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published before noon daily

Friday April 15, 2011
 

[Great Wall of HOB] Sign the petition and mail it or send it electronically to ask the County to enforce its laws and hold those responsible for this  gross violation to pay. http://tamehob.com/

[7 Mile Bridge Run Story] Jess Snook of Marathon ran the Seven Mile Bridge Run this year, but her story went beyond the race. She spread the ashes of late husband, Jeff Simonds, who was a 31-year-old state marine biologist who died in a February 2010 crash on the bridge. She brought containers of ashes to spread at the site of the crash. Rest in Peace, Jeff.

[Sloan] Today's post is about playing chicken, and about being chicken. Here's a sampling:

I told Todd German yesterday that the City worrying about the School District having to pay a $22,000,000 penalty on a loan it never should have taken out without first getting Key West on board, is putting a $22,000,000 price on the City’s soul.

I said the School District is playing chicken with Key West, without having the capability of killing the City, which very definitely has the ability to kill the School District to the tune of a $22,000,000 penalty. I said the School District should be looking hard for what it has the City wants in exchange for leaving HOB alone.

I said Mayor Cates and the six city commissioners, the city manager and the city attorney all are one-hundred percent responsible for HOB because it happened on their watch while they weren’t watching, and it is really important for city officials to step forward and say they screwed up bad, it caused a lot of trouble, and they are going to do their best to deal with what now is before them.

City Manager Jim Scholl said on US 1 radio yesterday afternoon that there should be no linkage between HOB and Glynn Archer. Pretending there is no linkage between HOB and Glynn Archer is like me pretending my ears are not linked to my eyes. Reminds me of doublespeak in the novel 1984, when the Government rewrote history and the party line anytime it wished, and woe to anyone who challenged it.

I see two things the School District can offer: compensation to the HOB neighborhood property owners and Glynn Archer the new City Hall. But I see no pressure being applied by the City on the School District to cause them to stop playing chicken and to cough up compensation for what they started against Steven Pribramsky’s advice. I don’t blame Steven for not running again last year.

Next week’s special City Commission meeting will show what Key West is really made of. You can see the whole cock fight by clicking on this link: chicken fever – Key West

[Animal Shelter] County leans towards one group for 2 animal areas. http://bit.ly/gF3QqE

Navy Air Show Tomorrow

Now AA Basher, their you go again, calling me sick in the head just because I hold different opinions than you, because I found a way to happily arrest my drinking problem. Why does that so infuriate you? I would be happy for you if you found the same peace. The method you used would be totally irrelevant.

I must commend you on your inspiring posts, as they truly serve to remind us all of your last post’s topic being that their are many poor souls out there that are truly "sick in the head".

[English Press 1] Did anyone see the article about the library board refusing to pay for Spanish language computers at the Marathon library? I agree with the library. Let them learn to speak English if they want to stay here.

[Mad TV] Buying a Buick in the Bible Belt. http://bit.ly/QhOqO

[Navy To Be Paid] The following press release was provided from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and provides information about military pay day on 15 APR.  Last week's continuing resolution compromise caused an issue in the military pay system.  This press release explains that AND reminds all military personnel they will receive a full pay day on 15 Apr.

Given the large number of military members in the Florida Keys, I wanted to pass this along for your consideration.  ~Jim Brooks, NAS Key West Public Affairs Officer james.e.brooks@navy.mil

Indianapolis (April 11, 2011) – Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) officials announced Saturday that with the passage of the latest Continuing Resolution Authority (CRA) by Congress, all military and reservists will receive full pay by April 15 for duty served between April 1-15.

For most military, there will be more than one deposit into bank accounts. Active duty and reservists in the Marine Corps will only receive a single full deposit; their pay statements will reflect this. Again, all payments will be deposited by April 15. Individuals should check with their bank to confirm the amount deposited into their account.

Because the 9th is the end of a pay period for civilian pay, civilians will receive their full two weeks pay on their normal payday.

Additionally, access to all Leave and Earnings Statements (LESes), Net Pay Advice or Advice of Pay for Active Duty Military and Reservists has been restored.

According to David McDermott, Director of Standards and Compliance, while Army, Navy and Air Force active duty members will receive full mid-month pay by April 15, the most current Net Pay Advice statements will still only show the partial payments for April 1-8. A full accounting of April pay will be available on the normal end of month Leave and Earnings Statement, which will be posted to myPay accounts on April 22.

McDermott also explained Army, Navy and Air Force reservists will receive full mid-month pay by April 15, but again, the most current Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) will still only show the partial payments for April 1-8. A full accounting of April pay will be available on the normal end of month LES, posted to myPay accounts on April 22.

“Our top priority is to make sure all active duty military and reservists have their full pay in their bank accounts by the 15th,” said McDermott. Not knowing what the outcome of last week’s budget talks would be, McDermott said DFAS wanted to ensure the military and their families would at least have a partial deposit into their accounts on payday. Defense Finance and Accounting Service, News Release 2 of 2

“The only way to be absolutely certain that active duty and reservists had some pay was for us to run a normal mid-month pay. Because we had to run it on Thursday, it ran without the authorization to pay beyond April 8,” said McDermott. “That is why members and their families saw the mid-month LES with only half the normal mid-month amount.”

With the passage of the new CRA, DFAS is now processing the remaining 7 days of mid-month pay, so service members will see their normal total mid-month pay, but with more than one deposit into their account.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our service members and their families,” said McDermott. “The good news is we can ensure all service members they will receive their full pay by April 15.”

[Video of woman smashing car windows] This must have been her boyfriend's car, or should I say ex-boyfriend's car, in order to create that much rage.  Doesn't that sista' know she has a tire iron in her trunk that would work better?

Bagworms are not to be confused with other insects. After a homeowner first takes serious notice of a bagworm, they are not likely to confuse this insect with any other insect. Bagworms can be a major insect pest problem on arborvitae, junipers, pines and many other evergreen species. They also attack certain deciduous trees, including oaks and sycamore.

Bagworms infestations tend to spread slowly since adult females are unable to fly and lay their eggs inside the bags. Dispersal of bagworms over wide areas occurs primarily through movement of infested nursery stock and ornamental plants. Young caterpillars are often caught by the wind and “ballooned” to new sites with the aid of silken threads to nearby plants.

Bagworms are most easily recognized by the case, or bag, the caterpillar forms and suspends from landscape plants on which it feeds.

When the caterpillar is mature, the bag can be up to 1.5 inches in length. The bag is made of silk and bits of host leaves and twigs. These materials are interwoven to add strength to the case and provide camouflage against adversaries, including birds and humans.

This camouflage works very well because most homeowners overlook these bagworms for several seasons until their presence and damage on plants become very apparent. Bagworm caterpillars injure plants when they feed on needles and leaves.

Bagworms can severely defoliate and kill evergreens, such as arborvitae. Since deciduous trees (such as oaks and sycamores) grow new leaves each year, the defoliation caused by the feeding usually does not kill them and control by insecticides is not necessary in most cases.

Bagworms can be controlled on small shrubs and trees by handpicking or cutting bagworms from infested plants during late fall, winter, or early spring, before the eggs inside hatch.

Don’t discard the bagworms onto the ground since they are capable of crawling back onto plants. Place bagworms in a sealed plastic bag for disposal by household trash pickup.

So what's up with the high rise HOB? I thought everyone knew we had building height restrictions in KW and the county. Where were the code enforcement Nazis? Did anyone on the school board look at the architect's plans? Who pays, you and me? The effing school board strikes again. Maybe we need to clean out those bubbas or send them to school so they can get their heads out of their asses.

[Cats Rule!] They are great companions. Let a cat adopt you, and you will know.

Why can’t we all just along?

[Happiness] If there we're in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others we could have a paradise in a few years.

[Cat Piss Okay] You're saying It's OK for your cat to piss on my stuff because he is neutered and his piss doesn't stink. Thanks a lot for that one you nutso.

[The purpose of life] If you can be happy, you matter. Good moods are contagious and infect all who come in contact, thereby improving the day for everyone.

[Cat Piss] Cats pee on everything inside your house, dogs only pee outside. There‘s a very big difference. How come cat people are always in denial?

All this talk about the purpose of life reminds me of my favorite line from the movie Conan. I think he got it right.

Mongol General, "What is best in life?"

Conan, "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."

To Women: We don't give a damn about your shoes. We care about your body. Go to the gym, not the mall.

Most of the Keys Diseased are bi-polar and that's why there are so many rotten people here. They drink and drug. Being happy requires maintenance not over-indulgence of bad stuff. Try going for a run and having a healthy salad instead of your old routine of drinking and snorting. Jesus isn't going to help. You have to do it alone. Start today.

Welcome home Marine and thank you for my freedom.

An elderly couple was sitting together watching their favorite Saturday night TV program. During one of the commercial breaks the husband asked his wife, "Whatever happened to our sexual relations?"

After a long, thoughtful silence, the wife, during the next commercial break, replied, "You know, I don't really know. I don't even think we got a Christmas card from them this year."

[Recycle Water] Home Depot's rain collection barrels for sale. http://bit.ly/gClUDv

Proposed Property Insurance Legislation will kill the hotel business in Monroe County and the tourism business in coastal Florida. http://bit.ly/e1r0wv

[Bishop admits abusing nephews] There are so many headlines like this. Imagine the crimes we don’t find out about? What can we do to protect our children from the Catholic holy men? I say get rid of all altar boys. Use girls instead. Altar girls.

[AA Basher] If you do a Google search for alternative programs to Alcoholics Anonymous you will find many sites out there that don’t base recovery on using the religious cult practices of AA.

PICTURE OF THE DAY
Send us your picture. Please include a brief explanation,
where and when it was taken and your name if you want. Picture From the Keys

The observation tower at Marathon’s City Park is lovely, but always closed and is now used as expensive storage. Why do they build these things and not let us use them?

When I was a kid growing up in the northeast on the drive to the beach we'd pass a tall tower made of great logs that was for us city dwellers to climb and look at the country around the tower. You could see real far. It seemed so tall at the time. The only problem was that my father would never stop so we could climb it. He always said, “Next time.” We called the tower Next Time Tower and us kids all knew just what was talked about when anyone referred to the Next Time Tower.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

Trump/Palin 2012 bumper sticker: "You're Fired! - I Quit"

[Global warming] If it is happening or not does not matter. What matters is that we humans are polluting the air we breath, destroying the foliage that cleans that air, destroying our fresh water supplies, and over breeding the planet to the point of self annihilation. Whatever the sun and the planet do by themselves we cannot control, but we should wake up and help ourselves and the future human race before we smog ourselves into worm food.

FTR told us that the President took a horrible beating in the last budget agreement. He thought that the President folded under the pressure of the Tea Party Republicans. However, in the words of Samuel Jackson in the movie" Pulp Fiction" I would like to say "Please allow me a retort".

The historic $38 billion in budget cuts resulting from at-times hostile bargaining between Congress and the Obama White House were accomplished in large part by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway. Such moves permitted Obama to save favorite programs — Pell grants for college students, health research and "Race to the Top" aid for public schools, among others — from Republican knives, according to new details of the legislation released Tuesday morning.

And big holes in foreign aid and Environmental Protection Agency accounts were patched in large part. Republicans also gave up politically treacherous cuts to the Agriculture Department's food inspection program.

The details of the agreement reached late Friday night just ahead of a deadline for a partial government shutdown reveal a lot of one-time savings and cuts that officially "score" as cuts to pay for spending elsewhere, but often have little to no actual impact on the deficit.

As a result of that sleight of hand, Obama was able to reverse many of the cuts passed by House Republicans in February when the chamber approved a bill slashing this year's budget by more than $60 billion. In doing so, the White House protected favorites like the Head Start early learning program, while maintaining the maximum Pell grant of $5,550 and funding for Obama's "Race to the Top" initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools. Food aid to the poor was preserved, as were housing subsidies.

Instead, the cuts that actually will make it into law are far tamer, including cuts to earmarks, unspent census money, leftover federal construction funding, and $2.5 billion from the most recent renewal of highway programs that can't be spent because of restrictions set by other legislation. Another $3.5 billion comes from unused bonus money for states that enroll more uninsured children in a program providing health care to children of lower-income families.

Still, Obama and his Democratic allies accepted $600 million in cuts to community health centers programs, $414 million in cuts to grants for state and local police departments, and a $1.6 billion reduction in the Environmental Protection Agency budget, almost $1 billion of which would come from grants for clean water and other projects by local governments and Indian tribes. Community development block grants, a favorite with mayors of both political parties, take a $950 million cut. Gee, how did I miss the glorious victory?

[Tax the Rich] Things the rich don't want you to know about taxes. http://bit.ly/fieFYp

Kucinich sheds light on Manning. http://bit.ly/i4u1zN

If you talk to God you are praying. If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.

The Barack Obama song. A special gift for the folks who are loving America's transformation into Obamaland is here! Video

[From the Right] The WSJ headline was “Most Dishonest Political Speech in Decades”. Then the WSJ article characterized the speech as being: “… blistering partisanship and (filled with) multiple distortions…” The speech referred to was Mr. Obama’s speech on his plan to diminish the deficit. The WSJ commentary was absolutely correct. But, in one sense it was a good thing for the country because we now have crystal clear proof that Mr. Obama is incapable of taking any responsibility for our current mess. It is a revealing look at his character. For brevity, let’s just examine only one of his sets of abject lies. In his speech he blamed the current mess on the Bush admin and the governance of the last decade. He claimed that the Bush tax cuts of ’01 and ’03 were directly responsible for our deficit and debt. That is an absolute lie. It is a lie because it is not true, he knows it is not true, and he intended to deceive the listener. When Mr. Bush took office in Jan of ’01, we were in a recession and the revenue trend was downward. When he took office Federal revenues were declining and ultimately reached a low of about 31% of GDP by late 2001. Mr. Bush put two tax cuts in place, the first in ’01, and the second in ’03. After the first tax cut the revenues stopped declining and remained static. After the second cut, the revenues began to skyrocket. The revenues claimed for 4 years. By 2007 the revenues had climbed to about 36.75% of GDP. In January of 2007 the Democrats took control of Congress and the massive, nation busting Democrat spending began in earnest. Concurrent with the arrival of Democrat control of our purse stings in ’07 Federal revenues went in the toilet. The Democrat 2007 Congress was at the fiscal helm when Federal revenue fell faster than it had during the Clinton recession. I hope you’re now thinking, but what about spending, did spending or tax cuts really cause our debt? Now we know that our revenues bloomed under Bush. We also know that spending quickly reached garish heights under the Dems. And now my Deer Friends, the Deficit. In ’04 the deficit was at its max under the Republican White House and Congress, it had reached a max of about $400 billion. Then the Bush tax cuts began doing their job. For the next 4 years, even with high spending, the deficit decreased until it had reach about only about $200 billion in 2007. We were on the road to a balanced budget. For reference sake, after 4 years of Democrat control of our purse strings, the deficit today is about $1.4 trillion.) If the trend established by the combination of a Republican President and a Republican Congress had continued, we would have enjoyed budget surpluses by the end of Bush 2’s term. Between 2007 and 2008, in the first year of the Democrat Congress, the deficit again metastasized. In the first year the deficit about doubled, it then was about $450 Billion. Then the Dems went crazy and threw gasoline on the deficit by insane spending and it went stone cold crazy. The deficit quadrupled between ’08 and ’09. By ’09 the first year of Mr. Obama, the Dems had managed to explode the deficit to about $1.7 Trillion dollars.. So, we can all see that as our revenues improved, the Dems spent so damned much money that it simply overwhelmed the increased revenues. My Deer Friends. Mr. Obama is insulting you when he tells you that we don’t have a spending problem. He is lying when he says that we have a shortage of revenue. It is simple, it is obvious, we’ve got lots of money coming in and too much going out. We’ve got to quit spending. Mr. Obama is not making an honest mistake, he is purposefully lying. If he feels that he has to lie, his programs must be fundamentally flawed.

(Part 2) Wasn’t it just last week that our Democrat brethren were joyfully braying that unemployment was trending down. Then we learned that the numbers that Bureau of Labor Stats were pushing were largely guess work. They had no proof of their reliability. Now, it has just been learned that the new unemployment claims actually are on the rise. The latest report is that new claims have climbed to 412K. It was totally unexpected by Team Obama. But, Deer Friends, the overall picture is even worse. It is now reported that the core consumer price index has climbed substantially, that My Deer Friends means that inflation is rearing its horrible head. So, now we have massive unemployment, we have out of control energy prices, we have a destroyed real estate market, and now we are suffering inflation. I suggest that those of us who were adults during the Carter years, exercise their memory. I urge the rest of you to look up “stagflation” and “misery index.”

Friday April 15, 2011
 

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published before noon daily

Thursday April 14, 2011
 

[Sewers] Property owners associations (POA) located in the Cudjoe Regional Waste Water District. (Sugarloaf Key to Big Pine Key ). Please supply us with an email address of someone on your Board to receive updates on this issue and be invited to share your concerns and suggestions with other property owners associations in our area concerning this important issue. We are in the process of forming a Federation of POA to represent us to our elected officials and need someone from your POA to tell us of your concerns. Please reply to hawkins.richard@att.net with your contact information. Let’s work together on this issue.

[County Looks to Unload the Hickory House Again]

Gatesi: "I don't know if we'd call it a park; Ideally we'd want to sell it and recoup the money, but the market will probably not allow that. That would be option one. Option two would be to get some kind of public access in the meantime."

Carruthers: "That's a great idea, but for 3.14 million? If we're not going to be able to unload it, we should at least put it to some public use. I'm not sure what that is".

Commissioner George Nugent: "The County is close to needing to demolish the building. It would be just as attractive as a scarified site; there's not much parking."

Joni Mitchell: “Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone, the day Paradise put up a parking lot.

[The Walls of HOB] Hopefully the School Board has the funds to tear them down. Please don't throw any bricks away or use them for fill. I suggest that an annual BLOCK HEAD award be given to any School Board member or staff who distinguishes themselves from the rest. In case of a tie, duplicate awards will be given. We’ll run out of bricks in no time.

[Lobster rules] Who in the world can keep up with the constantly changing fishing rules? http://bit.ly/hu5sfm

[Sloan] Last night I talked with former School Board member Steve Pribramsky who went off the School Board last year when he declined to run for re-election. Well into the conversation, I asked Steve how much of what he was telling me was off the record? He said none of it was off the record, he was fed up.

Steve said the old Horace O’Bryant was falling down and had black mold and needed to be replaced, but the financing for the new school, School Superintendent Joe Burke had arranged, seemed potentially very risky. On the $22,000,000 penalty attached to the $36,000,000 Horace O’Bryant loan, Steve said the bond lender had gotten a tax credit in that amount and would have to pay the penalty if the construction was not completed on time and other requirements of the bond were not met. Then the bond lender would look to the School District for reimbursement.

Steve said when he sounded the alarm at a School Board meeting, he seemed to get nowhere. He said somebody should get the tape of that Board meeting and listen to it.

Steve said he had liked and gotten along with Joe Burke, but they had really butted heads over Burke’s reliance on Fred Simms, who headed up the School District’s building department. Steve said he told Burke he would live to regret his reliance on Simms. Steve said, for all he knew, Burke turned Horace O’Bryant over to, and trusted, Simms all the way. Steve said he and John Dick were a minority of two, and the other three Board members deferred to Burke on Simms, to which I add, even though Burke was new to the job and did not know Simms like the Board members knew him.

Steve reminded me of when the School District looked at putting affordable housing next to Sugarloaf School when Randy Acevedo was the School Superintendent. The School District then had a policy of working with communities, airing things out, complying with their local building codes. Neighborhood meetings were held, citizen input taken. Then the School District applied to the County for a comprehensive plan change to accommodate the affordable housing. But the economy went south and the idea was abandoned. Steve said this was the approach that should have been taken with Horace O’Bryant, but Burke was new and he was viewed as the District’s savior from the Acevedos, he could do no wrong. Also Steve said, they relied on an architect and two paid consultants to keep them out of trouble.

When I asked Steve if he knew the height of the Horace O’Bryant buildings before the new construction was authorized, he said no and he didn’t know that any of the School Board members knew. When I asked Steve how he felt about the School District giving Glynn Archer School to Key West in exchange for variances on the code violations at Horace O’Bryant, Steve said he had wanted the School District to give Glynn Archer to Key West when he was on the School Board. Steve agreed the neighborhood at Horace O’Bryant is screwed anyway you cut it, short of tearing down the offending new structures. And he agreed there is no solution for the new Horace O’Bryant structures that will make everyone happy.

Steve said he is very concerned the School District will incur the $22,000,000 penalty if the City stops construction at Horace O’Bryant. Then he paused, said the School District could raise the millage to the max and pay the penalty, meaning the taxpayers would pay it. I said the taxpayers elected the School Board, so ultimately the taxpayers are responsible for the screw up at Horace O’Bryant. That caused a pause in the conversation. When I said the same thing to Todd German later in the evening, he said that was one way to look at it. I asked what other way is there to look at it?

I imagine next week’s City Commission meeting will be interesting. Probably career defining for seven elected city officials. I wonder if they will continue to hold forth that it’s all the School District’s and the architect’s and the contractor’s fault? I wonder if they will continue to have City Manager Jim Scholl hold forth that Horace O’Bryant and Glynn Archer are separate issues?

See the whole report by clicking on this link: errors & omissions – Key West & School District

["The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to matter"]  I disagree and believe the real purpose of life is to be happy. To matter is idealistic, to be happy is realistic.

Road rage incident in Metro Detroit. Weapon of choice--lawn chair. All caught on video. http://bit.ly/ggkgw8

April 14, 1861 First Causality of Civil War. After a withering bombardment for a day and a half the Union defenders of Fort Sumter planned a rolling cannonade of some 100 guns, a last show before they surrendered to the Confederates. Tragically one cannon misfired prematurely and blew off the right arm of gunner Private Daniel Hough, killing him almost instantly and fatally wounding another Union soldier. The two men thus became the first causalities of the Civil War.

Priceless movie star photos. Slides

[Cat management plan reads like fiction] I’d like to challenge some of the assertions made by Anne Morkill in her recent letter (“Refuges, animal advocates have common goal,” March 30), beginning with her suggestion that the impact of free-roaming cats on the Keys’ wildlife is well understood. In fact, the rationale presented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in its Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex Integrated Predator Management Plan/Draft Environmental Assessment demonstrated quite clearly that the organization lacks the necessary understanding (e.g., estimates of population size, range, diet, etc.) to begin “managing” cats on or near the refuges.

Given the fact that the USFWS has been struggling with this issue for years (at taxpayer expense, of course), one might expect a better foundation of knowledge from which to proceed (again, at taxpayer expense).
 

Morkill is quick to brush aside allegations that wildlife impacts have “been overstated and the science is flawed,” but offers little in the way of details. She notes the obvious — that cats do kill birds, small mammals and so forth — but says nothing about the extent of such predation or its impact on those populations of greatest concern (e.g., the Lower Keys marsh rabbit and Key Largo woodrat, etc.). And her mention of “popular literature” as a legitimate source for such evidence — a reference, I assume, to Jonathan Franzen’s latest novel, “Freedom,” in which the author (who sits on the board of the American Bird Conservancy) gives voice to his own opinions about cats and birds through one of his characters — is enough to erode any credibility she may have had on the subject.
 

On the other hand, much of the “justification for action” presented by USFWS in its Predator Management Plan is itself a kind of fiction. To support their claim that free-roaming cats have been a major cause of 33 extinctions around the world, for example, USFWS references studies of species that simply aren’t extinct. And, among the “evidence” of island extinctions are studies that — in addition to having nothing to do with extinctions — were not conducted on islands (e.g., rural Wisconsin, the small English village of Felmersham, etc.).
 

USFWS claims that free-roaming cats kill at least one billion birds every year in the U.S., but provides virtually nothing in the way of support. Indeed, one the three articles referenced — published in a birding magazine — is about defending one’s garden from neighborhood cats (“… try a B-B or pellet gun. There is no need to kill or shoot toward the head, but a good sting on the rump seems memorable for most felines, and they seldom return for a third experience.”). Another article cited by USFWS isn’t about cats at all. Or even invasive animals. It’s about invasive plants.
 

For USFWS to include such egregious errors in its Predator Management Plan (and there are plenty more, as I’ve documented in my comments to USFWS) suggests carelessness, clearly, but also a disregard for the public they are supposed to serve.
 

Had USFWS been more diligent in its review of the science, its plan would have addressed the risk of removing free-roaming cats from the Keys. If the agency were successful in removing the cats (unlikely, given their poor track record), the population of black rats would likely skyrocket — and decimate the very populations of native birds, mice and rats USFWS is trying to protect. As would the use of rodenticides that they would use ordinarily to control the population of rats. This phenomenon is well documented in the scientific literature, yet USFWS fails to acknowledge even the possibility in the Keys.
 

And they fail to acknowledge what’s involved in “successful” removal efforts. On Marion Island, located in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean, it took 19 years to eradicate something like 2,200 cats — using disease, poisoning, intensive hunting and trapping, and dogs. This, on an island that’s only 115 square miles in total area (slightly smaller than the combined area of the Keys), barren and uninhabited. The cost, I’m sure, was astronomical.
 

USFWS has a much more difficult task on its hands, obviously, though one would never guess this was the case reading through its Predator Management Plan.

And finally, a few comments about Morkill’s claim that “the service will not kill any cats.” Does she really think readers won’t pick up on the game she’s playing? If USFWS goes through with its plan, as proposed, it’s quite likely that many cats will end up dead. Does it matter that the dirty work will be done by Monroe County animal control shelters, rather than USFWS? As Morkill points out, the shelters “will be responsible for choosing the best future for the cats,” which, she adds, “may be adopted by individuals or groups that can provide longterm care.”
 

I asked Connie Christian, executive director of the Florida Keys SPCA, about this issue earlier this year, and she told me, “We do not have an outlet for feral cats that are brought to us without a request for return.” In other words, that “best future” Morkill refers to is — almost certainly — no future at all.
 

Like Morkill, I “agree that this is a people problem.” Unfortunately, she missed the irony in her comment: some of the people at the heart of the problem are right there at USFWS.

[Catherine Zeta Jones] Someone asked last week where the beautiful actress has been. The Today Show this morning reported that she’s been in the nut house.

[Big Busts] 6 month drug operation to net 95 arrests. http://bit.ly/hELZl3

[Local DirecTV] I would like to graciously thank all the posts recommending Flakeys Satellite for my DirecTV service. Sam and Fabio did a wonderful job. Nice, neat installation of running the cables in and out of my home. Very professional both of them. I'm saving half the money I was paying for cable tv and Internet. They are highly recommended by me. Thanks C.T. very useful.

Whoever posted "Missing the Marine Corp", thank you. It was just what I needed .I'm not good on saving just that section, so can someone send it via email to tahiti2007@yahoo.com.  25^th of March in 1971 was for me 40 years ago at Parris Island. Boy, does time fly.

Happy Birthday to Dan Schwab the Keys cartoonist.

[Missing the Corp] Wow! Very well written. Thank you for your service.

Have I lived in the Keys too long and have things changed this much? Recently I got an invite from a new neighbor to a welcome-them-to-the-Keys-party and to bring items to help them improve their home. They are living in a very nice home, rent free, due to unfortunate circumstances of the owners, yet they want me and my neighbors to help them out. I don't remember "free" being in the Keys vocabulary when I moved here. Is this what we are coming to?

The Old Wooden Bridge Kids Fishing Tournament will be held on Sunday, May 1, with registration at 8 a.m. This is a free event for children 5 - 12 years old. Fishing rods will be given to each child, as well as bait. Children need to bring terminal tackle. Free lunch for the whole family will be provided as well as great prizes for the winners. Sheriff department will be there with the robot which was a big hit last year. Register early.
Bulletin Board

[Life’s Purpose] It may be difficult to comprehend how we each create our own reality, especially if you are experiencing struggles and challenges in your life. This is the time to make a conscious effort, because if you are dealing with an illness, or very painful experiences, only you can make a difference. Begin focusing on your thoughts, and begin living your life on purpose, rather than by living life by default. This will make a person happy. This is my suggestion to the sour puss who wrote that our purpose in life is not to be happy.

Bugs emerge to bite us, and a few pose health risks. http://yhoo.it/ePfumD

[Internet Fees]  Two articles in the papers this week were both on same topic - the internet. One article says the Internet’s been really slow lately here in the Keys and we need bigger wires. The other article says AT&T is changing so that a new provision allows AT&T to limit online activities of heavy users.  It seem some users are hogging the bandwidth to download high-def movies or a lot of digital music. So now AT&T will impose caps.

I have two thoughts in response.

1. They have the technology to make it move faster. They are just letting us suffer at low speed so we will be glad to hand them money to go faster. All they are really doing is setting us up so they can charge - or charge more - for using the internet.

2. A few media hogs are going to ruin it for the rest of us who don't download videos or music and couldn't care less about being entertained.

I don't know anything (really, nothing) about computer hardware or operations, but I do know about my wallet and I'm paying all I can afford to connect. If I have to pay more there’ll be no internet for me which will make me sad. I will miss Deer Ed and most of the CT posters.

The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds mosquitoes of the mind.

Happy Birthday to Megan Wuerth, Dan, and you, Deer Ed.

Japan Tsunami Slides

I know you all love the AA Basher, but it seems a bit much to publish the same diatribe two days in a row. Perhaps Deer Ed, I should give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that the moron just sent it twice. And hello to all you lovely people who insist on trying to debate him. He's crazy and he's a drunk - not a dry one, mind you, but an active one. He's all about sticking pins into people who are doing better than he is. I don't see the point in arguing with him anymore than I would suggest arguing with a radical Islamist. He gets all kinds of icky little thrills when you respond. (Oops, my bad, I just responded.)

[Purpose of life] I disagree with the poster who said that the purpose of life is not to be happy.

[Cops Fondle Shaffer] Something makes me think that the video of Larry Shaffer being fondled by the cops will turn up missing somehow.

Woman of the Moose. Spring Dinner Dance Saturday April 16th 6pm-10pm Music by DJ Laurine. Donation $10. Tickets available in social quarters. Stuffed pork loin, herb roasted potatoes, spring vegetables, salad and dessert. Members and their guests are invited. Bulletin Board

Second job refusal for Superintendent Burke. The Indian River County School Board on Tuesday passed over Keys schools chief Joseph Burke for its superintendent job, deciding to go with an administrator already working for the Indian River school system.

Fran Adams, that district's assistant superintendent of curriculum, will take over from Harry La Cava, retiring in June.

Burke was one of 51 applicants for the job, and one of six finalists. He was interviewed by the Indian River School Board on April 2.

Burke had said he wanted the job so he could be closer to family. Before being appointed to the Keys job by then-Gov. Charlie Crist in 2009, Burke was the chief Central Florida administrator for the Florida Department of Education.

But being passed over in Indian River doesn't mean Burke, whose Monroe County School District term ends in November 2012, isn't still looking to move on. He's one of eight finalists to lead the Lee County School District, on Florida's West Coast. A search committee there is expected to meet today, April 14 to whittle the list to five or six, which will then go before the Lee County School Board for consideration.

[Towering walls at Horace O'Bryant Middle School] Don't you know a fuse when you see one lit? This is one of those "If they let this go by, they have to let all other over size crap go by too". The architect is not to totally to blame, the local land barons are. Let them have this and the Keys will be inundated with high rise profiteering monstrosities faster than you can say "Where's the Sunset?"

This nation was built by men who took risks, pioneers who we're not afraid of the wilderness, businessmen who we're not afraid of failure, scientists who we're not afraid of the truth, thinkers who we're not afraid of progress, and dreamers who we're not afraid of action.

[Cats Kill] If your cuddly little kitty, cat suddenly became big enough it would tear you to pieces as soon as it could get its claws on you, and probably just for fun.

Deer AA Basher, how are you? It’s nice to see that we are still all together on our little rock trying to keep our demons at bay the best way we know how. I would appreciate it if you would be so thoughtful to tell us about some of those treatments that are becoming in vogue as you say and are beginning to replace A.A. I have friends who have tried a lot of them, but sadly, I must say, without too much success. Those that fail in A.A. do so largely because they started drinking again, they forgot about that reality therapy plan I mentioned in a previous post. Well I’ve got to run, hope this finds you well and all, and please do stay in touch.

To Nature the purpose of life is to make more life.

[Hollywood Squares] These great questions and answers are from the days when ' Hollywood Squares' game show responses were spontaneous, not scripted, as they are now. Peter Marshall was the host asking the questions, of course..

Q. Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat?
A. Paul Lynde: Loneliness!

Q. Do female frogs croak?
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.

Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years...
A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.

Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.

Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he's married?
A. Rose Marie: No wait until morning.

Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency..

Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say 'I Love You'?
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty..

Q. What are 'Do It,' 'I Can Help,' and 'I Can't Get Enough'?
A. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from the next apartment.

Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?
A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old question Peter, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.

Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries.

Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score?
A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.

Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps.. One is politics, what is the other?
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures..

Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I'm always safe in the bedroom.

Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?

Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark..

Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.

Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?
A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn't neglected.

Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
A. Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car, the rest is up to him

Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A. Charley Weaver: His feet.

Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed?
A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh

We don't stop laughing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop laughing.

Beer power. Video

[Sewers] Deep doo doo problems still exist with upper Keys sewer project. http://bit.ly/f5X2Tk

[Purpose of life is not to be happy] I disagree. The whole purpose of life is to be happy. All the rest is small stuff.

Huffington Post & AOL sued by bloggers. They say she’s profiting from them.  http://yhoo.it/fYtXiD

[I love Big Pine] Your ass is sucking canal water if you think Big Pine stinks.

[Purpose in life] There is an ancient Indian word "Dharma", which has two meanings. The first is your nature, your true, real, essential nature. The second is your purpose in life. To me the two are inseparable. I believe the word literally translates as truth.

My purpose in life is to bring love, peace, joy, happiness and encouragement to every person whom I come into contact with. To help them surrender to the Power within which guides their lives easily and effortlessly in order to experience their True Self. And with this website my mission is to create an environment where people can experience the Divine Love of our Creator. A place where if doubt, fear or worry sets in, they can be reminded of who they really are.

[Crucifixion Nails] Simcha Jacobovici claims to be in possession of Jesus' crucifixion nails. That guy is very entertaining. I enjoy watching his TV shows, but he does make some giant leaps to get to his conclusions. His programs are always interesting.

[Cats] I have adopted two feral tom cats. It took a lot of time to gain their trust. They don't have indoor manners, they piss-mark certain spots around the yard just like dogs do. They've been neutered so it doesn't smell and they get regular rabies shots and flea treatments. During the day there's a dish of dry food on the patio table for them. They are hunters. They bring in mice, voles and the occasional mole. I watch them nail grasshoppers and crickets that they do eat. Blue jays are constantly visiting the patio table to steal the dry food and the cats pay no attention. I'm not saying they never eat a bird, but they mostly go after ground prey. As a result I have fewer varmints in the house and yard and seldom see a snake anywhere near the house. Luckily my neighbors also have outdoor cats and we all welcome visitors when they tolerate each other's presence. Most wanderings extend to the next door yard on either side. That seems to be all the territory they want since neutering.

[AA Basher] If this God has all power and alcohol is "cunning, baffling, powerful" then doesn't that mean Alcohol is also a God? Certainly Alcohol would not have any power because God has all of it or is that a lie? If God has all power, why does Alcohol have not just power but is cunning and baffling to boot? Or, if God has all power, including the power to create and control the universe, why did He create Alcohol in the first place? Is this all God's fault? Does he get off on being a sick, sadistic and evil prick? And so forth and so on within the baffling BillShit of Alcoholics Anonymous. And of course AA will never question why you drank in the first place whereas AA has nothing to do with quitting drinking. It’s about a bogus religious, not spiritual, conversion under the 5 c’s of conversion from the Oxford Group.

You can and many do work the Steps while completely blitzed! As long as you're "growing" by making such an effort then does that "sobriety" matter anyhow? Progress, not perfection. Maybe God wanted you to be a drunken degenerate which, for the "One with all power, God", renders A.A. useless.

Once one realizes what the Twelve Steps are and what they will not do, of course no one wants to go through with them: It's a religious indoctrination program which uses addiction as the whip to force the sheep into becoming guilt-ridden true believers. The people clearly in their right minds are those who immediately leave, seeing the Steps and the organization along with its rituals for exactly for what they are, a religious, not spiritual dangerous cult.

Recently an AA member committed suicide by hanging. At the next meeting the group conscience was that “she wasn’t working a good program”. Some of the sickest people in the world are sitting in the meeting rooms of AA. The longer you sit in the rooms the sicker you will get.

PICTURE OF THE DAY
Send us your picture. Please include a brief explanation,
where and when it was taken and your name if you want. Picture From the Keys

Under the Seven Mile Bridge

[Floating Hotel] Sanctuary panel to hear plans for resort on water off Key West. The Sanctuary Advisory Council will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Marathon Garden Club, 5270 Overseas Highway.

At 2:30 p.m., Doug Pope of Elevated Water Resorts and Tim Scott of Consolidated Environmental Engineering will discuss their plans for the Oceana Hotel and recreational facility, which they hope to erect on the water about 16 miles northwest of Key West. The public may comment at 10:05 a.m. and at 3:15 p.m., the group says.

I hope they sink it!

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[A German Speaks of Islam] “Very few Germans were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.  Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.  The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history; it is the fanatics  who march...it is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers..  The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across Southeast Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.  And who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving?' History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.  As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts--the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

[Birthers] Someone did some research on 2 of the leading Republican candidates’ claim that Obama has spent $2 million dollars hiding his birth certificate. Among those who challenge President Barack Obama's citizenship, the one claim that is often raised: Why would Obama spend millions of dollars defending against the lawsuits instead of simply producing his original birth certificate? That argument took on renewed life recently when it was cited by potential GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
And the argument is almost always attached to a specific figure: $2 million.

In an interview on NBC's Today show, for example, Trump said Obama spent $2 million in legal fees trying to get away from this issue. He repeated the figure in a CNN interview on April 10. "I just say very simply why doesn't he show his birth certificate?" Trump asked. "Why has he spent over $2 million in legal fees to keep this quiet and to keep this silent?"
 

In a Fox News appearance on April 10, Palin echoed the figure while praising Trump's efforts. Trump is "paying for researchers to find out why President Obama would have to spend $2 million to not show his birth certificate," Palin said. "So more power to him."
We contacted Trump's office to find out where he got the number, but we did not receive a response. Others who have used the number have sighted a story from WorldNetDaily, a conservative news website that has served as a venue for news and commentary about the birth certificate controversy.
 

After we looked through court records and spoke to experts in the field, we found insufficient evidence to support the claim that Obama for America spent $2 million solely on birth-certificate-related work. "We should note that, since Obama was elected, a number of federal cases related to the birth certificate issue -- including several filed by or with the assistance of California attorney Orly Tatez a leader among Obama birth certificate questioners -- have been handled by federal attorneys, including those with the U.S. Department of Justice. Several of these cases were dismissed almost immediately. Others were active for up to a year but were ultimately dismissed and then, in some cases, appealed. The case in which Bauer wrote the letter to the plaintiff was dismissed twice by the Supreme Court.

We interpret the quotations by Trump and Palin to mean payments made by Obama in a personal capacity, not in cases where he's represented in an official capacity by government lawyers. For one thing, both Trump and Palin used the term "legal fees," which would be irrelevant in a case defended by government lawyers. Federal attorneys are paid a salary by the taxpayers, and they do not charge their "client" -- in this case, the president -- fees for representation. If these attorneys weren't working on birth certificate cases, they'd be working on some other case for the same salary.

When fact-checking, we think the onus is on the person making the claim to back up his statement. And the only backing we've seen in this case is that the Obama campaign's legal team spent more than $2 million on legal fees since the election ended. It's clear to us that the WND story has been twisted to wrongly assume that every dollar the Obama campaign spent on legal fees went to fight the release of Obama's birth certificate. The evidence shows that's simply not true. It's a huge, unsubstantiated leap to assume that all, or most, of that was related to lawsuits about Obama's citizenship. We rule Trump's claim False.

Lies and the liars that tell them. The Right’s attacks year in and year out against the President are getting crazier every week.

[Invisible Man] When one guy sees an invisible man he's a nut case. Ten people see him it's a cult. Ten million people see him it's a religion.

[Political Commentary video] Given all this, why do western leaders enable this process in our midst? What is the real reason for the kowtowing, shunning the truth and rolling out the welcome mat? http://bit.ly/e1bvtN

The real crux of the global warming issue is their lack of control over the way we live our lives. They believe that the ordinary citizen is just to ignorant to know what is good for him and must be guided and rehabilitated in his backward thinking and shown the true way to conduct his affairs; all according to their way, of course. One can easily grasp this fact after viewing the opinions of all the Neanderthals that don't believe as they do.

[Budget] President Bush and President Obama have doubled the budget over the last 6 years, give or take a little. I am sure there are folks who feel this was a must. Ask yourself this one question: Is your life twice as good as it was before this happened? I don't care what party the next president belongs to, I do care about getting this fixed. 2012 is just around the corner.

[From the Right]  We all know that Mr. Obama is a staunch opponent of responsible spending, we all know that he and the Democrats are wailing that they must have an increase in the debt limit so that even more money can be spent. Did you know that this is a fairly new concept for him? In 2006 when Mr. Obama was a Senator, the issue of raising the debt limit reared it’s ugly head. The Reps wanted to do it so that the Iraq war and the War on Terror could be paid for. A Republican Congress, convinced that both issues were righteous, demanded that the debt limit be raised. In that instance, then Senator Obama voted against raising the debt limit as did several current Democrat luminaries. Mr. Obama said that raising the debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Welcome to 2011 and a President who demands to raise the debt limit to fund social issues. Go figure. Let’s not forget that the Democrats hold on the populace is fully dependent on massive entitlement spending. Even with that fact, Mr. Obama poll numbers have reached a new low, and the populace says that they would most likely to vote for a generic Republican rather than a generic Democrat for Congress. Maybe that’s because we are now a just a little over 6 months into the last fiscal year of insane spending e by a Democrat controlled Congress. Did you know that our deficit has ballooned by a nearly incomprehensible 16% in just the last half a fiscal year? It’s got to stop.

(Part 2) This old right wing extremist fart was tickled with Mr. Obama’s speechifying yesterday about his budget goals. It was wonderful news for the nation and for the economy. Let’s review. He told us that he wants to raise taxes. I believe that Obama’s past is prologue; therefore I think he means just the opposite of what he says. We know that Mr. Obama is just spoofing us because he won’t even used the words “raising taxes”, he calls the changes that he says he wants “spending reductions in tax code.” Hearing Mr. Obama speechify gives me a tingly feeling down my leg. It starts in my butt and goes to my ankle. My Doc says it is sciatica. Whatever, it is a pain in the butt. Mr. Obama says he will raise taxes. So now you can take it to the bank that taxes will remain as they have for the last 10-11 years. Or maybe even better, the taxes will go down. Just imagine how much more money can be freed up to permit business expansion. Mr. Obama said that he will not cut spending on some of the biggest entitlement programs. Great news! We can now clearly see massive reductions in entitlement programs just over the horizon. We know that because we know that Mr. Obama says he won’t cut entitlement spending. We all know that Mr. Obama nearly always does just the opposite of what he says. Mr. Obama told us that he will be sure to “invest” high speed rail. Thank the Lord that that turkey is now as good as dead. Mr. Biden was so pleased and content with Mr. Obama’s speechifying, that was able to sleep through quite a bit of it. Great speech Mr. Obama, I congratulate you on your bravery in tossing away the budget that you submitted just two months ago. A tour de force, right up there with “I promise to close Gitmo.” Or “ I will try the 9/11 conspirators in Federal Criminal Court.” And of course, the piece de resistance, : “If my stimulus legislation is passed, the unemployment rate will not exceed 8%”. Which means exactly the same thing as “Unless my stimulus legislation is passed, the unemployment rate will exceed 8%.” To paraphrase my Indian ancestors” “Not So Great Chief Two Bulls Obama speak with forked tongue.”

Thursday April 14, 2011
 

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published before noon daily

Wednesday April 13, 2011
 

I don’t give a rat’s butt what anyone else thinks; I love Big Pine!

[Height Limit Exceeded] Tear down that wall, Mr O’Bryant!

[Towering walls at Horace O'Bryant Middle School] This whole mess starts and hopefully ends with the architect. Let’s hope he has a lot of insurance protection to pay for that class action the KW residents bring, and win, against the architect, and the Monroe County School Board, and the City of KW.

The architect failed in his responsibility to completely, thoroughly review all resources pertaining to building. Any time one document refers to another document, the onus is on the architect to read that referenced document. Building code says anything except what's not allowed by the Comp Plan so the architect is obliged to also review the Comp Plan's rules (which specify the height limits). The architect did not do that.

Since the Monroe County School Board is financed by all the taxpayers in Monroe County, the School Board's portion of lawsuit expenses and award dollars will come directly out of all Monroe County taxpayers' pockets. Also a big loss to Monroe County taxpayers will be Monroe County employee time while MC employees deal with this KW mess.

What an unnecessary waste, just because an architect did not do his professional diligence. Everyone in the Keys knows there are height restrictions and an architect should be aware of this more than anyone else.

[Refuge Killing Critters] We all certainly have our biases and opinions. I find that mine tend to shift around a bit the more I learn. My biases center on the pointless slaughter of living creatures.

One of the problems seems to be finding consistent information.  For example, I've read a good bit of the research about our marsh rabbits and the cat predation problem, but I haven't read it all.  Yesterday, I read in the Barometer that BPK has the largest population of marsh rabbits in the Lower Keys.  I can't find that data anywhere in the research that I've read.  From what I've read, posted a couple of days ago on the CT, there aren't many rabbits on BPK, but quite a few on Sugarloaf and especially Boca Chica.  Where are the data about the population of marsh rabbits on BPK?

This concern and confusion spins into the plans to trap and kill feral cats and other wildlife.  Feral cats are an acknowledged problem, but study after study that I've read emphasizes that trap and kill is not only ruthless and inhumane, it simply doesn't work, eating up resources that could be used more productively.  If all the feral cats on BPK were trapped and killed, it would take just one breeding pair and their offspring to exponentially produce 400,000 cats in seven years.  And then we're back to square one.  Whose fault is that? 

It's the fault of every human that refuses to neuter or spay their cats.  Virtually every source I've reviewed, be they birders or wildlife experts or whoever, consistently agree that this is the only viable solution. 

As for the marsh rabbits, there have been several studies conducted by Texas A&M students identifying predator-free areas in the Keys where the rabbits have been successfully transplanted and are thriving. This type of program would seem to be far more productive than trapping and killing our wildlife. (The A&M internship program that provided free help and provided solid data was eliminated.)

So what is the investment in trapping and killing not only cats, but raccoons, opossums, and other wildlife?  I've read the results of only one study in which a raccoon was reportedly attacking a rabbit.  I haven't seen any studies identifying opossums as a major threat to marsh rabbits.  As far as I can see, this plan to eradicate our wildlife is based on extremely flimsy evidence other than the fact that these creatures are omnivorous or carnivorous. They're casually labeled as predators or as invasive exotics and targeted for eradication.  So why deprive these creatures of their lives when there are alternatives available? One poster is right in stating that these animals eat other animals. So do we.

Following the storms of 2005 I recall seeing key deer that were clearly malnourished and starving.  Fortunately, many citizens did what they could to provide food and water rather than listen to the authorities who demanded that we do nothing to help.  Nature can be a cruel master.  We're responsible for having sheltered and provided safe habitat for the deer, so we bear some responsibility in seeing that they're cared for.  We're responsible for our feral and homeless cat problem.  Again the authorities have demanded that they be left to starve, which seems to me to be a cruel and unnecessary solution.  I suppose it's a matter of choosing to live with one's conscience. 

As a lay person, I don't claim to have the answers.  But from what I can see, the biologists who claim they do, don't either.

[Sloan] Today's whomping is but another step along the way in the Horace O'Bryant-Glynn Archer dynamic duo not exactly super hero saga unfolding in Key West.

Here’s some intrigue I was told last night. The Horace O’Bryant metropolis was School Superintendent Joe Burke’s brainchild. He went out and managed to rope in a $58,000,000 low interest loan to build it. Federal stimulus money was tied in to make the loan really only $34,000,000 because $22,000,000 would be forgiven. Forgiven on conditions, one of which was the construction was completed within a time certain. Thus Burke’s perhaps accurate claim that delaying the construction at Horace O’Bryant will cost the taxpayers $22,000,000.

What Burke apparently has not said, at least I have not read it in the news, is there was a Board meeting back in 2010 before this was all cast in stone. A Board member was very upset that this deal was so risky – $22,000,000 risky. This Board member kept asking what if something goes wrong? What then? This Board member knew the Keys well, knew things often go wrong, especially in big development projects. This Board member kept asking what if something goes wrong?, and finally was told the architect would be responsible.

Into the contract between the architect and the School District was placed a clause requiring the architect to get all necessary governmental approvals for the project. That’s why it now is being said the architect will be responsible for the $22,000,000, if the City stops the construction because it does not comply with the city building code. What gets begged off is Burke and the School Board blew off the Director who was upset over the risk posed by the financing. They did not do due diligence themselves by talking with Key West. Nor, apparently, did they stay on top of the architect about getting all necessary governmental approvals.

Where was the School District’s lawyer when all that went down at that Board meeting? Surely the lawyer sided with the dissenting Board member. Surely the lawyer told the other Board members and Burke that the financing indeed was risky and super extra due diligence was required. But then, perhaps the lawyer did not do that. I suppose he will have to speak for himself. Or perhaps one of the Freedom of Information buffs in the Keys would like to request the minutes of that School Board meeting.

Maybe an FIO request also might turn up minutes showing at that or another School Board meeting, the Board asked to see the building heights for Horace O’Bryant, and the School District’s Construction Department head, last name Simms, I think, who apparently has caused the School District other difficulty, said he had not brought the plans with him. If that really happened, do you think Simms just forgot to bring the plans with him? Did Simms later furnished the plans to the Board member? Did the Board members stay after Simms, until he showed them the plans? Did the Board members ever see the plans for Horace O’Bryant?

My ex-lawyer mind remains unconvinced the architect is the only bad guy in this heist. Based on all I’ve heard, Burke and all but one of the School Board members, the School District’s lawyer, the architect and the construction contractor all are culpable and responsible to the taxpayers. Horace O’Bryant was supposed to comply with Key West’s comprehensive plan. It does not comply. The buck stops with the people who were supposed to do it right.

The law aside, did the School District even need to build a new $58,000,000 middle school, when student population in the Keys was dropping, the economy was still crashing, and the School District was having trouble making ends meet? Yeah, I know the School District’s capital fund is separate from its operating fund and the two cannot be comingled. Even so, what lunacy would drive the School District to build its biggest school project ever in that volatile environment? After the monument was built, where would the money come from to operate and maintain it?

I told someone yesterday, if Key West drops the hammer and stops the construction at Horace O’Bryant, and the School District then has to cough up the $22,000,000 funny money part of the loan, the School District can use its capital fund to pay back the $22,000,000 it didn’t need in the first place. Then let the Horace O’Bryant skeleton sit there and rot, to remind everyone in the Keys of a School Board gone mad. Maybe the skeleton would have a deterrent effect.

Oh, you think I’m out of line saying the School District has gone mad? Did you watch any of yesterday’s evening’s School Board workshop on Comcast’s Channel 78? If not, you should watch the replay. Burke and the School Board and their advisers have no clue how they are going to whack next year’s estimated $87-plus million estimated expenses down to their estimated $78-plus million estimated revenues. What were they thinking building Horace Bryant when they can’t even hold the line on teacher’s salaries and school programs and athletics? Right, they weren’t thinking thinking with their brains. Look a few feet lower.

There is something else about that $22,000,000 funny money loan that really bugs me. It looks like a great vehicle for somebody padding some bills and cooking some books and making a few million on the side when the $22,000,000 didn’t have to be paid back. Looks to me like Horace O’Bryant was a made-up work project. Looks to me like Horace O’Bryant is as bogus as it gets, and somebody intended to make a bundle who was not supposed to make a bundle.

Looks to me like that somebody had a friend or two in the City government, and that is why the City has done zip about Horace O’Bryant since it saw what was underway there. Never, ever, forget you live in Bubbaville. Never, ever, forget the kind of shit that goes on here that you never find out about, but it’s going on nonetheless.

Of all people, Mayor Craig Cates, descended from generations of Conchs, knows how shady things can get down here. Of all people, Craig should have led the charge to stop the gang rape at Horace O’Bryant. Alas, Craig is totally compromised. Not because he is on the take, but because he has made putting the new City Hall into Glynn Archer the flagship project of his term in office. How can Craig do the right thing with Horace O’Bryant, which will greatly upset the School Board and Burke, when he is doing all he can to sweet talk them into letting the new City Hall go into Glynn Archer School? Simple. He can’t sweet talk them and also do the right thing at Horace O’Bryant.

Someone told me yesterday that he had told some people at a meeting of some kind in Key West that someone of dubious character (it was understood he meant me) had suggested the School Board give Key West Glynn Archer in exchange for the City giving variances on Horace O’Bryant. He said the room went silent. Then, some people said it might be an idea to consider. It was agreed the neighborhood around Horace O’Bryant is screwed anyway it goes, so why not get Glynn Archer for an exchange of variances on Horace O’Bryant?

Beside the Horace O’Bryant neighborhood being screwed no matter what, another problem I have with that bright idea the angels put into my head about a week ago is swapping variances for Glynn Archer will allow the people who rigged Horace O’Bryant to make off with a bundle. Yet even another problem might be the voters of Key West would have to approve the variances in a referendum. Well, why not? It’s their city. Let them decide the fate of Horace O’Bryant and the neighborhood around it.

Right, I seriously doubt I, or anyone, will ever be able to prove Horace O’Bryant was rigged. I don’t need to prove it. I can smell it. And I have another way to know besides the angels telling me it was rigged. If something going on in the Keys politically makes no sense whatsoever unless you see it as being rigged, then it is rigged.

To see the whole thrashing, click on this link: Screwed, Blue’d & Tattoo’d – The Resistance strikes back

[Picture of the Day] I'd like to submit a photo for consideration in your Picture of the Day section. This bit of color is brought to you today by the good folks at the Zachary Taylor State Park Beach. (Ed: There was no picture)

[Guarantee] What great thing would you attempt, if you knew you could not fail?

[Use It or Lose It] A ship in harbor is safe; but that is not what ships are for.

Harmony reached new heights recently as NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, circling Earth aboard the International Space Station, and musician Ian Anderson, founder of the rock band Jethro Tull, collaborated for the first space-Earth duet. http://1.usa.gov/eEvy4P

The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.

[Lousy Tech Support] Customer: 'I've been calling 700-1000 for two days and can't get through; can you help?'
Operator: 'Where did you get that number, sir?'
Customer: 'It's on the door of your business.'
Operator: 'Sir, those are the hours that we are open.'
 

Samsung Electronics. Caller: 'Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about.'
Caller: 'On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I think it means the telephone plug on the wall.'
 

Tech Support: 'I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop.'
Customer: 'OK.'
Tech Support: 'Did you get a pop-up menu?'
Customer: 'No.'
Tech Support: 'OK . Right-Click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?'
Customer: 'No.'
Tech Support: 'OK, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?'
Customer: 'Sure. You told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'.'
 

Tech Support: 'OK. At the bottom left hand side of your screen, can you see the 'OK' button displayed?'
Customer: 'Wow! How can you see my screen from there?'

[Drunk Zone in Key West] I got news for you, Key West already is the Drunk Zone for the rest of the Keys.

[KeyToons' news you can use] A family outing to an Applebee's near Detroit on Friday night took a turn for the weird after a 15-month-old was served a margarita in his sippy cup. The boy's mother finally noticed when he was hitting on female toddlers way out of his league.

In a recent study, they've discovered marijuana farms eat up 1% of the nation's electricity. Future studies will determine how much power is used from weed-smokers' microwaving burritos and late-night viewings of the Cartoon Network.

Filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici claims to be in possession of Jesus' crucifixion nails. In related just-as-believable news, they've also recently unearthed the Easter Bunny's original basket.

[Business Plan] “The last thing a businessman loves to do is create a job and be forced to hire someone”  You actually have part of this right. The ideal biz would be no staff and lots of cash and profits. Then you can sit in front of your computer and do well. As a businessman I want more staff so I don't have to work my ass off. I gladly pay qualified people to do a paid job. Maybe you are one of those overly qualified folks who think that 1500% profits are real, if so please forward me your info so I can be sure you get your fair share. By the way, what lazy ass biz do you own or have maybe been involved in. I am only forced to hire by my growth and success. Please bring me more forced success please. That is what small biz people do.

Civil Rights movement http://bit.ly/fRX6xi

Good day AA basher, glad to see that you are still on the research trail. I spent many years on that same trail. If I could tell you some of the crazy cures I tried, I am sure you would be just as amused as I am reading your last post. I have long ago become a confirmed realist, hence A.A. and reality therapy. We don't really care what caused your excessive drinking, the real point is you have to stop. It’s hard to figure anything out when the brain is effectively shut down. I still do a little research these days, but not as nearly at the frantic pace I use to. The answers seem to come much more coherently and easily now that I have suspended my habit, but I digress. When you come to your magic solution I would greatly appreciate you sharing it with the rest of us old timers. Until the next time, take care. ~Your humble correspondent in research.

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds. -Bob Marley

[Nada] I’ve done so much with so little for so long, I can do something with nothing.

Note: This message and any attachments is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is non-public, proprietary, legally privileged, confidential, and/or exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the original sender immediately by telephone or return email and destroy or delete this message along with any attachments immediately.

[Cats Kill] It is the fact that their mutant owners let them kill off the natural local creatures. I wish they could do this to humans so you would know how it feels.

Ethics complaint filed against Governor Scott. http://bit.ly/dRGw03

The Amish have in a lot in common with Muslims. One thing is that they both require their females to cover their hair or go to Hell, or where ever bad fanatics go when they die. What is it that turns fanatical men on so much about hair?

Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw

One thing you can say about the AA Basher is he’s relentless in his crusade.

Take care of a soldier's pet while they're on deployment. http://bit.ly/cl6RHl

[Cat Piss] Biocide will help neutralize the smell. Neutered males don't necessarily stop peeing on everything, but at least it doesn't stink. Dogs are the worst offenders when it comes to marking their territory, yet everyone just shrugs that off. It grosses me out worse than cats, because it's everywhere.

[Missing The Corps] The Marine Corps taught me the sort of practical things that all men should know but don’t these days like how to shoot a weapon, survive in the wilderness, navigate by compass and map, and take care of your feet. The Marine Corps taught me the true meaning of words I had only before read about in Shakespeare: honor, obligation, courage, fidelity and sacrifice.  These were no longer merely a part of some story from an epic script on war, but real memories about real men in war.

In the Marine Corps I learned what it means to be truly happy and what it feels like to be truly sad.  And I realized neither had anything to do with me but both had everything to do with the unit and the definition of a meaningful life. In my travels I learned that life isn’t very easy for most people in this world.  And that we are blessed to have won life’s lottery and to have been born in this country. I learned that freedom is impossible without sacrifice and neither matters very much without love. I learned that it’s not what’s on your chest that counts, but what’s in your chest. I learned that standards matter.  I was taught the importance of discipline.  And of letting go from time to time. I learned that all it takes is all you got. I learned a good NCO is worth his weight in gold…a good Staff NCO is absolutely priceless. I learned it is important to write letters to yourself along the way because the details will escape you. I learned there is a difference between regret and remorse. I learned that apathy is the evil cousin of delegation. The Marine Corps taught me about physical courage, team work, the absolute virtue of a human being’s great adventure and that all men fall. With respect to tactics, I’ve found it most critical to never say never, and never say always.

I learned the importance of a good story shared among friends.  Or a good glass of scotch enjoyed in solitude.  Or of the importance of sailing away until you cannot see the coastline anymore…and then coming home, a better man. I learned that faith matters.  And that aside from the importance of believing the universe is so much bigger than any one man could ever comprehend; I learned that I truly believe in the power of a great bottle of wine, the courage of the enlisted Marine and the tenets of maneuver warfare. I discovered my morality. I learned how to fight in the Marine Corps…and my time in bars with my brother-Marines has taught me that contrary to our own self-perpetuated mythology, not all blood that Marines shed together is on the battlefield. The Marine Corps taught me how to think aggressively.  How to respond under pressure.  How to perform.  How to live excellently and that nothing is more important than the mission or the Marine. The Marine Corps taught me how to laugh – deeper than I ever thought imaginable – and how to cry.  And that a warrior’s tears reflect his soul. The Marine Corps did more for me than I could have ever done for it…it gave me an extraordinary adventure to live that is mine and that I will never for the rest of my life forget.

That I would have the honor of spending these years studying and practicing the discipline of war fighting alongside the wonderful modern Marine-hoplite only to realize that what I learned had so much less to do with war and so much more to do with love.

How do I feel in the 72 hours since I’ve left the Marine Corps? I miss it already.

[AA Basher] 97% of the members of Alcoholics Anonymous do not succeed in the 12 step program because it is an ineffective program, but AA does not consider that as a failure of the program. Instead they blame the alcoholic with statements like “they haven't hit their bottom yet,” “they're in denial,” or “they didn't work the program.” When in reality, that has nothing to do with it.

People leave or don’t succeed with AA and 12 step treatment programs for a variety of very valid and healthy reasons such as they are uncomfortable with: the powerlessness concept; the “group think” mentality; the religious aspect; the abusive aspect; the rigid, dogmatic structure; the shaming; the blaming; the sexist aspect; the patriarchal aspect; the archaic aspect; the demeaning aspect; the abusive criticizing on the hot seat; and the cult-like brainwashing methods to name a few. Since there were few other treatment options available to them, some of them return to excessive drinking. That trend has started to change as alternate methods of recovery programs become available. AA membership has dropped from 2 million to 1½ million members in the last few years. Over time AA will die its own death as it refuses to change with the times.

PICTURE OF THE DAY
Send us your picture. Please include a brief explanation,
where and when it was taken and your name if you want. Picture From the Keys

Monday morn over Bahia Honda.

Pill mill database gets the go ahead. http://bit.ly/fACEBk

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[More Guns and Bombs] A Swedish think tank, shows U.S. Military spending has almost doubled since 2001, soaring 81% compared to 32.5% in the rest of the world. http://bit.ly/fVkuCT

People who deny the existence of Global Warming are the descendants of the people who denied the existence of Global Rounding.

[Afraid that O will get re-elected] Don't be. If our President is re-elected it is because most voting Americans like the way he has run America. That would mean that most voting Americans like high unemployment, high gas prices, high food prices and Obama care, just to name a few. Our president is the most unqualified president we have ever had next to President Jimmy Carter. If that is what the majority of voting Americans have in mind, so be it. I will work very hard to make sure that a center/right state, local and federal government is installed.

Manning, Obama and U.S. moral leadership. http://bit.ly/euaN3N

Several Republicans testing the presidential waters in Iowa made more than a few statements that we found all wet. Among the dubious claims:

Rep. Michele Bachmann falsely stated that Obama administration officials have approved only one new drilling permit "since they came into office." That’s not even close. It’s more than 200.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he "helped balance the budget for four straight years." But he was in Congress for only two of those four years.
 

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was wrong when he claimed the 2010 election was "the most massive repudiation of any president’s policies in the history of the United States." The Democrats lost more seats during the "Roosevelt Recession" in 1938, and the ruling Federalist Party lost a higher percentage of seats in the "revolution of 1800." The Federalists never came close to a majority again and later disappeared.

Bachmann exaggerated how much it will cost to "pre-fund the implementation of Obamacare," saying it will cost $105 billion. But that includes $40 billion for a popular children’s health care program that was enacted more than a decade ago with bipartisan support.
 

Bachmann also said the nation’s debt grew 75 percent when Nancy Pelosi was House speaker, but the actual rise was 62 percent.
 

But then Bachmann seems to have more mixed up facts then Sarah, I quit, Palin.
 

[Tax Breaks] The US does not make money or have any of its own to 'give'. Government has no means of generating income. It only gets money by taxing its citizens, taking what they've earned. If there are any tax breaks it only means the citizens are allowed to keep more of what they earned, not that the gov’t has given them anything.

[Sharia Law] There’s an idiot judge that allowed Muslim law to come before American law, it will be only a short time before a White Christian is arrested for a crime against their laws and the Koran and be subject to their punishments. Banning all religion everywhere will solve many problems.

[Taking] Dear Lord,
This has been a tough 12 months. You have taken my favorite actor Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress Farrah Fawcett, my favorite musician Michael Jackson, my favorite salesman Billy Mays and my favorite athlete Steve McNair.

I just wanted you to know that my favorite president is Barrack Obama.
Amen!

On this date in 1743, Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, was born in Virginia. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson wrote: "Millions of innocent men, women and children since the introduction of Christianity have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned. Yet have we not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth? The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. Question with boldness even the existence of a God. Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that there is no God, you will find inducements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure you.” Jefferson contemptuously rejected the trinity concept and regarded Jesus as a human teacher only. He refused to issue any days of prayer or thanksgiving, believing civil powers alone were conferred on public officials.

One should not go to church if one wants to breathe pure air. Nor to watch a "good" movie. Eat and play then run like hell!

[Foreign Aid] If I understand your logic, Americans trying to keep some of their hard earned money caused the rescission. How then does the 23.5 billion dollars we gave to foreign countries with their hands out last year figure into you thoughts? Perhaps if we stopped trying to save the world and invested that money back into our own economy there would not be a recession.

[From the Right] This should really piss you off. Do remember just last week there were postings that were breathlessly happy in their claim that Team Obama was finally posting some promising unemployment numbers. The deal was that the numbers were not great, but that they suggested the scant beginning of an upward trend. Boys and Girls, we’ve been bullshitted again! Yesterday the New York Post printed an article that reported that those numbers were bogus. The article talked about the BLS stats that reported 216K new jobs had been created in March. It was viewed as being great news because it was better than expected. The article reports that those numbers are padded by 177K jobs that BLS only guesses exist. BLS has no proof that the jobs actually exist. These supposed new jobs are purported to exist in purported brand new companies that BLS has no proof exist. Read all about it: http://nyp.st/exP9V4

(Part 2) I spend some time trying to think of an appropriate adjective to describe yesterdays posting that spoke of the wonder of Democrat comprise. It spoke of the eschewing the views of those with strong, solid, leftist or rightist convictions. For they are the despised “extremists.” It praised the maturity and wisdom of Mr. Obama. It was a paean to reasonableness and compromise. That is a crock of fermenting donkey dung. Every sentient being knows that the mess was an abject Democrat surrender; it was absolute cave in of Mr. Obama and the Democrats. They may have finally realized that they were on the wrong side of the issues (I doubt that). Or, more likely, they realized that they were on the wrong side of political reality. Had they not caved they would have been toasted for being the cause of the giverment shutdown that was certain to follow. The Right wing of the Republican Party was properly hardnosed and it all worked out for the benefit of the country. It worked out because the Republicans had the courage of their convictions. It is true that the white flag of the Democrats was a conditional surrender, but it was surrender nonetheless. Our nation would be a better place if politicians of every stripe said what they really mean, and really believe what they say. You’ve got to remember that the Democrats are hard wired to spend money that they don’t have. They demand that we keep spending like damned fools. The big boy right wingers said “Hell no”. Our CT unctuous snake oil seller actually had the temerity to try and convince you that the continuation of the Bush tax cuts was a result of “bi partisan effort”. Bullshit! The poster should apologize to every CT reader for posting such crap. Obama and the Dems fought tooth and claw against the Bush tax cuts. The Bush tax cuts, to the Dems, were the source of all evil. They made it a huge component of the campaign. Only two things could have happened. First Obama realized that he was a damn fool for trying to raise taxes. Or two, he caved in. I think that the adjective that works best is “pap.” The recent Continuing Resolution/government shut down dust up, was just that, a dust up. Real conflict on real spending cuts begins soon.

Wednesday April 13, 2011
 

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published before noon daily

Tuesday April 12, 2011
 

[Musical Movie Marathon in Marathon]  Join the  Marathon and Lower Keys  Association of Realtors  for an afternoon of fabulous classic movie musicals to benefit  Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe.  Marathon Community Theatre  Tuesday, April 12  Noon to 4pm  Singin' in the Rain and Stormy Weather  Admission: Your donation at the door  Plus raffles for amazing prizes!

I hate cat ladies that hate dogs that hate cats!

[Big Pine Bocce Playoffs] The playoffs will be held on Saturday, April 30^th and will start at 10:00 AM. Because we have only 4 bocce courts, we wish to avoid a 2 day playoff, and we do not want an extremely long day, we will be using an 8 team, two out of three, single elimination format.. The three first place teams, the three second place teams, and the remaining two teams with the most points in the standings will participate.

Information will soon be available about the year ending party to be held on Sunday May 1 at the Island Grill.

[Drunk Zone] Due to a pending lawsuit, the drunks in Key West could soon be allocated designated drunk zones similar to the areas set aside for drinking excessively during Fantasy Fest. This idea is coming to fruition after numerous meetings with city officials and a local homeless coalition group. Local government and law enforcement officials are in favor of this approach as all the drunkards would be contained in the same controlled area.

All intoxicated persons, homeless or not, that are found passed out or acting in a disruptive manner would not be taken to jail, they would just be transported to the designated drunk zone. The high cost of incarceration and medical care for these sloshed individuals could be completely eliminated. Temporary tent housing would be provided so that the individuals would still be able to receive food stamps, unemployment and social security disability benefits. Sanitation facilities would be provided on limited bases whereas the alkies just urinate anywhere they want outside of the control zone.

Several areas are under review for consideration at this time including the north end of the runway next to at Key West International Airport adjacent to the Seaside Resort and Christmas Tree Island. The use of the island would be similar to when the British sent drunkards and other undesirables to Australia. The committee will be applying to the Tourist Develop Council for funding of the project so there will be no costs to tax payers. This approach of relocating the trashed drunks from public view has been tried in London with some success and has proved to be a cost effective way of dealing with inebriated citizens, locals and tourists alike.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your local officials to show your support for this innovative approach towards dealing with this never ending problem of public intoxication.

[Sloan] Today's longish ravage and plunder continues the proctoscopic X-Ray of the brouhaha that erupted in Key West when the towering walls of the new gymnasium went up at Horace O'Bryant Middle School. I managed to get myself in the cross-hairs of the Death Ray Angel yesterday. Here's some of the mayhem.

I flubbed something up good today, after I let someone convince me this morning that the 2010 referendum was only for the City to negotiate to purchase Glynn Archer, and a second referendum would be needed authorizing the City to close the deal. On that ass-u-me, I wrote boisterously to Mayor Cates and City Commissioner Johnston, in whose voting district Horace O’Bryant lies. I copied the email to the other city commissioners and the city manager and the city attorney. Instead, I should have written to find out what the referendum actually said. The Shawn Smith [city attorney] wrote back to explain what I had always thought the referendum said. He included the City Commission Resolution authorizing the referendum question. In sum, the City Commission was given authority in the 2010 referendum to negotiate a purchase of Glynn Archer without any further input from the public. If a contract to purchase is struck with the School District, the public then has to be given a chance to make input at a duly advertised meeting before the closing occurs. However, the public has no control, other than political persuasion, over what the City Commission decides to do. Also in that email, I asked what, if anything, the City has done to enforce the city code at Horace 0’Bryant? To that question, I have not yet received an answer. If I don’t receive and answer, I will take that as the answer – nothing.

I wonder what the outcome would be if the 2010 referendum were held this October 4? 70 percent of the voters approved the purchase of Glynn Archer, but I would not wager even a small amount of money that 50 percent of the voters would vote in favor today. Perhaps the current mood of the citizens influenced the notion that a second referendum is needed on Glynn Archer. Some of the reporting and and editorializing in the press has been a bit fuzzy on that point, and perhaps that also fueled the notion that a second referendum was needed. A fellow got onto me today for labeling the Horace O’Bryant monstrosity rape. He said women who have been raped have a problem with that comparison. I said nonetheless it is rape. Key West people feel they have being violated, and not just people who live next door or near Horace O’Bryant. He said he liked violate better than rape. I said the angels – I did not say the angels who run with Jesus, but I could have said that – told me to write, in the soul what has happened is rape. And then they told me to say it is gang rape. Naja Girard, a Key West woman, wrote to me after that post: “Go Sloan, give them hell!”

Regardless of what Joe Burke and the School Board and their lawyer knew or didn’t know about the School District having to comply with Key West’s comprehensive plan, they knew building height limits are a hot issue throughout the Keys; they read about that frequently in the local newspapers. They knew before the gymnasium walls at Horace O’Bryant went up that a firestorm would erupt in Key West when the citizens saw it. They knew, and they didn’t give a shit, to put it in the plainest of English. They lived in their own little isolated world and now they are being compared in Key West to the Acevedos. A comparison they earned and deserve.

What astounds me is City Hall did not red tag the monstrosity as soon as it became obvious what it was, and why Key West then didn’t use its police to enforce the red tag. When rape is in progress, you don’t fucking wring your hands and point fingers and try to make the rapist like you so he won’t do anything else you don’t like. You get out your Glock and put it to his head and, if he doesn’t stop the rape, you kill him. Every woman who has been raped wishes somebody had come along with a Glock to rescue her. I can’t imagine any rape victim not understanding the critical importance of Key West putting a Glock to the School Board’s head, and if the rape doesn’t stop, pull the trigger.

The people of Key West are like a child who is molested by a parent and the other parent knows what’s going on and does nothing to try to stop it. Later in life, the parent who did nothing is as resented by the child as the parent who did it. They were in it together. For Key West’s city officials to burn its karma over Horace O’Bryant, they must do a serious intervention with the School District, even as they face, accept and publicly acknowledge their own responsibility in allowing the group rape to occur. The very last thing Mayor Cates, Commissioner Johnston, the other five Commissioners, the City Manager, the City Attorney, etc. want is to let the gang rape continue. If stopping the gang rape means blowing up the new City Hall being at Glynn Archer, then that’s what needs to happen. Stopping the rape is so much more important that building a new City Hall anywhere is irrelevant by comparison.

See the entire mangling by clicking on this link: no prisoners – Key West

[Come together]  We will never come together as long as religion and war are marketing tools for the weirdos who want it all.

[Family Night] The First Baptist Church of Big Pine Key is having Family Night on April 17 from 4:00-7:00p.m. Everything is free. We're having a bounce house, hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones, with lots of fun. Ending the evening with a great movie which is sure to please all. Please come join us and bring your friends and family. for additional information call 305-872-2542, we're located at 300 Key Deer Blvd. Bulletin Board

[3X Less Fuel] New shock wave engine sends shock waves through auto industry. Watch this video. http://on.msnbc.com/eMIy7N

[Come together] That’s not going to happen as long as people look down their noses at those espousing peace. It was so bad in the 60’s that thugs would beat up and harass peace proponents. They don’t beat us up much anymore, but they still look down their noses at us.

[Cats] I do not hate cats. I do hate their piss on my stuff. I hate it when I forget to roll my car window up and they crawl inside at night and piss in there. God, that stinks! I hate their paw prints all over my car. I hate it when they screech outside my house at night and wake me up (being raised pre-AC I like my windows open). And don't tell me that somehow this is my fault and that there is something wrong with me. You think this is all funny. Keep your damn cat inside with you, you inconsiderate nut cases.

The power of words. Change your words. Change your world. http://bit.ly/bCVAAs

Venus-rise from planet Earth a few weeks ago, captured through Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Wildlife 'rescues' do more harm than good. That's why they call it wildlife. http://bit.ly/eXKT0g

Clever graphics

[Business] Here is a little nugget for you. The last thing a businessman loves to do is create a job and be forced to hire someone. The ideal business would be a highly profitable one that brings in large amounts of cash, had no troublesome staff, and the owner could keep all the profit for himself.

2011's Airline Quality Report came out this month, which means that it's time to distill out the industry leaders in a variety of categories, from on-time departures to lost bags to general happiness among passengers. Reporting on the best of the best is only half as fun as vilifying the worst though, so Yahoo and US News took the liberty of sorting out the worst performers in each category and hanging their decapitated bodies in the public square for everyone to shame. Among the losers this year:

Meanest major carrier: United Airlines
Meanest regional carrier: American Eagle
Most complained about airline: Delta Air Lines
Most likely to be unsafe: Jetblue
Most likely to overcharge for bags: Delta / US Airways / Continental
Most likely to bump you: American Eagle
Most likely to be late: Comair
Most likely to mishandle your bag: American Eagle

Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.

First date red flags. http://bit.ly/hiJIlT

[Cats and Nature] Thank you to the poster yesterday with the broader perspective about the various causes of bird deaths and the highly questionable (inaccurate) studies that exaggerate the role of cats in this. To the points already mentioned should be added deforestation, diminishing wetlands, air pollution, decimation of insect and fish populations, and the direct biological effects of pesticides on the delicate eggs, embryos, and development of young birds. Many more birds also die of natural, non-feline predators, diseases, and in their first and last attempts at flight than by cats.

I have known and cared for many cats throughout my life, and only one of them was a huntress. An outdoor cat when I was a child, she killed a multitude of mice, grasshoppers, lizards, and, sadly, a few birds on rare occasions. She had extraordinary hunting skills, far beyond the ordinary, pathetic, and virtually nonexistent ones evident in the multitude of other cats I’ve known. Some might say it’s instinctual, but some of my other cats never showed more than an occasional swat at a critter that they happened upon or that flew right by their whiskers. They particularly never showed the slightest interest in birds, much less the kind of skill, motivation, energy, and patience required to catch them. Even the cat I later rescued from the woods could not kill a bird to save her life. If you knew her, you would know how unrealistic and laughable it is to think that she could catch a bird or even try to. It’s not that she’s fat or lazy, just that it’s not in her nature. Like most of us, cats just want to be loved, fed, and have a comfortable place they can call home where they feel safe and secure. Once in a while, they want a little place to roam around, explore, and feel like king of the jungle, even though it’s all pretend.

You would think that someone who cares a lot about one kind of animal would also care about others. In most cases, they do. However, some bird people seem to be odd ducks and only care about birds or their devotion to them is so great that they abhor any critter that can possibly be a threat to birds. Others hate cats for the kinds of inner psychological reasons mentioned by the other poster, such as being symbols of independence, femininity, or lack of control, or having learned such negative attitudes from their parents and other significant others. I have to admit that even I’m sometimes jealous that my cat can do whatever she wants all day, which pretty much means napping all day and night.

Cats are also the perfect scapegoat in this modern world of human perils that threaten not only birds but all wild species of animals that have not yet been completely wiped out yet by the human species. The so-called studies that demonize cats gives these people the perfect excuse to flaunt their cat prejudice, hatred, and phobias instead of taking genuine steps to protect birds, such as working to control the proliferation of pesticides and other chemicals, habitat loss, population growth, and bb guns. More birds have died directly because of me by flying into the windows of my house and my car than by all my cats ever. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface (pun intended) of the ones lost indirectly because of my share of human destruction. Cats deserve to exist and live well as much as any other critter and any intervention with homeless cats should involve only spaying or neutering. Other means, such as killing and capturing/caging them, are mean, inhumane, and more the result of veiled hatred and irrational fears than protecting native species.

[IKC] All we can say is “We are flabbergasted!” The girls of SIN have been going chest-to-chest with the IKC in the Keys for two years. We thought we ran them off and they were gone, off on some other endeavor, to slay innocent creatures for fun and profit. And now they have reappeared to reign down terror, with extreme prejudice, on all the magnificent creatures of the Keys. Are we going to sit still while they attack the Iguanas with refurbished Sherman tanks and military assault rifles on Easter Sunday?

Hey, while they’re at it, why not go after the rabbits and baby chicks and eat them with a side of jelly-bellies and peeps. Well, we are not going to sit still for this! Our sister group, Women Enthusiasts Stopping Useless Creature Killing, WESUCK and SIN are launching a campaign to block any of this cretin behavior.

We know they get some kind of pleasure and gratification performing these actions and it is truly daffy. We will be posting a rally time and the meeting place on our website, so we all may unite before the Easter Sunday depravity.

[Five Deadly Sins] Five great enemies to peace inhabit within us. Avarice, ambition, envy, anger and pride. If those enemies we're to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.

Keep your cat inside!

[Cats] I am a cat person and you are a wildlife person. Why are you so convinced that your interpretations are any less biased than mine and that the "facts" upon which you base your opinion are any more valid than the "facts" on which I base mine?

[Parasailing Crashes] Fly like a eagle or idiot? What some people do for fun. Video

[AA Basher] 97 percent of the members of Alcoholics Anonymous do not succeed in the 12 step program because it is an ineffective program that does not address the true root of alcoholism, but AA does not consider that as a failure of the program. Instead they blame the alcoholic with statements like “they haven't hit their bottom yet,” “they're in denial,” or “they didn't work the program.” When in reality, that has nothing to do with it.

People leave or don’t succeed with AA and 12 step treatment programs for a variety of very valid and healthy reasons such as they are uncomfortable with: the powerlessness concept; the “group think” mentality; the religious aspect; the abusive aspect; the rigid, dogmatic structure; the shaming; the blaming; the sexist aspect; the patriarchal aspect; the archaic aspect; the demeaning aspect; the abusive criticizing on the hot seat; and the cult-like brainwashing methods to name a few. Since there were few other treatment options available to them, some of them return to excessive drinking. That trend has started to change as alternate methods of recovery programs become available. AA membership has dropped from 2 million 1½ million members in the last few years.

PICTURE OF THE DAY
Send us your picture. Please include a brief explanation,
where and when it was taken and your name if you want. Picture From the Keys

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago on the north side of Looe Key where it's shallow, looking south, as the waves broke over the reef.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Put up with Muslims misbehaving for the next several centuries] No, as with any other disease, you confine the contagion until it becomes non-lethal or you find a cure.

[Tax Breaks] I think that the US only has so much money. If we are giving this money to the rich guys via the George Bush tax breaks, then we don't have that money for us regular folks. Ergo, that's why we are in a recession.

The From the Right guy in a nut shell: Republicans are good! Democrats are bad!

[Compromise] It’s amazing what you can get done when you get the far left Liberals and the far right Tea Party out of the way. Middle America realizes that if you ignore the extremes the middle is the best place to be and this deal on the budget is the middle. The Right wanted $100 billion cut originally and the Left wanted 30 billion cut. The middle wins again. President Barack Obama on Saturday lauded leaders of both parties for finally agreeing on a budget framework for the rest of the fiscal year, averting a government shutdown that threatened to leave about 800,000 federal employees temporarily out of work.

“This is good news for the American people,” Obama said in his weekly address to the nation. “It means that small businesses can get the loans they need, our families can get the mortgages they applied for, folks can visit our national parks and museums, and hundreds of thousands of Americans will get their paychecks on time — including our brave men and women in uniform. ”The president also praised lawmakers, who sealed the deal late Friday night, for keeping politics and social issues from overtaking the budget talks, referring to provisions concerning the Environmental Protection Agency and Planned Parenthood that had hindered lawmakers from arriving at a resolution in the final days of the debate.

The accord would cut $78.5 billion from Obama’s 2011 budget proposal and, according to a joint statement from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), included “an agreement on the policy riders.”

Despite the agreement, the president also had a sober message about the “painful” spending cuts to come, warning that many federal programs people depend on may be killed and that certain infrastructure projects will be delayed. “I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances,” he added.

Still, Obama stood firmly behind the difficult decisions that were made, emphasizing the importance of living within one’s means. “Reducing spending while still investing in the future is just common sense,” he said. “That’s what families do in tough times. They sacrifice where they can, even if it’s hard, to afford what’s really important.”

Finally, the president recalled how a few months ago, he had been able to sign a tax cut for American families because of the bipartisan efforts of lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle. This same cooperation, Obama said, was what had enabled Republicans and Democrats to make another milestone economic decision for the country. It was nice to see the adults not the extremists make a decision.

[Gas Price] President Obama, A change you can believe in. Can you feel it? I sure can. Everything you eat or use comes to you by truck. The cost of just getting by is going thru the roof. Maybe gas at 5 bucks a gallon will help you feel it. President Obama is responsible. Have you had enough? I have. My fellow Americans our President needs to go. Stay mad, 2012 is just around the corner.

[Gas] Hi Lord, it’s me. Things are getting bad here, gas prices are too high, no jobs, food and heating cost too high. I know some have taken you out of our schools, government & even Christmas. But Lord I'm asking you to come back and re-bless America, we really need you. Thanks Lord, I love you!

[Jehovah's Witness] There was a knock on the door this morning, I opened it and there was a young man standing there who said: "I'm a Jehovah's Witness". I said," Come in and sit down". When he sat down I asked, "What do you want to talk about"? He said, " Damned if I know, I've never got this far before"

I am seeing strong parallels between the Khmer Rouge and our GOP.  Anti-intellectual, controlling, paranoid, a faux Utopia on old values.

[Defense Spending] You never hear the whole story on defense spending. It would seem that this money is just wasted, but most of it comes right back to American companies. In other words, war is really good for certain politically-connected companies. And you can be sure that these companies have dozens of lobbyists who influence (bribe) our honorable men and women in congress. This will be a difficult cycle to break.

I am afraid that O will get re-elected. I never underestimate the stupidity of the American people. To quote a line from Blazing Saddles which seems somehow appropriate, "You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land, the common clay of the new West. You know... morons."

[From the Right]  Congressman Ryan is now taking full broadsides from the Democrat battle wagons. They are doing all that they can to smear and discredit him. Just for a few moments let’s examine reality and actually think about what Congressman Ryan is trying to accomplish and how he proposes to do it. His proposal that has drawn the most fire is his health care reform plan. There are parts of it that I think are excellent and parts that are troublesome. There are no parts that are horrible or detrimental to our nation or to any American. The CBO which knows a hell of a lot more about the plan than any CT poster says: (quote from the report, speaking about the Ryan proposal) “GDP and national income would probably be higher in the long term under the proposal than under the extended-baseline scenario. Compared with the alternative fiscal scenario, the proposal would put total revenues at roughly the same share of GDP, but it would lower federal debt by a huge amount. Therefore, in the long term, GDP and national income would be higher under the proposal than under the alternative fiscal scenario.” That’s pretty damned easy to understand. The purpose of the proposal is to help mend our economy, not to “honor” us old farts. Cong Ryan’s plan would hugely cut our debt and greatly improve our economy. Implementation of the proposal would be a huge step on the road to a balanced budget. Deer Friends, there is nothing bad in that all, it is all good. The proposal would scrap the existing Medicare model. Instead our elder health care would be modeled after the existing federal employee health care plan. That sounds damn good to this Medicare recipient. The proposal would have private industry health care insurance companies rewrite their policies under new regulations. Pre exiting conditions would not be reason for denial of service. The insurance would be sold through a series of “pools” wherein different levels of coverage and price would be sold competitively. Given that competition drives down costs,  that is a good thing. Plus if it’s good enough for the Federal employees, it damn sure is good enough for me. These pools would also take local conditions into consideration when pricing the insurance. That too is good. Each individual would choose the coverage that best suited his/her personal circumstances. It’s called freedom of choice. One size fits all is not good for quality health care. The costs of the insurance would be shared by both the citizen and by the government. The detractors derisively call that sharing “vouchers”, the naysayers are committed to name calling in the hopes that it will demonize their opposition. The fact is that the government share would go directly from the government to the insurance vendor. The money would never reach the consumers hands. That’s a good thing. The consumers share would be determined by means testing, the more you make, the more you pay. Those will small incomes will pay nothing. Those with huge incomes will pay more, a lot more. I personally am only luke warm to that proposal only because I don’t think that anyone should get a free ride on anything. But, on the whole we all have to realize that we absolutely have to cut our national debt, unless we do, that debt literally will be the ruination of our society. It is absolutely true that Ryan’s proposal will cost me and nearly all of my friends more than we pay now. I don’t like the idea of having to pay more. My increase will not be a huge increase because I am not a wealthy person. It damned sure won’t be a 67% increase. That’s utter nonsense. Reasonable increase in the cost of my personal health care is the right thing to do. The wrong thing to do is to keep bleeding the treasury. The current system is full of waste. The Ryan proposal will discourage routine Doc visits for very trivial purposes. Like toenail clipping. Far too often amongst us old farts the Doc visit has become a mechanism to pass the time. The Ryan proposal is a rational and effective component of a way out of our debt mess. It has been clearly shown that Obamacare will actually add to our debt and will do nothing to encourage thrift in healthcare. Obama care is a horrible idea that should be repealed. The Ryan proposal is a serious idea that has real merit. It is worth rational debate devoid of invective.

(Part 2) By golly it sure is a privilege to be able to share CT space with some of our CT contributors. Just yesterday we had the pleasure of reading a posting that reminded us that in 2007 and 2008 “this country hit hard times.” That comment was downright professorial. We did indeed hit hard times in 2007. I trust that every single one of us will remember that we had a prospering economy for several years until the elections of 2006. Then, the middle class ruled. For the prosperous years we had a Republican House, Senate, and White House. With the elections of 2006 the prosperity hit the toilet when the Democrats took control of the House and Senate. The elites and the effeetes took control. The Democrats brought with them massive debt caused they their profligate spending. It is that Democrat spending which has put where we are today. I fully agree with our professorial poster that a look at history is in order. During the Clinton Presidency, we had a Republican controlled House and Senate. We prospered. During the FDR admin we had a Democrat controlled Congress, we went into the Great Depression. We suffered through one of our longest recessions from 11/73-3/75. The Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. So there you have a quick look at history, and a glimpse of the IQ of some of our Democrat CT posters.

Tuesday April 12, 2011
 

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published before noon daily

Monday April 11, 2011
 

FWS closed the Big Pine swimming hole. If you look at the Monroe county property appraisers website you will see that the Stat owns the property not the County. FWS works for the state and that's why it has a FWS sign on the pole.

[Greed] I laugh when I hear people using the word greedy.  I think their definition of a greedy person is one who has more money than they do.

[Sewers] They are looking at extending the one cent sales tax to pay for our sewers. They are also looking at having someone else design, build  and operate the sewer system for Big Pine, Cudjoe, Summerland  and the Lower Keys instead of having the water company do it all and probably saving taxpayers millions -- or a lot, anyway.

[Empty shit mitt dispenser] Here’s a thought, take your used plastic grocery bags and stuff them in the dispenser. Dispenser full, bags recycled, less dog poop on the streets (hopefully). Problem solved. Be a part of the solution.

[Sloan] Bless my remaining marbles, Mayor Cates still is determined to wed Key West and the gang rapist at Glynn Archer.
Bless my remaining marbles, Commissioner Lopez, seems to have forgotten Key West is bigger than Old Town and most Key West residents felt they had to travel a darn long way to get to City Hall when it was on the corner of Angela and Simonton Streets.
Bless my remaining marbles, Mayor Cates says an asphalt parking lot can be green. Was there any mention of the new fire station and the new public park, er, parking lot, being solar powered? Or is solar power just being reserved for for Glynn Archer?
Bless my remaining marbles, looks as if City Manager Jim Scholl has determined two wrongs make a right, or he has been told by someone to say two wrongs make a right.
Bless my remaining marbles, If two wrongs make a right, that makes it okay for Key West to marry the gang rapist at Glynn Archer!Bless my remaining marbles, if two wrongs make a right, I can go out and rob a bank and on my way home with the loot I can mug and rob a pizza delivery person and when I get caught by the police in my driveway I can say I didn’t know it was illegal to rob a bank or mug and rob a pizza delivery person and, besides, I was going to donate the money and the pizzas to tomorrow night’s public workshop in Old City Hall on ethics, er, mental health for city officials.
Bless my remaining marbles, The Citizen has written gobs words on this cluster fuck and not once has The Citizen questioned the sanity of Key West marrying the gang rapist at Glynn Archer. I wonder if The Citizen was molested in its youth and now suffers from a Key Weird strain of the Stockholm Syndrome.
 
Mark Twain Quotes, compliments State Attorney Dennis Ward yesterday:
 Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.
 Prosperity is the best protector of principle.
 Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
 There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.
 It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
 I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
 
Bless my remaining marbles, Mark Twain, why come you didn’t spell principle, principal, then? It’s really all about money, isn’t it?
Bless my remaining marbles, I found myself wondering yesterday if City Planner Amy Kimball-Murley asked to see the plans for the Horace O’Bryant metropolis and she was told by somebody to back off and she didn’t like what she was told so she quit. Amy was a city/county planner somewhere else before she was hired by Key West. Since she was not from around these backwoods ignorant inbred parts, I rather imagine she knew schools have to comply with local comprehensive plans.
 
See the whole production today by clicking on this link: tragic comedy – new City Hall

Video of naked man with AK-47 shooting police robot. Only In Florida! http://bit.ly/gjUOZb

[Cats] To put a comprehensive spin on the New York Times article regarding cats killing birds, the article  stated that 80% of birds are killed by predators and cats were responsible for 47% of those deaths.  The American Bird Conservancy estimated that up to 500 million birds are killed each year by cats.  Sounds like a guess.  A little later in the same article, another scientist, Dr. Marra, stated that the leading cause of bird deaths over all remained collisions with windows and towers, followed by predators. This same article reported a statement from the USFWS that 440,000 birds are killed by wind turbines each year, and that number is expected to exceed one million by 2030.

Break this down a little, and the 47% of bird deaths, estimates I might add, come to 2,350,000 deaths while other predators (I assume little boys with Red Rider BB guns) account for 2,650,000 bird deaths.

It's always helpful to get the full story, especially when supposed "facts" are built on estimates made by other highly biased groups.  The poster who is so adamant about killing cats might want to consider a psychological issue of their own.  Fear of cats is called allurophobia, while fear and hatred of cats is called felinophobia.  These phobias are usually caused by fear of physical harm from cats or fear that the cat may be intrinsically evil.  The latter cause, fear of evil cats, has been attributed primarily to pop culture ranging from myth to long-held family beliefs, movies depicting cats as evil, etc. 

Signs of these disorders may include rapid heart rate, profuse sweating, acute anxiety, dry mouth, queasiness, stiff extremities and a tightness of the chest, a refusal to look at a cat, and potentially even feelings of severe anger at the cat.  Some medications can be helpful in reducing the above-named symptoms.  The other possibility, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, is paranoia of cats. 

Last but not least is perceived hatred of cats by men who are culturally driven to control all elements in their environment.  Cats are often seen as uncontrollable as they may not come when called, may not fetch, may not show constant, open adoration of their master, etc.  In this case, the cat is often simply one of the symptoms of a far-reaching fear of loss of personal control, often resulting in abusive measures to take or regain control. This inbred set of beliefs can be difficult to dispel, often because of it's multigenerational nature and resultant entrenchment in the individual's psyche.

In this case, the solutions are clear.  Get those people who hate cats on the appropriate medications to help resolve those phobic symptoms.  Tear down all the buildings and towers that block birds' paths.  Confiscate all Red Rider BB guns.  Dismantle wind turbines. Through these simple acts, we've reduced the overall number of estimated bird deaths from 5,440,000 a year to 2,350,000 a year nationwide.  Then, trap the 2,350,000 cats and have them all neutered or spayed.  In 2-5 years, problem solved as far as feral cats are involved. 

At best, I could only estimate the number of bird deaths that result from starving cats trying to survive vs. domestic cats who are presumably fed regularly, but I would put my money on starving cats who have ended up feral because they were abandoned by some irresponsible, selfish, controlling human, maybe suffering allurophobia or felinophobia.  Eliminate this problem, and you've reduced the number of bird deaths by another 2,000,000 more or less.  Just an estimate.

[Driving while wearing the burqa is unsafe] It is like a horse wearing blinders; you lose all peripheral vision. They should be against the law because they are dangerous to wear while driving. Imagine riding a bicycle in Key West and a burqa-wearing driver makes a right turn or pulls over you to park.

After the dedication of the Peace Park in Key West, word has reached this intrepid reporter that a Tsunami wave of Peaceful thoughts has circumnavigated the globe.  Former tyrants, dictators, thugs and murderers are suddenly asking for forgiveness.  Iran has announced that it will immediately cease its attempts to obtain nuclear weapons.  The North Korean people have asked former dictator Kim Il Son to retire and he has said not only will he do that, but, "I will turn over all the money I have stolen that is in my Swiss bank Account".  Lady GaGa has even said that she will shun any further publicity.  This is only the beginning folks, as there will be a Peace Dance at a food festival.  Excuse me while I hum "Give Peace a Chance."

Well AA Basher, it sounds like you are on a roll telling us what communists think, or what terms they use to describe their enemies (to one suffering from the dreaded dry drunk syndrome, that would be anyone not thinking as you do).  I have never heard your explanation of the syndrome before, but must admit it was entertaining. I especially enjoyed your exclamation proclaiming that no one could enjoy sobriety unless he went to A.A. That was indeed hilarious. Not to make light of your opinion, I have been over the same battlefield I expect you are now experiencing. I hope you continue your research as so many of us "old timers" did before we found answers that we could apply to ourselves with favorable results. Take care.

[Scam] Heads up Veterans, someone’s trying to scam you. http://bit.ly/eY3otp

[More bleach in the gene pool] A Georgia redneck has been sentenced to one-year probation and ordered to pay a 300-dollar fine after he tattooed the letters 'DB', which are short for "Daddy's Boy", on his 3-year-old son's shoulder. Eugene 'Stonner' Ashley, 26, has been banned from having contact with his son Matthew after he pleaded guilty to giving the tattoo. He had told police, who arrested and charged him for tattooing someone under the age of 18, that he was drunk and did not remember tattooing the letters on the toddler's body.

Officers from the Department of Family and Children Services noticed the tattoo when they visited the house in May 2009 where Ashley lived with his wife Amy and their four children. According to court documents the boy received the tattoo some time between January and May 2009. Amy Ashley told how she discovered that her son had been given a tattoo. "My son runs up to me and says 'Mummy, I've got a tattoo', and I said 'You do', and I said 'Does it wash off?', and he said 'No it's real'," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying. "There's no excuse for what he did. I mean common sense, you just don't tattoo a three-year-old. I just wish he hadn't done it," she stated.

The child was taken into custody by the DFCS and is now cared for by the boy's uncle, George Hawkins. Hawins claims that Amy Ashley knew about the tattoo for months before her husband was arrested and tried to cover it up with fake tattoos, but she has denied the claims

Billiards great, Henry Lewis once sank 46 balls in a row.

[Community Peace Park] My Vietnam veteran husband has just brought to my attention that I have placed a Community Peace Park in a Civil War fort & National Historic Site. How wonderfully perfect in an un-perfect world. Key West garden Club - Home

[Vampire] One legend claims stealing someone's shadow by measuring it against a wall and driving a nail through its head can turn the victim into a vampire.

I just updated to Windows Internet Explorer 9 from Microsoft. It is much faster than 6 or 8. http://bit.ly/hChgng

[AA’s Twelve Steps] Here’s a test to see if you drink too much. If you cant take 12 steps, it's time to stop drinking!

[Cigar Thieves] So many visitors were taking his cigars, so Thomas Edison devised a plan to discourage the practice. He had several boxes of cigars custom-made with cabbage leaves. But when the offensive smelling stogies were delivered to his office, his secretary sent them on to his home where his wife went ahead and packed the items in his luggage, and the offensive items accompanied Mr. Edison on his business trip. This just goes to show you that even a genius can't outsmart his wife.

[Animation] There is a low paid sweat shop industry that is taking money away from our shores by the billions and it’s growing wildly. I’m talking about the onslaught of animated movies, aka long cartoons that are almost all made in Korea for pennies on the dollar compared to movies made in USA. The next time you take your kids to an animated movie for $10 think about all the money that would have been spent in America and Hollywood making movies that we all benefit from and enjoy. Cartoons are great, but should be short subjects that are shown before real movies or they should be 30 min TV shows made by American animators. dbe dbe dbe, that’s all folks!

[Cat Haters] I am amazed at all the people who hate cats out there; usually they are dog lovers. I find dogs to be emotionally shallow, much like their owners.

[Clean Up Big Pine] I have an idea for Big Pine Key. Because the people who live on Big Pine do not care how their town looks and don't even take care of their own property, lets ask the prison to help out. They could beautify the Overseas Highway by planting and trimming. This would allow the good folks of Big Pine to do even less to help their town. The State Road Prison would continue to work on our roads.

As the Moon waxes to full, it teams up with Saturn in the evening sky.

Bob Dylan to rock Vietnam. http://bit.ly/hOkNnc

PICTURE OF THE DAY
Send us your picture. Please include a brief explanation,
where and when it was taken and your name if you want. Picture From the Keys

This stainless steel cannon is titled Defender of the Keys and is at Fort Taylor Park as part of Art in the Park. There's all kinds of stuff welded to the body and a neat moray eel in the muzzle. I used to be a welder and I'll bet the artist spent over a thousand hours building this thing. In the background can be seen another piece that looks like a giant caterpillar that cast great shadows.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Global Warming] The naysayers are just trying to muddy the waters. Time will tell the truth. They are trying to turn a matter of science into a political debate.

[Stop the madness. Come together] Idealism is a great thought, but it is only a thought. We will never come together as long as there is Islam.

[Oil Subsidies] Republicans cut spending for cancer research, but refused to cut subsidies to the oil industry. Yeah, that’s Republicans for you. I got mine, how you doing?

“If Afghans burned a Christian Bible would we take to the streets burning and killing in protest?” Not now, but in the past we would have, and Christians did it all over the world. Speak against the Church and you die. Don’t ever forget the Inquisitions.

Muslims are where the Christians were in the Middle Ages. We have to put up with them misbehaving for the next several centuries.

[Republicans Ignore the Middle Class] I can't believe some of the people that send comments to the CT. Their IQs must total 2 at the most.  It’s dumb republicans that continue to mess up this country.  It is too bad they don't have the smarts to see that in 2007 and 2008 this country hit bad times and the Republicans continue and try to make the middle class pay for everything while the rich Republicans get richer. The Republican Party has never cared about middle class. Look at our history if you have the IQ to do so.

[Disarmament] We shall never be able to affect physical disarmament until we have succeeded in effecting moral disarmament.

[Screw the Veterans] My eyes always cringe at the sight of a homeless veteran. As I know the pains of war firsthand, it breaks my heart to see that people who have sacrificed so much for my freedom are suffering to such a degree. It's comforting to know that groups like the American Legion Homeless Veterans Housing Project in Jewett City, Conn. have been renovating old buildings and turning them into shelters for veterans for quite some time. They've raised millions of dollars from private businesses and caring citizens. The federal government has even said it would chip in the monthly rent of $875 for 15 veterans each year and provide additional funds for construction.

Unfortunately, in the recent round of intense budget cuts in Congress, this small funding for the homeless-shelter project was slashed, along with a total of $75 million in homeless-veteran benefits. As both a veteran and an American, I don't believe that veterans' programs should ever be isolated from budget cuts. After all, if the nation is hurting, it is we veterans who have sacrificed and will sacrifice first to protect her. When I turn the pages of the budget to find a $7.4 million guaranteed commitment to fund a U.S. Army NASCAR sponsorship and $20 million more from the National Guard to do the same my blood begins to boil. NASCAR over veterans?  Be proud Tea Party Congress.

As time goes on I’m starting to think this may be the worst Congress in American history. It’s no wonder their poll numbers are going down to "Bush" type numbers in the low 20s

[Global Warming] It wasn't to many years ago when all the grant driven professors were touting global cooling and their gullible disciples were aghast at their impending doom from global cool down.

I often wonder what melted the mile thick glaciers before the north American continent had less that 1% of the population it now has and man-made CO2 was nonexistent.

[Ryancare] When FTR said "sign me up" for Mr. Ryan's proposed medicare program, I hope he knows that if passed, folks over 55 could volunteer to be part of the program early.  It would be great to see FTR eagerly sign up for it.  Why not?  Everyone likes to pay 67% of healthcare costs with the proposed plan compared to 25% for the current Medicare plan.  Go for it FTR!  

Of course this is tongue and cheek.  The plan will never pass.  Our elderly people deserve our respect and Americans will never allow anyone to change Medicare.  Remember the old Tea Party person who shouted "keep your hands off my Medicare"?   Eighty year old seniors do not want a discount card to go and shop for insurance.  They deserve better.  They do not want the plug pulled out on them.  I believe that Tea Partiers have already stated that they don't want the plug pulled on Grandma.

Protect your manhood: End the War in Afghanistan. Life is choices. http://bit.ly/fzEMEM

Scientists link oil on dolphins to BP spill. http://bit.ly/e9zvYN

[Mixed up priorities] Trillions of dollars spent on useless wars and the Right never mentions it, but spend one dime on Planned Parenthood and they threaten to shut the government down! If we weren’t spending trillions on those wars we wouldn’t be in the shape we’re in. All the Americans that died in the Mideast have done nothing to protect our country. Their deaths have not saved one life in this counrty or made our country one bit safer. Useless wars and the useless Right will ruin us yet.

“Defense" spending is a misnomer. Until 1947-48, the Pentagon was officially and appropriately called the War Department as it should be now.

[Obama For President] The conservative Right best get focused and organized because we have a fight on our hands and it started yesterday and most of us did not even know it was coming.   We have to realize this man has the support of millions of federal works on his campaign staff and we are paying for them.  They have at their finger tips the addresses of most Americans one for or another guess how these email get sent.

Just get ready this is going to be the fight for America.  Not unlike the fight held in 1716 but fought in a much different manner.

He is also a conservative so wonder just how many of these went out and to whom on Monday.  We must wake up and now. The battle has begun. http://bit.ly/erBkt9

[From the Right] The little dust up that threatened to shut down the government was barely a tease for what is sure to come to pass when the DC bozos begin debating the real budget. The last little noise maker was only about keeping us afloat for the rest of the budget year. It was all about nothing more than a “continuing resolution”, a legal device permitted us to keep the government open until the end of the fiscal year. It had nothing to do with a real budget. The Democrats had refused to pass a budget last year because they didn’t want to face the reality of our debt. It was impolitic! So now the spanking new Republican House will hammer together a budget that will bring the Democrats to a rage because it will reduce their ability to spend. The Reps know that chaos is in store unless we cure our spending. The Reps will set about to cure the spending. The Dems will insist, they will scream, cry, name call, and feign outrage at the idea that we will have to rein in their spending. The tantrums will be magnificent.  The Dems will insist that funding NPR is vital to our national well being. They will do everything in their power to convince you that the Reps are cruel killers of women and children. It has already started. When you hear this crap please remember that the budget changes will apply to everyone equally, Reps and Dems alike. We will all have to sacrifice for the past sins Democrat gluttony. You have to remember that every single Rep has loved ones, Reps have older family members, and about half of all Reps are women who have to worry about women’s health issues.  The budget sacrifices will hurt us all. The Reps are not uncaring monsters setting out to cause you and your loved ones pain. The common theme in Demo propaganda is that Reps are evil and greedy. Yet studies have proven that Reps are far more generous to charity than Dems. The Dems demand that you believe that Republican initiatives are rapacious. The Democrats cannot pass their initiatives unless you buy into their character assassination. The core of most Democrat argument is emotion. The core of most Republican argument is reason. The Democrats take pride in scratching an itch. The Republicans take pride in curing the ill that causes the itch. 

Monday April 11, 2011
 

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published before noon daily

Sunday April 10, 2011
 

[Community Peace Park Dedication] Many thanks to all who helped make it happen including our very own Deer Ed. Thank you for your support from the Human Peace Sign event to the present dedication of the Peace Park. I am very happy to say that the Southernmost Community Peace Park is officially open at the Key West Garden Club located at the West Martello Tower grounds on Higgs Beach. If you ever thought that you knew the Peace Lady (the women with the signs at the light on BPK with the funny hat on)  I hope you will know who I am now.

I have connected the Key West Garden Club with Keys To Peace. The first Peace Bell is now in place, painted by local Artist, Jon McIntosh (he told me he painted a rainbow on it for me). There are now 7 Community Peace Parks in the Keys. Two are in Monroe County Parks. I love my community, and would like to ask anyone who reads this to visit my gift to us.

It is a serene spot, high overlooking the Atlantic. I once worked there for many hours, volunteering my time, as a Monroe County Master Gardener. The garden is open 7 days a week from hours 9:30 – 5 and the admission is free. Pleas come by and ring the bell for peace while you are strolling in one of the finest tropical gardens in America.

Dream bigger! Perhaps help create a new Community Peace Park in your area. Contact: Denise Downing at Keys To  Peace www.KeysToPeace.com .     

Sincerely with Love and Peace, Jeannie Riecker   

A Dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. ~John Lennon

[More School Board Trouble] The new Horace O’Bryant School is way over the legal height limit. It’s over twice as tall as legally allowed. The city will do what it always does—give the builders an after-the-fact variance. That’s what they always do. No one is ever held responsible other than a tongue lashing and a couple of dirty looks.

I don't understand why the economy is still in the dumps when there's thousands of Nigerian generals that want to give us money.

Bonnie Blacklock will be doing the Dance of Peace at the Good Food Conspiracy today, Sunday, at 1 p.m.  Thank you, Bonnie.  We are blessed. Come dance with us!

Big Pine Key teen critically injured in car wreck. http://bit.ly/hylB4X

[Sloan] Horace Bryant Middle School gymnasium – yet another tall story. $200,000 per plaintiff, I think. I bet a lot of property owners near Horace Bryant would love to get $200,000 from the School System for loss in value to their property.
 
I think you are generally correct on punitive damages against government entities. A case might be made for seeking punitive damages from government officials individually, if their behavior is egregious and totally beyond the scope of their authority. In which case, they might not be allowed to rely on the liability insurance and defense counsel normally provided by the government agency/department for which they work. Some of the early reported remarks from School Board members and Superintendent Burke struck me as arrogant and a mindset of being above the law. Jurors tend to get a bit peved over stuff like that. 
 
We are not dealing here with a government agency’s line employees. We are dealing with the Superintendent of Schools and the School Board - top management where the buck stops. They, and the School District, are in fiduciary positions. As such, they are held to a much higher standard of care. If Burke and the School Board members don’t like that level of responsibility, they should not have applied for their jobs. Yes, I’m talking about Burke’s and the School Board members’ personal liability to the School District and to the public, as well as the School District’s liability to the public.
 
Let’s take this a little farther. The School District’s contract with the architect shows the District, through its top management, contemplated getting necessary government approvals. Whether or not the architect followed through does not change the District knew what needed to be done. Nor does the architect not following through eliminate the District’s obligation to follow through and get the necessary government approvals, which obligation preceded and existed independently of the contract with the architect. Trying to hang this solely on the architect is a red herring that lets the School District, Burke and the School Board off Scot-free. Trying to hang this solely on the architect overlooks quite a few other options, some of which were covered in yesterday’s gang rape solution – Horace O’Bryant post.
 
I spoke with Ron Miller of Key Largo yesterday. He sent (last down below) Attorney General Crist’s opinion that a school has to comply with a local government’s comprehensive plan. Ron expressed serious concern about the message letting the Horace O’Bryant gymnasium remain standing will send. A precedent for other illegal buildings to be okay’d after the fact through political machination.
 
I spoke yesterday with Tom Milone from down your way. He said he’s not buying anything coming out of the School Board and City Hall is in a big dither trying to keep Horace O’Bryant separate from Glynn Archer. Tom said he told Teri Johnston the City should not give Horace O’Bryant’s gymnasium a variance or a certificate of occupancy. He was concerned about the message this mess is sending to the students. 
 
Todd German down your way said yesterday, I”m quoting from memory: “You can break the law, say you are sorry, and we will forgive you?” Todd said the School District “is supposed to focus on teaching our children, but it has put the focus on stuff having nothing to do with teaching our children. What does that teach our children?” I said my post today is a great example of the difference between Craig Cate’s style and my style.
 
As much as I like and respect Craig, I am convinced he is going to cause a very bad train wreck if he doesn’t wake up and chuck the School District as a tenant at Glynn Archer. The cost to the City in its unintentional dealings with the School District already is horrific. It will be madness for Key West to intentionally get into bed with the School District. If telling the School District it will not be a tenant at Glynn Archer kills Glynn Archer becoming the new City Hall, then it wasn’t meant to be.
 
One can only hope our children are looking at it that way. Otherwise, they are learning to ignore what they see with their own two eyes and hear with their own two ears and feel in their own guts. They are learning make friends with people they should keep at a distance. They are learning to marry people they clearly should not. Been there, done all of that.

(Part 2) Yesterday afternoon, I found myself thinking maybe something shady really happened over Horace O'Bryant, some sort of payola or deal. Then it occurred to me that it might have been someone at the city gate, who was supposed to catch it and alert the rest of the city staff, who was gotten to. Might just be my mind playing tricks on me or my innate distrust of anything politics. Hard to get a grip on it getting to where now is all due to human error, inattentiveness. I told the angels to let me know one way or another.

Then, I dreamt last night of getting real cozy with an old girlfriend in Birmingham, Alabama, who is active in historic preservation and sits on the Birmingham Planning Commission. Then, I dreamt of getting real cozy with our County Commissioner Kim Wigington, who is the lone voice of reason for bringing a strong ethics code into our county government. Peggy was the second person to ask me what had happened to Amy Kimball-Murley? Tim Curtis raised the same question a week ago. The gate keeper for stuff like this is the City Planner/Planning Department, which seems to have been bypassed altogether in the creation of The Thing. I don’t like it, but my dream maker has told me hanky-panky is in play. Somebody got something to look away. And if I had to put down a wager, I’d place it on the City Planning Department. Was it somehow related to Amy Kimball-Murley’s unexpected resignation as City Planner? My dreams also confirmed it will be a really big mistake for the City to get in bed with the School District in the restoration of historic Glynn Archer School. The way to go forward with putting the new City Hall there is for the School District to give Glynn Archer to Key West in exchange for Key West letting the School District off the hook at Horace O’Bryant.

On Horace O’Bryant is the front page of today’s Key West Citizen and today’s Editorial. What most jumps out at me is news there are other new buildings beside the gymnasium at Horace O'Bryant, which will rise over the city's building-height limit, while the Editorial says ignorance of the law is no excuse for not knowing what the law is. That admonition (shot across the bow) is aimed straight at the School District, the School Superintendent, the School Board, their lawyer, their architect, their contractor, etc. A great hullabaloo continues to be made by the School District over the bath the taxpayers will take if the construction at Horace O’Bryant is delayed and $22,000,000, I think is the amount, of Federal stimulus money is lost because the job was not completed on time. The hullabaloo is intended to make the City of Key West the bad guy if it requires the gymnasium at Horace O’Bryant to be brought into compliance with city code requirements. If I were City Hall, I’d tell the School District to look to its Superintendent, Board, lawyer, architect and contractor to help the School District reimburse the taxpayers for any loss of Federal Stimulus money, since they got the School District to break the law. I imagine the School District and its henchmen all are covered by insurance. Let the bad guys’ insurance companies reimburse the taxpayers.

See the whole thing by clicking on this link: The Thing – Horace O’Bryant gymnasium

[Shill on a Shingle] Billboards finally hit houses in residential neighborhoods. Love your neighbor?

I need help on increasing the size of my hard drive. Ever since I put iTunes on my computer I have noticed that I am running out of space. Any suggestions other than removing iTunes? I increased my RAM and it was not too hard, but increasing the hard drive has me intimidated, plus I don't even know where to start. (Lousy Tech Support: The easiest thing to do is to buy a USB external hard drive and save your music files to that. The other thing you can do is bring your computer to the computer club and let one of the volunteers install a new hard drive for you. Buy the biggest hard drive you can afford either external or internal.)

It bothers me that over the years my imaginary friends have matured so much more than I have.

[Empty Dispensers] Why is it that when ever they put up dispensers for brochures, or in this case shit mitts, in public places they are never filled? Why don’t they just take them down because all they demonstrate is neglect? This empty one is at white St pier.

[Checked Baggage] If you book a flight using your American Express card your first checked bag is free. That’s the best offer I’ve seen since airlines stopped competing with one another.

[Park Spark] Public park converts dog poop into energy. http://bit.ly/eTjByj

I don’t believe FWS closed the Big Pine swimming hole. I seem to remember there was an insurance problem the County couldn’t deal with, or something along those lines.

[Truth] I think the biggest thing that allowed the Nazis to reach hights was that the truth didn’t matter to them as long as they achieved their goals. 

[Don't text while taxiing]  B737 vs A330. How does one tell the boss I couldn't see a 737 in front of me?

I haven’t seen actress Catherine Zeta Jones in a movie since she married Michael Douglas. Did she retire or get fat? She has one of the most beautiful faces I’ve ever seen on a woman.

[Public Money and Privelage] Today I was sitting out at Little Palm Island when I was surprised to see three blonde headed girls on a Monroe County Sherriff boat riding on the bow of the boat towards the reef. I thought bow riding was illegal. I was pulled over by a Wildlife officer and was told I could not ride like that. I also wonder if taxpayer’s money was used for the gas and the wear and tear on the boat for off duty fun in the sun. Wow, if only I had the badge and the power to do that too.

If your belly button is an integral component of a tattoo you might be a redneck.

Your thumb is the same length as your nose.

 [Florida man builds set of 'M*A*S*H' in backyard] Most people looking to gussy up their property would just stick a tacky lawn ornament in the dirt and call it a day. David Dilday, however, decorated his lawn with a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Suck on that, garden gnomes.

Combining a childhood dream with impressive handyman skills, Dilday built a replica of the set from M*A*S*H in his Orlando, Fla., backyard. "I wanted people to feel they were in another time and place the moment they stepped in the yard," Dilday tells Asylum.

On just 1,000 square feet of suburban lawn, visitors are transported back to the Korean War -- or, at least, the sitcom version of it. The compound is a near-perfect re-creation of the M*A*S*H set, including the iconic signpost, mess tent, latrine, Colonel Potter's tent, an ambulance, Jeep, as well as Hawkeye's digs, better known as the "Swamp." A working P.A. system even plays announcements from the show.

[Tsunami Redux] Early coverage, great video, includes Sendai Airport. http://bit.ly/gLYBgU

[Cats] “No bigger group of irrational cat haters than bird people” Irrational? If pro wildlife people do hate cats, it is with good reason. Look at the facts not your opinion.

Mr. AA Basher, I know exactly the frame of mind you are in because a lot of us old timers have been there and done that. Do not despair, it is just a phase and after a while you will begin to grow out of it, (providing of course that you haven't burned to many circuits up along the way). You will slowly begin to assimilate the lessons millions before you have assimilated in this most successful of organizations. Do not fear the truth, indeed seek it out, it will remove the bonds of hate that at present control your reasoning power. Soon you to will be able to walk with your fellow man and become a reasonably well adjusted and productive citizen. The dry drunk syndrome can be a terrible thing, to have day in and day out, but to continually give way to it's siren call is only making your life more bitter and vacant. At present you are like the lady that went to the parade to see her Johnny march and was so astounded when everyone was out of step except her Johnny.

[Defiant Japanese boat captain rode out tsunami] Susumu Sugawara looks bemused and a little embarrassed at all the attention he's getting. The 64 year old has become a local hero on the Japanese island of Oshima. Smashed boats adorn the coastline of this once-idyllic tourist spot, but Sugawara's pride and joy, "Sunflower" is intact and working overtime transporting people and aid to and from the island. It can hold around 20 people at a time. When the tsunami came, everyone ran to the hills. But Sugawara ran to his boat and steered it into deeper waters. "I knew if I didn't save my boat, my island would be isolated and in trouble," he tells CNN. As he passed his other boats, used for fishing abalone, he said goodbye to them, apologizing that he could not save them all.       

Then the first wave came. Sugawara says he is used to seeing waves up to 5 meters high but this was four-times that size. "My feeling at this moment is indescribable," he says with glistening eyes. "I talked to my boat and said you've been with me 42 years. If we live or die, then we'll be together, then I pushed on full throttle." "Here was my boat and here was the wave," he says, holding one hand low and the other stretched high above his head. "I climbed the wave like a mountain. When I thought I had got to the top, the wave got even bigger." Sugawara's arms flail wildly as he describes the top of the wave crashing down repeatedly onto his boat. "I closed my eyes and felt dizzy. When I opened them, I could see the horizon again, so I knew I'd made it." Then the next wave came. Sugawara can't remember if there were four or five waves, but he says he did not feel afraid, he was just focused on steering his boat. Suddenly the sea was completely calm and he knew he had beaten the tsunami.

Sugawara stayed at sea until dark, pumping water from the boat's engine room. He believed his island had been destroyed by the wave. He says he didn't cry but felt angry and utterly helpless. He didn't know if his family had survived. Trying to get back to Oshima, he had to navigate carefully past wrecked houses, boats and other debris that floated past him. The island of Oshima was in complete darkness; the only way he could find his way was with the guide of raging fires at Kesunnuma -- 5 kilometers (3 miles) away. For twenty days, he has been making hourly trips to the mainland. For the first two weeks at least he provided almost the only connection with it. Without Sugawara and the Sunflower, the island would have been completely cut off. He doesn't ask passengers for money if they have none. Those that can, pay just 300 yen (US$3.5) towards fuel. Oshima is an island of just 3,500 people.

Locals say 35 of them are confirmed dead and some are still missing, though they don't know how many. Others are believed to have taken their boats out to sea and tried to ride the tsunami like Sugawara but didn't make it. The supermarket owner, Tadaomi Sasahara, tells me he gave all of his food away for free after the disaster. Many islanders then brought their food from their homes and shared it out. He adds, "Everyone used to look out for themselves on this island, but after this, the whole community is now helping each other." With his supermarket shelves empty, he now helps Sugawara with his hourly trips to the mainland. Sugawara risked his life for his boat and his island -- one of the very few to ride a tsunami and to live to tell the tale.

The State says our short term rental ban will remain in place. That’s great news.

Someone has a sense of humor, or they're totally clueless.

Survival of the fittest works great until Grandma's money runs out.

...the part about pierced testicles. How did I miss that?

PICTURE OF THE DAY
Send us your picture. Please include a brief explanation,
where and when it was taken and your name if you want. Picture From the Keys

Fort Taylor in Key West has a moat around it, but originally it was right on the harbor with it's Rodman guns protecting the island. There were three Martello towers built during the Civil war around the island protecting all avenues of approach.

[AA Basher] Alcoholic Anonymous true believers will say that any abstainer is a dry drunk. Dry drunk is yet another imaginary disease invented by Alcoholics Anonymous. This derogatory term originally referred to a rather rare condition that some people have during the first months of recovery from alcohol abuse — they stumble around in an uncoordinated manner as if they are drunk, even though they are 100% sober. But A.A. has turned it into a demeaning slur, which is supposed to mean that someone is thinking and acting like a drunken man, displaying all of the objectionable characteristics of an obnoxious drunk, even though he is sober. And supposedly, all sober men who won't do the Twelve Steps will suffer from that condition, and will also become bitterly unhappy as well...

If an alcoholic drops out of the Twelve Step system but remains totally abstinent from alcohol, he is said to be a "dry drunk." He is not sober because sobriety requires the ongoing practice of Twelve Stepping. Some also refer to the state of being a dry drunk as "white knuckle sobriety" and believe that such a person is a veritable walking time bomb, ready to descend with no warning into orgies of drunken oblivion unless he returns to practicing the cults religious Twelve Steps.

AA members reject and label as untouchables any who do not embrace their particular version of "Truth." To dyed-in-the-wool communists, non-believers are "bootlickers of the capitalists," or "counter-revolutionary hooligans." To the born again fundamentalist Christian, non-believers are "agents of Satan." To Moslems, Christians are "devils," and to Nazis, Jews are "swine." To the Alcoholics Anonymous membership, anyone who stops drinking without chanting the mantras of cult founder Bill W. are "dry drunks," pure and simple. You don't even need to know anything more about the self-quitters — the fact that they quit drinking without A.A. makes them dry drunks.

When people do quit without the Twelve Steps, and without even attending A.A. meetings, the A.A. true believers will say that those people are not really "in recovery"; they are only "abstaining." What's the difference? But the A.A. true believers don't even ask about such differences, they just automatically proclaim that anyone who doesn't drink, and who also doesn't attend A.A. meetings, is "only abstaining", while someone who is attending A.A. meetings and "doing the Steps" is of course "in recovery," whether they are actually working on any other issues or not. They are only around AA, they are not in AA.

And, unfortunately, 12-Step true believers seem very reluctant to do a reality check there, and compare their theories to actual results: If the A.A. member relapses, while the so-called "abstainer" or "dry drunk" doesn't, the A.A. fanatics will just blame their fellow A.A. member for "defects of character", and "constitutional incapability to be honest with himself", and for not practicing the Twelve Steps properly — for not "working a strong program", and perhaps for "holding something back in the Fifth Step" — while they simply ignore the nonmember abstainer, or proclaim that "he'll still relapse, it's just a matter of time." Under no conditions will the A.A. fanatics question the effectiveness of the A.A. Twelve Step program for actually quitting drinking and staying quit.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Global Warming] I cannot believe the posters who knock the posts that are trying to save our planet from pollution, greed and war. The one yesterday about "China using Coal" and the "Global Warming Scam" is typical of the money huggers who could care less about breathing clean air on their way to their banks. What would they do if the NWO said, enough of the pollutants, we must do away with all nukes, coal, oil and use water, solar and wind power only?

[Ryancare] Now that the smokes clearing from the celebratory far right parades and fireworks people are starting to read and actually see the new healthcare plan put out by the new Diva in town and they are having second thoughts. Hold the key to the city. The question for Republicans is, will they follow Ryan's plan? The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that under Ryan's plan, "most elderly people would pay more for their health care than they would under the current Medicare system."

A lot more. In fact, under Medicare, a 65-year-old would pay just 25% of the total cost of her or his health care coverage. Under the Ryan Republican plan, that jumps to 68%. (Individuals currently 55 or older would not be affected by the changes. If Republicans follow Ryan like lemmings, they should not be surprised when they find they've taken a firm step into thin air. Back in 1995, Newt Gingrich virtually assured President Bill Clinton's re-election by proposing $270 billion in cuts to Medicare. Clinton famously refused to go along, and the government was shut down twice in late 1995. Clinton's approval rating bounced around a bit during the shutdowns, but the resolve he showed -- and the popularity of the Medicare program he was defending -- placed his poll numbers on a steady upward rise.

Clinton's defense of Medicare was so central to his re-election that the word "Medicare" appears 49 times in his two debates with Sen. Bob Dole.

So Mr. Ryan's proposal is neither courageous nor new. In fact, then-Vice President Al Gore saw it coming. Fifteen years ago, he said of the Republicans: "They want to give health insurance rip-off artists a license to change Medicare, to let this program for our seniors wither on the vine."

Gore served under a president who was willing to stand strong to protect Medicare. I believe Barack Obama will stand just as strong against a GOP proposal that is even more harsh than Gingrich's.

And so we know where Paul Ryan stands: He wants to abolish Medicare. And we know where Obama stands: He wants to save Medicare. The question is, where do the congressional Republicans stand? Will they once again succumb to the sirens' song of pseudo-courage and run once more into the Medicare buzz saw?

Now lets wait and see what our tea party Governor does to our difference insurance rates.I have a feeling we are all going to bend over and take a teabag where the sun dont shine. Everyone knows seniors have so much money and can afford to pay almost 50% more for their health insurance right?

[Obamacare] The Republicans finally came out with an alternate plane to Obamacare. It's the Ryan Plan which basically gives old people a few bucks and then lets them die destitute.

Remember when Ronald Reagan was president? At that time, we also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now, we have Obama, no Hope and no Cash.

On this date in 1928, satiric songwriter Tom Lehrer was born. "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.I firmly believe all religion is bullshit, but I don't think I would have gone and written a song expressing that, unless I could figure out a way to make it funny, such as 'The Vatican Rag'." Marty Feldman's classic rendition: http://bit.ly/51rNb

First you get down on your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!
Do whatever steps you want, if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff.
Everybody say his own
Kyrie eleison,
Doin' the Vatican Rag.

Get in line in that processional,
Step into that small confessional,
There, the guy who's got religion'll
Tell you if your sin's original.
If it is, try playin' it safer,
Drink the wine and chew the wafer,
Two, four, six, eight,
Time to transubstantiate!

So get down upon your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Make a cross on your abdomen,
When in Rome do like a Roman,
Ave Maria,
Gee it's good to see ya,
Gettin' ecstatic an'
Sorta dramatic an'
Doin' the Vatican Rag!

Congressman Allen West of Florida is shaking up the left leaning Congressional Black Caucus. He stated "the CBC should be a bi-partisan body politic & not the place for empty emotional rhetoric, nor a platform for the Democrat party". He also brought up a point that many Democrats shy away from, "And let us not forget that 60 percent of combat fatalities in Afghanistan have come under the current Commander-in-Chief". Where are all the left wing angry war protests shouting, "the President is a war monger", now? Congressman West is a decorated war hero and, oh my God, he's black! Oops, I can't use the deadly race card' against him, bummer! 

"When the illusion of control disappears, we become men and women of prayer and other useless measures of reality for the inept to hide behind."
 
Say a hurricane is about to destroy the city you live in. Two questions:
What would you do?
What would you do if you were black?

Sadly, the two questions don't have the same answer.

To the first: Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.

For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina has told us the answer to the second question. If you're black and a hurricane is about to destroy your city, you'll probably wait for the government to save you.

This was not always the case. Prior to 40 years ago, such a pathetic performance by the black community in a time of crisis would have been inconceivable. The first response would have come from black men.
They would take care of their families, bring them to safety, and then help the rest of the community. Then local government would come in.

No longer. When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results.

[Global warming] We’re all doomed because Rush Limbaugh has a fleet of gas guzzling SUV’s. Well, maybe, just maybe it just isn’t so.  According to AccuWeather.com March 2011 ended up as the coolest March globally since March of 1994. The actual global temperature anomaly for the lower troposphere last month was negative 0.026 C.

[From the Right] This ancient, evil, olde fart, and a right wing extremist, actually waded through the inane jumble of numbers presented in attack against Congressman Senator Ryan’s health care proposal. I hope you did too. The piece was a real mind twister, nearly incomprehensible. It’s true that I’m not the sharpest tool in the drawer, and so I did have trouble sorting it all out. But, the author did make one claim that he seemed to think was the most important part of his whole posting.  I was able to understand that claim. He wrote: “The Ryan plan would be of benefit to people who have no employer plan at all, about 20% of us.”   Well, it looks like that statement is not truth.  That is not a surprise, his source was a blog entry from a  website called the Monday Morning Economist. In its banner it pounds its little pointy chest and proclaims that it is dedicated to “Busting Conservative Myths”. The title of the blog piece is “Paul Ryan’s Plan for a Dismal Future.” Does that sound like a reliable, unbiased, reference source to you? Shoot, the CT poster didn’t even bother to give you his own views, all he did was plagiarize a fiercely left wing blogger. You really should give the left wing tripe a read to form your own judgment.  The @20% claim is just not the truth. A very recent Gallup poll revealed that at least 44.6% of us have employer supported health care. So, it appears that if we believe the posters theory, at least 55.4% of us will benefit from Senator Ryan’s proposal. Yep, that’s right, if you believe the theory proposed by yesterdays poster, then well more than half of us are sure to benefit from Ryan’s plan. You also should consider the fact that the % of persons relying of government supplied health insurance is constantly growing; now it is about 26%. The Gallup poll is dated March 4^th 2011. The fact is that the cost of providing health care is growing across the spectrum. Our current system has proven itself to be horribly inefficient and expensive. Our current system guarantees that the cost of health care will continue to grow. It now has been proven that Obamacare will drive up the costs even higher. Even Team Obama has admitted that.  Instead of driving down the costs of health care, it will actually increase the costs and will seriously impact the deficit. According to the CBO, in a report dated 2/18/11: "...the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting H.R. 2 would cause a net increase in federal budget deficits of $210 billion over the 2012-2021 period. "   We know for sure that we have to change the way we do health care if only because it costs too damned much. We know that Obamacare will cost even more. Congressman Ryan’s plan is a reasonable way to turn the mess around. I gave you a quick look at it yesterday. If you’re interested, and you should be, I suggest that you check it out at http://econ.st/eevZyy. If you want to do even more research, please be advised that the original title of the bill was The Patients’ Choice Act, Its worth reading in its entirety.

Sunday April 10, 2011
 

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published before noon daily

(eD:  No edIT SatuRDAY!!!!!!......b-cuz u assd 4 iT!!!!!!!!!

[No-Edit Saturday] For those of you visiting for the first time, don’t judge the Coconut Telegraph by today’s un-edited episode. This is the Editor's almost day off. Tune in tomorrow for the edited version. You’ll find its format and graphics more pleasing. (Note to friends of the Editor: I can get out of here a lot sooner on Saturday if you don't send in any photos, attachments or Classified Ads for Saturday publication. That's because it takes a lot of time to resize and re-format them. Please email them to us by 6am on Sunday  for Sunday's publication. I'll appreciate it a lot.)

Saturday April 9, 2011

The State says our short term rental ban will remain in place protecting the quality of life in residential neighborhoods.

[Sloan] It's very early this No-Edit Saturday morning (like 12:30 a.m.). I'm still not sure what all today's post is going to include, although it will be more about Horace O'Bryant Middle School having a wee problem not fitting into Key West's building code. It sure looks to me like the higher ups in both the School District and at City Hall are having a fine time of it, while the natives are getting a bit beyond restless, based on what I'm hearing. Maybe the same suggestion I had for No Name Key should be considered. I suggested blowing up the bridge over Bogie Channel.  I should have the conglomeration up by mid-morning today and you will be able to see it by clicking on this link: Today's Cock-A-Doodle-Doo.

Solar panel installations may surge in the next two years as the cost of generating electricity from the sun rivals coal-fueled plants. Large photovoltaic projects will cost $1.45 a watt to build by 2020, half the current price. Solar is viable against fossil fuels on the electric grid in the most sunny regions and are very close to grid parity. In many markets, solar is already competitive with peak electricity prices, such as in California and Japan. Companies are making panels cheaper, fueled by better cell technology and more streamlined manufacturing processes. That’s making solar economical in more places and will put it in competition with coal in the coming years. In a decade the cost of solar projects is going to halve again. Installation of solar PV systems will almost double to 32.6 gigawatts by 2013 from 18.6 gigawatts last year. Manufacturing capacity worldwide has almost quadrupled since 2008 to 27.5 gigawatts, and 12 gigawatts of production will be added this year. Rooftop solar installations will become cheaper. Comparisons often overstate the costs of solar because they take into account the prices paid to install roof-top power systems, instead of the rates utilities charge each other. System costs have declined 5 percent to 8 percent (a year) and will continue to do so.
source:Bloomberg/ NewEnergy Finance

I wish this cop  would bust and fondle me!

It’s another great day in the Florida Keys with 83 degrees and sunny skies. Cyndy and I have been hanging on the boat way too much. We both love sleeping on the water and there is something about waking up to the water lapping at the hull. Ester our 14-year-old Portuguese water dog loves it as well. She has found new youth with the smells and meeting other dogs on the dock.  A big thank you to our daughter Amanda for staying at the house while we are out playing.

San Carlos Theater Tuesday April 12th   One Show Only 8:00 PM

San Carlos Theater ~ 516 Duval Street Key West, FL ~ There was some confusion about ticket sales and I wanted to make sure everyone knew there are still great seats available. I was asked in an interview recently to state my number one place to perform across the country. Hands down it was the San Carlos. Not only is it an historic beautiful theater but also the acoustics are amazing. Throw in the production value of teaming up with the Waterfront Playhouse and it adds up to my absolute favorite. With that said I am inviting everyone to join us. I am so excited about this show. The video production that moves along with the evening gives me goose bumps and I am sure it will do the same to you. If you are in the Keys please come out for this one night only show. Tickets are $25.00 and available at http://www.waterfrontplayhouse.org/html/howard.html

Also, as a reminder the deadline for signing up for Meet Me In The Keys 4th Annual Getaway  is April 15th. For details visit  http://www.keywesttime.com/meet-me-in-the-keys . If you have questions, please contact Tammy at tammyleih@gmail.com or  by phone at 305-619-4417. We hope you'll join us at our 4 day event May 12th-15th. Proceeds from this event will benefit Care Camp which sends kids with Cancer to Summer camp.  

 Well, Cynderella just brought me a cup of coffee and I am going to sign off. We hope to see you Tuesday at San Carlos.

Until our paths cross again, may the tide always pull you back.

 ~Howie

[AA Basher]

Going to different Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at different locations is like going to a different Burger King. The counter help is different but, they all serve up the same crap. The lunatics are running the asylum no matter what meeting you go to.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

A warning to America from the Middle East is 'here'! 

Paul Krassner, comedian, radical editor, and co-founder of Yippies, was born in Brooklyn on this date in 1932., When People magazine dubbed him the "father of the underground press," Krassner demanded a paternity test. After interviewing a doctor who was performing abortions before their legalization, he decided to run an underground abortion referral service.  Krassner has been inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame. He repeatedly identifies himself as an atheist in his interviews and writings. “I had become an atheist at the age of thirteen, when atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.” 

Saturday April 9, 2011
 

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published before noon daily

Friday April 8, 2011
 

[Perry Court is For Sale] All the protesters who were saying the housing was not necessary and for the Navy to just leave it as a park where right all along. The Navy should apologize to Harry Powell, the “Perry Court Bomber” and the girl who chained herself to a tree in December of 1990. The protesters were saying all along that it was Navy politics that placed the massive Navy housing project in the open area, not any housing needs the Navy had at the time or in the future.

[State to Remove All Rental Bans] Say goodbye to paradise. Pretty soon we are all going to have noisy neighbors.

[Cats Do Kill Critters] An excellent letter to the editor of the Key West Citizen the other day explains why the Refuge manager needs to ignore people who value cats' lives over the lives of native wildlife:  Cats do pose a threat to Florida Keys wildlife.
 

"I would like to thank Ann Morkill, manager of the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges, for sticking to her conviction that feral cats must be removed from wildlife refuges and sanctuaries. This, despite strong (sometimes verging on rude) objections from a misguided, vocal minority. Her critics want to believe that cats do not pose a threat to wildlife. Cat owners get defensive, acting just the same as parents might if their children were being accused of misbehavior. How many times has a cat owner been known to say, "My cat doesn't kill anything." This is called denial.

There was an article on this subject in the New York Times last week, and here's what Darin Schroeder, the American Bird Conservancy's vice president for conservation advocacy said: "The American Bird Conservancy estimates that up to 500 million birds are killed each year by cats -- about half by pets and half by feral felines. I hope we can now stop minimizing and trivializing the impacts that outdoor cats have on the environment and start addressing the serious problem of cat predation."

What's more, The Nature Conservancy has counseled members that one of the top 10 things they can do as individuals to help the environment is keep their cats indoors.

I had a friend who sincerely believed that if she put a bell on her cat's collar it would alert wildlife to the cat's presence and scare them away. The cat adapted by hiding, silently, in a hedge, snatching birds that flew near it. No one is blaming the cats. They love to hunt, and have few equals at it. Their owners have an obligation to keep their pets under control, and feral cats must be removed from the wild."  

Cat lovers, listen up; trained biologists know more about nature than the average Joe.

[Marathon marathons] "Marathon should promote itself as the 'Marathon Capitol of the World'"  I Love it. I will alert the Chamber of Commerce. You can still have all the same events, just change the name. Seafood Festival Marathon. You can have fishing marathons, a race that never ends in Marathon, Church Service Marathons, Pogo Stick Marathons, Dance-A-Marathon. The possibilities are endless. And all the tourists can come in and sign up for all these silly, but fun events. What a way to save a city. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile; in this case it's just a Marathon! 

Spring is here!  Click anywhere and everywhere on this black window. http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

[Expiration Date] Winn Dixie has always done a lousy job of monitoring expiration dates, so beware.  We have had to throw away a lot of stuff from them we bought the day before.  We also both got sick from a pizza we bought there that was only half frozen.  That was after I dug down to find one better frozen. 

We do our serious shopping at Publix and buy emergency things at Winn Dixie here in Key Largo.  They replaced the freezer section recently, but last week I went to get the 6-corns-for-2-bucks deal and they only had five, all inedible so I left them.  They are convenient for us being so close, but we don't trust their quality.  Always check the green grapes before you buy them.  Half the time they are sour.  We had to throw them away too.  Now I always test one first. 

Don't ever forget your credit card there, but that is another story.

[Sloan] Today's conflagration offers a reasonable solution to the gang rape going on in Key West via the Horace O'Bryant gymnasium high-rise, which I have no doubt many people will say is not a reasonable solution at all. Here's some of it:
 
Driving over Seven Mile Bridge yesterday afternoon, I heard US 1 Radio’s Ezra Marcus interview freshman School Board member Robin Smith-Martin, whom I got to know somewhat during last year’s county races. Robin wasn’t on the School Board when the gymnasium at Horace O’Bryant Middle School was approved and designed.
 
For the first time since this uproar began not all that long ago, I heard a school official say the School System had made a mistake at Horace O’Bryant. A big mistake. And now it has to be somehow worked out. Robin offered no solution for how it can be worked out.
 
Key West tells the School System a grave thing has happened, a gang rape actually, and there is no way it can be resolved without a great deal of pain.
 
Key West says, the School System’s liability-responsibility is now admitted by a School Board member on a public radio station.
 
Key  West says, there is a contract the School System entered into with an architect, wherein the architect was to see to it that the contractor got all the necessary government approvals needed to do the construction.
 
Key West says, the contract was as much for the protection of Key West, as for the protection of the School System, and Key West is what I learned to call in law school, a third-party beneficiary of the contract.
 
Key West says, the contract with the architect clearly shows the School System contemplated the work at Horace Bryant would meet necessary government approvals.
 
Key West says, the gymnasium is over twice as high as city building-height rules allow, and no attempt was made to get approval for that.
 
Key West says, federal stimulus money was used by the School System and it looks like the FBI is going to have to be called in to determine whether or not a federal crime has been committed.
 
Key West says, meanwhile, the Key West Police Department is authorized to go to Horace Bryant and tell construction workers and construction supervisory personnel to stop all work on the gymnasium, otherwise they will be arrested and jailed for constructing a building without a city building permit in violation of the city building code. If Key West police can arrest and jail homeless people simply for sleeping outside at night, they can arrest and jail people for building buildings without building permits, which violate the city building code.
 
Key West says, the exterior of the gymnasium already is built, so so it’s hard to imagine a court ordering the gymnasium to be torn down. So Key West is left with filing a civil lawsuit for damages amounting to what it cost the School System to build the gymnasium in violation of the City building-height rules and without a building permit apparently.
 
The School System can voire dire jurors to hell and back, but that will never erase the sour mood people throughout the Keys have toward the School System’s management. A jury might even be inclined to award punitive damages because it believes the School System intended ab initio to cut Key West out of Horace O’Bryant’s gymnasium altogether.
 
How can prior intent be proved? From the contract. It tells the architect what to do. The architect didn’t do it. The School Superintendent didn’t ride herd on the architect or the contractor. Nor did the School System’s lawyer, nor the School Board. Not a finger lifted. No finger ever was meant to be lifted.
 
Toss in early statements by the School Superintendent and School Board members that the School System did not have to answer to Key West, but could build anything it wanted to build. Toss in reported attempts by Key West and private citizens to acquire information and documents under freedom of information requests being stonewalled by the School System.
 
Jurors are permitted to draw inferences about intent from what employees of the School System said and did in the line and scope of their employment, and from what they did not say and do. Such inferences attach to the employer, that is, to the School System under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior – the master is responsible for the acts of the servant.
 
Jurors also are entitled to disregard all of a witness’ entire testimony, if they find a witness has testified falsely to a material fact. And Juror’s are supposed to construe a document against it’s maker – in this case, the contract between the School System and the architect.
 
See the whole firebombing, and the reasonable solution alternative to Plan B above, by clicking on this link: gang rape solution – Horace O’Bryant

[Fresh local seafood] I was shocked to find out that the shrimp from a local fishery is frozen in Tampa and brought here by truck, only to be defrosted and put in the fresh seafood showcases.

I was heading out of Key West to Miami at 6PM the other day and 4 Key West police cars passed me up at Big Coppit. What's up? I keep following them till Big Pine where they all turned off on different streets in Big Pine. Then I realize that they were going home. Off duty. Okay, I say to myself, pretty good job where you can take home city property. I hope that we are not paying for all that gas and wear and tear on the cars. 

Computer Club meets this Saturday, April 9 from 10am-noon All are welcome, beginners to advanced users. Volunteers are always needed. It’s very informal. Come for one get-together or be a regular. Bring us your problems.

We’re located in the Senior Center building behind the fire station on Key Deer Blvd. Bulletin Board

[Larry Schaffer’s  Baker Act] I went on a mad spree many years ago worthy of television news and I couldn't watch the tv show Cops for about a year. I even “saw” a bear in the air! I was paranoid because I was guilty.

One day you have a moment of clarity and tell the judge, police, family and friends, "Yup, that was me. I was that guy. I did it." Take your punishment like everyone else. The whole story about the gun and the rubbish about a “target pistol” and all of the other rubbish are simply the ravings of a lunatic. Everyone is out to get you Larry. Don't give any boogie-woogie to the king of rock and roll.

[AA] We state just our first names and the fact that we are alcoholics at all AA meetings. Do you just take up space at meetings? Think for a minute about why you're there. We state our first names and affirm what brought us to the meeting room because it puts us all on the same level. No one is better than another person; from Park Avenue to park bench, doctor to derelict, we are all just alcoholics looking for some solutions. It also helps some of us to say what we are out loud -- every single time, lest we forget. You have to name it to tame it. If you're not getting this kind of basic feedback or understanding from the meetings you're going to, try changing your meetings or sponsors. They aren't all created equal. The answers are out there, but they're not going to just fall into your lap.

[Swimming hole just before the North Pine Channel] It's owned by the state and was closed off by them, not the county. That's why Fish & Wildlife have their nifty little sign on the right hand pole as you face the gates.

Ryan Tomita, 18, was arrested for that string of recent burglaries. It turns out that he is the son of Kent Tomita, the Owner of Chico's Cantina on Stock Island.   I'm never eating there again.  ~bpkrep@yahoo.com

I'm going to enter the 7 Mile Bridge Run for the first time on Saturday. Here are a couple of methods I might employ to get me to the finish line. (by Dan Schwab)

A proposed bill would deregulate telemarketers, auto mechanics and movers. Why are we moving backwards at the speed of light?