow does what she does best and raises her calf.  We have raised cattle all our lives and even now as we’re a bit old and creaky we are going to keep on trucking till all the tires are flat.  We had another calf today and a bunch more will be arriving over the next two weeks.  Nothing is as important as the period when you watch over your gals during calving, each and every one being another little miracle.  The best is when they get their legs under them in about two weeks and about ten of them start playing tag and all the moms get worried and start running too; and its just a riot till the cows get them stopped and standing in their respective "corners".  To paraphrase a popular movie...It’s a wonderful life!



Definition of sports bar: a place where you can sit on your ass for hours drinking and eating while watching sports on 32 TV sets.

[Boot Key Bridge] They already saved the taxpayers a lot of money--they closed it.

[Kwanzaa] In 1971 Maulana Karenga, aka Ron Karenga, aka Ron Everett, along with Louis Smith, and Luz Maria Tamayo were convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment for assaulting and torturing two women from the Us organization, Deborah Jones and Gail Davis, over a two day period. A May 14, 1971 article in the Los Angeles Times described the testimony of one of the women: "Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Ms. Davis's mouth and placed against Ms. Davis's face and that one of her big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said."

Kwanzaa is a holiday with no actual African roots created by felons.




"Fine" This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

Sooner or later everybody knows everything ~Harrison Ford in Random Hearts



Has anyone seen any honeybees on Big Pine I have not seen one in nine months.

[Outsourcing] I was really depressed last night so I called Lifeline and got a call center in Pakistan. I told them I was suicidal. They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.

We at KeylargoKey.com are on a polygraph quest.  We are asking are viewers if they know someone in the keys that does polygraphs at a reasonable rate.  Since Commissioner George Neugent and Sylvia Murphy have failed to answer multiple challenges to a polygraph exam we're going to hook up our editor to one and see if he's telling the truth. We don't want the polygraph operator that Bill Becker or Bernie Stump used either. Please email us with your recommendation. govwatch05@tampabay.rr.com



This'll teach them to observe the
weight restriction signs at the bridge.

Back in 2004 when I was running for County Commission I requested from Mrs. Druckmiller some cell phone records from my opponent Murray Nelson.  I must admit Mrs. Druckmiller is a pretty anal individual and knows the county poly-razzmatazz game well. She's one of those county employees you just want to strangle thought the phone cord.  Not only did this cell phone retrieval process take over 3 months, but in the end she made up some story similar to the one in the post on Bigpinekey.com. (VIEW).  She also told her boss I called her a "c**t".  I must agree the word fits her well, but I told her boss I knew it was a lie cause c**t was just not one of my words.  So when you read the post put this little story in the back of your mind and when you incorporate the two posts hopefully you come to the conclusion that Lisa is one big drama queen and, yes a…KeyLargoKey.com




Let's dump Dixie.

[Kwanzaa] Who cares?  It's just a bogus made-up holiday that only increases the divisiveness in our country.





[Smoking] While my wife and I were having a quite time at a local tiki bar, a guy sits right beside her and starts smoking. It was ok to smoke in the bar, but why did he have to bother my wife who is 67 years old since there was no one else in the place and at least thirty open bar stools?  We moved to the other side of the bar and he looked insulted. Some people never learn manners until they are taught them with a 2x4.

[More bar wisdom] The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.




[Funny faces] These are well done. Click on the menu blocks for the next one. Drag the mouse and use the buttons.  http://www.screentoys.com/

After writing and posting “TheOldWay.Eden” yesterday morning, I was exhausted and went home and fell into bed and dreamt of a man in authority I do not know in this life telling me that two days and two hours before, a man had been issued a library card in Oregon. Waking, I wondered if that man was me and my spirit was already in Oregon and my body soon to follow, or was that some other man who was sent to Oregon in my stead? My dreams were very rough last night, and I was sorely afraid and prayed for help and clarity, knowing there was nothing I else I could do but trust it would somehow be worked out. Toward dawn, I dreamt of being given a quarter and a dollar bill, which bear the likeness of George Washington, who, as a boy, was reputed to tell his parents after he chopped down a cherry tree that he could not tell a lie: he did it. Later, after sunrise, I awoke in peace, feeling I’m to stay in Key West. Truly, I did not want to go to Oregon in the winter. Truly, I love winter in the Keys. Truly, I want to watch my urban garden grow, become even more beautiful.
 
Truly, I wonder what this woman who has come into my life means to me? Truly, I dread another relationship that will chew up a woman I love and me, because the angels won’t leave us alone, because they keep pressing and stretching us to our outer limits, and beyond. Truly, I dread another such experience. Truly. Yet what comes is what comes, and somehow I will deal with and get through it, playing by the old rules. That is, using golf as a analogy, I play each shot as it lies. If the ball is buried in a sand bunker, I hit it from where it lies buried. If the ball is in a divot, I hit it from the divot. If the ball is in a water hazard, I either try to hit it out of the hazard, or I take the one-stroke penalty and drop the ball on dry ground and strike it from there. If the ball is behind a tree, I play it from behind the tree. And so forth. At no time do I try to improve my lie. This I was told and agreed in a dream night before last, with respect to this new woman, with respect to everything. It’s been the way I am expected to play for many moons now, but perhaps I needed a reminder. GoodMorningKeyWest.com




[We are under God not under Pope] Give us sane people a break will you, you religious nutcase!

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Thursday December 27, 2007

Wednesday December 26, 2007







Kwanzaa begins today and ends Jan 1.

The Navy photo is real.  The reference is:  http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=49452  God bless us, everyone! 







It's Boxing Day in Canada, but no one cares about that one because hardly anyone knows what a boxing day is.

[House that oil built] There is a slide show on this place and it is amazing. The property is about the size of Cudjoe Gardens--all of Cudjoe Gardens. All it takes is money, lots of money.


[Boiled Peanut Lady] Surely here in the land of the free we are losing our rights and freedoms almost daily.  I discovered in the Orlando area one county just passed an ordinance which states that you can't have any more than a total of 5 pets in your house, apartment, etc.  What's next, telling us how many children we can have?  Folks, if we don't do something soon, we are heading for a country as bad as Communist Russia was at one time.  We need to wake up America.

Wow Ed, you really outdid yourself with the spectacular Christmas Day graphics.  Very nice job.  Thanks for your effort.






Did anyone hear about the County talking about a 7% pay cut for all law enforcement officers?

If the Boot Key Bridge in Marathon is supposed to cost $9 million (read $10 million) to fix why can’t the County buy a barge with a crane on it or a landing craft like Tank Island (Sunsetset Key) did in Key West? That way they could haul any heavy equipment and supplies to Boot Key and save the taxpayers a lot of money.



Please help our family find our cat.  He has been missing since Tuesday 12/18/07.  Call 872-0457 or 797-9225 anytime and we will give you a reward.  Thank you for your help.  Classified Ads > Lost & Found

[not a less free place then Monroe County] Oh, I'm sure there is. The further northeast you go, or if you cross the Rockies, the more restrictive things get. Try owning (not buying - owning) a gun in Massachusetts. I'm sure regulations are just legion in large cities like New York or LA.




[law that smoking can be banned] It's possible the bar owner does not want smoke in his/her establishment.  Business owners can decide what is permissible in their place of business, government need not get involved.

[toilet tank flapper cleaning] I have never tried cleaning the flapper, I am usually too busy cleaning the colon.

Deer Editor, Thanks for the colorful Coconut Telegraph yesterday. It further lifted my spirits!


Someone answered the question today about local charities and suggested HelpLine.  What is that? I am not familiar with that one.  I always want to get involved with local charities but want one where the money raised stays locally.

[why only Monroe County has to have these inspections? Key West does not. We are singled out] Yes, we're singled out. Because the >county< commissioners at the time (Nelson, Spehar, and McCoy?) was neglecting enforcement of building restrictions on downstairs enclosures, and then went to the mat with FEMA over conducting the enforcement. The commissioners didn't want to play by FEMA's rules (go figure), but FEMA wasn't willing to budge (go figure). The result was that FEMA threatened to not underwrite any new flood insurance policies in Monroe County because they had no way to ensure that flooding alone would not put the primary (insured) structures at risk (hence the breakaway walls, etc.). The consequence of a FEMA pullout would have put every single mortgage in the county at risk, since every mortgage requires flood (and wind) insurance. A last minute compromise was reached whereby (IIRC) every flood policy covered home would require an inspection within 3 years (one third each year) to help document the compliance, or lack thereof, of the county with FEMA's requirements. That is where the inspections come from, and the fee is assessed probably because these inspections are over-and-above those normally conducted by the county building inspectors.

All that said, I don't like the inspections, and I don't like the fee. But, I put the blame on the responsible commissioners (and some of their predecessors) for having provoked FEMA into requiring the inspections in the first place.
[In 20 years I have not had flood or wind insurance and never will] Good for you. That also means you've not had a mortgage in 20 years, which, along with flood and wind insurance savings can certainly add up to quite a bundle. Your situation, however, is very much the exception rather than the rule. Most homeowners have mortgages, with the accompanying insurance requirements.

[boiled peanuts] To whoever wrote about the peanut lady being in trouble, please before you put in your two cents refer to the Florida Statues Chapter 500.12 , Food Permits it clearly states that (Persons selling only legumes in the shell, either parched, roasted or boiled  are except from food permits . Further read (Chapter 5k-4.020 (1) (p), F.A.C.) you will find that in the state of Florida there are no special permits or license’s needed to sell Fresh Produce. These rules are on the same line as a person who does not need a fishing license to fish from any shore with a pole and line only (no reel allowed). Everything the Trading Post does is on the up and up and totally within the law. I know for a fact that the owner of the produce stand has had a good relationship with the Dept of Agriculture and the inspector that comes down the keys.

Injade brings their fun energy and great rocking dance tunes to Virgilios in Key West Friday and Saturday December 28th and 29th.  Showtime is 10pm. For more information call 305-296-8118.

Injade is a fun rocking band that covers a wide spectrum of music from girl songs by artists like Fleetwood Mac, Edie Brickell and Heart, to guy songs by the Thunderbirds, Kinks and the Rolling Stones. Thrown into the mix are their original songs like Livin' a Dream, Dreamer and Conchtown which have been played on local radio.

Key West businessman Bill Estes has filed with the County Elections Office to run for Monroe County Commissioner District 1 in the November 2008 election.
A long-time member of the Key West tourist industry community, Estes is running on a platform of reducing costs and protecting the quality of life of Monroe County residents. He also believes that a Commissioner must be aware of the financial condition of the County and bear personal responsibility--not blaming others for his decisions.
He is already getting signatures to run through the petition process and accepting donations to his campaign. Bill can be reached at 305-923-4265 or Wdivekw@aol.com.













FKAA tap water is bad.  My little dog was sick all weekend with the trots and so were my neighbors two dogs.  Only after a process of elimination did I find the water to be the culprit.  I’m sure there are other dog owners and probably people too that have been sickened.  Don’t drink the water!

[Emails from Lisa Druckmiller to George Neugent] I'd like to make you aware of a visit I had from Harry Miller this afternoon and a phone call earlier this week which were similar to the threatening phone call I received from him on July 3^rd .

On Monday, Harry Miller called me after hearing a rumor that Monroe County might be switching some of its wireless services to Verizon. I told him that Verizon had offered the possibility of saving Monroe County a significant amount of money and that we were meeting with them to discuss some details in January. Harry said that he was going to speak to multiple commissioners and put a stop to that.

This afternoon, about 3:30, Harry called again and said that he wanted to stop by my office with Pat Preuss from Sun Communications (the local Nextel dealer) and discuss keeping our business. I told him that was fine and he arrived at my office about 3:45. Harry told me that I would have to get the approval of the BOCC to make any sort of changes to our wireless service agreements and that he had the ear of the commission. He said that there were three votes against me, and suggested that it would not be in my best interest to even try to use another company. He was not only threatening, but rude. He yelled loud enough that other employees in the office were concerned for me.

I told him that I didn't believe that I needed commissioner approval to save the county money, especially with the current financial situation, and told him that we don't have a contract with Nextel; we piggyback on a State of Florida agreement. I reminded Harry and Pat of the problems that I had with Nextel over the past year. In particular, I recounted my efforts to straighten out 4 months of incorrect billing. I showed him the multiple emails I had sent trying to get a response and told him of the countless hours I spent on the phone to get a long overdue credit. I pointed out that this level of service isn't conducive to loyal customers.

After about a half hour of this, Harry got up and walked out, leaving Pat and I alone in the conference room. I agreed to try to settle some of the issues that we have with Nextel and meet with him and a Nextel representative on January 8th . This seemed to diffuse the situation and they left. About 4:30 I got a call from Connie Cyr in the Administrators office inquiring about Harry Miller. She had just received an upset phone call from him requesting an immediate callback from Debbie Frederick.

Verizon has offered to save Monroe County $80,000 over the next year, compared with the $36,000 savings that Nextel gave us back in July. Verizon has also offered to give us new equipment for no cost so there will be no switchover costs. We're meeting with Verizon to discuss details in January and hope to roll this out in February. All of my dealings with Verizon representatives have been pleasant and professional.

This is the second time in his dealings with me that Mr. Miller has implied improper influence over county business through his personal relationship with County Commissioners. I appreciate the opportunity to relate this to you and welcome your guidance and support. ~ Lisa L Druckemiller,//CPM// Sr. Administrator Harvey Government Center

 

[George Nugent’s response email to Suzanne Hutton & staff] 

You know as do so many others and, now, thank goodness we have one employee who now stands up to this kind of threatening behavior. It is absolutely unacceptable for any individual, commissioners included, to be allowed to threaten staff. I don't know what actions can be taken legally but this can not be allowed to exist in our staff's environment.

This type of abusive demeanor which I have been told is even being exhibited by some commissioners must stop - now. I believe the Ethics Commission of the state should investigate immediately. For this individual to be saying he has the support of 3 county commissioners must have a modicum of truth to it. We know who he associates with; someone has empowered him with belief that he has commission support. And if he has assumed this all on his own - then he is mentally unbalanced and therein lies another reason for concern.

Again, this is a very, very serious matter that should be addressed immediately. I would like a restraining order put on the individual to be kept from the Harvey Govt. Center. ~ George



Merry Christmas and look at what Santa brought me! Her name is Crissy and what a boomer!

[Illegal immigrants packing up and leaving Arizona because of a new law] And for the first time we'll finally have an opportunity to see exactly how much of an impact illegals have on an economy, particularly one right on the border. It may take a year to be able to evaluate the impact.  We may not need illegals, but they most certainly manage to fill many jobs at a wage no American would accept.  Would you be willing to pay 3 times the price of an imported tomato for an American grown tomato?  Not many of us would (even if it is organic).  Be very careful what you wish for.  Every illegal that leaves requires a farmer to make choices: hire Americans at a legal wage (and, believe me, it wouldn't be minimum wage plus social security), reduce the area they plant of the same crop (raises per plant costs), choose another crop, or close the farm because they can't compete with the imports. 

Any of those choices inevitably leads to higher prices at the supermarket.  My example is for farming, but it applies to tourism too.


Why do we have itinerant foreigners (both legal and illegal) working in some Key West stores?  Because it reduces the cost of business, just like for the farmers.  Somehow "illegals" (both workers and employers) need to be turned into "legals".  not by amnesty, but by some process that will allow them to work here in the open.  The process we have now provides for green card workers, but clearly that process is broken (or incomplete) or we would not be having this national debate over how to deal with illegal aliens in the first place.




[three carriers] This was a real picture I was on board the USS Ronald Reagan during that time. The operation was called Valiant Shield.

The nonsense required for the boiling of peanuts in Big Pine is another example of the ignorance or stupidity or both; and of the absolute extremes into pure B.S. that everyday people here are subjected to. Where or when will it ever end? We lost all common sense a little teeny bit at a time. We know we have a moronic bureaucracy that stifles all reasonable ambition and drive and strives to make us all mind-numbed robots. If left unfettered will eventually turn our country into a third world backwater (just a teeny bit at a time). In the meantime we are at the mercy of these idiots.



[smoke free Tranquility Bay Resort] The reason a nice place don't want smokers is smokers are nasty and the biggest litter bugs around throwing butts away that take 5 years to decay like there's no tomorrow or hoping someone will pick it up for them later.

I have listened to Ron Paul and like his ideas. To me he has only one negative; and that is he is a disciple of the Neil Chamberlain school of diplomacy. If we ignore problems overseas which threaten our way of life all of the rest will soon be meaningless.





We Didn’t Start the Fire
~Billy Joel (It’s worth the wait for it to load). http://home.uchicago.edu/~yli5/Flash/Fire.html

[I never ask for government handouts] You’re lucky that you've not had to ask for help from the Feds. Or the State. Or the County. The government does owe people something, though it's not handouts. Good management (fiscal and organizational), good public safety, and knowing when to butt-out. Too bad it's so ridiculously rare.

I wanted to reply last night to my friend, but my laptop’s battery ran down just as I was doing that. What I started to tell him, before I lost power, was that as he was writing me, I was being rousted awake, to finish what I didn’t complete yesterday. I wanted to tell him that what I think isn’t always what I write, while what I write is what I think, but is also what the angels who look and keep after me think as well, otherwise they would not get on me to write it. And about that I have a bone to pick with them this morning, which is Christmas Day. Interesting metaphor, as I sit in my flat on top of the fossilized coral rock sometimes referred to as Cayo Hueso — Bone Island. Nothing to do with pirates. When the first whites came here, they found collections of human bones lying around, left behind by the indigenous aborigines, perhaps the Calusa, perhaps an earlier people.
GoodMorningKeyWest.com





[More bar wisdom] No matter how loud you yell at the football players on TV, they can’t hear you. This is for the old guy in the orange shirt at Rob's island Grill watching the Cleveland v Cincinnati game.

I described a conversation I had with heaven in March 2004, after being asked in my sleep, “What do you think of the species?” I did not think to say that I told heaven the species had lost its creativity and was in a cloning devolution. I meant spirit cloning, but the effect is the same as physical cloning. Each successive cloned generation is further removed from the original design, less vibrant, less vital, until eventually cloning is the only way the species can reproduce, even as it is dying altogether.
 
Maybe that’s how I felt then, personally: I was dying, because I was essentially making love with myself, not having a woman to share my life with, give my love to, get lost in, merge and create with, which is how it was in the beginning between men and women on this world. They fused, were two souls in one, for life. There was no infidelity. No wandering eye. They had eyes only for each other because they were two sides of the same soul, manifested into two people. Together, they walked and talked with and were walked and talked to by angels, who were assigned to look over them, teach them. Yet they were innocent, and only in innocence did they know each other and God. Only in falling, thanks to Eve’s curiosity, which Adam lacked, which made her the heroine of the story, could they know the other and, thus, appreciate what they had in Eden. They were not bound to stay in the Fall, but they perhaps did not know it, or how to return, wizened, to Eden, which is yet another bone I have to pick with heaven. Why was the species allowed to blame Eve for humanity’s troubles? And why is Adam and Eve holding hands and going back to Eden only inferred in Bible? Why isn’t it plainly stated, explained, demonstrated, like it was told that Adam and Eve were not the only two people? Their son, Cain, went to the land of Nod to find a wife.
GoodMorningKeyWest.com


It's snow bird season. This is one with a South Carolina perspective.  http://gobacktoohio.com/

I wish the Pope would quit asking us to stop the Iraqi war. Doesn’t he realize we are a Christian nation? We are doing it to save Christian lives-- right? The Pope’s outdated I guess "One nation under God". Yet the Pope thinks he can ask us to stop. We are under God not under Pope.





Character actors directory.
http://www.what-a-character.com

Thanks Big Mike and the kids for coming down and sharing the holidays and lighting up our streets and neighborhoods with your awesome truck! It just wouldn't be the same here in Big Pine without you. Good luck to you up there and the best to you always. Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and a good holiday here in the Keys.

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Wednesday December 26, 2007


Christmas Day 2007



We are very thankful our son Brian came home to Big Pine from Queens New York to be with his mom and Dad for Christmas. We love you Brian. Xoxoxox






Christmas wishes and peace for all Keys creatures, great and small.




Merry Christmas to all our friends and advertisers from BigPineKey.com. We couldn't do this without you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! Back in Virginia and missing the fishing! But, got plenty to do as all the calves are starting to arrive.  Here is a pic from some of "the girls" wishing you the best and keep on sending us rain and mild temps!!

We wish everyone a wonderful 2008, that the temps and breezes are balmy and mild, and all the fishing lines are singing!! We pray that those in severe drought in NC, SC, GA and FL will soon see all the rain they need. We also pray that local and snowbird can live in harmony, after all we are in the same boat and pulling together all ways works.  Same can be said for the whole world.  We had an old saying on each bag of feed from the local Cooperative...together we stick; divided we're stuck!  Besides getting along sure beats the heck out of fussing!  God Bless and thanks Deer Ed for all the hard work keeping us in touch with each other, it can only bring about better understanding!





Ho!  Ho!  H! (and I'm not calling you bad girls a name)

[The true meaning of Christmas] Have you ever been accused of getting so wrapped up in the holiday season that you’ve forgotten the “true” meaning of Christmas? Or maybe you weren’t directly accused but unwittingly joined the captive audience of a Christian delivering a soapbox speech imploring you to “keep the Christ in Christmas”. Well, next time this happens, if you’re feeling called to be equally obnoxious, you can assure the concerned party that you’re well aware of the true meaning of the Christmas season, and that Christ is just one in a long line of gods that have been celebrated on or around the winter solstice.

Most historians agree that it’s unlikely that Jesus was born in December for reasons ranging from a lack of notable celestial events (a la the north star) to the unlikelihood of shepherds tending to their flocks on a frigid December eve. Winter has been a time for festivities in many cultures long before Christ or Christmas. Most of the celebrations were in honor of pagan gods and goddesses related to nature, agriculture, and the sun. It seems that before science had revealed much about weather patterns or meteorology, the pagans paid special attention to the “sun gods” as a bribe to be sure they came back after winter.

So the theory goes that circa 325 A.D., Jesus’ birthday was assigned to December 25th because it was already a time of celebration, and pagans would more readily convert. Although there is some disagreement about that, it is evident that pagan traditions have been integrated into the modern Christian festivities. Did you deck the halls with boughs of holly this year? Sung a yuletide carol? Eat a big meal? Participate in a gift exchange? If so, ever wonder what the heck it had to do with Jesus? The decorating of evergreen boughs is a pagan tradition that started because the evergreen trees were the only ones that had not lost their leaves in the wintertime. Sure, one could decorate a leafless December maple branch, but it wouldn’t be quite as festive. Yule was celebrated in northern Europe to honor Mithras, the pagan sun god, with the burning of the yule log for 12 hours on the night of the winter solstice. December 25th, in particular, was a day of gift-giving in celebration of the birth of the son of the goddess of nature (Isis). In Rome, they celebrated Saturnalia, which honored Saturn, the god of agriculture with the exchanging of gifts and merrymaking. So, with the exception of the nativity, the Christmas celebration already existed before Jesus’ birthday was assigned to December 25th. The food, the gifts, the merrymaking, the evergreen décor. The only part I’m unclear on is the figgy pudding.

So do we need a god or gods to make the season special? Christmas needs no deeper meaning than that on the surface of the holiday season. Christmas is when you curl up in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa, and feel cozy as you view the freezing snow outside. Christmas is when you find joy in giving – choosing a gift for someone you care about and taking joy in watching him or her open it. Christmas is when family, friends, and loved-ones spend time together laughing, eating, and making memories that last a lifetime. That’s the true meaning of the season. The gods celebrated and honored may vary, but the love, giving, and happiness are consistent. So don’t feel guilty for shopping or eating too much. Reach out to loved ones, enjoy the festivities, make memories – join the time-honored tradition of celebrating each other during the season of the winter solstice.

Merry Christmas!





Dear friends and family, Have a safe and wonderful Christmas. Don't do anything I wouldn't. And have a happy New Year. Love from Tami, Rick and family including the new additions to the family, Jeffery the hamster and the two kittens from Russia, Pristina and Istog.

Merry Christmas to all. We are so fortunate to live in this great nation and are able to worship our God (or not), to vote for our political candidate (or not) and enjoy liberty like no one else on this planet can.  We take so much for granted in this nation and on this Island that today we should pause and reflect on all that we have and rejoice that we have it. Remember what Christmas is really about and be thankful.




Special hugs to our daughter, Kristi Lee!  We love you so!

To all the posters who contribute to this wonderful forum: Thank you for your humor, your answers to important questions, your photos, your help in finding lost items and pets, the list goes on and on. And to the editor(s): Thank you for providing us the opportunity to share our opinions and be a part of all this. Merry Christmas to all of you!




Bob and Dixie want to wish all our Keys buddies the very best Christmas.  We are so blessed to be among great folks, many who love life as much as we do, and who also love the Vineyard Church and our local Moose Lodge. Merry Christmas and a loving safe New Year to you all. 




I'm leaving the Keys for a few days so won't be here to wish all the fine people a Merry Christmas. Think about it, we are the chosen few who are lucky enough to live in Paradise. Let's do any little thing we can to keep it this way. I know we can't stop change, sometimes it for the good. Just go outside and look up, he's there!




To all the Citizens here in Monroe County...Wishing each and everyone a Merry Christmas, happy healthy and safe New Year. ~Kay Thacker

Cudjoe Key Christmas slaw dog party. I love slaw dogs. Merry Christmas from Mangrove Jim.


Today's the day the Ed wants us to be happy so today's the day I announce how much I like living here (despite my gripes). I've lived in the Keys for a decade. I sold my California beach house and bought a rabbit hutch on a canal here and I've never looked back. I've stopped wishing I was someplace else. I love waking up each morning and not seeing fog, not hearing waves crashing, not facing stop-and-go-traffic. I love having a road out of here for my road trips. I'm glad I live on the friendliest street in the Lower Keys. I enjoy the live-and-let-live attitude that still prevails (mostly) that I have tried to support since I arrived. I like the Coconut Telegraph which lets me vent. Happy non-sectarian holidays fellow gripers!









Merry Christmas to all!
Click here for christmas scene



My one and only Christmas wish is for Andrea to come back.









Thank you I got everything I want for Christmas!


This Christmas will be so wonderful this year. My daughter Robin and my grandkids are back in the Keys where they belong. I also want to say thank you to my girlfriend Denise for all she has done for me and my daughter. Denise is one of the most caring and giving people I know. I am so glad she is in my life. I love you Mushy. Merry Christmas to all and Happy Birthday Jesus.







Merry Christmas Lee Ann! I love you very much, sorry I'm such an idiot.








Wonderful things!








Merry Christmas Lisa, Chuck, Naomi, Shelby and Grandpa Larry! Love from Katie and Dave.







I am very thankful for a happy and healthy family and the ability to spend our first Christmas week in the Keys.


To all of my friends in the keys, I seemed to have fit in pretty well up here in Loxahatchee. Merry Christmas ~from the kids and Big Mike of the Christmas Truck.

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Christmas Day 2007

Monday Christmas Eve 2007

(Ed: We will only be printing wonderful things on Christmas Day. Send in your Christmas wishes now. info@bigpinekey.com )




There will be a Christmas Day ride and everyone's invited. Meet at Coconuts bar at the light on BPK  at 1:30pm. We’re leaving at 2pm sharp. A nice easy Christmas ride to Key West. Stops are up to the group. See Bo at Coconuts. See you there!

[looking for Keys charity to volunteer] Florida Keys Wildlife Rescue on Big Pine, Maya Totman  872.1982.  Or SUFA (stand up for animals) on Big Pine or the shelter in Marathon. 









Is there some kind of subliminal message in the Christmas tree with lights posted at the end of yesterday’s column? I stared at it long and I think I saw Jesus or a hamburger!

If you really want to get rid of the "Gang of Three" and think no one is running against them then go to this site: http://www.keys-elections.org/candidates.aspx

Bill Estes believes that one of the duties of a County Commissioner is to know the financial condition of the County. That alone would be a new approach to County Government.

This is a house, not a hotel. As you get ready to fill your car with gas, remember you helped pay for this house. It’s amazing what $3 a gallon will buy.

I'm not an Iguana expert, but after reading all these postings I would like to share one true story. I knew a reptile breeder in central Florida. One day I was in his store and he told me it was good to give his female Iguanas protein only during pregnancy because they produce healthier offspring. "There vegetarians. How do you do that?" I asked. "Like this" he said. He then held a white mouse in front of a large Iguana that promptly took it and swallowed it. I saw it with my own eyes. That's all I have to say about that. Maybe some do and some don't.

Most Italians are proud of their county.  When my granddad came to Brooklyn he bent down on his knee and kissed the ground.  He and my grandma worked two or more jobs and still had the dinner on the table at 5pm.  They did what they could and prospered although they didn't ever really speak English too well.  They did eat only Italian meals, the same one for the evening, each and every week.  They visited only Italian friends and vacations were to Italian relatives only.  They would search for bargains and work hard.  Actually my granddad worked as a cook in the United States Army and could hardly write his name.  My grandma worked in a factory sewing and did side jobs doing window dressings for restaurants. This good old USA is a great country!

Why do snowbirds and tourists have to drive 5-10 mph under the speed limit? Just because they can afford to come south on vacation doesn't mean we all don't have to be at work or other places on time. Not only is it inconsiderate of them, but it causes people that don't want to look at all the boats and water to take unnecessary risks when passing them. I wonder how they even make the long drive down here; they must start out in August. (Deer Editor, I'm trying to be nice so you don't censor me again.)


I see the problem is that God gives me a brain and a penis and only enough blood to run one at a time. ~Robin Williams

[Boiled peanuts] What a Christmas gift. Wow, is that peanut lady in pig trouble! trying to make a living on Big Pine Key is like peeing on a spark plug. It hurts. Monroe County is one of the toughest places to do business in the world. Yes, the world. First she'll need a restaurant license. Yes she will because she is preparing, cooking and selling food. She has to pass a test as a food handler. The health dept must inspect her kitchen and if there is an open flame she will need an inspection from the Monroe County Fire Marshall to make sure her Ansell fire suppression system is okay. That’s just the beginning; her Insurance will go through the roof. Let’s not forget her signage. That’s all a no, no. Look across the street at the House of Music, they have been trying to open for well over a year. Okay forget the House of Music let’s just stick with the peanut lady. Boy, is she in big trouble, Trying to sell boiled peanuts on Big Pine Key, you’ve got to be nuts. Best of luck, no kidding. I don’t know who dropped a dime on her,  but I am sure they knew what would happen. Merry Christmas and I will miss the boiled peanuts if she is unable to work things out. I sure hope she has a produce license for Monroe County.








Merry Christ'smess! Video

[Don’t dump the dish] While I agree that the intro package is lacking anything watchable, the second level of Americas top 120 is only in the $40 range and has more good programming than I can watch, and I watch too much.  The hundred dollar package is over-kill.  The dependability of the satellite providers (any of them) beats the crap out of Comcast.



[Those zany Romanians] In spite of their obvious crushing poverty, they (almost) all were smiling.

[To the Democrat's Republican friend] That post was funnier the first 10 times you sent it. Have anything new? More of the same yet again? Yawn.



Homeland Security
, fighting terrorism since 1492. Ask the American Indians what happens when you don't control immigration.

Well, well, well it seems the pro-development friends of the gang of three want Islamorada to unincorporate. Why, because this city’s growth charter is much more restrictive than the County’s. It’s just another way the developers are finding a way to get around Islamorada’s growth restrictions.


I get so much junk mail I must do something about it, but I do want to know how they know I have a small member?

[football vs rugby ball] Man, that guy sure knows a lot about balls; and I mean that in a wonderful way.



Did you ever clean your toilet tank flapper valve of all the slime and grime that accumulates to cause leaks?

I was in KW the other day and watched as a young punk tried to steal someone's bike seat, but couldn't because the owner put a locking screw on the seats shaft. The kid got mad, took out a pocket knife and slashed the seat, then walked off cursing. Nice people in KW, eh?




Being a yokel from the Keys I’d never had a Starbucks’ coffee so when I finally tried a cup last week I knew what all the fuss was about. It tasted like fresh brewed coffee smells. I’ve always wanted coffee that tasted that good. It was almost chocolately. Being a keys yokel, I didn’t try any of the fancy coffees, just the real thing. They call there small cup “tall”. The larger sizes have foreign names.

All this talk about the Code Guy. People don't realize how dangerous that job is. Falling objects on building sites, rickety stairs on stilt built homes, deep pools, slippery docks, big dogs, tin roofs, people with guns and clubs suspecting a burglar, and many other niceties that can end an inspectors career in the most nasty of ways. I wouldn't want that job messing with local people.



[
three carrier strike groupsI can find no article in the usual reference sites telling me these photos are a fake. Please share the source of your analysis.

After ten years of failing to get any project finished on time and within budget it’s time to call it a giant failure. If you want the legislature to pass a law ordering the village to conduct a referendum on whether to abolish the Village government or keep up this expensive experiment, please contact Rep. Ron Saunders and members of the County commission.




A new job description at Big Pecker Winery: Cork Soaker. Video

[two million Muslims marching on Mecca] Where's the Port-a-Potties?



Watching the Village council micro manage every department of the Village of Islamorada is like watching Abbot and Costello hold a business meeting with the Marx Brothers. Contact Ron Saunders to let us vote on whether to keep the Village idiots or abolish this waste of taxpayers money.

How can anyone accuse Dixie Spehar of knowing the financial conditions of the County? She and the "gang of three" have spent money like drunken sailors. She voted to sink the Vandenberg with money that was to be spent for wastewater. She voted to buy the Hickory House, so her cronies could do another development. The firing of Tom Willi was a payback, because when Willi and DiGennaro went to Tallahassee on wastewater issues, Willi was up there running his mouth about Spehar, and the people he was running his mouth off to, called her and told her. People who have run against her are still dealing with code enforcement. Does that tell you how vindictive she is?  Voters beware, DiGennaro wants to put another puppet in the County Administrator's seat, even though the county does not have the money.  DiGennaro sees the writing on the wall. When Spehar and McCoy are gone DiGenarro’s vote will be neutralized.  ~oktcraft@terranova.net


I have an idea! (imagine that?).  Annual talk like a pirate day is pretty popular, but I really think that we should also have talk like Yoda day.  Easy, it would be. A beer, I must have; while thinking of this I should. What think, do you?

I read the first of the 8-part series by Morgan McPeherson’s brother, Michael, in the link you provided: http://www.battleaxe.org/8%20Part%20Index.html. This was what Jimmy Weekley had seen, which I did not find when I went to battleaxe.org. The home page is a bit overwhelming.
 
One thing that jumps out me in Michael’s first sermon is he says not to trust in the pastor but to pray for him. Then he launches into a very long sermon, the first of eight very long sermons, it would appear from my opening briefly the second part of his presentation.
Another thing that jumps out at me is that Michael out of hand says Muslims and Buddhists do not follow Christ. How does he really know this? Would he also say Gandhi did not follow Christ? Abraham Lincoln, who said he followed God? The federal judge for whom I clerked, who was the most Christ-like man I ever met in this life? Who gave Michael authority to say who is following Christ and who is not?
The third thing answers the second. Michael says nothing in what I read about his own personal struggle on this world to follow Christ. Instead of preaching, wish he would share his own experiences, what tests God puts to him, how he deals with them, for better and for worse. How he knew to do this instead of that, in this or that situation? Did he guess? Was it revealed to him in some way? If so, how did he receive his instruction, information?
 
More to the point, how is Michael doing what Jesus said to do? How is he being like the wise man who built his house on a rock, and when the flood came, the house stood fast? Instead of being like the foolish man who built his house on sand (interesting metaphor, given your and my physical present place of habitation and the shifting-sand nature of our politics), and when the flood came, the house fell down. This is how Jesus separated people who where his true followers from those who were not, according to that passage in the Bible, which Battle Axe claims is the soul, er, sole, source of God’s word on this world today, notwithstanding Michael’s sermons saying, and correctly, that any of us can hear and be led by the Holy Spirit. GoodMorningKeyWest.com

[Aircraft Bone Yard] That it is a testament to America's aircraft innovations and spending ability. In 1970 I rented 1/2 of a beautiful "really cheap" duplex (unknown to me) in a flight path. U2s and unique aircraft were everywhere. Multiple B-52s, one after another were taking off right over the house causing deafening noise, vibration, smoke, stench of fuel with shadows of the B52s like birds of prey covering everything beneath them. It made you want jump up, salute and sing God Bless America as they flew by! That made complaining about wimpy little fighter jet noise on Boca seem almost un-American.

We don't have to always vote for more of the same! We are ready for Ron Paul. In fact, we need Ron Paul now more than ever. America is at a crossroads and we can't afford to have more of the same. We simply cannot put up with this crap any more. Please take the time to research Ron Paul and while you probably won't agree with everything that he says, you will find that he is honest and that his message of freedom, peace and prosperity is just what the doctor ordered. Check him out, Google Ron Paul!





[looking for a local Keys charity] Try the Salvation Army on Summerland.

If you would like the voters of Islamorada to have the opportunity to have a secret vote on whether or not to keep the village or take our chances with Monroe County and save a lot of taxpayers’ money by eliminating one useless layer of government.   Write, call or email Ron Saunders and express yourself.  I think Ron needs to hear from the voters to make this happen.  His email address is ron.saunders@myfloridahouse.gov .  Please take 60 seconds and send him a short email.  Please pass this message on to your friends that want good government and a chance to exercise their voting rights.  

The Audi A8 is not silver in color, it is made of silver! It’s made for some oil rich sheik. Note. they never need shining.

[looking for a local Keys charity] Good for you. Salvation Army, Red Cross, food pantry, pet shelter, also, call HelpLine, they know all groups helping people. Also, another way to find a charity - base it on what lights you up, what do you feel really strongly about, do you love/hate working directly with people, what skills/experience you have (typing, talking on phone, organizing, fund raising). Good luck.

I heard Ron Paul on Meet the Press Sunday.  I know most voters in the county don't have much sense, but it would make sense to start listening to what this guy has to say.  It's different and very refreshing (which probably makes him un-electable).  I’m definitely tired of the same old crap. Anyone with a USA address should be too? KeyLargoKey.com

what's absurd absurd are the 18 year old legal hookers in Nevada and the 18 year old porn stars. My wife and I took a 19 year old escort out last year while on vacation in Nevada and the poor girl couldn’t even get a glass of wine with dinner. That was just stupid we thought.





[three carrier strike groups
] Those are real photos. There's wake and bow wash. They’re just not moving fast enough to ski behind.

A can’t miss last minute shopping suggestion for the girl who has everything. Get her a nice pair of sandals and a dildo from Fairvilla.  That way if she doesn’t like the sandals she can go screw herself. Merry Xmas!

A friend of mine and I were shopping in Marathon today, and after trying to figure out what power tools our hubbys may want, we decided to stop for a much needed cocktail.  We happened upon Tranquility Bay Resort because of the tiki bar they advertise, since we both smoke.  After ordering our libations, we were informed, outside no less, that the whole resort was smoke free.  Now, I am trying desperately to quit, but since when did Florida pass the law that smoking can be banned, just like New York City, within a certain perimeter of a resort, hotel or bar?  We specifically went to the tiki so we could smoke only to be told “no way”. I am not here to start a whole new topic, but I am still blown away as to why we could sit on the beach and drink, but fire one up and you are out of there.

It is amazing to me that the incorporation of Islamorada and Marathon ever passed in the first place.  There were big dollars at work and stake, to make it happen, as well as a misguided attempt in the Lower Keys. When is an extra layer of government ever a good idea? It will be heck to unravel it though.  All those additional workers want to keep their jobs and political factions hope to benefit. Decide in haste, regret at your leisure.

[Dear Venture Outers, Wakey, wakey]  We are happy to announce the winners of this year's 25th Annual Christmas Decorations Contest.  As you know, all lots are thoroughly scrutinized and by no means is there any bias in our judgment.  Our awards are presented solely on presentation and a little help from Santa Claus. 

This year's First Place Award goes to Wayne and Marylou Kline of lot #233.  Their Santa and Penguin pop-ups really won our hearts.  Boy, do they know how to put on a display!

This year's Second Place Award goes to Jim and Patti Nichols of lot #222.  Their Christmas pink flamingo is such a sight that these two should be elves up at the North Pole!

Now Johnny, please tell our audience what they have won! 

First Place Winners will receive a 4 hour pass to the VO pool area during which they may bring a cooler full of beverages of their choice and gourmet dishes of their desire inside the pool area.  In addition to these never-heard-of privileges, while in the pool area, the winners will be able to horse-play, use oversized flotation devices, dive into the pool (cannon balls, back-flips, and triple gainer, etc.), and can listen to the radio with no headphones.  Also included is one martini trip to the Jacuzzi where you can stay as long as you want.  Winners are allowed 2 guests.

Second Place Winners--see above but you only get a 2 hour pass.

For all winners, be sure to take your old blue jeans out and cut them off so you can wear cut-offs instead of bathing suits.

For all of those who participated in the contest, better luck next year, keep up the spirit!  Ho, Ho, ho!

[help an underprivileged family of 22 from Haiti] Probably a troll, but I'll bite. How about this idea instead of bringing 22 welfare candidates to my country, you go live in their country and try to solve their problems in Haiti. Besides, 22 people in one house might be too much even for our lax standards. I suggest you go by boat and take a couple of hundred illegals with you.

National Reconciliation in Iraq is about as likely as you getting back together with your ex-spouse.



Tonight there will be two short candle light services at the Vineyard with great music too.  One is at 5pm and one is at 7pm. All are welcomed to come to feel the spirit and to celebrate the true reason for our holiday--Jesus' birth! Merry Christmas!

[Caribbean Island] The keys are way north of the Caribbean Sea. To say we are a Caribbean island is just a bunch of tourist-attracting crap.




Santa's coping with
global warming at the North Pole.

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Monday Christmas Eve 2007

Sunday December 23, 2007


(Ed: We will only be printing wonderful things on Christmas Day. So start send in your Christmas wishes now.)

I'm looking for a local Keys charity to volunteer for a few hours a week.  Does anyone have any suggestions or any they have had good luck with and a good time while helping a good cause?  I’m looking for one where the money goes to the charity and not to buy the CEO's BMW or fund a housewives cocktail party?



[three carrier strike groups]
No wake, the photos are a fake. Those Photoshoped pictures have been around for some time.
Yesterdays’ Key West Citizen brought yet another revelation from on high: Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson does not remember what he and County Commissioner Dixie Spehar talked about before the last County Commission meeting. The County Commission meeting at which Dixie voted to keep Morgan on the Tourist Development Council, because, she said, he had assured her that he was not going to try to replace the TDC’s Chariman Harold Wheeler; because, she said, he had told her his plans for the TDC, which she said appealed to her. The Citizen said Morgan said tourism was dropping in the Keys, and the TDC had done nothing to stop it. The Citizen said Morgan said the mom and pop Keys businesses were losing business because the TDC was not stopping the loss of tourist dollars. The Citizen said Morgan said the Innkeepers and Lodging Associations had not supported him in either of his campaigns for Mayor. The Citizen said Morgan said he could not say whether or not the best course of action was to turn Key West (and the Keys) into a rich people’s resort. The Citizen said Morgan and Dixie did not answer phone calls placed to their places of work, homes, cell phones.
 
How very odd. I never heard any of that leading up the last County Commission meeting. All I heard was that Morgan and his bed buddy, County Commissioner Mario Di Gennaro, wanted to use a few million TDC dollars to build more infrastructure in Key West and the Keys, to increase our capacity to accommodate more upscale developments and resorts. How very odd, I attended all the candidate forums during the Key West mayoral. I read the newspapers and kept my ears to the ground and air waves. During that time I never heard Morgan even mention the TDC. Not one peep or cheep did I hear Morgan utter about the TDC, except when he was kicked off it because he didn’t attend four TDC meetings; except when he lobbied to get put back on the TDC, because he was off on Key West City business three of those four times. That’s the only mention of the TDC I ever heard during Morgan’s campaign to be re-elected. Not once did he criticize the TDC. Not once. Nor, during the campaign, did I hear Morgan come up with one proposal that had a snow ball’s chance in the Tropic of Cancer of bringing more tourists and their money into Key West. Nor did I hear Morgan come up with any proposal for saving the mom and pop businesses. In fact, I can’t say I heard him ever mention the mom and pop businesses until I read the Citizen yesterday. Perhaps I’m ignorant, but my understanding of the Innkeepers and Lodging Associations is that most of the members are mom and pop businesses.
GoodMorningKeyWest.com
I agree with the writer that said Ron Paul would be assassinated if he were elected. I thought he was a kook, but the more I listen to him the more he makes sense. It's just that he's such an original thinker that we're not probably not ready for him. We say that we're sick of the same ol' same ol', but when given the opportunity for real change we always vote for more of the same.

Key West and the Keys in general have become an upscale tourist destination because of the economic law of supply vs. demand setting prices, and the benefits of our free enterprise system which allows people to make as much money as they can in any way that they can.

[Swift supported Colman at BOCC] Edwin Swift is one of the biggest developers in the Keys and is a major partner in Historic tours of America (Conch Train, etc). It’s no wonder he supported Colman. Mr Swift will probably be the beneficiary of any “affordable housing” contracts issued by the gang of three and Mr Coleman. This is a development cabal that needs to be dismantled at the next election.

It’s no wonder Islamorada wants to un-incorporate and rejoin the County. There are only 4,850 voters in that city. Figure out how many of those would stand for public office and you have a very small pool of potential city candidates. Who wants that awful job of governing the few? What you end up with is the same few bigmouths running for office and determining your future. That sucks. Who needs four(?) cities in a little county of only 82,000 people? Talk about redundancy, there are so many duplicate layers of government it seems foolish and a waste of taxpayers’ money.



Has anyone tried satellite TV software?  For a one-time charge of between $25-60 you get anywhere from 2500-4000 stations from around the world. I’m almost ready to gamble the fifty bucks and try it. With a hundred dollar gizmo like the Sling Box you can even send the signal to your living room TV. When perusing the web sites make sure you’re not suckered in to Dish Network’s low introductory offers. They still have a hundred dollar a month fee. Satellite TV software is totally different. satellitetvforpcreviews.com/

[turned us over to code enforcement] Enough is enough when our hirelings start screwing with our homes, our food and water and our kids. Wake up before they put collars around our necks!

[kids playing with guns] A kid is any human being under the legal age, right? Then in most states "kids" are kids if under 21, 18 or 17, right? Now if a "kid" can enter the military at 17, with a parental waver, and be trained to kill millions with push of a button, then why can't they play with guns and have a freaking beer? Sounds absurd but it is a fact.



The greedy lawyer that owns KW Resort Utility wanted to double the monthly fees to its Stock Island customers. The State audited the utility and found that they were charging too much already and must lower their fees! The utility was charging its customers for the owners’ vacations, their children’s cell phone bills and padding the cost of supplies from his son’s company.

The Village of Islamorada wants to add another tax to voters that are already overtaxed. Let’s un-incorporate and let the County re-assume our fire protection and cut out one extra layer of government.



[Merry Saturnalia!] In the fourth century A.D., the Catholic church made a big mistake. Acceding to the popular tradition that Jesus Christ had been born on December 25 and wishing to keep Christians from participating in the infamous orgies of the year-end pagan festival of Saturnalia, the Church established December 25 as the feast of the birth of Christ. Thus, for seventeen centuries, Christmas and Saturnalia have competed for the attention of the public. By now, I think we must admit that Saturnalia has won and that Christmas has been thoroughly de-Christianized.

[$300 inspection fee] Is the county using the insurance company to check on our property because they can't otherwise get on our property? What are the definitive rules for them coming onto your property and looking in the windows or looking from across a canal? Is the flood inspection their only way to check on us?


I noticed that a columnist in the Key West Citizen refers to his home as "America's Only Caribbean Island". I've also seen this phrase in some tourist brochures. Is there something unique about Key West that makes it more Caribbean or tropical than the other Keys? Or is this another example of Key West arrogance or ignorance?

[Iguanas] I’ve been considering the postings concerning our Iguana population.  I can recall that the pro lizard forces plead for coexistence claiming as follows:  1.) They are cute (huh?)  2.) They harm no one nor do they harm local flora or fauna.  3.) They are cute (huh?). 

The death-to-the-green-monsters set claims:  1.) They are ugly (right on!)  2.) They devour huge quantities of high priced decorative and local flora. (they do!)  3.)  They deposit large quantities of foul, slimy, slippery, dangerous, disease spreading feces on walks, decks and boats (yes, they do do) 4.) They are not indigenous, they are exotic pests (you betcha)  5.)  They carry salmonella. (it says here)  6.) They taste just like chicken (says who?).  There is no legal prohibition against killing iguana, as the killing is done in a humane manner.  Please understand it is illegal to discharge a firearm around here, but also be aware that a pellet gun is not a firearm.  The iguana is an exotic alien pest that does compete with our local herbivores and there is substantial anecdotal evidence that they are omnivores.  It sure looks to me like the only reason not to kill them is because some folks think they are cute.  But then again serial killers get a lot of fan mail in prison.






[Is a rugby ball the same as a football] It takes much bigger balls to play rugby than protected football.

[Vote] Deer Editor,  It looks like you're earning your money with all of the submissions.  Thank you for all the work you do for this highly entertaining and slightly addictive column.  More people should advertise because it gets a lot of hits, I bet.  The people down here are really pretty smart and you wouldn't know it from the looks of them.  I am pleased to see our communities and some of the local people all coming together and trying to protect our islands from the developers, losing our animal shelter and trying to get sewers installed.  Happy to see pro-active neighbors actually cleaning up, getting involved and caring about our special place to live.  We have to keep making noise and not sit back and watch them take over every little thing.  Let's not be so complacent in the new year. How about regular, local people getting elected?  We need to clean house in 2008.   

Register to vote online: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/regtovote/regform.shtml 

So, I’m headed off to Oregon for a while, to do what I know not. In getting ready to leave, I’m being put through a sort of mopping up operation, so when I leave Key West and the Keys, I can leave less encumbered, even as I expect to come back to Key West and be put back to work here. Why I’m going in Oregon remains a mystery to me. I don’t even know where in Oregon I’m going, and that’s a pretty darn big state to be heading toward and not know where to go in it. Yet it somehow will be shown to me, and I will end up where I’m supposed end up, to do what I’m supposed to do, which will just start showing up after I get there, without my having to do much but wait for it to happen and engage it in the ways I’m shown to engage it. Same for anywhere I’m sent. Living on Maui in late 2000, flat broke, I was told on waking one morning to go to the Keys, and within three days’ time, from out of the blue, stuff had happened to make it possible for me to do that. As the bus I was riding entered the capitol of Florida, I was told in a dream I was going to be getting into politics. I awoke very distressed, and knew there was nothing I could do about it but let it unfold. GoodMorningKeyWest.com



Side dish for an iguana Christmas dinner?  Try a nice roast lamb. That way you can throw out the barbequed iguana and avoid answering questions like “Does it really taste like chicken?”

If you want to know if our State’s Attorney for Monroe County is doing his job, just ask yourself this one simple question: How many cases of local political corruption have been prosecuted by his office? London? No, Hendrick? No. Too close to the fire to see thru the smoke!

[when the Keys had no tourism] Amen to that; and yet, somehow we all managed to survive and live well.








Age is a very high price to pay for maturity. What I learned as I matured:
http://www.emusing.com/f_laim0204.asp

[Floodplain management ordinance requiring $300 inspection permit] My question is why only Monroe County has to have these inspections? Key West does not. Neither does any other place in this country that is below the flood plain. There are lots of other places in this county prone to flooding. We are singled out. There is not a less free place in this county then Monroe County. Screw them.

In 20 years I have not had flood or wind insurance and never will. The amount of money I have saved will rebuild my solid poured concrete house twice over if something stronger then a category five ever comes through here. I never ask for government handouts. That's not why we have government. But it has been bloated because of people who think the government owes them something. Screw those people, screw the Monroe County Government and screw FEMA. If you have a mortgage and need insurance go out of state and find one that does not require flood. Yeah Baby.

What happened to the US1 Beautification scheme and all the monies we got stuck for?

Many of us want to can the gang of three, but no one is coming forward to run for their seats. Who would want the job anyway? It’s a thankless job with long hours, very little pay, great responsibility and constant ridicule.

The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.

Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.

Monroe County was against incorporation and the voters barely approved it and it happened. There are no bonds involved and the $25 million the Village has borrowed is pledged by future sales taxes. The voters should decide the issue, not three county commissioners, whose tenure is very shaky. There is an extra layer of government here that does not require the county to absorb this extra expense. There is no contractual agreement. Un-incorporation will provide a taxpayer saving and not just moving around employees.


A football and a rugby ball are quite similar in shape and size. Both balls are oval and are 11 inches long. The difference between the two is the shape of the balls' ends. The football has ends that come to a point, while the rugby ball has flatter ends. The ends of these balls make a significant difference in how each moves through the air.

[County should charge us $10 to help the budget crunch] At 85,000 permanent locals that is only $850,000, which is chump change to those free spenders.

Suppose I wanted to help an underprivileged family of 22 from Haiti and try for a government grant to subsidize them and let them live in my home free, with food stamps, gas stamps, and anything else they needed, would that be ok in Monroe County? Who do I call?

[To all my Democrat friends]  Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference. 

To My Republican Friends:  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[Monroe County only $200K in reserves] A poster suggested an immediate taxing of all of “us” to the tune of 10 bucks. The poster then plaintively asks “would that be enough to help?” I first thought it was a gag posting, then it dawned on me that he might be serious. Here’s a suggestion to the poster: go ahead and send the County Commissioners your personal check for 10 bucks. If you want to feel really helpful send 100 bucks. Put the following note in the envelope with your check “Damnit, you freaking dolts, quit spending!”




Merry Christmas to the man who has everything.

[Un-incorporation] It seems that the voter has no say in this issue. Everybody is trying to keep this issue from the voter. the voters wanted to incorporate and now let them be heard on un-incorporation. Government will not collapse if the County assumes the duties they had before incorporation. Look at the assets they will take over. When incorporation occurred, the two municipalities hired many employees for the extra layer of government. The county did not reduce any employees because of incorporation, so they should not have to add any employees. If the voters say they are not satisfied with the municipal form of government they should be able to return to the fold.




Everybody's moaning about the costs of water, but nobody is putting up rain gutters to a cistern to help the situation. Why?

[Monroe County taxpayers beware] With the looming cost of sewers and bankruptcy, Islamorada and Marathon may now want to be assumed back into the county! If so, the County, aka you the taxpayer, will assume all their debt and government responsibilities. Maybe we should tell our county commissioners no? Those cities chose to secede from the County with high aspirations of grandeur, lower taxes and improved services. So be it. Now they should take responsibility for their actions.

The two cities' pipe dreams of incorporation became blurry and failed. The County taxpayers are already facing debt fallout from corruption and mismanagement by county officials. They should not also be held responsible for the failed dreams and mistakes of incorporation by incorporated city officials too. Tell your commissioner to vote no for any unincorporation plan. The phrase “we can manage our city better than the county can" was a commitment. Live up to your own responsibilities and failed visions. You are incorporated cities now in charge of your own city. Congratulations!

What harm can boiled peanuts cause]  It may cause the enjoyment of something as simple as a warm, salty peanut.  Or possibly the memory of a childhood family tradition when Dad would boil peanuts on a weekend afternoon.  Never let it be said that our County would let anything so simple and harmless pass without somehow making an issue out of it and spoiling yet another bit of innocent pleasure in our little corner of paradise. No doubt there is a little known, lengthy and expensive process involved in getting permits for peanut boiling. Unless, of course, you’re connected.  Condos, mega-resorts, hotels--no problem.  But boiled peanuts?  Never.

[traffic stop in Texas] Shoot them in a leg that will slow them down.

[Safety Council kids and guns] The Safety Council's numbers include gang shootings and kids to 20 years old.  That’s not what you think of when you think of accidental shootings of kids.  The anti-gunners will distort and fabricate with no remorse to get their lie perpetuated.  Get rid of gangs not guns.






Santa is an ass!
I asked the fat guy for a Hummer with lots of chrome and he sent me a crack ‘ho with braces! Merry Xmas.

Anyone that wants to be President (walk around with a big red bulls eye on and solve the worlds problems) is crazy and therefore should be disqualified.

[Italians came here With Out Papers. Mexicans are now doing the same. We do need their help] No! They are not. Were there 12-20 million illegal Italians waving the Italian flag, dragging ours on the ground, demanding citizenship, screaming discrimination? Did the Italians demand America's laws be written and special courts be created in Italian? Did Italians claim that requiring them to learn English was discriminatory? Were the local police not allowed to ask Italians if they were legal? Did the Italians refuse to assimilate into American life? We do not need the help of 12-20 million illegas. The misconception that they are all here to work is more pro-illegal immigration propaganda.

Illegal immigrants packing up and leaving Arizona because of a new law:  http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/22/immigrants.leave.ap/index.html



Lost $100 bill
on Pig Pine. Please call 304-2664 if found (will describe).

Direct quote from the just published Reagan Diaries. The entry is dated May 17, 1986. "A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne're-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."

Is Fred Thompson still running?

Sunday December 23, 2007

Saturday December 22, 2007


(Ed: We will only be printing wonderful things on Christmas Day. So start send in your Christmas wishes now.)
The snowbirds are coming! the snowbirds are coming! December 22 is traditionally the day when all those who are coming here for the season arrive.
Today is the first day of winter. Is that how they knew to bring us a cold front today?


[Bridge to nowhere] It would probably cost 30-40 thousand dollars a year to buy the fisherman and the radio station a boat and motor to get them back and forth instead of the millions to build a little used bridge. Arrangements could be made to get heavy freight to the island. Wolkowsky’s been doing that on Ballast Key since the 70s and that island is about five miles out.

[to the Bush lover] Bush enabled the religious civil war in Iraq. The Iraq war itself, is unwarranted and is Bush’s major screw up. History will tell the truth about Bush’s blunder. Being blind to the facts does not make a better Bush. The US did not invade Iraq to fight terrorist (as the writer states), we invaded to destroy weapons of mass destruction and nothing more. Open your mind, sir and stop trying to rewrite history.

I remember when the Keys had no or almost no tourism. It was quit, peaceful, without illegals. How I wish for those days again.



For the last 7 years Dixie Spehar has been making decisions without any regard to how the County will pay for them. Now it turns out that because of her hissy-fit in firing Tom Willi the County has no money to pay for a new County Administrator. I may be naive, but isn't knowing the financial condition of the County a part of being a County Commissioner?

For the first time in over 20 some odd years, three carrier strike groups got together in formation for a great photo op. You can see the aircraft carriers, Abraham Lincoln, Kitty Hawk, and Ronald Reagan. We even had Air Force planes fly-over (see the B-2 Stealth Bomber). The only warships not seen in the photos are the 4 nuclear powered submarines standing guard. Wow, imagine that coming at you! I surrender!

“You’ll love Israel from the first shalom” That is the new advertising promotion slogan for Israel’s tourism council. That is also the lamest slogan I’ve ever heard!

[Community Inspection Reports] I had to do this over the summer for flood insurance, but it only costs $50 (I did it thru the building department in Marathon).  After I applied it took a good two months for them to actually do the inspection. The insurance company was okay once I applied and I didn't need the actual report.




Welcome to Romania
. Slide show. Click on pictures to see the next one.

[hates politicians] You people do not understand politicians. They live here too and have the same expenses we do and they have the same headaches and frustrations. It is not that they do not really work for a living; it is that they don't want to. They let us support them in their finery, and expect to be here when we are all pushed out and bank-ruptured. Then they will continue to play the "I'm royalty" game and wear that halo for the next batch of fools!  The only way to end this joke is to go back to a village system, but the again the Chief will want a bigger cut, right?


[tired of anti-gun talk] I agree 100%, because it is a verifiable fact that more people are killed or maimed by shorted out adult toys than guns every year!

We received the same letter requiring an inspection a year and a half ago. I called the number on the letter to ask about the process. I was cheerfully informed that it was no big deal, an inspector simply came by and confirmed that there were no illegal rooms downstairs. Like you, mine downstairs is enclosed with breakaway walls, no rooms, etc. The inspector arrived, looking appropriately stern, and spent over two hours taking pictures. We received a letter with a list of code violations. Most of the violations having evidently not been violations when the final inspection was done since it was signed off.  We checked  the FEMA list to see what was actually legal vs illegal and found that the county had evidently fabricated their own list which  included a number of violations not considered violations by the Feds. We had purchased the home only a year and a half  previously and were working on several improvements and tried to explain this to the department conducting the inspection as  they found us in violation for having building materials downstairs. They have turned us over to code enforcement. We haven't reached the end of the story yet and will let you know when we do.




Let's stop and think for a minute about the true meaning of Christmas--the birth of Christ. Now we can enjoy the celebration with love, music, gifts, food and drinks!  Merry Christmas to all and be safe if you are traveling.

I went to Keys Federal Credit Union to open one of their free checking accounts. They wanted $50 to open a free checking account. I didn’t. It's no wonder they recently fired their CEO.

Saying that that there are thousands of accidental deaths every year from children and firearms is an even larger fabrication.




The Bone Yard near Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson,  Arizona. If you’re ever in the area stop by and take the tour. It’s vast an awesome.

Congratulations to Editor on caring enough to catch us all up on our educated drivel, thank you very much after Wednesday’s absence.

[boiled peanuts] If they think people are enjoying them they are going to want to shut it down. Does this surprise anyone?

[violation of the community's floodplain management ordinance requiring $300 inspection permit] Man, and I was complaining about having to pay $50 for the same privilege last year.  The democrats are right, inflation is running rampant.  Damn republicans.
 
Make sure your flood vents are in place and you have evidence of their rated exposed area.  I don't know where you get this if you don't buy them yourself, but they will require a re-inspection with new vents or printed evidence (at least the re-inspection is free).  Although the $300 sucks they have to charge you something because those without flood insurance need not be inspected.  The $50 I paid last year seems a lot more reasonable.  In all fairness I don't want my flood insurance dollars rebuilding someone else's illegal bedroom and family room in their downstairs enclosure.  Hell, I don't even want flood insurance. They'll never pay me a dime anyway because they made me remove everything that might ever get wet!



Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice. ~Thomas Paine

I noticed you posted an email I sent directly to Sloan Bashinsky but not to you at BigPineKey.com.  Granted, I assume Sloan will use all or part of my email as he sees fit to frame his opinion.  However posting an email without any attribution leaves readers the impression that I sent it directly to your forum.  Additionally, you used my name which seems to conflict with your posting practices on this site.  Perhaps I missed it but do you have an attribution policy someplace? (Ed: I apologize for whatever I did. It was not personal I’m sure, only my inconsistency.)






Thanks to the ACLU and other “politically correct” wackos, Christmas will be cancelled.  Don’t bother with the milk and cookies.

[Key West hospital must be crappy] Yes, it is crappy. The quality of medical care at LKMC is not particularly stellar in my opinion. I've never worked for the hospital, but I've worked at the hospital as an independent contractor. I am an RN. I found too many physicians with arrogant and condescending attitudes toward both staff and patients. When a physician is un-teachable, when they do not listen to what the patient or the nurse is saying because they know best, that makes for lousy care. Yes, many people may respond to these statements by saying that they had excellent care (hospitals wouldn't be in business if they didn't have successes). However, when your staff is overworked and underpaid (an understatement) and have to deal with physicians who have no time for them (generally the nursing department) or the patients, it creates a less than ideal environment for all concerned.

Why a chopper ride to Miami instead of a five mile ride to LKMC? It has nothing to do with the quality of care and everything to do with the extent of injuries sustained. Even though LKMC is essentially the only game in town, the trauma centers in Miami are much better equipped to deal with life threatening injuries. Believe me when I say that if I were conscious enough and able to speak, I'd be telling them to take me directly to Miami. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, just get me there--Stat! (Most of the time, unfortunately, crash victims that are being flown out are generally fighting for their lives, and may be intubated en route along with anything else that can be done to get them stabilized.)

Many, if not most, major hospitals are certified trauma centers. Small community hospitals are often not equipped or certified to deal with major traumas. When I worked for a University hospital in NY, they were the only trauma center for the whole county at that time. Flying crash victims to the University hospital was a daily occurrence. That's done all over the country. Think about it; if you're laying there with a punctured lung, a partially severed leg, and a ruptured spleen, wouldn't you want the kind of docs who deal with this sort of thing every day? There is no teacher as good as experience. If I'm seriously injured I want the guys with the most and best experience.

[kids playing with guns] The Safety Council numbers only include accidents. There are lots of kids playing with guns who shoot people on purpose to the tune of over twenty thousand in 2005. In all fairness, though, the number has come down quite a bit. Now I'm waiting for the comments about how if more "good" kids carried guns then maybe the bad ones would be afraid to cross them.  Yeah, that'd help. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/tables/regionjuvtab.htm

This is good if you can understand Redneck! Video

Injade will be rockin' out at the Looe Key Tiki Bar tonight (Sat) having a blast with all the great people in the area. We love all you guys. See you there!

On Sunday, from 5-9pm, singer songwriter, rockin' guitar player extraordinaire, David, from the band Injade will be showcasing his fancy guitar work on the acoustic. Or for a more mellow moment that night, you can cross the street up a little ways and hear Adrienne, who performs every Sunday night at the Parrotdise.

This was announced at the BOCC meeting: The County Commission meeting was interrupted by a call from State Rep. Ron Saunders to acting County Administrator Debbie Frederick. Saunders, through Frederick, said he had been notified that two groups wanting to un-incorporate Marathon and Islamorada had acquired enough petition signatures to move forward with that process.

[Coleman and McPherson] We were at the last BOCC meeting at Marathon, and were present when the issue of Attorney Coleman came up.  I know nothing about the history or the value of Attorney Coleman, and my entire knowledge of the issue was gleaned from the BOCC meeting.  It happened as follows:  Commissioner Murphy very cautiously attempted to terminate Mr. Coleman’s contract; she stated that the contract was initially to be a temporary measure until the County Attorney’s Office had hired and trained a staffer to deal with the issues that Mr. Coleman had been retained to handle.  Ms, Murphy stated, and a lady, I believe to be supervisory level County Attorney staff, verified that a county attorney had been employed and was up to speed on the issues.  It was noted that Mr. Coleman was currently being paid at the rate of $350 per hour and that he wanted a raise to $500 per hour.  I believe it was Mr. DiGennaro who then related that Mr. Coleman was doing an absolutely exemplary job, further, that Coleman had retained and trained a “person” who could do many of the tasks that he, Coleman, had been doing, all of this for only $175 per hour for the new person.  There was no mention as whether or not this “person” was an attorney admitted to the Florida Bar, nor any mention of the “persons” qualifications.  Mr. DiGenerro stated that Mr. Coleman would supervise the labors of this person.  No mention or testimony concerning the amount of hours, or limit thereto, to be billed, but it must be assumed that Coleman would bill either $375 or $500 per hour while supervising the labors of the $175 per hour person. 

There were 2 individuals who spoke against the issue, and a Mr. Ed Swift spoke most eloquently in support of Mr. Coleman, is there a history between Coleman and Swift?  Now let’s see per hour.  $175 for the person + $350 (or perhaps $500) for Mr. Coleman’s supervision = $525 per hour.  I heard no mention of placing any limit on the number of hours to be billed. Oversight of the labors of Coleman and person is to be accomplished by the County Attorney’s Office.  All of this even though it was claimed that the County Attorney had an attorney on staff trained and ready to take on the tasks of Coleman et al.  Murphy and Neugent voted against the deal, the other three voted for it.  I though that the county was stone broke!  How can the county afford Coleman plus his person and the County’s full time paid staff attorney?  What is the relationship between Mr. Coleman, Mr. Swift, and Commissioners Spehar DiGennaro, and McCoy?


I went to the presentation on Tuesday at the Tropic Cinema on Eaton and Whitehead. It was my first time there and left a favorable impression. I was unable to stay for the main event, but saw the first two “shorts” They were not what I had expected and were well done.

I was there to support the winner of the Humanitarian Award Diana Flenard, the Executive Director of M.A.R.C. (Monroe Association for Retarded Citizens). She does so much for the needy in Key West and is a humble and truly dedicated person (Just a recognition plug for her). The films and supporters reflect the old spirit of Key West. Key West High School students were there filming to educate and carry on the tradition. An eye opener it can be.

[Iguana infestation will take over] Has anybody noticed that these kind of idiotic comments always show up about the time the snowbirds come back down here? I say kudos to the person that posted about observing the green iguanas and nesting Green Herons coexisting at the Blue Hole.  I live near there, spend a lot of time there and agree with their observations. Google "green iguanas eating protein" and read the countless links talking about this subject and how that is a myth. 




This would explain all the Victoria's Secret purchases.

[illegal aliens want to kill us] This used to be relevant to people many years ago, but not any longer. You have to be blind to the new world and its horrors. There is no trust, honor or dignity left and a very high percentage of immigrants are coming here not to assimilate, but to destroy our country and our freedoms because of their hatred of their own dismal existence in their country of origin. I suggest we take a very close look at anyone who wants in and make sure they are not the enemy in rag drag!  It is not an outrage to be prejudice against a possible enemy that wants you dead. More people should quit dreaming and see reality or we are all going to be without a country very soon.





Santa's Jigsaw - animated Flash ecard by Jacquie Lawson

[boiled peanut lady] The county should not shut anyone down that is trying to do business, they should simply tell that person to copy the way other places do it legally.



[Michael Crichton's book,
State of Fear] This is a great book. Crichton has a web page also; I think it had text from a congressional hearing where he spoke on the subject. It certainly gives a different side to the crap that passes for accepted fact everyday. The guy is pretty smart.

Making Trauma Star the primary responder to life-threatening accidents up to Mile Marker 95 makes sense, given the new helicopter's improved flight time (according to the county's fire chief). But Upper Keys trauma district officials caution that such a change could result in some residents paying twice for air ambulance service. During a recent meeting with Hinnant, members of the Upper Keys Health Care Taxing District, also known as the trauma district, expressed misgivings about changing response protocols. Commissioner Sylvia Murphy, a former member of the Upper Keys trauma board, sees trouble ahead. "I will fight this," Murphy said. The event that will cause a collision is when Miami is available to transport trauma district patients at no charge, per our protocol, and instead they are transported by Trauma Star at many thousands of dollars expense. “The fire chief doesn't want to know any of the background," Murphy said. "Will I fight this? Yes, I will." Someone needs to ask Fire Chief Hinnant what will happen when Trauma Star is responding to save a life in the Upper Keys leaving the rest of the Keys without the safety net and a critical accident happens down there?

"We're talking life safety. I want to get the best service and we'll worry about the cost later," Hinnant said”.

Fire Chief Hinnant, if you continue on this venue, the cost maybe a life in the lower Keys while Trauma Star is up in the Upper Keys taking care of a patient which already has its own helicopter system in place.




Is a rugby ball the same as a football? Do they use the same ball? What is the difference?

There has been a lot of justified carping over the years about the BOCC’s Gang of Three. Unless some quality candidates run against them, it will be more of the same.  For some reason, once in office, it is really difficult to get rid of elected officials, even if they are mini-dictators with a pro-development agenda. 

So here is my Keys Christmas wish:  The final year in office for the Gang of Three and some white knights/knightresses,(?) to run against them.




Is there is a midnight Christmas eve service anywhere? 

The County wants to raise bus fares to gain more income to cover for the deficit left by their wasteful spending spree last year. That figures; get the money from the poorest people in the County.






I have a one year old cat whose job is to act cute and she does it better than anyone.

The county says they have only $200,000 in reserves? That’s terrible. What happens if we have an emergency? They should charge all of us $10 right now. Would that be enough to help the budget crunch?





[What time is Midnight Mass] We lived in a little town with a church population of 100 people. 20 Years ago we celebrated Midnight Mass at 10:00 pm because our Pastor Father Donald was getting up in his years and Brother was way up in his years. It was not a matter of crime or drunks - - - Father Donald and Brother just couldn’t stay up that late. This is a true story and fond memories.

I suspect that if Ron Paul was elected president (fat chance) and abolished the IRS and closed all three hundred military bases around the world he would be assassinated; not for political reasons or patriotic reasons, but for financial reasons from all those lawyers and suckers who have been draining our money for those two wasteful programs.



Christmas Eve sky
. This sky map is published as a courtesy to help Santa find his way. I hope he doesn't bump into Pollux on his way to my house.

[enclosure inspection for $300]  I had the enclosure inspection in October and I didn't pay anything.  It was based, however, on a failed inspection report by the previous owner when he was selling the house, so I don't know if he had to pay or not.  I did have to pay $92 for an enclosure demo permit.  Try contacting Dianne Bair at Growth Management 305-289-2518.

[animal rescue masks]  I love a ground up start-up mission and am ready to take my orders (write a check). If you can buy three sets at $60 each than so can I.  I want to give, especially to anyone with sense enough to have beagles. You post it here on Coconut Telegraph when you get your ducks in a row and will send check. Buddy the Beagle sends his love too!

Forget all the kidding about iguana recipes. Don't knock it ‘til you've tried it. The meat is excellent!

Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my gun.



Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

I have some thing to say. Stop bitching, crying, complaining and just say some thing that is good. Here is what I have to say, “good”. Also if you write anything over five lines long I don’t bother to read it.

[The assessment is probably only for a few years] Are you living in La La land or what?  Having been taxed in the Keys since 1962 and having all the records I can assure you that down here, if they ever get the chance to tax you on anything the tax only gets bigger every year.  That is why we have so much money to buy restaurants from our buddies and fix bridges to nowhere for 34 million (really 45 million with cost overruns to our buddies) and sink ships that a few people can dive down to and at the same time forget about the mandate to have the keys on aerobic systems and or sewered by 2010.


[Midnight mass] When I was an alter boy the joke was about all the people who called the rectory asking what time midnight Mass was. I guess the times have changed and midnight mass is no longer obviously held at midnight. Is nothing sacred (ho, ho)?

[e-mail sent to all County CommissionersIf this is true, then they are really asking for it. We are not stupid. We know you bastards are in cahoots with the land grabbers to get all the dirt in the Keys for development. We are sick and tired of these servants of the people sticking it up our butts every time we turn around. And you insurance companies can stick your ridiculously priced (they cover nothing anyway) policies where the sun doesn't shine!  You are pushing us too hard and the pay backs just might be a bitch!


The religious war cannot be 2500 years old and the administration also lied when they said they knew exactly where the WMDs were. Both sides are full of BS. Let the independents pick the next President. They listen to both sets of liars and really are America’s third party.

[Key West Hospital] They are very nice and have helped in many an emergency, not just mine. They do not cause the wrecks. They just get to reassemble the parts that they are provided. The medics and docs also have a great sense of humor. They are professionals.



Downtown Big Pine
is looking real ratty. How 'bout some steel mills and foundries to pay some decent wages?  

I really don’t think the government needs to waste money on encouraging people to speak English. That can be done for free at every employers place of work. I’m glad they shot done that ridiculous waste of money. Thanks Democrats.

I love it when people scream "Saddam didn’t listen to the UN so he had to be attacked". Yet they say right after that the "UN is useless". Make up your minds. The very same UN voted strongly against our occupation of Iraq, yet in that case we ignored them. Let me guess: that’s different. Love them when it suits you; hate them when they are against you. The world has asked Israel what their nuclear abilities are and they have ignored everyone. We know it’s different for them because we are allied with them. Hold everyone accountable to the exact same disclosures and accountabilities and you will always have the world’s backing. Different rules for different countries never works.




A traffic stop in Texas along the border. This reminds me of the circus where they fit a million clowns into a miniature car. Video

Someone is trying to say that there was no religious war going on in Iraq before the occupation began and that whoever thought that wasn’t very bright. So I guess that person is saying that in Iraq before the invasion the Shia/Sunni and the Kurds all got along wonderfully and sat around singing Kumbya together. Yeah, okay, and Saddam didn’t gas the Kurds based on their religious beliefs and their place in the government. He gassed them because they didn’t pay taxes maybe? And yet again a veiled reference to 9/11 which our President said Iraq had zero to do with. Why did we put American troops into Iraq then? Wait, I remember. We were told Saddam had WMDs and they were "North, west, east and south of Tikrit" and that "We know where they are". I love history revisionist.

It was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The pastor of the church was looking at the manger scene, when he noticed that  the baby Jesus figure was missing from the cradle. He immediately turned and went outside and saw a little boy with a red wagon walking down the street. And in the wagon, was the figure of the infant Jesus. So he walked up to the boy and said, "Son, where did you get that little baby Jesus that's in your wagon?" The little boy replied, "I got him from the church." And why did you take him?" asked the pastor. The little boy replied, "Well, about a week before Christmas, I prayed and I told Jesus if he would bring me a red wagon for Christmas, I would give him a ride in it!"

Merry Christmas to all!

Grey water for landscape watering seems like a good idea but there is e coli in washing machine water and shower water.





Lost wrist watch
with stainless steel band around the Unity Church 909 Flagler on Dec 19. Great sentimental value. Reward call Joshua 872-3059
Classified Ads > Lost & Found

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Saturday December 22, 2007

Friday December 21, 2007

[Contents of an e-mail sent to all County Commissioners today. I suspect we need a few thousand more like it] I recently received a letter stating the following:  "Local officials in your community have identified your building as being a possible violation of the community's floodplain management ordinance. An inspection of your building by the community is a requirement before your current flood insurance policy can be renewed." The letter goes on to say that I have to send a copy of a "Community Inspection Report" with my renewal bill and premium.

I have a downstairs enclosure which is unfinished, with breakaway walls, used only for storage, built by the previous owner with an approved permit. I don't have a problem with someone from the county looking at it; the gate below the house is not locked and I see county vehicles drive by all the time. However, when I called your growth management division to arrange for this inspection (as the letter instructed), I was told it would cost me three hundred dollars to apply for it. This has me angry nearly beyond words. I can not understand why I should have to pay anything for your people to verify that my enclosure is not being used for living space, especially since some "local official" identified it as a "possible violation" in the first place! To me this is nothing but robbery, and I believe the theft of three hundred dollars qualifies as a felony.

I seriously doubt that this happens without the County Commission having knowledge. I therefore request that you promptly do whatever it takes to enable me and all other law abiding homeowners to renew their flood insurance without this incredible and unwarranted charge.



Some pictures from the Captain Dan Celebration of Life.
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There are some government officials that watch their revenue stream and take action but there are others, like the Village of Islamorada, that ignore fiscal responsibility and just keep spending and looking the other way. The other day the Village of Islamorada held a council meeting and listened to a business plan for operating the marina that had been prepared by the park director. Former mayor Chris Sante led the criticism of the business plan. Sante was mayor for three years and led the way to borrow $4 million in 04 and they still have not been able to accomplish the purpose of borrowing the money. Over $1 million was to repair the marina. Monthly financial reports are missing for April thru Sept 05 and missing for Sept 07 and missing since October 07 to the present. During fiscal year 06-07 the village collected 44% of its revenue, but spent 60%. Talk about fiscal irresponsibility!

The Plantation Key Colony sewer project was to have produced over $600,000 by now, but has only brought in about $100,000 (guessing because there are no financial reports available to the taxpayer or the elected officials to help keep track). The reuse water program that cost almost $2 million is still full of salt water and FKAA has declared a water emergency and the Village just plods along like everything is okay.

Rep. Dan Gelber reported in an article that “The cupboard is not just bare, the cupboard is gone." The state is $2.4 billion “billion” short.

Taxpayers expect fiscal accountability, but we are not getting it. We need to replace all five elected officials in March 2008 and start over with a new team. This type of government is why our local newspaper called the Village "dysfunctional".


How come the government is debating the cost of a life saving emergency medical helicopter and nobody is debating the outrageously high expenditure of public funds to fix a nearly useless bridge?

Did I read that someone is trying to dissolve the cities of Islamorada and Marathon and return them to just being islands in the keys. I’m so glad Big Pine Key didn’t become a city.



I saw the new Tavernier fire house. It is terrific. It has just about everything those people need. (eat your heart out, Big Pine!) One of the fireman told me that the Town only assed his household $46 a year for the new fire station. I’d pay that to get a new station built on Big Pine. The assessment is probably only for a few years. I forgot to ask him how long.

Sometimes the intellect and reasoning of the Bush haters leaves me in head-scratching shock at their lack of understanding of history, recent events, and even native intelligence.  One poster suggests that our current conflict with Islamic terrorists (Iraq war) is not warranted, that in fact the entire conflict is the major Bush screw up.  I guess that even after all of the terrorist travail this great nation has endured, this dude would have us turn the other cheek, or perhaps another 3000 humans in another metropolis!  Yet another poster claims that Iraq was in the throes of a vast religious civil war when Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced.  There was no civil war in Iraq when coalition troops invaded.  Saddam had ignored 14 U.N. resolutions, he was ignoring sanctions, and his bloody fist totally controlled his subjects.  Any claim that a religious civil was in existence in Iraq at the time of the invasion is flat wrong.  I sure hope the poster is just mistaken, and he is not intentionally misstating facts. 

New airport runway on the Portuguese island of Madeira. The airport's runway has a length of 9000 ft of which 3000’ are supported by 180 pillars, each pillar 170’ tall. The runway is designed  to accommodate 747s. Note the cars parked below the runway.

One day I visited the Blue Hole and saw a homeless guy eating a green iguana. I asked him why he was doing so. He replied that it was illegal to eat heron eggs. He further said that the lizard tasted like chicken.




Only in the keys have I seen Santa Claus scooping injured folks off the highway after a accident. That was the most surreal thing I think I’ve ever seen. It happened Wednesday night on Big Coppitt. You go Santa!

How about the Brazilians that are bought in by store owners down there? Yes, they are here legally, however they are still taking your local jobs away.  The owners keep them here for a few months and then trade them for others that want to come here and work for a few months.  This debate could go on and on (what about the Russians, etc). My point is that they may be here legally and are still taking your jobs away.  If the government had done the right thing many years ago for the "wet backs" this mess would not be here today.  All our ancestors came from different countries unless they are American Indian




I am so tired of the anti-gun talk.  There is not now, nor have there ever been thousands of kids killed every year playing with their father’s guns.  Where are your facts?  Where do you get your bogus information? Thousands are saved because they have guns.  Not counting the people saved by the Police and Military because they have guns.  Very few people are killed in gun accidents.

 Mile Marker 24 Big Band with the Banana Man Horn Section. Boondocks this Saturday at 7pm. Also, special guests include Leigha Fox from US1 Radio who will be bringing her vocal magic to share with us. We will also have a special appearance by the Dorfal Family. If you have never heard these guys, they are wonderful. They are from New York and range in age from 12 to 19 years old, playing banjo, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, guitar and anything else they can get their hands on. Anyway, it is going to be a very special evening and we would love to have you join us.

[Straight from a Brit] Even when you have private health insurance and need to see a specialist, you still have to go through your National Health GP (General Practitioner, or family doctor) to be referred. To say “I have private insurance” doesn't get you different doctors. The referral will still be to the same specialist, but possibly at a private clinic in a different (purpose-built private) hospital or sometimes in the same clinic, same hospital. 

However, the real difference is in the waiting time.  On NHS scale, the waiting time is about 4 months (minimum) but privately it would be 1 - 2 weeks.  The equipment, and general staff, could be the same as NS if seen at the same hospital.  It seems mad to me.  I have experienced both and have to admit that private care is better - that, for example, was how it was discovered that I had a hole in my heart that caused my strokes.  The NS had given up looking for a cause, so I'd have gone on to have a further stroke with them! 

With regards Dental treatment, well that is different.  It is so hard to find a dentist that takes NHS patients.  Even if you are lucky enough to find one, you still have to contribute to your treatment (why I do not know, it really puzzles me) and it is not cheap.  I have experienced both, and currently have private treatment.  It costs loads but the service provided is much more thorough.  With regards private dental insurance - you have to pay for half of your treatment, so it still works out expensive.  I pay a premium of £20 per month which entitles me to 2 examinations per year plus 2 hygienist treatments.  Any treatment on top of this I have to pay for then claim back 50% from the insurance company.  For example, root canal treatment cost about £400. An eye test costs £15, this is a NHS one but you have to pay this regardless.

So what this boils down to is that in reality, most people do not have private insurance (a lot of higher level jobs include health insurance in their package).  A lot of people do not attend the dentist or have their eyes tested, as they have to pay.

On the whole people resent the idea of Private Insurance, mainly because it shows up the problems of the NHS. Right now the pound is about double the dollar, so the 400 pound root canal is equal to 800 dollars.


Kudos to the Tropic Cinema for running the movie
Bella. We saw it last night and it was the best flick we've seen in a very long time! 

[Bacon grease lady] That is one gross looking woman. I sure feel sorry for her shoes. How dare they take up so much room in this world. Where in the hell does this hog finds panties--in a sail loft? I'm surprised the camera didn't break when the picture was taken!




[Going out with a bang] boom!

Boy, it's sure nice to trust your elected officials!

Wild Thing. That’s what comes over the air waves on 88.3, as I sit down to write this morning before dawn. Last night was the third time in maybe a month I’ve dreamt of going to Oregon. This time, I was given a time frame: three months. It’s political, in what way I don’t know, but I’ll not be surprised if I’m headed to the Oregon coast, or to Portland, where I spent some time in 1987, and again in 1991. Perhaps a seed was planted then, now ready to be brought to maturity, harvested. Whatever, besides the three dreams, there have been maybe half a dozen different signals in my waking life that I need to go to Oregon, where people still seem to think Mother Nature is pretty hot stuff.
 
The last waking signal was the other night at Tropic Cinema, when I saw the second premiere of Have You Seen Clem?, which originates in Portland. As I told a Key West poet, who sat with me during the movie, his first time to see it, it’s more than a movie. It’s a poem. An epic poem. Now it’s being released nationally, after many edits. An incredible vision about the homeless, not at all what anyone going to see it will expect. Not at all like that. The Priesthood Melchizedek influenced this director, who also is a main character in this documentary film, which is more than that. It’s a real story, with many real messages, and you never know where it’s going, just like real stories never know where they are going, not really, until they are done going. If Have You Seen Clem? doesn’t win awards, I’ll be ready to check myself into the state mental for sure. It’s easy to get into one of those places, not so easy to get out. Maybe like coming to this world to live. Like Kevin Spacey told me in K-PAX  one enchanted evening at the Atlantic Shores outdoor movie theater in 2004. Whatever, all  post-Christmas Keys political plans I’ve made for the next three months are hereby cancelled. GoodMorningKeyWest.com

[green iguana can produce a black iguana] Someone actually took the time to document an iguana taking a crap and posting it on YouTube. And I thought I didn't have a life!




I like the idea about a C&W song alerting us to the perils of global warming and the wrong kind of women. How about "Her Carbon Footprint was Bigger than my Truck?"

[11-year-old shotgun girl] Even if it wasn't true I liked the way the story turned out better than the way it usually does.

US1 is a federal road not a county road so we can't put up a tool booth.





[Herbivore, omnivore] They have been known to eat each other. Does that make them cannibalavores or homonivores?

[extra six cents a gallon for gas]  Of course we can.  The County Commission, with the help of a couple of their well placed cronies, has recklessly over spent the county’s money and dug themselves into a financial hole so deep they can no longer see daylight.  Their answer is to solve the problem by beating the taxpayers with the club of outrageously increased fees, higher taxes and cutting essential services.  Meanwhile a couple of the commissioners and friend are ignoring public opinion and the entire business community by trying to oust Mr. Wheeler from the TDC and replace him with another “rubber stamp” good-old-boy Bubba in the very obvious attempt to get control of $20 plus million TDC dollars as well.  Their contempt for the welfare of Monroe County and the hard working, already over burdened taxpayers is disgusting.  The 2008 elections can’t come soon enough!


[the IKC is back] I’m planning on having BBQ Iguana this Christmas on the grill and I’m not sure what would be good side dishes for that. Any suggestions? I got a real nice 3 footer that should easily feed 4 of us. It’s easier to get them when they are in the trees. I got one behind the ears and they fall right into the catch bag. Ummmmm, that’s eatin’. It’s great being a good ol’ Florida boy eating local. Merry Christmas.




[could not be published yesterday ]  That's actually a huge relief!  I tried every trick I could think of to weasel it out of it and thought I'd developed some new problem on this end.

When some posters are wrong, they do a great job of it.  One guy says that Saddam had gotten weaker under U.N. sanctions.  If that were true how in the hell did he manage to run his country despite at least 14 official U.N. sanctions, how in the hell did he continue to get away with thumbing his nose at U.N. inspectors, how in the hell did he manage to convince the entire freaking world that he had WMD, how in the hell did he manage to field all the armored weapons and his hundreds of thousands of troops (fortunately all second rate)?  Sadaam was the single most powerful military presence in the area.  And, oh yeah, how in the hell did he manage to continue to grow his personal fortune?  The only people suffering in Iraq were the ruled population, and that was because of Saddam, not the sanctions.  This poster then dove deeper in the dumb pool by saying that a civil war was ongoing in Iraq at the time of our invasion.  That’s just not true, there was no civil war there then and the waning conflict there now is not a true civil war.  Remember folks, Sadaam killed, repeat killed, all dissidents.  Then our poster put on a re-breather, filled it with nitrous oxide, and dove nearly to the bottom of the dumb pool.  Our erudite friend claimed that his claimed “religious civil war” had been ongoing for 2500 years.  An interesting suggestion given that the Prophet Mohamed (for the benefit of our poster, the founder of the Muslim religion), was not born until about 570 AD.  Well, what the hell is a thousand years or so among friends, especially if you really hate GWB?



[global warming] Find the flaw in his argument.
watch video

[Herbivore Omnivore] I know that online articles about animals and the like aren't as accurate as the fine educated people that post here but they say that they are herbivore.

[thousands of deaths every year by kids playing with guns]  This is typical anti-gun rhetoric and I can't let your hyperbole stand uncorrected. The National Safety Council Website (http://www.nsc.org) reveals that in 1999 there were 214 accidental deaths of children under 19 by firearms. In 2004, there were 619 accidental firearm deaths in all age groups. Suicides and homicides were far greater, but they're not accidental.  Each of these was a tragedy, but compare this to the number of people killed in transportation accidents. In 2004 there were 44,933.  In 2004, there were 3,308 accidental drownings. Almost as many people drowned in swimming pools as by accidental gunshot (625). We would be better off working toward water safety.  Would you ban pools as well as firearms?

[bacon grease lady] I actually got aroused by that fat bottom girl. What great proportions (I'm old and caloricly-challenged though).

Instead of the propose gas tax increase. Let them raise the cigarette tax.

I lost a brown wallet with two pictures of my daughter in it. I lost it either at Tom Thumb or at Seahorse by lot 20 where I got out of my friend’s car. If you see the wallet please leave a message on bpk.com or leave it at Tom Thumb. Please help me. The wallet has my daughter’s Christmas money for her presents. I don’t have much, but I’ll give what I can or buy you a nice dinner.

I've raised Green Iguanas with breeding doves in the same cage, and they never touched the eggs!  Are you quite sure the iguana you saw doing this was a Green Iguana and not another kind?  We do have a few other species living in the Keys, and they are greenish in color, but are not the Green Iguana, and they are omnivores.

[Tall tails] Many years ago we were operating between Japan and Korea. We had received a distress call and launched our helicopter to help the crew of a sinking fishing vessel. By the time we arrived at the area there were a couple of boats helping the fishermen out of the water. A couple of weeks later I was sitting in a bar in Japan. There was another American sitting next to me and we started a conversation. He was an Air Force officer in the area investigating the sinking of a fishing boat. I started laughing and told him that we were on the scene of this sinking and commented how it is a small world that we meet this way. Well the joke turns out to be on me. He looks me dead in the eyes and asked if I had seen the cow? Completely confused, I ask him what the hell he was talking about/

After the fishermen had been picked out of the water the Japanese Coast Guard had them arrested for filling a false report. The fishermen claimed that their boat was sunk by a cow falling out of the sky. The Coast Guard just figured they were drunken fishermen that had done something stupid that had sunk their boat. The men continued to tell the same story over and over again, so an investigation was launched. After looking at the air traffic control radar for the area it was discovered that an Air Force transport plane was in the area at the time of the sinking. The crew of the plane was questioned if they knew or saw anything and they finally came clean.
 

The Air Force crew had been performing humanitarian missions in Thailand. The local villagers had given them a live cow. The crew used some air sickness pills to relax the cow for the flight. Of course they did not use enough and the cow came to and became very excited. It began running around and smashing into the sides of the aircraft. The crew was worried the cow would cause serious damage to the aircraft. They opened the ramp area in the back of the plane. The cow seeing the light ran for the exit. At the same time as all this is happening there is a little Japanese fishing boat floating around in the open ocean with some men just trying to earn a living.



[Voting to keep Coleman and McPherson] Looks like Spehar just loaded more cargo onto her sinking ship called The Election.

The latest figures say that one of every five residents is making plans to leave Florida, mortgage companies are going bankrupt, people are declaring bankruptcy, yet the Village of Islamorada is raising fees, and creating new taxing districts. The elected officials of the Village of Islamorada still do not understand the plight of the average taxpayer. They keep looking for new ways to tax the average voter.

Election time is approaching and we need those concerned to step forward and stand for office. We need to replace all five elected officials with someone who cares.

[Wee Weechu] One beautiful December evening Pedro and his girlfriend Rosita were sitting on the side of the canal. It was a romantic full moon, when Pedro said, "Hey, mamacita, let's do Wee Weechu."  "Oh no, not now, let's look at the moon!" said Rosita.  "Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and me do Wee Weechu. I love you and it's the perfect time," Pedro begged. "But I wanna just hold your hand and watch the  moon." replied Rosita. Please, corazoncito, just once, do Wee Weechu with me." Rosita looked at Pedro and said, "Okay, one time, we'll do Wee Weechu." Pedro grabbed his guitar and they both  sang "Weeweechu a Merry   Christmas, Wee Weechu a Merry Christmas, Wee Weechu a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year."

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Friday December 21, 2007

 

Thursday December 20, 2007


Deer Editor, OMG!  Are you okay, Honey? (Ed: Sorry, but due to operator error Wednesday’s Coconut Telegraph got printed on Thursday morning and Thursday’s got printed Thursday night. Friday’s will be on Friday and a partridge in a pear tree.)

I have started a project to aid in the rescue of animals in fires, floods or other perils. Currently Monroe County has no such equipment and relies on "hit or miss" human mask oxygen delivery, in which most of the oxygen is long gone before the animal inhales.
After much searching I have found the McCollugh Medical Animal Oxygen Recovery Mask. It is a triage application mask specifically designed to fit domestic animals, be it a bird, cat, dog, iguana, whatever....to deliver oxygen to its lungs and displace smoke, contaminants, etc.

I have preliminary approval from the County Fire Chief. He is going to contact me regarding locations for delivery and training. I want every fire station in the Keys to have at least one set (small, medium and large masks) on board each engine. My goal is to order 15 sets. HELP Animals, Inc. is selling the sets at cost at $60 per set.

I have emailed the director of the animal shelters to help me with fundraising; I have no idea how to do that. I am going to buy and donate the first 3 or 4 sets out of pocket and ask for help after that for people to sponsor a set. They are extremely reasonably priced at $60 for three units, hospital grade, reusable, different sizes for different animals. Each fire station throughout the Keys will receive a set and be trained on it. I still have to work out details such as where/how to deposit the donations in a bank until I have enough to make an order, etc. I'm hoping the shelter will help me with that. Maybe I can channel the donations through them.
The whole goal is raise around a grand which is ‘peanuts" compared to other causes, but important to those of us with pets. I'm not asking for money here, just maybe suggestions on how to get the word out without buying ads. Any help is appreciated; I know how much we Keys residents love our pets including my Wilbur and Charlotte the beagles.


Our wonderful County is trying to shut down the boiled peanuts at Lost Cargo. Peanuts are sealed in their shells and boiling them with salt can only preserve them. What harm do they think boiled peanuts can cause?

[people of the keys support Mayor McPherson] Speak for yourself. Morgan was elected within Key West, not by the people of the keys.  And in Key West it was only New Town who elected him; he lost handily in Old Town. In Key West, as a whole, his majority was less than one percent.

That's about as far from a mandate as is possible. McPherson is taking his cue from Bush who also treated his extremely narrow win in 2004 as a mandate to press on with policies that have proven to be very unpopular.  Instead of recognizing that the community is divided on issues and working to find a real consensus, both Bush and McPherson press on with their own agendas, and continue to jab a stick into the eyes of a huge part of the citizenry who don't buy into their delusions.

Signs of our times.

I was stuck in the traffic last night caused by the wreck on Big Coppitt.  As I sat there, I got to thinking.  The Key West hospital must really be crappy. I mean, they kept this poor schmuck lying on the side of the road for nearly an hour until the med-evac helicopter came.  Then, I would guess, it's at least another hour before they get him unloaded in Miami. They did all this rather than put him in an ambulance and drive him 5 miles to the Key West hospital.









[
first winter here and freezing] You must be joking.  Where's "back North”? Islamorada or way up there in Key Largo?

[Fishcutters] So do any of the readers of this column know if the restaurant will actually ever be reopened, either by the Jenisons or the Buon Apetito people? I sure could use one of those BLT's they, Conrad and John, did so magnificently.

School officials say the Ocala 5th grader had brought a piece of steak for her lunch, and a four and a half inch steak knife with which to cut it. According to the report, a couple of teachers took the utensil and called authorities, who arrested the girl and took her to the county’s juvenile assessment center. Students sitting next to the girl at lunch say she didn't threaten anyone with the knife; she just used it to cut up her food.

The girl's uncle, Kenneth Thomas, said that his niece had to ride in the back of a patrol car. Captain Jimmy Pogue of the Marion County Sheriff's office said the 10-year-old was not treated like a criminal. "I don't want people to feel like we're arresting 10-year-olds, handcuffing them, and hauling them off in a back of a patrol car and taking them to jail. That's not the circumstance."

The report will be turned over to the State Attorney's office and they will decide if to follow up with the weapon's charge.

[water boarding]  The other day a Bush basher spouted by claiming that no combatant would succumb to water boarding in less a minute.  The dude had to take a shot at Bush so he tried to tie it up by bragging that our military trainees routinely last for more than two minutes when water boarded during training.  This reasoning behind this comment was way out there in la la land.  The dud(e) simply had to take any opportunity to take a shot.  Hate almost always trumps reason. Then this AM the news is talking about a “torture” house operated by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The Key West mayor won a little over one half the votes. That has nothing to do with what people in the Keys think of him.

In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.  ~Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Congress spits on America and her people again. House Democrats crafted in secret their new direction immigration and border enforcement plan. Congress voted to cut funding for the border fence then added millions of dollars for emergency funding for lawyers to protect illegal immigrants. Congress also gutted a senate passed provision encouraging English in the workplace. This "new direction" plan has blocked the 9/11 commission's recommendations. Also dropped from the final bill was a ban on aid funding sanctuary cities even though that had passed earlier. 

Earlier this year Rep Tom Tancredo (R-CO) offered an amendment in the House to prohibit state and local governments who refused to share information with federal immigration officials from receiving homeland security funding. This amendment to stop sanctuary cities passed the house 234-189. Send a loud message, contact lawmakers today and express your opinions then vote all supporters of this illegal immigrant friendly bill out of office! 




Here’s how it is according to the new Rand McNally map.

[The Crane Point Mini-Mystery Day Camp] Crane Point invites all children age 6 to 11 to become detectives as they help solve mysteries and whodunits. The camp will run from Wednesday, Jan. 2nd through Friday, Jan. 4th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Activities include solving the case of the Mysterious Missing Money using paint chips, shoeprints and soil samples to help identify the culprit. Children will also help catch who is polluting the water and how to help the Food and Drug Administration find out if product labels are accurate. Each day will include many fun hands-on activities and take home projects.

Space is limited to 20 participants. The cost is $75 per student for the three-day camp and includes lunch, with a 10% discount for members.
To register your child, contact Elizabeth Moore, Education Director at (305) 743-3900
Bulletin Board







What time is midnight mass? Midnight mass at 8pm to fool drunks

[New flight path] If local government decides not to follow the Navy’s recommendations, the Navy can appeal to Florida’s Director of Community Affairs. NAS Key West has done this in the past. Many of the homes owned by local residents on Stock Island, Boca Chica and Big Coppitt were built or placed on mobile home lots after the Navy’s first AICUZ study. Through the years, these homes greatly increased in value and were sold to new owners for large profits. I don’t know whether or not realtors or anyone else warned new home buyers or renters about the predicted noise levels but the information was available. As a Monroe County homeowner myself, I truly understand the meaning of full disclosure. There are things I would’ve liked to know when I bought here. The Navy recommended local governments disclose modeled noise levels in these land transactions and it doesn’t appear that it happened. Bottom line Sloan, without a comprehensive plan to manage long term compatible use development, the potential for conflict between neighbors will increase.
 
As a political candidate and more importantly, as a concerned citizen, I hope you will continue your education on this topic. Local citizens have the right as well as the duty to learn about government processes and to challenge them if they think there is a conflict. NAS Key West has been challenged on its operations and the AICUZ process. The air station has discussed these topics openly in many venues. The increase in questions and awareness is very evident. You see it in emails and local press reports and yes, even in dreams. But as you take the journey towards making an informed opinion, ask yourself if what you’re hearing is the truth. Seek factual information from subject matter experts.
 
I wish you a sound sleep and pleasant dreams, Sloan!  ~Jim Brooks








How many five year olds could you take out in a fight? couldyoutakeinafight

This writer should get a Pulitzer Prize. He hit the nail right square on the head. The best line “We are creating a nation of weak spineless citizens who know what is happening and do nothing about it.” We agree. Our new government even made the word "revolution" a terrorist word. Didn't we do that over 200 years ago? I think we have come full circle; looks like we're in the same shape we were in 200 years ago, but worse. Keynoter article




I think PMS sounds like a lot of fun.

[Mayor Morgan McPherson] The majority of Key West might have voted for him, but the County of Monroe did not. He needs to look at the bigger picture and not just at the bubba's in Key West.
Editor, where are you? It's Wed and I haven't had my BPK.com fix for the day. I can't go out in public. Suppose someone starts a conversation about local happenings, I wouldn't know what to say. Suppose I am asked about the politics in KW, I'd be at a lost. Worst of all I can't go out tonight not knowing who's playing where. Please, please I'm having early withdrawals! (Ed: I’m still sorry.)
I’m trained in mediation and know sometimes it can be quite effective in building bridges. I also know some people are so big on mediation that is has turned it into their religion, so to speak. They view reaching a mediated result as the Holy Grail, no matter that there is nothing whatsoever holy about the mediated result, which causes as many or even more problems than the problem that let to the mediation in the first place. Just look at the Middle East, at how many times Israel and the Palestinians have sat down at mediation, at how many times the United Nations and those two peoples have sat down at mediation; and just look at what an unholy mess remains, growing even more unholy as time passes. Both sides stonewalling, saying one thing but doing another. It will take something from outside that box to bring peace to the Middle East. What that something is, I cannot say. But mediation between the Palestinians and the Israelis will not bring it.
 
Mediation is not going to work with the Super Hornet, either, because it was not the creation of the people living on Stock Island. They had nothing to do with the Super Hornet being built. They did not even know it was being built. They were terrified by 911, and were only hoping to be protected. It never occurred to them that they would be injured by their own Navy, until after the hornet was already out of the hive, buzzing all around them. Then, being patriotic, they tried to endure the destruction of their hearing, bodies and psyches. They tried to endure it until they started breaking down, falling apart. Finally, reluctantly, like our Founding Fathers did with King George, they started petitioning their government for relief, redress of their grievances. And what happened? Like our Founding Fathers, they got stonewalled. They got lied to. They got blamed for what their government was doing. That’s what happened, even though the Navy knew about the Super Hornet all along, which is why it didn’t go through the environmental impact process in the first place .  .  .

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Thursday December 20, 2007

 

Wednesday December 19, 2007




The super 11-year-old shotgun girl is an invention of the pro-gun extremists: http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/homeinvasion.asp Even if it were true, it would hardly offset the thousands of accidental deaths every year caused by kids playing with their daddy's guns.

[51st State sign on RT 81, on the Canadian side of the New York-Canada border]  Now that's funny, I grew up and still live on the I81 corridor about 90 miles south of the border and I've owned property just south of Alexandria Bay for many years, my parents were raised on the US side of the St Lawrence. Nobody that I know ever heard of any such sign.



We went to breakfast at a restaurant where the "seniors' special" was two eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast for $1.99. "Sounds good," my wife said. "But I don't want the eggs." "Then I'll have to charge you two dollars and forty-nine cents because you're ordering a la carte," the waitress warned her. "You mean I'd have to pay for not taking the eggs?" my wife asked incredulously. "YES!!" stated the waitress.  "I'll take the special then." my wife said. "How do you want your eggs?" the waitress asked. "Raw and in the shell," my wife replied. She took the two eggs home.  Don't mess with seniors! We've been around the block more than once.

Instead of the proposed six cents per gallon fuel tax Monroe County is suggesting, I think we should have a toll booth on the 18 mile stretch. Tax the RV parks and other things the snowbirds use to pay for the roads and bridges. Tax seasonal rentals and really tax the home owners that are not homesteaded here in the keys.











Santa arrived in Eden Pines
Sunday night. It was a great show of community spirit.  Thank you, Mike. Your truck looks brighter every year.

Affordable Housing is a great idea when it is limited only to oversight by the government, such as specifying land use requirements (for example, type of construction, maximum size, and whether it is single family, multiple family, or rental units). This assures a mixture of housing that meets the needs of the community as closely as possible without the County taking over and going into the housing business.

When housing construction is funded by the County, however, it is affordable only to the buyer, but unaffordable to the rest of us. This quickly becomes among the most expensive form of housing in the keys, after factoring in all the costs by a host of departments staffed by expensive professionals and their support staffs, plus a multitude of ultra expensive consultants, attorneys, studies, and so forth in addition to the regular cost of land, construction, and insurance. It is especially ridiculous to build new public funded housing when there is already a glut of houses on the market. For sale signs abound around every corner. Nobody wants an increase in population density and the pressure this puts on our already crowded and stressed roads, bridges, water and energy supply, near shore waters, and hurricane evacuation times. Then there’s the looming mandate for wastewater systems, which will cost each of us many thousands of hard-earned dollars.

Public housing projects should not even be contemplated until the wastewater systems are paid for and the County is back in the black.







Build your own gingerbread house. http://www.riversongs.com/greetings/gingerbread.html

[Forceful interrogation] Whatever your gut tells you on the forceful interrogation issue, I think that we can all agree that it is a painful truth that we find ourselves in times and circumstances that require that we all talk and think about it. My considerable gut tells me that the practice is an abhorrent but necessary practice. We now live in times wherein miniscule groups of zealots, both religious and secular, have the technology, power, and drive to wreak civilianization busting havoc on humanity. I can envision circumstances wherein the application of coercive interrogation techniques would not only be permissible, but a moral imperative. I don’t know if Abu Zabaydah, terrorist plotter, talked after 30-35 seconds or not, but retired CIA officer John Kiriakou, said he did. Kiriakou was interviewed on ABC by Brian Ross on World News, on 12/10/07. I’d suggest that the reader Google that info and consider the stories concerning it.



Black Iguanas
are good in Margaritas. You need to have a strong blender. http://www.blackiguana.com/

[Vote-buying] is an old practice in Thai politics, but one candidate for December's Thai election has reportedly come up with a new tactic — handing out Viagra instead of cash. The allegation, made Thursday by a campaign worker against a rival party, comes as rules about handing out favors to voters have become stricter than ever, barring even the distribution of free T-shirts and soft drinks. Sayan Nopcha, a campaigner for the People's Power Party in Pathum Thai province just north of Bangkok, said the drug used to treat sexual dysfunction in men was being distributed to elderly male voters at social functions. Viagra is supposed to be used only on a doctor's advice, but is generally available over the counter in Thailand. "The politician is giving out Viagra to gain popularity and votes," said Sayan, a local government official whose older brother is the PPP candidate. "I think this is a very bad way of vote-buying."


It is a possibility that the murderers of Police Officer James Ramp walk out of jail come August of this year. Sign the petition to keep the “Move 9” In jail. http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-to-...the-move-9.html
 

Response to the "proud, white, English speaking American veteran." I guess you will no longer be able to patronize the gentlemen’s clubs in Key West. They have many fine looking non-Americans in their hire.




I finally finished hanging our Christmas lights!
If the economy’s booming and doing wonderful why did Bush have to step into the private mortgage business and force them to adjust their agreed upon rates with consumers? Is there a reason our President is turning towards a socialist direction? I thought we’ve been told everything is going great guns since Clinton left office. It seems strange in the great economy I keep reading about in here.



[Al Qaeda is on the run in Iraq
] You fail to accept the fact that they were not there before we went into Iraq, running, skipping doing the Macarena or otherwise.

[Seeing is believing] Here is absolute proof that a green iguana can produce a black iguana.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-JPLYPS01o&feature=related




Print your own custom gift tags.
STEP 2 for Custom Gift Tags

[Flight path, cont'd] I was flooded with outrage over the Navy and three State public officials not even having the common decency to respond to your letters to them, begging for relief, for her and her family, and for all people living in the flyover zone. Next, I was reminded of something that had already occurred to me a few times, which is that the civil rights of your writer and other Stock Island residents like her are being brutally and willfully violated. You got a taste of that when Mayor Di Gennaro had you evicted from a County Commission meeting for speaking out against him and what other county commissioners were doing. Unbelievable, in America, such a thing could happen. Yet that pales what the Navy is doing on Stock Island, apparently with the complicity of the State of Florida. Our Founding Fathers were very clear, they put their very lives on the line to say all people are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They seceded from a county they loved because they no longer could endure the despotic, selfish, callous practices of their King. The American Civil Liberties Union made some comments about Mario’s behavior toward you and might be interested in making a lot more noise about the very real and hurtful sting of the Navy’s Super Hornets on Stock Island. Also, I once had some correspondence with county lawyer Gerry Spence, who lives near Laramie, Wyoming. During that time, I read some of Gerry’s books. This is a lawyer who is not in the least afraid of the United States Government; a lawyer who has the skill, toughness and concern for the way America has been headed for some time, to take on the U.S. Navy over the Super Hornet. To be blunt, I am being reminded over and over again of the Nazis, who no more cared for common German folk than they cared for God. Whether Gerry Spence is still up to this sort of case, whether it might interest him, I cannot say. As I recall, his cases back when we corresponded were more of the blunt instrument injury and environmental poison kind, rather than supersonic ear and soul shattering sound. But maybe he might be interested. The Civil Right’s Acts allow for attorney fees, as the ACLU certainly knows and has used to get paid in its cases, such as the Pottinger case in Miami, where the ACLU represented Miami’s homeless people, who were receiving what the U.S. District Judge eventually determined to be cruel and unusual punishment, because they were not being allowed to sleep at night by Miami’s police. Is there any real difference in that case and the Super Hornet case? Aren’t the people on Stock Island in the flyover zone being driven out of their homes, being made homeless? Is not that not only a civil violation of their civil rights but also a criminal violation? My recollection is that the Civil Rights Acts provide for criminal as well as civil sanctions for civil rights abuse. I may have more come to me later. Meanwhile, I’ll publish this and last night’s email, after running them through my word processor. GoodMorningKeyWest.com


Thank you.
http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/shortmovie.php

A poster in here stated that no one except president Bush tried to fight back against Islam. First off I do not think attacking a country that wasn’t an Islamic fundamentalist nation like Iraq did either. That’s why Osama hated Saddam. Saddam wouldn’t allow Iraq to become a fundamentalist nation. He did do the right thing and still is in keeping the war in Afghanistan going in my opinion. But before Bush (using the posters logic) means that when Clinton was President he kept Saddam’s country under control so he also would have to be considered keeping Islam accountable. Saddam was weakened more under the UN sanctions then he was in the previous war. Use the same standards for one as you do for all. What Bush did was in fact take a country (Iraq) that was under sanctions and having their own religious war within and decided it was a great Idea to put American troops into the middle of a 2,500 year old war for what we found out later by members of his own staff was cherry picked info. President Bush blundered. He needs to admit it and we need to go on from here instead of trying to place blame on Presidents from the last Century. It helps nothing.




If I was to use Cocoa Puffs to kill my spouse would I be considered a cereal killer?  Maybe I could get off using the insanity defense since I am cuckoo for cocoa puffs!

[illegal immigration] http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/17/State/Illegal_workers_on_st.shtml Read it and give our lawmakers your opinion. Also has a message board to express yourself. I went there, but just copied all 3 FAXs to email them myself to lawmakers. The website wanted too much personal info in my opinion. Send them to your Congressman and Senator as soon as possible and help stop illegal immigration. God Bless America!






[Update] Life is sexually transmitted and 100% fatal!
Sung to the tune of Hardrock, Coco and Joe.
Now listen, my children and you will mutter A story fantastic! A story of...butter? Its all about Santa and his portly curve Told by Goldie and Franklin and Myrrhv.

Now Goldie's dear mother is always in charge Of serving Old Santa and making him large. Through baking and cooking she tries really hard To keep him in bad shape by feeding him lard.

"Oleo Lady" ,old lady I say! Atkins and South Beach away, aweigh! "Oleo Lady" old lady I know, On hardtack, with coacoa, in Joe.

"Oleo Lady" old lady Oi Vay! Hanukkah Harry will rescue the day! Bringing matzoh and veggies , both bitter and sweet, The old Elf may once again witness his feet. "Oleo Lady" old lady, I know. The thinning of Santa begins from below.

For now he is busy with his aching back, Reaching for fudge cakes and BBQ'd Yak. "Oleo Lady" old lady, with verve! Its Goldie and Franklin and Myrrhv. Oh, the old lady, oh...no!




Residency documents?
We don't need no stinking documents!

[Herbivore Omnivore] It is not so much that you are wrong; as it is that you know so much that isn’t so.  I have observed your herbivores eating meat on several occasions which makes them omnivores. 


This guy gives a new interpretation to the word trolling. VIEW
Bush screwed up on more than one issue, but the war on Islamic Fundamentalism is not one of them] That is actually his major screw up. Don’t even tell me Iraq is part of the war on terror bull crap
[What do you eat in a week] I'm glad I don't live in Chad, so am I supposed to feel guilty now?







Christmas invitation
.
Message
Why is it that people scream about illegals not paying taxes yet they sit silent and say nothing about bartenders and waitresses that don’t claim all their tips honestly? Is it different standards of accountability?

After seeing "what we eat for a week" I think I should cut down.









Yesterday I reduced the carbon footprint of my household. I told my fat girlfriend to get the hell out out. Now she will be somebody else's carbon footprint. Hey, that could be the lyrics to a new C&W song. Howard Livingston take note!
Most politicians get into office because they have charmed the socks off of enough people to get elected- that is what they are good at--that is what they do. Once they get into office all bets on promises they made prior to their election are off. I am old enough to realize that almost all of them are lying just to get elected. Remember that when you are for a candidate now. It has been said that people with the best qualities to govern usually don't want the job.



I guess herbivore means they eat eggs, I have seen a green iguana eat the eggs out of a dove nest in my yard--just before I put a pellet in his brain pan.
[What do you eat in a week photos]  I know people who can eat that in a day!
To the proud, white, English speaking American veteran. I guess you’d better plan on staying home and cooking for yourself. Have fun, life is too short not to!










[This is my first winter here.  I am freezing] It happens every years when the Snowbirds come crashing down and bring all the cold with them! 

[iguanas are vegetarians]  I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.  As someone else said already, yes, you might see an occasional iguana eat something like an egg, but it's not natural for them to do so.  There are always exceptions to the rule.   I am a volunteer at the Blue Hole and, for years, I have spent hours observing iguanas and nesting Green Herons coexisting together, and have yet to see one iguana eat one of the heron eggs, which are small enough for them to consume.

And to the poster yesterday that said  you're going to go out and buy a bunch of hamburger meat to feed them, so they develop kidney failure, please go ahead.  You'll be wasting your money, which is good enough for you.  It’s unbelievable that there are people here with that mind set. http://www.greenigsociety.org/myths.htm




Many years ago a lot of people came into this country from Italy without papers and they were called wops which means With Out Papers. The Mexicans are now doing the same by coming here without papers. We do need their help.

What about all the Cubans that float over here and work illegally?  What should we do about that?  Politics should not change the fact that people who enter our country, either by jumping over a fence or floating over on home made rafts are still here illegally.  love tacos and I love ropa vieja.  Keep them all coming.



Picture of an actual polar bear attack in Churchill, Manitoba and were taken while people watched and did nothing to stop the attack!  Reports from the local newspaper say that the victim will make a full recovery.

My clothes are made in America--by illegal aliens.

If we don’t take action, the Iguana infestation will take over turning the Keys into Jurassic park!






Go Navy! See Fleet week 2007 http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/

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Wednesday December 19, 2007

Tuesday December 18, 2007

Mayor  McPherson should keep his seat on the TDC. He was recently elected and it’s obvious the people of the keys support him. Stop trying to silence the majority who voted for him. He won. Thank him, support him and move on.






This is my first winter here.  I am freezing.  I feel like I'm back North.  I had to break out my winter coat.  Is this normal?
Yesterday I consulted my attorney in the matter of Kay Thacker insinuating that me and Glenn Patton had a deal to defraud the government out of money.  Upon revealing this post kaythackerlawsuit of Ms. Thacker’s to my attorney he said that it appeared that Ms. Thatcher was guilty (and he could prove) that she was guilty of libel.  At this time I’m requesting Ms. Thacker to apologize for her statements made in this forum.  If she does not she will be served and then she will have to explain her proof of the fraud to the judge. I will give her 5 days to retract her statements. ~Sal Gutierrez




It looks like lust at first sight for bonny Prince Charles.

[defending illegal aliens] I tried to keep quiet, but I just can't. There are dozens of things written in this forum against illegals, but the pro-illegals group only has one card to play. "They work for less". Of course they do. They get to keep all of it while the rest of us pick up the tab. Try paying your Mexicans $10 an hour, then take back $3 for taxes and $1 for Social Security. I'll bet they're on your door step asking for a raise by next paycheck. Happy Holidays!


I live on BPK but drive to KW every day to spend time working.  It’s a job I love, but the burn out cycle seems to get shorter and shorter. I am not paid for the travel time nor fuel.  Is it my employers’ fault I live on Big Pine?  Hell no!  Is it the natural nature of the sprawling Keys?  You bet it is. Are there any or very many jobs on BPK that offer bennies, paid holidays, accrued annual sick and vacation time, 401K with matching funds up to a point and a family. A family more to me than my own family.   Dysfunctional as it may be, we are a Family. Do I do it for the money?  Hmm, I think the benefits do not make up for the standard pay but I love my job so much, I would do it for free.

[Sheriff orders drunk drivers to bury alcoholics] To bad our sheriff isn't as inovative as that one.

Letter to stop Snapper Restaurant’s expansion. VIEW



Give your wiener a hand! Get your thoughts away from the Big Pine benefit problems. Concentrate on something more important. http://www.igc.be:80/igc/dearpenis.htm

That was an awesome “gun control” story!  I feel bad that the girl has to live with having killed two people, but if she hadn't, she may not be alive herself or had to live with other horrendous memories.  Definitely the preferred ending to the story is the way it happened.





Happy Birthday Sean!

From the Citizen’s Voice 12/17/07: "When are we going to get the illegal immigrants out of town? What is our police force doing?” Although asked innocuously, these 2 questions represent the crux of the Key's, and our entire county's, future. We have already lost our Keys to the arrogant, ignorant, greedy elected officials, developers, and now to illegals. Eventually it will be all theirs, we'll leave it to them. They deserve each other. And those remaining can support the DiGennaroland economy. More sadly, this is a microcosm of our entire country's situation.  But the same resolution is not available. We can leave the Keys, but not our country. Several years ago, there was a sign on RT 81, on the Canadian side of the New York-Canada border which read: Americans Not Welcome. (Damn, there went my back-up plan.)

What do you eat in a week?

USA Germany Mexico Chad

[Blame for 9/11] A poster is offended by the suggestion that bill Clinton was to blame for 9/11.  The fact is that every President since Carter shares that blame.  I’m a Republican, I wrote the posting that listed a partial menu of Clinton’s short sight in the matter.  A more complete list and explanation would overwhelm this site.  Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, and finally Bush 2, jointly and severally share responsibility for 9/11.  In my view, Bubba eats the largest slice of the blame pie.  I’ve previously made a synopsis of my rationale, and the historical record supports it.  Bubbas admin took the largest hits from the terrorists, smothered our intel gathering apparatus, and took only half-hearted action against terrorism.  The fact is that it that during Bubbas 8 years, his minions did not spot the plot and did not act against it in any way, shape, form, or fashion.  Where they clueless, or were they aware and loath to act?  Which is worse?  The entire Muslim Fundamentalist movement gained momentum during Carter’s admin and grew like a brush  fire thereafter.  No subsequent President until Bush 2 has effectively fought back.  In my estimation Bush 2 has screwed up on more than one issue, but the war on Islamic Fundamentalism is not one of them. 

Play the numbers game. http://www.quizyourprofile.com/guessyournumber.swf

[GloCats] They claim there is a scientific purpose for their experiments, but to be honest with you, we can't quite figure out what that purpose may be. The South Korean scientists who created this pair of fluorescent felines claim that this breakthrough will help them study diseases and stem cells. We might not be biologists, but we're not really sure what the connection between AIDS and a cat that looks like a jack-o-lantern is. This is far from the first time scientists have cloned animals and genetically altered them to glow unearthly colors. Mice, rabbits, pigs--nothing is safe. A company even bred genetically altered fluorescent fish to sell as pets, called GloFish.

Dad’s car. Fiat Video

Ms. Thacker, I thought you said I paid a $1.00 each for those lots. Now it's $270,500.  What will it be next? A dollar again? The state's the one that offered me the big money.  I never approached them and Glenn Patton had nothing to do with it.  I believe the contract reads:  Agreement to purchase from Florida State lands. But since they reneged now I will build a comfortable little home in the middle of a 25 acre pristine hammock.

We live in such a beautiful place surrounded by beautiful people. I know from your postings that some of you haven't been here as long as some of the rest. No matter. The longer you live here the less problems of the world affect you. What matters is how beautiful the sunrise or sunset is. Many, many people that have been here will attest to the gratitude of both Joe from Coconuts and Capt. Dan. We are truly grateful and fortunate to have these people in our community. There is not enough space on this website to write down what these folks and others have done for those in need. Next time you have something mean to say, ask yourself how would your mother or Jesus feel about what you are saying. To those who have been helped, we have felt your pain and hopefully we have helped to ease it a tiny bit by showing up and supporting you when times were tough. Big Pine loves you.
To the individual who is seeking answers to their mortgage / Insurance related questions.  Please call me.  I am in the mortgage industry and am very familiar with what has occurred to you.  I will be more than happy to answer your questions and share my knowledge with you, if you would like.  Nick 872-2288



American citizens living in Canada
will be able to use the Internet to vote in the U.S. presidential primaries for the first time in 2008, but only if they're Democrats. globeandmail.com: Creating a virtual 51st state
[Citi Mortgage] You are not alone.  Now that they bought my mortgage from ABN they are after me to increase my homeowner's coverage because they say it's too low.  I told them I wasn't about to start insuring the cap rock and they were stuck with only insuring the building.  We'll see what they say, but I suspect that in the fine print I agreed to abide by the rules of whatever company bought my mortgage.  I'm surprised ABN let you get away without wind coverage--they wouldn't let me.

Merry Christmas Big Orange Truck and Crew!  Glad to hear you're rockin' the Keys again!  Don't mind the Grinch, there'll always be some belly-achers in any crowd.  I'm sure your display is appreciated by kids everywhere. You using those Mannheim Steamroller CDs I sent? 
[forceful interrogation]  I agree that water boarding is not as debilitating as the ropes for example.  But for the sake of argument that another poster brought up, both are techniques that a combatant used on prisoners to gain information that may have saved lives.  As for the administration's claim that the terrorist broke after 30 seconds and spilled his guts to the CIA, only a fool or a Bushie would believe such claims.  Hell, most trainees I saw getting water boarded took it for about two minutes.  Do you really think this lying, deceptive, ass covering administration didn't have many other harsh interrogation techniques in their bag of tricks?  It's inconceivable to me that anyone at this point in the war would buy into the 30 second B.S.

Illegal immigration
complaints are not about Mexicans other than they are the most numerous and visible group.  It's the
illegal part that is objectionable.  Once they're here their behavior may or may not be that of any fine upstanding member of society, but they came here illegally.  That makes them criminals whatever else they do.
Federal and state government won’t be able to control spending until they both allow line item vetoes. Those are the little pork barrel programs they sneak into a popular bill knowing the other politicians will pass the bill so it doesn’t look like they were against something really important.

[Iguanas are omnivores] The common Green Iguana is not an omnivore, it's a herbivore.  It will always eat vegetation unless starved. Around here they're never starved (unless kept in captivity and not cared for). There's no such thing as a "Black Iguana" (though a Green Iguana will make itself pretty dark when trying to absorb heat from a fading sun or during a cool day).  There are other species of Iguana that are omivorous, but they are very rare in the wild in the eastern United States.  Virtually all of them that you see are Green Iguanas, and they're herbivores.

Citibank bought the servicing to a bunch of mortgages from ABN AMRO/Interfirst. You must review your Mortgage. The language in a boiler plate mortgage will describe that you are required to maintain all insurances and taxes, not store any hazardous materials on the premises, etc. or you may be in default of your mortgage. They reserve the right to Call your Note or Force Place the insurance at a skyrocketed rate. I remember local Mortgage Brokers advertising no windstorm insurance required. ( have not seen that recently) That really means it would not be required at closing, and the chance of it being required at a later date never being fully disclosed. I have heard of the same situation a few times recently. In most cases the insurance will be forced placed. If your want to be assured that it will be waived and not required in the future, The Keys Fed Credit Union does not require it if you qualify. That is a very good example of why consumers should do their business locally. If you have a problem with a local Institution, you can always go knock on the door and sit down and talk to someone. But now you have to call some legal department in a different time zone, perhaps pay an attorney and in the end get Windstorm Insurance. But what a great deal! Be a yokel-shop local.

[Veterans Admin funding]  A poster claimed that the Vet Admin was $1 mil “under budgeted” and that the Bush Admin was responsible.  Here are the facts: During fiscal year 2007 the VA received an additional $1.8 billion in from the Presidents supplemental funding bill.  The President, working toward a balanced budget, is demanding a cap on the ’08 budget for discretionary spending of $933 billion.  Remember a huge cut of the entire budget is allocated to entitlement programs, the more spent on these freebies, the less is available elsewhere.  A House committee has attempted to shift $3.5 billion from military (VA) to non-defense spending.  That means things like bridges to nowhere and Woodstock museums.  Nonetheless, the President has proposed an 8% increase the VA budget.  If Congress wants to spend more on the VA, and it should, it will have to cut spending elsewhere.  Now there is a novel idea, cut earmark/pork barrel spending, how about stepping up Dems, remember, you promised to slice the pork!
Does Osama Bin Laden matter? Posters claimed that GWB said that OBL “doesn’t matter anymore”. Check out what GWB actually said in March 2002, “Terror is bigger than one person; he’s just a person who has been marginalized. I don’t know where he is, I just don’t spend that much time on him”. I wonder if these posters would have been happier if GWB had enhanced OBL’s rep by saying “he’s a threat”, “he’s active in the mountains of Whoknowswherethehellistan” Bush properly belittled OBL so as to reduce his stature in the Arab world. A lot has happened since March 02. Al Queada is on the run in Iraq, OBL’s Taliban is being slapped backed down in Afghanistan, and The Taliban is growing weaker in Pakistan. As yet, we don’t have revenge against OBL, he probably barely exists in a cave deep in the Pakistani or Afghan mountains, his organization has lost in Iraq, and it’s losing in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Perhaps the bitching poster was partially correct, so, I’ll partially apologize: I’m sor…, please accept my apo…

Since I do not anywhere near qualify myself as an expert on Florida Panther's habitat, your studies are 180 degrees from those I have researched online. However for the sake of this response, I will accept yours.

You mentioned four other "Panther" crossings to be built north of the C-111 bridge, but neglected to mention their costs. I would guess each is  nowhere near the  $18,000,000 price tag for the C-111 bridge.

You say the C-111 canal is not "Diked " but contains "floodgates" I think you are playing with semantics since that make this canal an un-navigable waterway,  eliminating the necessity of a bridge. Why not just use a box culvert for the canal and one of your other type crossing tunnels for the panthers on the dry land to the north?

You mentioned TWO panthers being killed on the road in the past two years, Making all this concern necessary. Yet the FDOT who has proposed Four Laning this stretch of road for years, for MAXIMUM road safety caved into the "Tree Hugger" minority and settled for a two lane divided road (marginally better) (with a extra north bound lane for hurricane evacuation use only) which in itself will turn into a death trap  with the rumble strips on it. Let's see if my math is correct,  2 years= 2 panthers vs 60 people road killed, and your major concern is for the panthers?

One more question for your road geniuses, and I am done. Your purpose of fencing the entire length of the "Stretch" on the west side is to prevent wildlife from trying to cross the road from the west side and that is the reason for the underpasses.

How are you training all this wildlife not to try to re-cross the highway from the east which will not contain a fence?   

Gifts for the soldier in your life. http://www.military.com/Deals/Home/?ESTC=vc_shop.op&np=1





Captain Dan would have been very happy
. What a nice turnout. So much music, so many stories. A good time was had by all. You sure know how to throw a party Captain. Catch you on the flip-flop. Rest in Peace.
This is a great letter from a Michigan U professor to his Muslim colleagues. http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/wichman.asp


Two million Muslims are marching on Mecca in their annual pilgrimage to the birthplace of Mohammed. It is called the Hajj.

[Snopes.com] Everybody is taking this site as gospel, but I wonder.  Is it a site that is the truth or another control tool buy big government to change what were the truths?  "Give me your children and I will rule the earth because they have no way of knowing the truths!"  ~A. Hitler

Karaoke can be scary, but threatening? A Roxbury, Conn school custodian's impromptu after-hours karaoke performance prompted a police response when a teacher thought she was being threatened over the loudspeaker. State police say the teacher at Booth Free School barricaded herself inside a classroom Wednesday when she mistook someone singing a Guns N' Roses song over the public address system for a threat. She was working after hours and thought no one else was in the building. Then she heard someone say over the loudspeaker that she was going to die. Six troopers and three police dogs showed up and found three teenagers, one of them a custodian at the school, who had been playing with the public address system. Police say one of them sang "Welcome to the Jungle" into the microphone. The song contains the lyrics "You're in the jungle baby; you're gonna die." The teenagers were cuffed for about 15 minutes while police investigated. They didn't realize anyone else was in the school at the time.
Why can't I fire, George W. Bush?
He doesn't do what I want him to do!
He spends my money not to my liking!
He lives better than me!
He travels the world on my credit card!
He doesn't listen to anything I have to say!
He hangs around with people I don't trust!
..and lots of other things I don't like, so why can't I fire this employee?


Christmas Eve
has been declared a Federal Holiday for offices of the Executive branch.  Does that mean banks and the post office will be closed?  Too bad for the local County gov’t.  If you did not get an email from GWB then I think you are s**t out of luck.  Still be hopeful for New Year’s Eve which is a more profound separation of Church and State. 

Life is sexually transmitted.
[asking about the big orange truck] Don't worry Mike, all your friends know you love and protect your kids. Someone always has to gripe about something.

We know exactly where one cow with Mad-cow-disease is located among millions and millions of cows in America but we haven't got a clue as to where millions of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located.  Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of Immigration?
Yesterday the CIA drugged and hypnotized Nancy Pelosi into thinking she's a true American! She quits Congress and volunteers to take over interrogations at Gitmo! She promises Reid and Congress there will be no more water boarding and she'll personally handle all interrogations. Applause filled the halls of Congress as she left!

I just got a call from Sal Gutierrez and told him I had nothing to say to him and hung up.  The phone rang again and I let the answering machine pick up. It was someone who said they were something…Buchanan, and if I did not write a retraction, that I could expect a summons.  The facts stand true, but I’m just letting you know what is going on. Thanks so much for allowing a forum to get some truths (as I see them) out to the public and citizens here in Monroe County. I appreciate it.

[lost white cat] I have seen a white cat wandering around on Cypress Drive in Eden Pines. I have not been close enough to it to see if it had two grey spots; it appears to be all white.

It’s time for the end of the year federal budget plans and I’ve been watching to see who's really planning spending and what and why. I must say the Democrats seem to be doing an outstanding job in the Senate. I'm not a democrat, at heart I am an independent that enjoys the freedom to pick from either side. It seems the democrats added $3.7 Billion dollars above what the President asked for that is going to the veterans Administration. When we are involved in 2 wars I have to say "Kudos" to that change. The Democrats also reversed plans to cut funds going to local law enforcement which in my mind is the first line of Homeland Security. They also added funds to community bank development programs which helps small business at the ground level. They also approved all of the funds requested for the Afghanistan war. It appears the Dems didn't want to give the Iraq war planning request all of the money requested without asking the Iraqis to set guidelines for progress, but in the end the Administration is getting the money. All-in-all, I guess the comments of the "do nothing" Democrats you read about in here are political rhetoric. I'm glad the Dem's gave-in concerning the Iraq war and I'm glad the republicans gave-in concerning the veterans increase. This is starting to look in some ways fair and balanced. I guess when the democrats won the large portion of seats in the last election it helped right the ship some. Kudos to both sides!




[bartenders who make $300 a night] Don’t fool yourself. There are only a few bartenders that make that much a night.

This proud, white, English speaking American veteran, from this day on, will never patronize any establishment whatever, if I find out they are using anyone but real Americans.

Bill Estes, who’s running against Ms Spehar had better get a new publicity photo. The one he has now looks more like a mug shot.


Lay off the Mexicans
. If it wasn't for Mexicans we wouldn’t have Mexican food and they always show up for work because you have to pick them up.

[Mortgage insurance answer] Not so.  Your original recorded mortgage will state that insurance must be obtained and maintained.  If Citibank didn’t require them, then they didn’t require it, but anyone they sell the loan to can come back and enforce the original mortgage’s requirements.  Unfortunately, there were a lot of brokers selling mortgages under the premise that you could get away without purchasing windstorm, but unfortunately, I think it was more of a slip-up then anything.  Some lenders automatically think it is included with the regular homeowner’s policy and they don’t ask for it.  It is simply a mistake that other lenders can and will correct.

You want to hear more about our wonderful commissioners and their wasteful ways?  Ask about the hefty fee they had to pay to get out of a contract they signed when they cancelled on rental space in the new office building, Oceanside across from Coco's Cantina on Cudjoe Key.

I have attended many benefits on BPK for one reason or another (mostly medical). Yes, people have insurance and some don't. I do know for a fact the person in need is helped greatly by our generosity. I have just gone through a medical emergency of over $500,000 in bills. Thank God for my employer's good benefit and my extra policy I had.  If not for that my house would be up for sale right now. I still have co-payments to make. Thank you Piners for helping others.



I have enjoyed the Christmas truck for many years; and yes it does have seat belts.  As for the loud music, that is outside the truck. I know Mike and he would never do anything to damage his children’s ears.  His children enjoy the Christmas parade in the truck as much as most of us Big Piners do.  Sorry to hear that he has moved and we will not be able to enjoy it in the future.

Abortion should be the main issue and the most popular tool used world wide. Over population is the main reason we have all these problems in the world.


Who ever said iguanas are vegetarians? Just keep believing in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus too. Iguanas may eat mostly veggies, but that is not all they eat. They will eat eggs from birds’ nests.

If you're interested in another take on global warming, read Michael Crichton's book, State of Fear.  He's done a fine job of researching (all documented) and explaining the issue, and it's all embedded in a fun thriller.  I wouldn't break out the goulashes just yet.  For a little more insight into how groups engender fear, try The Report from Iron Mountain on the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.  It was published in the late 60s as a work of fiction, strangely banned, and later republished.  It describes strategies used to unite a group of people, e.g. a nation, against a threat, real or contrived.  If you're old enough, you'll recognize most of the characters as U.S. Cabinet members.






A remarkable phone call from a 12-yr old boy to Houston radio station KSBJ FM 89.3. So profound, the station has it posted on their website.  Click below to listen to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCdZwitrNoY

Regarding the outrageous hourly fees being paid by the taxpayers to these lawyers like Coleman. Why can't we pass a law prohibiting the payment of legal fees in excess of $150 - $200 or so an hour? After all, that's $300,000-$400,000 a year. Any lawyer who thinks they are worth more than that has no conscience and an incredibly inflated sense of self-worth. With very few exceptions, lawyers other than criminal prosecutors actually contribute very little to our society, and suck proportionately irrational amounts of money out of it. We citizens need to rise up and stop them!







Thanks for the great advice. I am going to start feeding the feral iguanas hamburger meat. Soon the yard dragons will all have kidney failure and stand in line with the illegal immigrants for free health care.

People run for political office and get their jollies off that way, but I would really like to see the records of any politician concerning their official pay, benefits and taxes they pay; then an IRS audit on their household and holdings.

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Tuesday December 18, 2007

Monday December 17, 2007

McCoy wants to spend another $100,000 to give Monroe County Staff Christmas Eve off. Neugent and Murphy do not think spending $100,000 from the taxpayer’s money is a good idea. Spehar is usually the one that brings to the dais paid days off for staff. I hope Spehar understands the financial straits Monroe County is in and votes to deny this additional $100,000 increase. Mario wants to vote to spend this additional $100,000 also. The majority of staff have vacation and sick days they could use to take the day off and save the taxpayers the additional $100,000. Dixie, do what is right for the taxpayers in Monroe County. I’m requesting you to vote no. Citizens email your Commissioners and weigh in your opinion to the Commissioners on this agenda item on the December 19th BOCC meeting.

I cannot believe the conspiracy theorists on this site reference the “Benefit Fund”. Not all people that get sick and need help are bums waiting for a bale-out. Medical insurance is expensive.  Self-employed people, who otherwise make a decent living, often cannot afford health insurance.  Even with heath insurance the twenty percent the policy holder must pay can be financially devastating in a catastrophic illness.

One of my family members was diagnosed with cancer and died seven months later.  He did not have medical insurance though he did have VA eligibility.  We had a fund raising benefit for him and the community was fabulous and generous. We spent over four thousand dollars on food and everything else necessary to feed hundreds of people.  Then you have the many people who donate their time, goods, and services.  These goods and services get auctioned off to raise funds. We raised enough to make those last seven months as comfortable as possible for our loved one. After the benefit we had a “thank you” fish fry.  All funds generated there were put into a fund to help the next person who would need a benefit.  It was only about $500 as there was no obligation to pay anything.  It did not even occur that this could be illegal or that any corporation was needed. 

Captain Dan was always there to help with benefits and I believe he would approve of the celebration of his life raising funds for others.  I pray we will never need to have another benefit in Big Pine Key.

I doubt that will be the case though.  I pray that the naysayers and the people threatening to call ATF are never in need.  If they are Big Pine will be there to help them.  People, it is the season to be generous and give to others.  One never knows if they may be the one needing the community spirit and helping hand that is here for everyone.  Lighten up.  You are very lucky to live in a place that actually cares about its friends and neighbors.

Thanks to Coconuts and the Moose Lodge for making their venues available to help others.






Does anyone know what happened to the Christmas parade that was to be Fri and Sat night? Santa did not visit Eden Pines (a first).  Or were the wrong dates posted (Dec14  Little Torch and Dec 15 for BPK)?

I’m offended by the Bush apologist’s attempt to place blame on Clinton for 9/11. Clinton attacked terrorists and recognized the fact that that Islam was out to get us. Bush came to office with that knowledge and ignored Clinton's efforts. Even after almost eight months in office Bush still did nothing until Osama Bin Laden finally work him up (if that’s at all possible). How long do you think Bush should have been in office before he started to protect the country? Re-writing history and blame games to justify your blind faith are not appreciated. Based on Clinton’s experiences President Bush should have started protecting us on day one!

[Politically CorrectI read a post yesterday with that heading and I wanted to throw my two cents.  The amount of racial sensitivity has reached a zenith of stupidity. Almost as far back as 20 years ago, I was told that if I was not black (excuse me, African-American) or a woman, I had little chance to get the job I was seeking. Someone in the public eye has to really watch every word they say. Take for instance Mr. Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons. He said he hoped that Michael "the dog abuser" Vick, did not eat too much fried chicken in prison so he could play again some day.  Oops!  Just for once someone other then Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton recognized the potential for a misread on that remark, and they issued a statement immediately that it was an innocuous statement. There was another issue recently (I cannot recall it but it was petty) but it was so ridiculous that even Al Sharpton buried it. I was watching amazing videos the other day and there was an incident at a prison facility where different factions were rioting.  The narrator says "African-American prisoners were attacking the white prisoners."  Now, it strikes me that we are all Americans, but the term “white” just kind of stuck out to me.  From now on, I want to be referred to as an Italian-American.  I would love to get together and party with my Irish-American and Anglo Saxon-Americans, etc. and party anytime. As far as an African-American being able to say the N-word and have license to do so, because the only other person I want to hear say dago, wop or guinea is another Italian-American. 
 
Every year, like clock work in Cleveland Ohio, on opening day of the baseball season you can find a group of protestors outside the ballpark that are Native-Americans that take issue with the team name of The Indians. Now they just may have a point because if you take any other group of people, like Jewish-Americans, African-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc. and assign a slang name of that group to a team well, just insert your own joke here. By the way, as I see this getting longer then I planned I do not hate Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson because of their skin color, I hate them because they are just idiots. Reverse racism needs to stop. What happened to just wanting to be treated equal?   Mr. Blank should have said "…too much pasta". Howard Cosell should have said "Look at that little Jaguar go!"  Dom Imus should have said; "Diminutive African-Americans having a bad hair day", and Jimmy the Greek should have just kept his ignorant mouth shut! Enjoy Kwanzaa everyone!

[Credit where it's due] I just watched a movie about WWI fliers. It was about the Lafayette Escadrille.  It was a good story, but it was tainted. There was a black guy among the members of the unit. This is a fabrication and a down-right lie. I looked up a group photo of the squadron on the net and there are no black brothers among them. The truth is that most members were sons of wealthy families and were graduated from Ivy League schools. I do not understand why is it necessary to lie about something like that. Just wait for February, that's Black History month, there be many lies like I heard last year. That it was an African who did the first heart transplant! That is true, they just failed to mention that Christian Bernard was a white man.

Quit giving me this B.S. that Mexicans are willing to work jobs that others aren't.  The truth is that the employers, especially builders, are hiring Mexicans because they are too cheap to pay regular salaries to the rest of us.



The Big Pine summer softball league ended last week and our end of season party was held Saturday night at Rob’s.  I just want to say thank you to Rob and all his staff for a fun night at the grill.  There was complimentary food and drink for all the teams for which we all appreciative. Thanks Rob and Rachel!  

After reading this column for a while, it seems we've got a fair share of eco-nuts, eco-nots, and a whole bunch of eco-whats! 




I am surprised that no one has mentioned the closing of Ramrod Chevron. It has been closed for 3 days now.

[Buildings got built, and the grass even got cut before we were overrun with illegal aliens] This is true, but the illegals do it cheaper, quicker and most of the time better. They are in demand and that is why they are here.


[Spehar draws opponent] New to the political arena Bill Estes(D) is running for the District 1 County commission spot. Thank the lord someone is trying to stop this madness. Any change in the BOCC's complexion would be a good thing. Give him a call, at least he answers the phone and returns calls unlike Ms. Spehar. Bill Estes 305-923-4265. Ms Spehar should be done.

[Dancing around my carbon footprint] This clown is just another guy down here wanting to sound like he is wealthy. His net worth is probably his pick-up truck. People with all the toys he claims don't flaunt it.



The Bud Light commercial that you will not see on the TV. Video

[The sewering of the keys will cost a lot more] I am not paying one red cent even if they come to my house with a freaking army. The stinking money grabbing politians can have my dump. Before that I'll sell out to a bunch of Haitians with 500 kids, goats, chickens, and big dogs all over the place and watch the neighborhood values go to hell. You can take that to the bank!




Jet propulsion motorcycle.

[Iguanas are omnivores. I cook our egg yokes for them] Green iguanas are herbivores, not omnivores.  I used to raise these iguanas as pets, before I moved to the Keys (and no, I didn't release any here).  The old books, on raising iguanas as pets, told us to feed them some protein...now they realize we were killing our iguanas by feeding them protein.  They can't digest animal protein, so over time, it will lead to kidney failure.  If offered such foods, such as egg, they will sometimes consume it, but it's not good for them.

General Hawley is a newly retired USAF 4-Star general and says, "Since the attack on 9/11, I have seen, heard, and read thoughts of such surpassing stupidity that they must be addressed. You've heard them too. "We're not good, they're not evil, and everything is relative."   "Listen carefully: We're good, they're evil, and nothing is relative. Say it with me now and free yourselves. You see, folks, saying "We're good” doesn't mean, "We're perfect." Okay? The only perfect being is the bearded guy on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The plain fact is that our country has, with all our mistakes and blunders, always been and always will be the greatest beacon of freedom, charity, opportunity, and affection in history. If you need proof, open all the borders on Earth and see what happens.

Affordable housing is intended for the people who earn $300 a week not for bartenders who make $300 a night and do not declare all their tips.  With that kind of money a person can buy a house instead of renting and complaining about the cost of living in Paradise. 

[Mexicans will do just about anything they are asked to do and appreciate what they are paid] This part of your statement is most telling about you. It is easy to work for $6-10 an hour and make ends meet when your social status is just barely more than homeless. Living with 4 to10 others in a 1 bedroom apt, stressing our environment by over-occupation of residential units and not assimilating (learning and using English). 7 out of 10 of their residences would not qualify to be in your neighborhood. But as long as they continue to keep your bottom line in the black and don’t live in your neighborhood to hell with a decent living wage for everyone else. If a few of your more middle class neighbors were to start taking in Mexican borders to make ends meet and you could experience the true impact on your street, I would bet your tune would change in a hurry.

Teri Johnston has agreed to accept County Commissioner Nugent's nomination of her for the TDC Board position that Mayor McPherson currently holds.  Please take time to contact the County Commissioners and support this nomination – especially County Mayor Sonny McCoy and County Commissioner Dixie Spehar.  The BOCC meets on Wednesday of this week.








What Bush said about Bin Laden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztKKuB2nJa0

[Benefit Fund] Is this correct? We’re supposed to give to the fund so they can put on benefits in order for us to give again?

[Mortgage and insurance question] To the person looking for help with CitiBank requiring insurance on your property; I do not know all your information surrounding the problem, but here is a little advice from a person that has handled a lot of real estate matters.

If CitiBank bought your loan from ABN Ambro, then CitiBank bought the loan under the same terms as you signed with ABN Ambro.  They cannot change anything about the loan that you originally signed. At this point I would produce the document in your original loan with ABN Ambro that states you are not required to have the insurance they are trying to force on you. (Hopefully, you still have complete copies of your loan documents.) Then, contact CitiBank’s legal department and let them know you have the document that states as such and to stop harassing you or you will file a lawsuit against them.

[Muslim fundamentalism is a force that invades and devours a country. Our entire planet is a battleground in this World War] I’m sorry for you; it must be very hard for you to live in a constant irrational fear.






Who cares where the money goes for the Captain Dan wake? It’s a great reason for a party on culturally challenged Big Pine.

Republicans are now trying to balance the budget (to pay for the unnecessary war) by looking into cutting entitlement programs. Unfortunately it is not Entitlement programs that need to be cut. It is the giveaway programs that are also lumped into Entitlements. There are only two Entitlement programs that are justified because those in them have paid their dues. First, veterans’ programs should not be cut. Those benefits have been earned and are a National responsibility. The second is Social Security. If you paid into it you are entitled to it. After that, cut away! No food stamps should go to a mother with 6 illegitimate kids with 5 different fathers. Nothing about WIC vouchers for Dry Foot Cubans are entitled; nothing about free medical for illegal immigrants is entitled either. Start cutting there and not on the backs of the disabled and those that served.  So much for Compassionate Conservatism.






R.I.P. Deputy Robin Tanner. You will be missed!

You don't hear any vocalization from Commissioner Neugent, Murphy and the Band of BOCC Regulars on the $735 dollars an hour the county is paying Mitch Menzer a land use attorney they hired to defend their land taking cases…do you? But they sure are raising hell about a local attorney (Jerry Coleman) making a living ($500/hr) trying to get affordable housing off the ground.  You know why?  Because when they lose those takings cases, and they will, the state and county will be exposed in their 25 year land stealing binge and the greedy "I got miner" might have a few more neighbors to deal with.


It is about time someone stood up for the Mexicans, they have been our border neighbors for ever.  I was raised in a small white/Mexican town and have seen all my life the work they do that our white faced people won't touch and would rather live on the street and steal instead.  So good for you who ever you are you’re right on.  

[Forceful interrogation] My thanks to the poster who spoke out against forceful interrogation from the viewpoint of a Vietnam Vet.  I have great respect for those who served in that war.  In that conflict our enemy routinely submitted captured Airmen, to a catalog of incredible abuse.  The torture and abuse was meted not only to gain information, but to gain revenge, painful death was a common result.  This was torture for the sake of torture.  Similarly our current adversaries mete out horrible death to their American prisoners.  Prisoners of America are treated humanely; some tiny fraction of the whole might have been the target of forceful interrogation.  War is delivering death; our purpose is and has always been to protect Americans.  Coercive interrogation is a tool, like napalm, like a mortar, that when properly utilized can save American lives.  Many American service people are subjected to water-boarding as a part of their training.  Coercive interrogation works. 

This procedure, applied to a terrorist leader for about 30 seconds, resulted in thwarting at least one terrorist plot to blow up many airliners in flight.  Thousands would have died.  No prisoner should be subjected to coercive interrogation unless there is extremely strong evidence that shows that this prisoner is in possession of information that place Americans at great risk of death, further it must be determined that this information could not be gained by any other means. Any procedure applied must not maim and must be designed to deliver nothing more than apprehension, fear, or great discomfort.  Like abortion, forceful interrogation should be avoided and approached only with the utmost caution, it should be rarely utilized.

[The typical Republican mindset] Bill Clinton was responsible for the ‘69 New York Mets. Bill also was there during the St Valentine’s Day massacre, he shot Abraham Lincoln and also underhandedly destroyed the economy during the stock crash then he sank the Titanic to cover up a relationship with the Queen of England. He killed off the dodo bird and okayed the killing of baby whales around the world. Bill also made Bush attack Iraq because America was attacked by Afghanistan's government and he made Bush hire Rumsfeld who then told Bill to tell Bush that we don't need more troops in Iraq. Then he provided steroids to the baseball players. Bill’s really been busy since he left office in the last Century. Hope I got it all. Oh, yeah, and he also picked out Donald Trump’s haircut. That bastard, Bill. Damn Clinton making us put sewer lines in. Get me the number of Rush's pill doctor I need to relax.

[flight path] Mr. Hammernuts and the other 16 who think their public input at a BOCC meeting are going to change the new 2007 AICUZ? The U.S. Government said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction so they invaded anyway. They won’t change.


Ouch! I hit my head on the monitor trying to bite the tasty looking lure on your website Sunday. I’m suing you Ed, but for now I’m off to Fisherman’s Hospital.

Big Pine Key is great!  No chickens, no drunk tourists, no Conch Trains and not many loud choppers.  It appears that the undesirables are leaving the area and jumping bail and we can look forward to a better Big Pine.  I would hate to live down in Key West as it is noisy 24 / 7 and stinky.  Plus there is more crime, bad police and crazy homeless people who get to take over the beaches and parks.  There is no place to park, everything is over-priced and many homes still have Wilma mold.  Key West is for the tourists.  I cannot understand why real estate is so costly down there.  Piners, hold on because things will turn around – location, location, location.  The inventory will eventually sell and we will get our sewers one of these days.  Just remember that we are so lucky to be living in the most beautiful place in the world and we could all try to be nicer to one another.

Florida Alabama Annual belly-button jewelry contest.

Alabama Florida
[Let's see how this “Benefit” thing works] A local bar “hosts” a benefit lasting five hours from 1-6 p.m. They get their beer distributor to supply the beer wagon at no cost in exchange for buying a certain number of kegs. The beer costs them about $0.22 cents per cup that they sell cheap for $1.00. Profit to the bar is $0.78 cents per cup. At about 250 cups to the keg that's $195.00 per keg. If they sell 3 kegs that's a profit of $585.00. (Unsold beer goes to regular bar stock later) Profit on beer is about $585.00
Patrons drinking mixed drinks at the bar at the regular price of about $3.75 per drink. Sell 150 @ $3.75 = about $562. Cost to the bar is about $1.25 per drink or about $187.00. Profit to the bar is about $375.00
Cost to the bar for paper plates, napkins, plastic forks etc. about $50.00
Cost to the bar for five large pizzas = $75.00
Cost to the bar for donated band time = $0.00
Cost to the bar for donated “pot-luck” food = $0.00
Cost to the bar for donated cash = $0.00
Cost to the bar for 50-50 drawings going to the benefit $0.00
Cost to the bar for volunteer helpers = $0.00
Cost to the bar for free advertising = $0.00
Recap: (Assume their overhead remains the same since they would be open anyway with much less business)
Profit on beer and mixed drinks @ beer $585 + drinks @ $375 = $960
Misc. costs (roll of 50-50 tickets, 4 bags of swiped potato chips, plunger for clogged toilet, scoop to clean up dog crap on outside deck etc. $30.
Total cost to the bar for pizza + paper goods + misc @ $30 = $155.00
Total profit on beer and drinks $960 less $155 = $810.00 to the bar. (Not including regular profits from sales before and after the actual 1-6 p.m. event)
Total donated to “benefit” from cash and 50-50 drawings = ?
Cost to attendee who has truck door smashed by drunk trying to exit parking lot = $2,245.



Do not lose your grand kids in the mall. My grandson got away from me Sunday and he approached a uniformed policeman and said, "I've lost my grandpa!" The cop asked, "What's he like?" The little boy hesitated for a moment and then replied, "Crown Royal whiskey and women with big knockers.

All the work did get done before we were "overrun with illegal aliens" but something has changed. About a generation ago we started raising children who are too good to get their hands dirty for a living. I busted my butt as a teen just to put gas in my car at 65 cents a gallon. Maybe the posters in favor of illegal labor are the parents of the children with the tender hands. I want to take this moment to thank my father for teaching me the value of a hard days work. Thanks Dad!



At approximately 7:15 last night I was finishing up dinner when I heard sirens blaring, and horns blowing. I just knew we must have a fire! Oh, no, it was Christmas in Port Pine Heights. No xmas music to settle the nerves from the blaring sirens. All that wasted gas for what? No ones there tonight; it has been rainy all day and windy, school kids are home in the house. There is definitely a whole lot of waste in this county!

What a wonderful celebration of life for Captain Dan. I enjoyed every second of the music and all the people that came out to clap, sing and enjoy each other. I could see Dan sitting in a chair with that grin and clapping his hands along with the beat of the music. Dan, you will be so missed. I’m very happy I was able to have been on the same path to have met you.

[This is gun control] Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez, 23, and Enrico Garza, 26, probably believed they would easily overpower home-alone 11 year old Patricia Harrington after her father had left their two-story home. It seems the two crooks never learned two things: they were in Montana and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine.

Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun. Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buckshot from the 11-year -old's knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals. When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive.

It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. That victim, 50-year-old David Burien, was not so lucky. He died from stab wounds to the chest.

Ever wonder why this good stuff never makes NBC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, or ABC news.

Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

Everybody has their price, but everybody can't live in the Keys!




World War
? If you are going to disgrace our marines, do it all the way!

[Rumor is that Tom Willi will take Wheeler's place on the TDC.]  Our little County “gang” would like nothing better than to install their lap dog, Mr. Willi, as the head of the TDC so they can grab the money.  Stand by while McCoy, DiGenarro and the Key West Mayor try their best to find a spot for Willi allowing them to continue their rip-off agendas. ~chartrac@bellsouth.net

[Democrat name calling] A poster claims that the following quote from Saturdays postings “I’ll avoid the Democrat tactic of name calling, but I will say that your thought process, your beliefs, and postings are the odious blather of fools”--is name calling! That poster is wrong. It really is not name calling, but rather is a comment on the quality and rationality of the posting content of a single contributor on a single issue. There is a huge difference in saying “that man is a fool”, as compared to saying “that man says foolish things”. A Democrat may or may not be a fool; his words are but a one indicator.

Political Correctness is the Utopian notion that Republican white males treat with respect people or groups of people who used to be beneath their notice.


I think it is time we quit this cutting down Christmas trees and watering them until after New Years when they die. I think a better idea would be to buy live smaller trees and then plant them after New Years. Does anyone know how many trees are cut down for Christmas? Let’s get a grass roots movement going.

[Carbon footprints] Quite a fairy tale from someone who really doesn't have a pot to piss in, but likes to make you think that he does.

Dating site matches couples by body odour

[Stop bashing Mexicans] Given your post, greedy Americans and their families deserve to be unemployed because, unlike Mexicans, they aren't clean, hard workers, religious, reliable and don't appreciate what they're paid to do. Plus they won't work construction, landscaping and refuse to wash dishes, etc. Thank you, Jesus, for the illegal immigrant invasion. If Mexicans are all you say, why haven't they protested in Mexico and worked to make their country better? Why do they fly Mexican flags demanding American citizenship?

It's called “Reconquista”. It’s the name given to the “Aztlán plan”, the retaking by Mexico of the seven southwestern states (and more), the “Aztlán or northern territory”.

Is it bull? I thought so hearing it in Tucson in the early 70s while working in a field. You say Americans don't want to work construction. Mario Obledo, co-founder of MALDEF (Mexican American legal defense and education fund), stated in 1998, "eventually, we are going to take over all the political institutions of California." See how Mario’s vision is advancing? The fall of America or the creation of a north American union? Teddy Roosevelt would be pissed and so should you. I'm sick and tired of hearing that Mexicans are doing jobs Americans don't want to do. That is a lie. That is a pro-illegal immigration line of bulls**t!

Captain Dan would roll over in his grave if he knew some of the crap you people are saying about his benefit. The losers who took over the bar before he passed away ran the place into the ground and left ungodly amounts of bills. Most of you don’t have a clue what is going on. I am so embarrassed to say that I am apart of the keys because of the lack of intelligence that you have. Before you open your mouths you should get the facts. And if you have the guts come up to the Key Deer and tell his son and the rest of the workers what’s on your mind. We would love to kick your butt.

I saw America's least favorite realtor out today.  The scary part is he was with a future victim, ooops, I mean date.  It took everything I had not to go over and warn her right in front of him.  The only thing holding me back is my husband is still an active Realtor and I am sure there could be some sort of ethics violation if I told the girl about something that happened at a private Realtor's function.  I hope I don't read about her in the hospital tomorrow.  Or even worse, in the morgue.

[asking about the big orange truck] Yes, I do know about load music and I also know about seat belts. Just to set you straight the truck is a 1970 Chevy with just lap belts. As for the music it is a PA system mounted on the roof and there are no speakers in the truck. You can carry on a conversation in the truck with the radio on with no problems hearing the other person. And last, but not least, you must be new to the keys as I have been doing the Christmas lights on my truck with loud music for the past 8 years. I have since moved to West Palm Beach and made the trip down here to be in the fire dept parades Saturday night and Sunday. Due to mechanical problems I could not be there for the Big Pine parade on Sunday.

To all my friends I’m truly sorry I could not be there on Sunday for the parade, but I might show up sometime around the New Year. I hope everyone has a great Christmas.

Just why would you assume the editor’s significant other was a woman? Down here the odds are 40-60 its either another male or two females an a male. Polymorus living arrangements are alive and well in the keys.


[Sheriff orders drunk drivers to bury alcoholics] The punishment is the brainchild of an Arizona sheriff known for unorthodox practices such as housing inmates in old military tents and issuing prisoners pink underwear. Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County and once dubbed "America's toughest sheriff", says he sees the chain gang as a deterrent to potential drink drivers. "Maybe this will warn people - knock it off, don't drink and drive," Mr Arpaio said. "You'll end up in pink underwear on the chain gang."

The drink drive convicts perform burials at a local cemetery where many homeless alcoholics are buried. Earlier this week, the inmates were also assigned to clean a busy Phoenix street wearing black and white striped trousers and pink shirts that read "Sheriff DUI (driving under the influence) Chain Gang" on the back and "Clean(ing) and Sober" on the front. 

What we're doing at Guantanamo is indeed different from what was done to our soldiers by the North Vietnamese.  The bottom line is that we're not doing any permanent damage.  Watch the movie "Hanoi Hilton" (which by all accounts is pretty accurate) and compare that with having some water poured up your nose.




The exact words Bush used when he said Osama didn’t matter was when asked about Osama, Bush replied on March 13th 2002 that "I truly am not concerned about him". And like the poster said, I too am still concerned about him and want his head on a pike. He matters to us Mr. President.

The con-artist responsible for the "Benefit Fund" needs to get their story strait. What's the fund for again? Is it to rebuild the Key Deer or is it for the hungry families mentioned yesterday? Or is it back to being some secret we'll hear about at Coconuts? Geesh, stop insulting my intelligence. Pick one lie, I mean story, and stick to it.

[to Mr. Gutierrez owner of keylargo.com] According to the public property appraiser and county clerk records, for these

14 pieces of properties you have a total of $270,500 invested. You tried to sell these 14 properties to the state through interim Commissioner Glenn Patton in 2006 for the sum of $693,750 (I have a copy of the contract). A profit of $423,250 is a little steep for the taxpayers of the state of Florida. I did my verifications. I do consider myself involved enough in my local government to smell a rip-off of the taxpayer’s money when I see one. According to you, “the state and county drive the prices down on property, so they can steal them". At the over-inflated price you had offered to sell these properties to the state, how do consider $423,250 profit, stealing? I would call that stealing on your part, Mr. Gutierrez. ~oktcraft@terranova.net

Norman-Ronda@MonroeCounty-FL.Gov is the Code Enforcement Division Director. Email her or give her a call and ask if it is legal for owners of Lucky's Landing to be renting RV spaces after the land use was changed.(305) 289-2810.




In my opinion, most people would agree that global warming is a bunch of crap.

As Dixie, Sony and Sylvia's seats on the County Commission come up for reelection next year I hope and believe citizens and voters in Monroe County will see through the shenanigans of Dixie, Sony and Mario (I believe his seat will be up in 2 more years).  Sylvia along with George have been our voices of common sense and reason.  You may not agree with everything they do, but you will never agree with someone 100% of the time.  Thank God for Sylvia. You go girl; you have my vote next year!

I hope DiGennaro reads the state statutes on how the collected revenues are spent by the TDC. He did not know the rules that govern the BOCC when it comes to making a motion while another motion is on the floor. Mario, you need to read the rules. According to the state statute on bed-taxes, the revenue can be used to:
* Acquire, build, renovate, maintain, operate or promote publicly owned and operated convention centers, sports stadiums, sports arenas, coliseums, auditoriums or museums that are publicly owned or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations and open to the public;
* Promote and advertise tourism and fund activities, venues or events with one of its main purposes being the attraction of tourists;
* To fund convention bureaus, tourist information centers and news bureaus;
* Finance beach park facilities or beach improvement, maintenance, renourishment, restoration and erosion control; however, counties with fewer than 100,000 residents may not spend more than 10 percent of tourist tax revenues for beach park facilities;
* Acquire, build, renovate, maintain, operate or promote zoological parks, fishing piers or n