Click here to send a comment!

 

Thursday December 15, 2011

Lower Keys Lighted Boat Parade. Dec. 17th, 7 p.m. Call 923-5370 to participate. Light 'em up Lower Keys! Merry Christmas.

[Public Works Bully] They are public servants in Monroe County. They are arrogant and wasting taxpayer money and time.  Early this afternoon I was enjoying a day at the Big Pine Dog Park when I witnessed first hand the way that public servants treat the public, especially on Big Pine Key.  We had just arrived and shortly thereafter a group of people wanting to use the public park for some kind of picture shoot came by. They were very nice and spoke to us a little about what they were doing and wanted to make sure that they were not interfering with our venture and we were fine with it. There was a published photographer with them and they were working on some project. Their images may have been graphic, but nothing obscene.  All of a sudden they started staying things like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that they are still following us.”

Then they made a general statement about this Public Works truck following them for quite some time that day.  Along comes a Public Works truck hauling a large trailer with a heavy duty mower or similar piece of equipment on it.  A man and woman got out of the truck. The man who claimed to be the head of Park Services treated them unbelievably rude and instead of offering assistance, just kept repeating that they had to leave and could not take pictures. They asked about the fact that this is a public park?  In no way was their comment made with an aggressive attitude in any sort of way and they believed that they had a right to be there. They asked if they could call, what I assume was, their specific contact and this “Head of Park Services” told them call whoever you want, but you can’t take pictures like this without a permit.  They inquired as to where to get this permit and he couldn’t even give an accurate answer. 

First he started with “why don’t you try the County for a permit”, but did nothing to get on a phone or anything to help the situation. He was extremely agitated and aggressive in his handling of the situation and just kept repeating that they had to leave and getting more escalated every time. 

I was so upset about the situation that I took my dog and left the park walking, over a half a mile with no water for myself or dog instead of waiting for my husband to pick me up on his way back from running errands.  The man claiming to be the Head of the Park Service did state his first and last name, but I will not mention it in this commentary.  I’m also appalled that this Public Works truck and trailer had been driving around for a good part of the morning and early afternoon basically chasing these people instead of doing what they get paid for. If it was a real issue then the sheriff should have been involved.

Public servants were bullying the public instead of helping them. It was the same thing that happened when we had the “controlled burn” go out of control.  When I wanted to go out and get some video after we were allowed to return to our homes, we were followed and I was even approached by one of the “supervisors” that actually stood right in front of my camera and every time I tried to move, he moved right along with me. When I tried to film from the truck, he pulled his truck right along side of us blocking our view.

First State Bank branch on Stock Island robbed. http://bit.ly/w4b2Vm

What scares me is not the mistakes Ed makes with the days of the week or other errors, it is the mistakes my doctor’s file clerk makes or the pill dispensing nurse at the ER makes by pressing the wrong freaking key on the keyboard. That is what scares me. Now about my bank records ...

[Monroe County School Board]  Audit critic ousted by Mathewson. http://bit.ly/tji5DU

[Biz Baz prank Call] I had to listen to the call several times before moving on to other things. Leah Fox has the worst, most annoying radio voice.  It is nice that someone took them to task. What accent is that? Dutch? She says nose “noash”.  ~greengo72@yahoo.com   http://bit.ly/ttqMJ1

Surprises await from organic gardens. http://bit.ly/u3vlUt

I want to bring to Sloan’s attention a disgusting waste of taxpayers’ money that occurred not too long ago.  

Whenever an individual is jailed for months under false pretenses and is then extradited to Monroe County stemming from a civil case is bad enough, but when the same individual is extradited on a falsified warrant that the state’s Attorney knew about and ignored is not only disgusting it is also a waste of taxpayers money

          Could it be that Sloan hasn’t written about it is because it involves his friend Dennis Ward with whom he appears to have become very close recently, and a certain Monroe County judge who announced his candidacy for re election?  Take a moment to tell the people how a man was extradited on a falsified warrant which read “fugitive from justice” and “fled jurisdiction” when that man did not live in the county to begin with! 

          I understand the governor’s office and other agencies are looking into this especially since the falsified warrant went through their office.  

          As a result, Monroe County extradited a man from a state over a thousand miles away, caused him to be held in custody for over four months, and paid all the medical bills stemming from a civil case and a falsified warrant.  Just how much did all this cost taxpayers and how is it supposed to serve the interest of the taxpayers?

          I've heard it said the state attorneys office refused to prosecute the case because they knew it was bogus, yet sat by when the falsified warrant was issued.  As a former attorney you should know that you cannot be a fugitive or flea from an area when you don’t live there.   ~thewhitedovespeaks@yahoo.com

A wandering baby fur-seal wriggled through the cat-door of a Bay of Plenty house and made himself at home on the couch. http://bit.ly/vVbtDB

I’d rather have a life of “Oh, wells” than a life of “What ifs”.

Wiskey vending machine

[Return of the Peacock Poet] Homage to the Peacock and All Wildlife on Big Pine Key

 A great beacon light shone down from the sky

And what did it leave the creatures of Big Pine?

Some brave souls to protect them from people that hate.

You live on a wildlife refuge for heaven’s sake.

The animals were here first but they let us stay.

Today in 1939, the film "Gone With the Wind" premiered in Atlanta.

[Sewers Fund Tolls on US1] Just like the annual migration of snowbirds and vultures, the County is again bringing up tolls on US1. They want someone else to pay for the study like the State or the Feds.

[Season] All those anticipatory visitors, contemplating the first piece of really fresh fish they’ve had since, well, since, last season.  And speaking of fish, just how many grouper and dolphin sandwiches are consumed each year?  And who can tell the difference?  Speaking of grouper and dolphin, how nice is it to see the charter captains grinning ear to ear knowing that their business is booming. It’s always a kick to visit the docks at the end of the day when the boats come in heavily laden with all sorts of species (that’s fish, folks, not the people).  And it’s always fun to watch as a newcomer marvels at the finesse and expertise of his guide as he fillets a mutton snapper or a yellowtail. Yes, and suddenly it’s Season!

[Toll Road] The County is seeking a quarter of a million dollar grant for a study to see if a toll road into the Keys will make money to pay for our sewers. Yes it will (this advice is free saving the county a quarter mil.).

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

School Tax: According to Sloan, these children are being murdered! Won’t somebody think of the (murdered) children?”

Perhaps that was meant as kudos, perhaps not. In either case, I never wrote, or said, school kids are being murdered. I said they will be murdered if the .5 mil referendum is defeated. Imagine these young children attending school with teenagers who smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco, drink high sugar caffeinated “power” drinks, drink booze and take other recreational drugs, cuss, tell dirty jokes, are promiscuous, don’t do well in school, and ride a long time on the same school bus with these young children whose schools were closed after the referendum was defeated and they were made to attend teenagers’ schools.

Thus begins today's liturgy of school district murders, including names of victims and murderers, a revelation that the unexpected charter school enrollees were not entirely unexpected, a commentary on announced candidates for the school board who are not involved in the no-prisoners-taken war waging in the school district, but who will ask for your votes next August, Audit & Finance Committee member Larry Murray's aloha remarks at the recent school board meeting in Tavernier, and his probably unrivaled education and teaching and work credentials, and why he might make a better school board member than the announced candidates and most other people.

You can read all about it by clicking on this link: murder, he wrote, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com.

(Part 2) I never wrote, or said, school kids are being murdered. I said they will be murdered (and their parents and teachers, too) if the .5 mil referendum is defeated. Imagine these young children in this photo attending school with teenagers who smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco, drink high sugar caffeinated "power" drinks, drink booze and take other recreational drugs, cuss, tell dirty jokes, are promiscuous, don't do well in school, and ride a long time on the same school bus with these young children whose schools were closed after the referendum was defeated and they were made to attend teenagers' schools. School closings and shifting young students to high schools has been mentioned by school officials as way to cuts costs if the referendum failing to pass.

[Demand for Fuel] In 2000 Americans bought 17 million new cars and China bought 2 million.

In 2010 Americans bought 11 million new cars and China bought 17 million.

I thought I'd seen all the craven depths of the human soul, and then my wife took me to an outlet mall during Christmas season.

Stupid Americans. Really stupid. http://bit.ly/toqhDA

[Marc the Funny] Researchers agree that the most terrifying question a woman can ask a man is, "Notice anything different?"

The second Peace Bell has been installed in the Upper Keys Garden Club. How wonderful. I just read about it here. The 1st Community Peace Park with a Peace Bell at the Key West Garden Club and Peace Bell, artist, Jon McIntosh are mentioned. I still remain grateful it happened. http://bit.ly/utqVSM

Thanks to the Christmas card poster. It was truly beautiful. Merry Christmas! http://bit.ly/uWLh4q

How to grow a salad in your window. http://yhoo.it/rEd6HB

[Tis the Season] Great comment; and to all those who hate it, you will be the first to leave the Keys in the summer and invade all the northern cities and towns to get a reprieve from the heat and enjoy other areas of our great country.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Iran Drone] What happened to the “will self-destruct in 10 seconds” thing?

[Tax Cut] We now have the bottom 47% of Americans not paying any federal income tax at all! Why would they benefit from a tax cut?  The top few percent of America pay close to 50% of the taxes. A tax benefit can only help those who pay. Anything else is just additional welfare and that is lunacy.

Lowe’s Pulls Ads From Muslim Show http://bit.ly/vb4B9Q

The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this date in 1791.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — Article I (First Amendment)

[Bush’s Fault] The folks on here supporting the Right keep whining about people blaming Bush for events during Obama’s term in office. Let’s take a trip back to some articles during Bush’s term and lets see if republicans at that time held Bush responsible or if they blamed someone else.

On the December 27 edition of CNN's State of the Union, Mary Matalin falsely claimed that President George W. Bush "inherited a recession from President Clinton, and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history." In fact the 9-11 attacks occurred eight months into Bush's presidency and more than a month after he had received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," and the recession began in March 2001.

From the December 27 edition of CNN's State of the Union:

MATALIN: I was there, we inherited a recession from President Clinton, and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history.

Attacks came eight months after Bush inauguration and more than a month after he had received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." President George W. Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 2001, eight months before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks killed 2,973 victims in New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 9-11 Commission stated that on August 6, 2001, Bush received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," and that Bush "did not recall discussing the August 6 report with the Attorney General or whether [then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice had done so." The Commission also "found no indication" that Bush's aides further discussed with him "the possibility of a threat of an al Qaeda attack in the United States" prior to 9/11 -- this despite the fact that "most of the intelligence community recognized in the summer of 2001 that the number and severity of threat reports were unprecedented.

Deepwater Horizon report highlights unaddressed risks of offshore drilling. http://bit.ly/tksSwU

Doctors Without Borders has received nearly $200,000 from atheists thus far in 2011. What does it all mean? http://bit.ly/uXefYT

[Oil Lease] Environmental groups file suit to nullify Wednesday's oil and gas lease sale. http://bit.ly/sWRJlZ

[Lowe’s Pulls Ads From Muslim Show] How come Muslims never ask how they can make Americans like them?

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

[From the Right] It is currently very stylish in some circles to pontificate that illegal aliens cause no harm. In fact, the Mayor of New Haven, Ct, a Democrat, has petitioned the state to permit his population of illegal aliens to vote in municipal elections. It is often said that an illegal alien is really nothing more than an unregistered Democrat voter. What makes New Haven different from the rest of America?  Let’s look a crime in that town that has an inordinately high number of illegal aliens. New Haven has a crime index of 4. On that scale, 100 is considered to be the safest. If you live in New Haven, your chances of becoming a victim of violent crime are 1/74. Elsewhere in Ct. you’re chances are 1/337. Yessir, our Democrat Mayor of New Haven, with his pocket full of illegal aliens, sure does run a dandy place to live.

(Part 2) By Golly, Team Obama has thought up a dandy new idea. Team Obama is launching an effort to collect Republican email addresses by inviting its supporters to submit information about their Republican associates to the Obama 2012 website. That sure sounds suspiciously like the informant squads that thrive in every autocratic society. On the other hand, there is a certain attraction to the idea. Maybe we conservative loudmouths should do the exact same thing. Maybe we should start by demanding that our Deer Ed publish the e mail address of each and every person who posts liberal ideas. Armed with that, an energetic and savvy person can actually track down the home address and name of every liberal poster. Armed with that, the energetic and savvy person can learn virtually everything that there is to know about every single liberal person who might submit a posting. Once we conservative loudmouths have that information, we can deal appropriately with liberals.  Deer friends, do you really want your government or anybody else to know that much about you?

Thursday December 15, 2011

Click here to send a comment!


Wednesday December 14, 2011

I'm wondering if anyone knew a girl named Jerri Montell (Allen).  She was 5'7", early 20's, thin, blonde, and gorgeous; impossible to miss and she hung with the Big Pine 29 backers.  She lived in Key West from roughly 1979-80 and in Oct 1979 gave birth to a child who's father was most likely connected to that crowd.  She died in 2010 and left behind a son who doesn't know who his father is, and who may never know, but I promised him I would do whatever I could to help him. 

If you can offer any info regarding her I would appreciate it if you would contact me.  Jerri told me of her involvement in the BP 29 affair, but she suffered from lifelong mental issues and it was very hard to sort out fact from fiction with her.  The information she gave me was sketchy at best and no names were mentioned. I’m just looking for info wherever I can. 

[Islamorada central sewer system] System capacity is at issue. The Lower Keys people can hopefully learn from their mistakes. http://bit.ly/vrhIr5

Fishermen are living proof that fish is not brain food.

['Tis the Season] The mercury’s dropped dramatically up north, the TV shows us nothing but a scrim of freezing white blizzard-blown flakes piling up, and here we are, just a few hours away – Paradise!  And, voila, Season arrives.  A long, rocky road.  Some may say inconvenient at best, but the truth is that a majority of us see a rapidly-repeating dollar sign, the ka-ching at the register that only a tourist has the power to produce. In the end, our lifestyle continues because yes, and suddenly --it’s Season!  Some of us grin and bear it.  Others embrace it.  Either way, here it is.  May the happiness and joy of those who’ve come to visit rub off on all of us.  What a privilege it is to be the caretakers of such an incredible part of the world. 

If a telemarketer calls, give the phone to your 3 year-old and tell her it’s Santa.

School board chair says: more job cuts; changes are the only way to survive. http://bit.ly/vArV8M

The radiant (apparent source point) of the Geminid meteor shower is near Castor, the fainter of the Twin Stars in the constellation Gemini. Not shown here is the bright Moon; it's below Gemini on the evening of the 13th and farther below on the 14th.

Staged images have taken over the animal photography business and argues that these ubiquitous phonies give the public an inaccurate view of nature. http://bit.ly/rGRwoa

[“All holidays should be on weekends”] Let’s not confuse the actual holiday's date from the celebration thereof.  We don't need to change any of the actual dates, they are what they are.  But the celebrations can always be moved to weekend days, or even consolidated to just one weekend in the entire year.  But wait, when would the teachers and government workers get days off?  The changing or consolidating celebration ideas will never work because the teachers and government workers will fight to protect their precious days off.

The ultimate Fox news babe is Juliet Huddy who can be seen on Sunday mornings.  The quintessential blond bombshell can always be counted on to forget to put her skirt on before leaving home, probably overwhelmed by the task of loading her bra.  Always a hoot to listen to her try and read the news that comes with all those pesky big words.  Oh well, anyway, what else is Fox good for but entertainment?

Pigeon Key update. You can’t get there from here. http://bit.ly/rWqsk7

The Most Powerful Images Of 2011. http://bit.ly/rDuKjj

[School Tax] According to Sloan, these children are being murdered! Won't somebody think of the (murdered) children?

Hometown (Tavernier) vs Homeland Security. http://bit.ly/sndslA

Christmas Card http://bit.ly/uWLh4q

[Monroe County schools] All I remember is Randy’s wife and cronies stealing money.  2,000 dollars to replace what they called a, was it low frequency or low voltage, switch. Fill ‘er up free at the gas depot for district employees.

Only 11 days of Christmas music left, thank God. 

[Scam or Spam] The post office calls it direct marketing.  Most of you probably refer to it as junk mail.  One Tampa woman says she was drowning in it and did not know where to turn for help. The snowball grew into an avalanche three years ago.  “It came like a bombardment.  It was unbelievable,” said Susan Hoffman about her incoming junk mail. Some days the postal carrier struggles to get it all in.  Pitches for every cause invade her mailbox by the dozens. Groups claiming to save the bears, monkeys, hungry children and others want her money. 

The 87-year old says she has written to some of the charities and ask that they remove her name.  She has also spoken to her mail carrier but the envelopes just keep coming. One day, she received 39 solicitations and direct marketing pieces.  That is when I contacted the post office to find out what she and others can do to get rid of all of it. Turns out the Direct Marketing Association -- not related to the postal service -- offers a free service similar to the do not call registry.  DMA lets customers opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. Susan wrote to DMA two weeks ago and is already seeing a decline in her box. 

You can register with the Direct Marketing Association online or by mail.  You can log into their site at dmachoice.org or mail your request with a $1 processing fee to: 
DMA choice 
Direct Marketing Association 
P.O. Box 643 
Carmel, NY 10512

The Chairman of The Board, Frank Sinatra's entourage agreed that he was having a Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston boxing bet flashback when he stated, "I'm losing! I'm losing!" as he passed away. Frank is the same guy who insisted that the last two words of the Star Spangled Banner are "Play ball!" and expected all of us to shout them out whether he was present or not. It is my intention to repeat his final words when I pass just in case I bump into him.  http://bit.ly/sr9PAc

How hard is it for W/D to keep milk on the shelves? Three weeks in a row they have been out of skimmed milk. What happened to the challenged young man who used to stock the milk? He always had it stocked and he cleaned the jugs before placing them on the shelf. I wish we had more options, other than driving to KW or Marathon.

The Brother, Can You Spare a Dime videos by Tom Waits and Doctor John/Odetta  are both very profound. The final scene in the Tom Waits video is very powerful. Kudos to both who presented them for CTers’ consideration. CT rocks!

The annual Christmas Golf Cart Parade is this Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!  Meet at Strike Zone at 6 pm to stage with your cart and lights. We will roll at 7 pm.  As usual, this will be epic! See you there or on the street.

[ASPCA] Most people assume that the ASPCA, one of the largest and most well-funded animal-rights groups in the world, who profess to prevent cruelty to animals, would be all for advocating that homeless cats and dogs not be killed at animal shelters. Not so. A big eye opener: The ASPCA has actively fought to prevent cities from establishing no-kill shelters and aggressively fights bills proposed in local city councils that aim to reduce the number of innocent animals being killed. Another shocker? PETA, does too. The true protectors of animals are not the bureaucracy-rich animal rights organizations, but smaller groups and individuals. Nathan Winograd, author of Redemption, and Stanford-law-educated ex-criminal prosecutor and corporate attorney, is the founder of a growing no-kill-shelter movement—and gets my vote for most important intellectual this year. His no-kill actions challenge the status quo by thinking beyond the box. He’s developed a creative and realistic plan that many cities are successfully using to save most of their homeless animals. New York City’s ACC, who murders hundreds of cats and dogs each week needs to reform and implement his ideas.

These organizations like to advertise that they save animals so that you'll send them money - but they don't, and they aren't even open to trying to save animals!  I don't understand it, do you?  See what the ASPCA is really doing. http://bit.ly/rAhHnJ

That’s got to smart!  I’ll bet from now on he speaks with a lisp.

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

Today's serving starts off with an excellent portrait of the state of the school district affairs from a long-term school district employee. Then, today's meanders into yesterday's school board meeting in Tavernier, particularly the part of the meeting where School Board Chairman John Dick polled the school board members re how they will go with with the .5 millage if the referendum fails to pass? Way it looked to me, 4, counting John, said they would shift the .5 mil back to the capital account, where it went before it was shifted to the operating account eight years ago. One board member, I was not sure about; the one who had told the public they might get a tax decrease if the referendum failed. Also today, a bit on Larry Murray's remarks during citizen comments re his dismissal from the Audit & Finance Committee, and his perhaps running for the school board seat held by Duncan Matthewson, who recently removed larry from the AFC and urged him to run for his school board seat. You can read all about it by clicking on this link: school district indistress, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com.

Landsat satellites track Yellowstone underground heat. Expected development by energy companies right outside Yellowstone's borders have some fearing that Old Faithful could be cheated out of its energy. http://bit.ly/ruXElI

Made in America is creating jobs. http://bit.ly/rNmQim

Another classic Christmas song. Walking Round In Womens Underwear.  http://bit.ly/rpwufD

Sal & Richard prank call Biz Baz on 104.1FM http://bit.ly/ttqMJ1

[Mars Habitable] Australian scientists who modeled conditions on Mars to examine how much of the red planet was habitable said Monday that "large regions" could sustain life. Mars got blue rocks? I foresee great opportunities in landscaping! http://bit.ly/rwZFaC

US mulls tax break for space 'burials'. The bill, up for debate next year, would offer state residents a tax deduction of up to $8,000 for deciding to send their remains into space. http://bit.ly/vN5ZUF

Sanctuary begins 20 year rule review. http://bit.ly/tUAgKx

Friendship with None of that Sissy Crap
You will see no cute little smiley faces on this, just  the stone cold truth of our great  friendship.
 When you are sad ~ I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.  
When you are blue ~ I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.  
When you smile ~ I will know you are thinking of something that I would probably want to be involved in.   
When you are scared ~ I will rag on you about it every chance I get until you're NOT.  
When you are worried ~ I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.  
When you are confused ~ I will try to use only little words.  
When you are sick ~ Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.  
When you fall ~ I will laugh at your clumsy ass, but I'll help you up.  
This is my oath ... I pledge it to the end. Why, because you are my friend.  
Friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth.
Send this to 10 of your closest friends if you have any. Then get depressed because you can only think of  4.

I said, No parking!

[“There are too many holidays”] Too many? Let’s get rid of some?  Why? It is a money thing? Do you think people should still go to work on those days instead of treating the days off like a day to sleep in?  What have you done to give them the proper respect? When I worked in NYC, Jews did not get off work Christmas day and a lot of Blacks took off a week in February for MLK Day. 

Every non-American working in the US should stay at work on July 4th since it's only an American holiday.

Maybe the lack of respect is because this country is too full of  foreigners, regardless of how they got here, who do not share our American traditions or understand our American history. That's our fault, we let them in and didn’t educate them about the why and what of our country.  It's also our fault because we don’t make them learn our language.  Instead we practice the one thing that makes us Americans -- tolerance.  

Dear kids,

There is no Santa. Those presents are from your parents. And if there was a Santa he'd be a socialist and support Obama.
Love,

FTR Guy

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[War With Iran] The Right is mad that Obama didn’t start a new war with Iran by using military action to recover our drone from them. The Right have little respect for peace and human life (unless they’re rich).

President Obama famously told Joe the Plumber in 2008 that his tax plan was designed to “spread the wealth around” an idea that Obama said was “good for everybody.” Since being sworn into office, Obama has lived up to that pledge, enacting a trillion dollar health care plan that The New York Times called “the federal government’s biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.”  Well, The New York Times has even more good news for Obama this morning. According to IRS data, the share of income received by America’s richest 1 percent dropped from 23% in 2007 to 17% in 2009. Obama’s wealth redistribution plan is already a stunning success. But if everybody is now more equal, if the rich’s share of the wealth has fallen by a stunning 17% in just two years, then why hasn’t that been “good for everybody” as Obama told Joe the Plumber it would be?

Iran is building a nuclear bomb and there’s nothing America can do about it or we’ll lose our gas supply. A nuclear weapon is really Israel’s problem as they’ll be the first to have it tried out on them. Unfortunately the US will have to take up arms to help Israel because of our defense agreement with them.

[Socialism in America] Interview with author Oleg Atbashian  http://bit.ly/rXiWRP

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

[Representative Kelly] A car dealer turned politician who is kicking ass. http://bit.ly/tobEjj

Who is larceny bullard?

Newt supports a death penalty for marijuana smugglers. WTF! http://huff.to/tVTNRs

[“Muslims: Lowe’s yanked its ads from a reality TV show about American Muslims”] Yea, way to go Lowes!  I'm now your customer for life.  It's all about the money. It's your company, and you can buy or not buy ads for any tv show you want.

[Donald Trump Debate] After most of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates refused to attend a Newsmax-sponsored debate moderated by businessman/reality TV impresario Donald Trump, the Donald himself announced Wednesday that he would step aside from his role in the event.

"I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate," Trump said, according to Fox News.

Since Newsmax announced that Trump would moderate the Dec. 27th debate in Iowa earlier this month, the conservative magazine has struggled to convince candidates to show up. A spokesman for Texas Rep. Ron Paul said that the circus-like atmosphere of the event was "beneath the office of the Presidency" and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's spokesman said he was looking "forward to watching Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich suck up to Trump with a big bowl of popcorn." Even Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has met with Trump on several occasions, declined. In the end, only two candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, accepted the invitation to join.

Trump injected himself into the Republican primary process last spring, when he led a campaign to pressure President Barack Obama to release a second form of his birth certificate from his native Hawaii. Trump hinted at the time that he was considering joining the Republican presidential race, and he still says that he's leaving the door open to run as an independent.

Sorry but this needs said. Ha ha.

Obama still blaming Bush, says if he knew how bad the economy was when he took office he “could have prepared people.” The buck stops with George Bush.

House and Senate agree on $662 billion defense bill. The cost of defense is destroying us. We need to rebuild America. Every road, bridge, dam, etc. All of our best is old. Renew. Re-birth. Love your country! http://huff.to/uhOhze

[From the Right] The evidence is growing every day that Mr. Obama is determined to make the extension of last year’s temporary payroll tax cut an issue that is totally political and totally in disregard for the consequences. I trust you will remember that the temporary payroll tax was put in place just last year. Congress and the President agreed that it would only last for one year. Every one agreed that the tax would terribly harm Social Security if it became permanent. Please remember that usually I’m for tax cuts, but this one is different. Obama pushed it because it was good politics. In some circles any give away is a great way to buy votes. The other purpose was to stimulate the economy. The theory was that the tax payer would spend their money saved by the tax cut. That was supposed to boost buying. It didn’t. It didn’t help employers to make new hires because it didn’t generate any new demand for goods or services. It did nothing to fundamentally change the equation. Remember that the Pay Roll tax is supposed to only go to fund Social Security. Obama has no regard for the health of the Social Security system. His proposed tax cut extension will take even more money it took even more money away from Social Security. Now, simply for political gain Obama demands that the “temporary” cut be made permanent. Social Security, already in dire straits will suffer even more.

The Reps have an alternative that makes absolute perfect sense. If enacted the tax cut can be extended without robbing Social Security. The Reps have tied the tax extension to the Keystone pipeline. There is no genuine downside to the plan. Only the environmentalists argue against it. Their arguments are specious. The lost revenue from the tax cut would be replaced by the revenue generated by the Keystone Pipe Line project.  Environmentalists weep and gnash their teeth at the idea of the pipe line. I’m confident that some CT readers will tell us all of their complaints. I look forward to commenting on their postings.

Here are just a few of the reasons that we desperately need the project.

1.  Without oil, we are in a fecal storm of trouble. If our supply is materially cut, we will be relegated to third world status. Our enemies are intently focused on limiting our supply. Yesterday Iran announced war games to shut down the Straits of Hormuz. The lion’s share of our crude must pass through the Straits. Iran is growing more belligerent, the Arab spring now appears to be a blossoming of Muslim governments ruled by Sharia law who will certainly be hostile to US interests.

2.  We immediately need jobs; we also need long term jobs. The pipeline will generate tens of thousands of both kinds of  jobs. A large number of the jobs will be immediate and will involve the actual construction of the pipe line. The estimate is 13,000 new construction jobs. The pipe line will require long term employees to operate it and to maintain it. Ancillary jobs will come from the universe of people needed to create the steel, the concrete, the machinery, the new refineries  and the various spin offs. The estimate is that 7,000 new long term jobs would be created. Availability of oil will drive down the price of energy. Lower energy costs mean lower costs in manufacturing, lower price of goods, and increases in consumer spending.

3.  If we fail to build the pipeline, Canada will route their oil pipe line to the coast and will sell most of it to China. That is not a good outcome for the USA.

4.  The pipe line will generate long tons of federal revenue in the form of taxes and fees.

There you have it. The Reps have come up with a solution to two very serious problems. First if the pipeline is approved, it will generate thousands of jobs while it generates scads of federal revenue. Second, that revenue will off set the loss of funding for SS. The temporary tax cut can be extended without harming SS.

Team Obama is troubled by the fact that unions support the pipeline. Unions support it  because of the massive numbers of union jobs it will create. The Pipeline will be a huge boon to all of labor. Nonetheless, Obama will oppose it. He’ll oppose it only because it has been linked to the extension of the payroll tax cut. He is prepared to sacrifice thousands of jobs so that he can have a campaign issue. Obama is hot to be able to claim that the Reps blocked the tax extension.

Flash! As of 7:00 PM the Republican proposal has passed the House with bi partisan support.  Harry Reid acting on behalf of Obama, is saying that the proposal will never come to a vote in the Senate. The Dems are getting ready to shut down the government unless they get their way.  The nasty, and undeniable fact is that it is the Dems who are refusing to continue the payroll tax deduction. Good Grief.

Wednesday December 14, 2011

Click here to send a comment!


Tuesday December 13, 2011

[School District Employees] For those wondering who all of the employees are on the school district payroll I can list a few in addition to the many teachers.  There are about 11 public schools in the district, not including the Charter Schools.  In addition to the teachers, there are cafeteria workers, bus drivers, teacher aides, custodians, an attendance person, a bookkeeper, an office manager, a school nurse, a guidance counselor, a technology person, and of course a principal. The larger schools also have an assistant principal.  I am only familiar with the school I worked at, but many of these people do two jobs due to budget cuts. The attendance person at my school, now also takes care of student records. The records person retired and was not replaced. The librarian retired and was replaced by a paraprofessional, which helps the school's budget, as she makes less money. (Luckily, the retired librarian now volunteers and helps out when needed).  A couple of the daytime teacher aides also work in the after-school daycare program.  For many, many years, there was a full time Spanish teacher for the students.  That's gone.

One music teacher services the entire school as the other music teacher also retired a few years ago and was not replaced.  I don't know how he does it.

The technology person is shared with another school up the Keys.  The school psychologist also services another school.  As for the district office, I don't know if they are over-staffed, but the people I have dealt with seem to have their plates full, too. The payroll person down at the district office, is also in charge of retirees, their paperwork, and other programs.  She is extremely knowledgeable and I was very grateful for that.  There may be others, but my point is, there are a lot of people handling more than one job. 

I feel the district schools are working with the bare minimum, what we used to call, skeleton crews.  Downtown at the district office, there are people that handle our medical insurance, human resources, a school board attorney, and technology people.  When the air conditioning goes out in your school, or there is an electrical problem, there are people who show up and repair it.  There are carpenters, maintenance men to repair and build things, plumbers, people who cut the grass, mechanics that repair the buses when they break down and also do monthly inspections on them. 

I have a friend who used to be one of the Speech Therapists, but became the Assisted Technology person for the district.  I'm not sure who pays some of the other people such as the Head Start Staff and the Sheriff Deputies at each school that are the School Resource Officers. I'm sure there are many other jobs at the High Schools and in the district that I'm not aware of or have forgotten to mention. I know over the years, due to cutbacks, so much paperwork, and other reasons, I have watched many school events slowly disappear.  In my opinion, everyone is stretched so thin, no  one has the time to organize the many events the school district used to be involved in such as the County-wide Spelling Bee, Science Fairs, Math Bowl, Battle of the Books, Career Day, Environathon (not sure about this one), Odyssey of the Mind (some schools may still do this), and many other fun events.  

At the school level, events that do take place are due to teachers, large groups of parent volunteers, and even a few retired teachers who donate their time.  There may be more places to cut back, but I'm not sure where. 

As far as the referendum goes, I will be voting yes on it.  It has passed overwhelmingly twice in the past, and for good reason.  I know many teachers, staff, and parents that will also vote yes.  I also have no problem with the watchdogs out there who monitor the school system.  Just stop being so negative all the time.  Get your facts straight.  And most of all, it's so apparent that those of you that try to tell teachers how they should be teaching are clueless as to what really goes on in our schools today.

In my more than 34 years in Monroe County, where due to a high turn-over rate, I have worked with many teachers.   I have observed mostly dedicated, hard-working, creative teachers.

[Arrogance] City of Key West was caught clearing mangrove trees again after paying $1.5 million penalty from the last time they did it. Anyone who has been in the Florida Keys for more than a few hours knows mangroves are protected. Those who trim mangroves on an annual basis should be intimate with the laws surrounding this protected vegetation.

[Developers] As I write this, Grassy Key is knee deep in, well, sea grass and the funk is nearly palpable but this too shall pass.  Compared to the havoc and devastation Katrina brought to the Big Easy, I can only count my blessings and offer a fervent prayer of thanks.

Here, mired in a mildewy three foot wall of sea grass it is interesting to note that Grassy Key was once aptly named Viper Key due to the overabundance of snakes that permeated the properties.  Then along came some clever entrepreneurs of the developing kind and suddenly the serpents disappeared.  And presto-changeo the inception of a community to be called Grassy Key.

Oh right, according to the current city council, which embraces these developers, we must have affordable housing so that our blue collar workers will have a decent place to live and raise a family.  Uh huh. So that’s why our destination resorts are busy hiring contract workers from Poland, Russia, Germany and Jamaica.  These are temporary residents who take jobs away from our full time residents.  They live in dorms on the resort premises or in homes that are leased by the contractors and then packed illegally with 10, 12 and sometimes as many as 15 people.

See folks, the developers don’t need us and they don’t want us.  It’s only a matter of time before they bring in their own plumbers, carpenters and the like.  Don’t think so?  Ever heard of Disneyland?

The truth is these high-end developers and their cronies want us all out – that means you snowbirds as well.  They don’t have the time nor the inclination to preserve the Keys’ heritage. They only want bigger and more expensive homes and hotels to be built.

[Sewer Pressure] The State wants to know why the Cudjoe Sewer plant has been put on indefinite hold and how we’re going to fund it. It looks like we’re going to get another one cent sales tax to help pay for the sewers weather we like it or not.

[“Reimbursement only for Roman Gastesi’s car expense.”]  The Only thing against that reimbursement procedure idea is that presently he gets it in his paycheck, which automatically inflates his retirement contribution and eventually his retirement income amount.  He is so slick, he wants to work both angles,  more car allowance in his check and more retirement money in his account. 

I say no more car allowance and no County car either.  I like your plan - just straight reimbursement.  Let the money come out of his pocket first.  Somebody has to review and approve his expense reports and  requests for reimbursement.  This guy is so slick, he's probably already figured a new way to scam us taxpayers for more money.

[“National Sad Day -- Don't be so flippant about our sorrows”]  I had that idea and I wasn’t being flippant. There are too many holidays now and I feel they don’t get the proper respect that is due them. Consolidating the sad ones would be a good idea.

[Howard Livingston] I hope your holiday festivities are going great. Boy, is this a busy time of year. Having spent Christmas in many places throughout my life, I have to say that the Keys are hands down the best. It’s the best of all worlds, we still have Santa, and in fact we have the real Santa. Long white beard (real) and long white hair (real), he must be the real one!

We also have all the beautiful decorations that you would find anywhere else and aside from the fact that it is 80 degrees you would never know you are in the tropics. Riding around town it is just amazing seeing all the homes and businesses glowing with millions of tiny lights. This is truly a special time in the Keys. I am writing to you sitting on the back of my boat with my little puppy Anderson curled at my feet. It is fun watching him explore his way around his floating second home. I have a feeling he knows this is the fun transporter. I can’t wait to get him out to one of the uninhabited islands for the first time. He is going to go nuts, just like I do. This is a great place to be a dog, or a human for that matter.

On Wednesday, December 28th Sugarloaf KOA Resort the full band and I will be performing at the Sugarloaf KOA starting at 7:00PM.

[Marc the Funny] If you put pictures of lost kids on beer cans instead of milk cartons we'd find them in about 15 minutes.

[What's in a Name] Calling an illegal alien an undocumented immigrant is like calling a drug dealer an unlicensed pharmacist.

Do you miss icy roads and sidewalks? Why folks go south. Video

[I saw it on the Internet] situation wanted: Looking for short term loan $2,000. I can repay $200 a week for 15 weeks. 305-890-4104

[Local Author] When a severed hand is found in the mangroves of the Florida Keys, Detective Merri Kepke is called to the scene.   She isn’t thrilled when the FBI sends an agent, who knows nothing about the Keys, goes strictly by the book, and doesn’t have a sense of humor. Before she can send Special Agent Marlow back to Quantico, a skeleton is found chained to a bucket of cement. A serial killer is using the Glades to dispose of bodies. She needs the FBI’s resources, and he needs her local knowledge. They are forced to work together and neither of them like it.

Jo Webnar is a local author and freelance writer for several marine magazines, and she has an article in Chicken Soup for the Working Mom’s Soul.  Hidden Death is her third book, and the first one set in the Keys. She is currently working on a sequel for her second book, Saving Tampa and a sequel is also planned for Hidden Death. 20% of the profit on Hidden Death will be donated to the Susan G Komen Fund for the Cure.

[La Be Bop A Lula] This is how we "Frog" Canadians do it. Eat your heart out Gene Vincent! http://bit.ly/sz0E15

[Shot Up Home Security Yard Sign]  Where can I get one minus the bullet holes? Those I can make myself.

Dear Santa from the Bob and Tom Show audio. http://bit.ly/tew1zT

[“Ann Curry the worst interviewer of all times drives me nuts”] Me too. I just don't watch that show at all any more.  But her style is due to no formal training in hosting or interviewing.  And if you remember that far back, she was never any good at reading the news either. She always put her little emotional comments at the end of stories, like we needed her to interpret the stories for us and could not figure out the news for ourselves. Matt Lauer and Katie Couric also had terrible interview styles, questions, behaviors.  It all stems back to their news editor telling them how to handle questions and do interviews.  Katie Couric improved about 50% after she got out from under the Today show bosses telling her how to do it. 

[Christmas Display] The site is near the Oak Creek Bridge on the St. Michael’s Road. The folks who own the property always have eye-catching displays celebrating various holidays through the year. This year for Yuletide they have certainly outdone themselves.  Merry Christmas!

[National Sad Day -- Don't be so flippant about our sorrows”] Where did it show that poster was being flippant? It seems the post was in honor of all. Read the words by definition, not by your interpretation. In fact all holidays should be on weekends, then maybe this country will learn it has to work for a living to survive.

Forgotten Felines of the Florida Keys will be holding an adoption event next Saturday, December 17 at the Purr Fect Thrift Store in Marathon.  It will run from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00pm and there will be free hot dogs and chips provided by Centennial Bank, bake sale goodies, and lots more.

There will be both kittens and adult cats available and Cheap Shots will be providing a free rabies vaccination to any cat that gets adopted.  The Purr Fect Thrift Shop is located in the old Overseas Lounge building across from the entrance to Marathon Community Park.

Come out and find the purr-fect companion and give them a fur-ever home! Bulletin Board

Hydroponic gardening http://bit.ly/vQtPS3

Math tutor needed on Big Pine Key for 6th grader with a learning disability who is having a very hard time understanding it. School teacher or High School student with patience and excellent math skills. 305-481-4356 Classified Ads

Great Florida birding trail. http://floridabirdingtrail.com/

[Get Well Al] Al Skettinni is just recovering from colon/rectum cancer surgery and is doing okay.  If you would like to send Al a get-well card his address is 1661 Gardinia Ln,  Big Pine Key. Florida, 33043. 

[Rebuilding] Japan marks 6 months since earthquake, tsunami. In Monroe County when this happens, and it will, it will take five years for the freaking government just to organize the fix. http://bit.ly/sYcRHl

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

To thewhiteowlspeaks, I called myself sending the email to thewhiteowlspeaks@yahoo.com and it did not come back. I used the text of that email and what you had written to the CT in a post the next day. I sent a teaser for that post, containing a link to the post, to the Coconut Telegraph, which Deer Ed published to the CT. You continue to twist the history of the January 31 referendum, which had nothing to do with raising money to build schools, but was to raise money for school operations, which funds cannot be used to build schools or for any other capital expenditures. Why don't you contact John Dick and ask him to explain the January 31 referendum and its history to you? Then let the CT readers know what John told you. Just in case you lost his email address: john.dick@keysschools.com. Since you accused him of not telling CT readers how many school district employees there really are, I am copying him with this. Why don't you ask John if he thinks the school board can approve whatever budget millage they wish every school year, and then you could let CT readers know what he said? I think he might tell you something like, on its own the school board can raise millage for the capital fund up to 1.5 mils, but to raise millage for the operations fund requires voter approval -- a referendum. Of course, to get John to reply to you, you will have to give him your name and address, which has not been your modus operandi on the CT. I have to go up to Marathon today, and while there I will swing by the golf course to speak to some of the ground owls who live in burrows in the fairways. It will be nice to speak with real owls.
 

To yesterday's other self-styled school district expert, the school board has not hitched anything to me, nor have I hitched myself to the school board, as they darn well know and will tell you if you ask any of them. Young school children and their parents will feel murdered if the kids have to change schools and attend high schools, ride longer on buses. Teachers will feel murdered if they get crippling pay cuts they cannot afford in the highest cost-of-living county in the state. kids who play school sports will feel murdered if school sports are cut out. Kids' parents will feel murdered directly and through their kid's trauma. You demonstrate no ability to put yourself into anyone's shoes but your own; ditto thewhiteowlspeaks. Regardless of the self-centered spin you two Atillas put on it, you both are targeting the children, their parents and the teachers.

You both have accused John Dick of lying on the CT about how many school district employees there really are. You both could have written to him about that, but to get an answer back you would have to tell him your name and address, which is why you two cowards didn't write to him. I agree with you that the school district has not done nearly enough to shave costs, and I thought the firing of the janitors, probably the lowest paid school district employees, was seriously lousy, chicken shit, and bad karma. I agree emphatically with you: "let there be light." start with you and thewhiteowlspeaks telling everyone on the CT who you are. (Ed: I would not post their names so stop demanding them) you two chicken shits haven't done that already because you know it will discredit you if the CT readers know who you are.  (Ed: I would not post their names so stop demanding them)

 
You can see the rest of today's triage, including the report of enlightening developments during a long conversation with John Dick yesterday about the unexpected charter school expenses, by clicking on this link, more school referendum and district triage, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com.

Sloan,
As I told you I will not engage this back and forth dialogue with an unnamed person. They just keep putting out misinformation and it would require a response every day. Of course you did have it correct, the school board CANNOT just arbitrarily raise the millage. The only one we have ability to raise is the Capital Millage and we can go to 1.5 mil there. Currently we are at .5 and if the referendum failed then we would put the other .5 mil back into the Capital for a total of 1.0 mil.

I stand by the statement I made to the Coconut Telegraph: Monroe County School District has 1,019 employees as of Dec. 9, 2010.

Nowhere does that say, just in the schools, and that total includes the people working in the district headquarters. I will not keep repeating the facts to someone that just keeps making up numbers.
John [Dick]

Thanks to whomever suggested the Brother Can You Spare A Dime by Tom Waits. Wow, how relevant. Here is Brother Can You Spare A Dime by Dr. John and Odetta. It’s just as powerful as the Tom Waits version. http://bit.ly/rVidbs

[Tipping, a City in China] One thing that makes tipping so confusing is that it varies throughout the world. Leaving a waitress 18% of the restaurant check total is considered standard in the U.S., while in many Asian countries it's uncommon. And although the Euro-Zone countries have the valued added tax (VAT), and a service charge is included at most eateries, it has become more commonplace to leave a few Euros for excellent service. Consult a guidebook or the Fodor's website, fodors.com, for specific regional customs. Your hotel concierge can also advise you. One reason vacationing at an all-inclusive resort is so seductive is that service charges are often included in the tariff. Some cruise ships follow the same practice; others make suggestions for each point of service (from housekeeping to the restaurant staff). Safari companies and tour outfitters also often provide similar information. 

State presses County on sewer upgrades. http://bit.ly/rUR1pK

See how they put you back together after you get broken. Animation http://bit.ly/sI5O3b

["If you vote down the referendum, you will be guilty of the mass murder of children, their parents and teachers..." ] Looks like Sloan hasn't been getting enough attention lately so it was time to ratchet up the rhetoric. Let's see, recently we've had child molestation, threats of violence and now mass murder. How are you going to top this last one? What could be more outrageous than that piece of hyperbolic madness? Cooking puppies might do it. If that fails you can always fall back on the old tried and true suicide threats that always gets 'em. And as always there is a deafening silence from the Sloan Clones. He probably could cook puppies and they would still defend him. Troll on, Sloan, troll on.  ~divethekeys@gmail.com

[Eagle Watching Video] I got seasick trying to watch the weaving, shaking and bobbing video. I wonder how good the experience was in person?  Those of us that weren’t there will never know.

208 new species discovered in threatened region of Southeast Asia.  I just heard the endangered Miami Blue Butterfly is thriving thanks to people like BPK's Paula Cannon. http://huff.to/toENmH

Men In Black 3 http://www.meninblack.com/

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Muslims] Lowe’s yanked its ads from a reality TV show about American Muslims despite the growing opposition the home improvement chain is facing over the move. I think Lowe’s is correct and Muslims should be pariahs in our society until they can demonstrate to us that they are stopping violence against non-Moslems and those of their religion who espouse that violence. When Muslims accept a “live and let live” philosophy, only then, can they join our society. I don’t buy the argument that all Muslims do not support violence because it is their duty to stop it, not ours.

I do feel I understand the Left much better than I did. They hated President Bush so much it made them say mean and ugly things about him and his family. After 3 years of President Obama I must turn the TV off or leave the room when he speaks. He makes me sick -- for real sick. I guess he's a good guy and has a good looking family, but just the sound of his voice sickens me. Wow, you Lefty's had to go through 8 years of that. I am sorry for you.

[Israel] Obama already went to the Wailing Wall in 2008 for a photo op.

[Drone] “With early knowledge that the aircraft had likely remained intact, the senior U.S. official also told Fox News that President Obama was presented with three separate options for retrieving or destroying the drone. The president ultimately decided not to proceed with any of the plans because it could have been seen as an act of war, the official told Fox News.”

“Among the options the U.S. considered were sending in a special-ops team to retrieve the drone; sending in a team to blow up the aircraft; and launching an airstrike to destroy it.”

Somebody tell the President that the Iranians already are at war with the U.S. regardless of this incident.  This is a regime sworn to destroy America.

Mr. President has a little stick. http://bit.ly/tlymcd

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

[Ignorance and Religion] ] Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. ttp://tinyurl.com/26bxnnc

[Around And Around We Go] Your particular religion is crazy, while my Atheistic religion is the answer, your nuts, I am not, I have the answers, you don't have a clue.

Mercifully, Larcenia Bullard is being term-limited out of office. Beware; her son has already filed to run for the seat. Some years ago she gave the commencement address at Marathon High School's graduation ceremony.  Afterwards, one of my teacher friends said it made her ashamed to be a Democrat.

If Frank Sinatra was an atheist, that's good enough for me. I understand that his last words were, "I'm losing, I'm losing" and I guess he was.

Newt Gingrich's tax plan would add about $1 trillion to the deficit in a single year, according to a detailed analysis of his proposals. The Tax Policy Center, which has also broken down the plans of other GOP contenders, finds that Gingrich's offering for tax reform would be great not just for the top 1 percent, but also for the top 0.1 percent.

"While most of the nation's lowest income families would get no benefit from these tax cuts, the top 0.1 percent (who make an average of more than $8 million) would get about a quarter of the windfall," wrote TPC's Howard Gleckman in a post about the analysis.

Such news might not upset conservative Republican primary voters, but the assessment of the deficit could prove more alarming.

If current tax policy stays in place -- and the Bush-era tax cuts are retained -- Gingrich's plan would add about $850 billion to the deficit in 2015 alone, according to the report. If the current tax law remains in place -- and the Bush cuts expire after next year -- the jump in the deficit for 2015 would be $1.3 trillion.

Gingrich would allow people to choose whether to keep the current tax system or file a 15 percent flat tax. Corporations would pay a 12.5 percent rate.

Under the current tax law scenario, if the Bush tax cuts expire, the richest Americans would see taxes drop by about 38 percent, or more than $750,000.

[“Media-savvy comedies with a sarcastic bite and morally ambiguous antiheroes attract liberals”] Well, if that's true, then I don't fit into any political label; that’s good, I guess. My favorite TV comedies still are HOT L Baltimore (Neil Simon for tv), Benny Hill (most of them), That Was The week That Was, and the play then movie Noises Off (Carol Burnet, John Ritter, a very funny and clever play within a play).

With the advent of Comcast going digital, they gave me a little box thing to attach between my cable and tv that’s pretty cool. Right now I'm watching I Spy, and next is Route 66.  The way things are here in Monroe, south Florida, the country, I might stay on this retro channel forever.  

[Peek-a-boo, I See You] Canada’s immigration minister says new Canadians will have to remove any face-coverings, such as the Islamic niqab or burqa, while they take the oath of citizenship because y it’s difficult to ensure that individuals whose faces are covered are actually reciting the oath.

[From the Right] Very recently Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chair of the Democrat National Committee gravely told an interviewer that unemployment has not increased since Obama took office. The interviewer challenged her, and she became very aggressive and again stated that unemployment had decreased under Obama. Wasserman Schultz is either a stone liar or she is delusional. When Obama took office there were 142 Million Americans with jobs.  Today, 3 years and more than a Trillion dollars in stimulus later, there are only 140 Million Americans with jobs. Obama’s governance has cost us 2 Million American jobs. Wassermann Shultz most certainly knows that is the truth. She is lying; she and the Democrat National Committee are intentionally trying to deceive you.

Part 2) Many of our liberal pals were nearly wild with joy at the recent reports of a jobless rate of 8.6%.  That’s sad, because it really was not good news.  Did you notice that Team Obama barely gave it a mention?  In reality, more than half of the fall was accounted for by a decrease in the numbers of persons actually looking for a job.  Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data show that 315,000 folks dropped out of the labor market.  But only 120K new jobs were reported.

A recent article in (UK) Financial Times stated: "According to government statistics, if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent.  Remember that the unemployment rate is not "how many people don't have jobs", but "how many people don't have jobs and are actively looking for them."  Let's say you have tried to get any open job in your area for many months. Let’s say that you become discouraged, downhearted, and finally, you quit looking.  When that happens, the government says that you are no longer in the workforce…you are counted as being employed. Exactly that happened last month when 315,000 Americans just quit looking for work.  That’s bad, very bad.

2007 saw the beginning of a terrible slide in the American economy.  Since 2007, the percent of the population that either has a job or is actively looking for one has fallen from 62.7 percent to 58.5 percent. That means that millions of workers have abandoned the workforce; they have done so only because they just can’t find a job. They've stopped trying.  If 62.7 percent of the country was still counted as in the workforce, unemployment would be 11 percent.  There is another way to measure the health of our work force: it’s called the U6.  It measures the combination of real unemployment and underemployment, and is probably the most accurate gauge.  In January of 2007, the U6 rate was about 8%.  Today, the U6 is about20%.

Sadly, the backbone of the American economy, manufacturing, is no longer the prime mover in jobs creation. Most of the new jobs are in the various service industries.  We are forgetting how to make things that we can sell.  The middle-skilled jobs that once formed the core of our vital middle class are disappearing.  They are being supplanted by relatively low-skilled (and low-paid) jobs that cannot be replaced either by new technology or by off-shoring, such as home nursing and landscape gardening.  On the other hand, jobs are being created for the highly skilled, notably in science, engineering and management.

Perhaps the most disconcerting thing we all must consider is that Team Obama has not a clue as to how to repair our economy.  They even privately admit they don’t even know how to restore our middle class.  Obama’s Osawatomie (Ks) speech revealed that; he outlined the problem, blamed the problem on others, but failed to give us even the most remote of clues as to how he intends to attack the problem. Further proof came from Obama’s close fiscal advisor, confidant and previous Budget Director, Peter Orszag, who told the (UK) Financial Times, “The truth is that we don’t know how to fix the US labor market – we are in uncharted territory.”  Orszag told FT that spending more on retraining and infrastructure might help, but that it would not fundamentally change the situation for the middle class.  He said: “It is not yet clear what, if anything, could.”

Deer Friends, if I were an Obamafan, especially a unionist, I would be furious.

Tuesday December 13, 2011

Click here to send a comment!

Monday December 11, 2011

[Season] It’s been said man is a creature of habit and there are myriad examples to underline that old chestnut.  Here in the Keys we experience man’s habitual nature yearly, as best said in the original Island tune ‘And Suddenly--It’s Season!’  Just when you start to wonder if the rest of the nation has forgotten about us, the north is blasted with the shrill nerve-piercing icy blow of winter and here comes the eye-opening, head banging intrusion known affectionately as Season.

[School District]  I have no interest in responding to Sloan or a discourse with him of any kind, however there was no email from him today to happily delete.  So, he either mis-typed the address or he lied that he sent it.  I can think of no greater waste of my time and effort then trying to debate with someone like him.  My purpose as far as Sloan himself is concerned is to do my best to challenge his misinformation, gossip, and lies, and encourage the readers that have an interest to find out the truth for themselves and make up their own minds and not let the Sloans of the world do it for them.  As far as the school district is concerned, the following should sum up my position nicely as a long-time concerned resident and voter of this County and  you won't have to read my postings again on the issue, unless I feel disposed to repeating myself in response to new heights of idiocy posted on the matter.  

For the record, I voted yes for the original referendum of the .5 mil to build the new schools.   While they were still building schools, I voted yes to continue the tax to finish the schools for another four years.  I have supported reasonable funding assistance to the district.  The school construction is now complete and the tax should sunset.  As to the current referendum,  I will vote NO and continue to vote NO when presented the opportunity to any increased funding or a "continuation and transfer" of a school building tax millage to pump into their general fund without a full disclosure of the facts of their situation; and an extreme effort to cut out all the bloated positions and luxury "feel good" programs from the budget.  This school district is by no means healthy and free of corruption, nor is it lean and without excess fat.  I will continue to vote out school board members when presented the opportunity, if the incumbent has made no notable effort to shine The Light of Truth into the darkest corners of the school district administration.  You newbies don't get two terms to start to "get it".  Either you come into office "getting it", and "get it" now or get out.  I do like John Dick, he and Steve P. led the fight against the tyranny of the Acevedo leadership at considerable personal sacrifice when every one else was protecting him.  However, John's post of Saturday, offered no substantive information to educate us on the issues, and once again repeated 1,000+ employees IN THE SCHOOLS, - which I would agree with-, but he ignored the rest of the district employees not directly working in the schools, which brings the total to just under 1400.  My continuing issue is with the 400 more employees working for the District in all the rest of the Departments, Finance, Payroll, Benefits, Human Resources, Information Technology, Student Services, Adult Ed, Construction/Facilities, (not to be confused with the separate department of Maintenance), Library, Food Service, and Transportation, all this in addition to the Administration Chiefs that oversee these departments, and each chief and mid-level chief has his own secretary, and they have staff doing the work.  Do we need them all?  Cut out the bloated positions and programs, combine chiefs and secretaries, and fold together departments  -- cut it down to the barest minimum.  

We all know that the school board can approve whatever millage rate they wish each budget year with little more consequence than enduring the outcry from the public at the budget hearings.   If the referendum fails, and they really want it, they will simply and resolutely set the millage at .5 mills higher and likely more next budget season.  The important thing is they will have to take it, I will not give it to them.  I have no control over what they set the millage to each year, but I will steadfastly refuse to voluntarily vote for any additional millage tax, continuance or otherwise, or vote to keep a school district member in their seat until this abomination of a school district has seen the light of day and has been straightened out.  I am truly hoping that it comes to the district going under State oversight for a few years.  It might be the best thing that could happen.   ~thewhiteowlspeaks@yahoo.com

[National Sad Day] “Combine Pearl Harbor Day with 9/11 Day and Memorial Day for one big Sad Day.” And in which military branch did you serve your country?  And in what capacity have you contributed towards the good of your community lately, or ever? My uncle died at Pearl Harbor. My brother-in-law died in Tower One. My finance died in Viet Nam.  Don't be so flippant about our sorrows.

[Marathon Wrap-up] Attorneys Richard Warner and Frank Greenman are both somehow involved musically in the upcoming Salivation Army benefit. What? The world has come to an end.

Marathon’s Marlin Bay Yacht Club is rising from the ashes that personified this failed project. Still, there is some good news for us, especially 8 workforce-housing units, and boosting our local economy. I feel good about our local economy coming out of the doldrums. Holiday Inn Express, Walgreens, and Marlin Bay are just a few lifting up our city’s economy.

The most important factor in this new start up is to respect the loss of 80 Gulfstream Trailer Park residents. Eight workforce-housing units should come first. Workforce housing crisis has not gotten better, but the overall economy is still in first place of top ten problems. Can you list more under the first place consideration?

The council got the FKAA to run our wastewater/stormwater billing. Hello, these are the same people offering a contract three times more than ours. We see how the FKAA was not the right choice for building our sewer/stormwater systems. The city should be operating the city-billing system. That would create jobs putting money into our economy and ensuring higher quality services. I hate to say that I was right, but I just said it.

Keys Disease by John Bartus is one of the few columnists in the Florida Keys. In that elite group, John Bartus stands above all. The Marathon Journal is working John over to be “syndicated” writing his column for both the Weekly Newspapers and Florida Keys Journal. I wouldn’t mind if you suggest this to John as you are shopping locally. Our schedules don’t match well, and I have limited dates to meet anyone due to my ongoing medical condition.

Marathon 2011 birthday party went well.

Marathon’s 2012 birthday party needs volunteers, sponsors, and among other things funding, especially the city’s part currently set as $10,000. That should a line item in the city’s future budgets. The gains far outweigh the small list of objections. There were no vendors this year. Both the event organizers and some past vendors did not think that was appropriate for the 2011 Marathon birthday party. There is only 11 months left before the event’s 12th birthday comes around. I would like to see the family atmosphere retained and bring back the venders. Seafood Festival and Fantasy Fest all started small, but kept at it every year. Looks like a model for success.

Boater’s World old, failed business building will have new tenants - Marathon Veterinary Hospital. This is good for Marathon, even though I support Keys Animal Hospital. And, yes, Keys Animal Hospital is an advertiser.

Someone wants to erect a 150 foot cell tower on 63rd street Marathon – is the guy on glue? The sacred holder of thy-shalt-not-build anything more than 37 feet will rise up in protest. The Middle Keys residents crushed the request. The 37 foot rule lives to strike another day!

Sheriff Bob Peryam calls it quits after a four-year term. Three candidates sprout their wings. Ramsay, Peteck, and Grove. Who? I only recognize one name that being Ramsay the appointed heir apparent. We need a sheriff that has zero tolerance for deputy’s misconduct.  ~ Publisher@MarathonJournal.US

[Restaurant Complaint] I don't know if you print complaints, but I have been treated shabbily by a local Big Pine Business and I think I should be allowed to vent about it.

I have a very patchy history with Pizzaworks here on Big Pine Key.  I stop going there periodically as they can't seem to consistently get my orders correct.  I just recently started buying there again after a hiatus of several months that involved me having to drive back to the place after paying for the delivery of an order that was wrong.  So I paid the delivery charge and still had to go in and pick it up.

This time is the last straw.  I paid extra for added ingredients in my husband's Stromboli. Apparently the receipt fell out of my pocket when I was at Winn-Dixie while my order was cooking.  I brought the food home and set my husband's Stromboli on the stove since he was asleep.  When he woke up, a few hours later, he went to eat his Stromboli and noticed that the ingredients I paid extra for were not in it.  I called Pizzaworks and told them about the missing ingredients.  They agreed to remake the Stromboli and deliver it. Then they started calling me back, trying to get out of their agreement.

First, a woman claimed she couldn't find the receipt.  I offered to go find mine or the W-D receipt so they could get a time of my order, but she said that was OK.  Then she called back again.  When I told her that I had been 3 or 4 hours ago, she then claimed that they were not responsible for food that old.  I told her that it wasn't the age of the food but the missing ingredients that were the issue.  She kept denying that it was their problem.  When I asked her if I was supposed to wake my husband just to check to see if they can cook an order correctly? she kept changing the subject back to the age of the food and how they weren't responsible. She finally hung up on me. 

I called back.  The rude woman who answered the phone said, "It's THAT WOMAN again!" as she passed the phone to the woman I was speaking to (I assume the manager) earlier. She insisted that all I could get was a credit, even though the Stromboli had not been eaten. When I insisted that offering me a credit, when I seriously doubted I would ever go back into her store again, what with the continued inability to get my orders correct, and the rude person who called me "THAT WOMAN", she hung up again!  When I called back, I asked when I could get my credit and how much it would be.  She said $10.  I paid over $20 for my husband's incorrectly made Stromboli. So they made out very well.

I supposedly have a $10 credit there, but I will bet that I never get it and any record of it will be conveniently "lost" just like my order record.  I realize that I am a local so I don't matter as much as a tourist, but since we locals are the only thing that keeps businesses like Pizzaworks going in the off-times, we should at least get treated decently.  ~lolaiguana@gmail.com

Can we please get rid of that Larcenia-Bullard woman?  She does nothing for us. Several years ago when she was up for  re-election she made an appearance at the KL library meeting room. She and her entourage arrived very late and parked illegally in the traffic lane and circle. All her people were rude, arrogant and acted like they were doing us a favor by gracing us with their presence.  Her remarks were as ignorant as her speaking. She can't speak without Ebonics, and she did not know KL or Monroe County’s concerns.  She also did not know Marathon is north of Key West.  And 3 times she said they had to leave to get out of the Keys.  Some in the audience responded by saying good riddance.

[Bike Show] I’d like to thank all my brothers from BPK for coming to the Brass Monkey bike show. I loved the Triumph chopper! Let’s do it again.

[Exotic Employees] When I worked at Cheeca Lodge and Hawks Cay most of the people were from south Dade or Haiti or Jamaica. None of the money was ever put back into the local economy. Try being unemployed for 3 months with a family and sitting on the sidelines because of cheap imported labor. Our employers need to be responsible and look beyond the bottom line. Or be the 1 percent and vote Republican. Our joke was always that the guests must feel like they are in the islands because all of the employees are refugees. If they knew the truth they would consider staying elsewhere. Once upon a time me and an indentured white dude from Cheeca were bussing a black tie event and all of the Haitians disappeared. I ventured around the corner to find they had just cleared all of the leftover food and were literally moving it down in the dark and packing it up boxes and bags of food to take home.

[Ileana Ros-Lehtinen] “1) If approved by the full Florida Legislature this winter, that plan could prevent local residents from voting for U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who has represented the Keys since 2002.  2) "It has been a true honor to represent the citizens of the Keys during these difficult economic times.  3) as soon it be Ileana," he said. "It's important to have somebody who cares about the Keys." 4) "It is important that the beautiful Florida Keys be contiguous to other coastal communities because these areas face many of the same difficulties."

1) Time enough to be done. List al the things she did to "represent" the Keys.  It's an empty list.  Where has she been in all our fights with FEMA? Hoe many letters has she written to FEMA on behalf of the Keys?  The only time we see her or hear from her is before or during campaign seasons.   Remember, she only won by 3946 votes, according to  Board of Elections website. She lost in precincts 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 - all of Key West, except KW precinct 1, which she only won by 14 votes.  Of course, in the entire county at the 2008 election time,  50,136 people registered to vote, but only 38,818 voted in this specific race. 

2) Of course it's been an honor. We don't cost her anything, and she ignores us in all times, and using "difficult financial" is just campaign rhetoric. The entire state and country is having financial difficulties.

3) What else is Rep Saunders going to say? He has to keep up a good face for his own political life. She does not care about the Keys any more or less that she cares about any other part of her district. 

4) The only 2 things contiguous with the other coastal communities are hurricanes and lots of Spanish speaking Latinos. And according to some local Keys political events followers, the joke is that in the Keys,  the majority of Latinos do not vote, are not registered or even legal to register.

[No such thing as "petro"]  Petro is an abbreviation for petrochemical, as Pharma is for pharmaceutical, as Veggie is for vegetable, as Cammie is for camisole, as Idiot is for those who don't check their own facts before accusing others of making up facts.

On Sunday FTR used paragraphs in his anti Obama post for the first time. Did he finally stop to take a breath from his rant?

[Development] The State should explain ROGO. http://keysnews.com/node/36539

[“Buy stock and be a shareholder”] All that does is perpetuate the screwing,  making one a screwer instead of a screwee . The real solution is ... oh, hell,  I have no clue.   But I can't afford to buy their stock, or their cars, or their gas.  So I just continue in my roll as screwee,  totally dependent on hoping the screwers will be kind-hearted and charitable towards me.

[Today Show] Ann Curry has got to be the worst interviewer of all times. Her sobby style of questioning like. “After you saw your baby torn apart by wild dogs, how did that make you feel?” drives me nuts.

Toilet roll for those who take longer on the john.

[School Budget] "If you vote down the referendum, you will be guilty (of the) mass murder of children, their parents and teachers..." ~Sloan

This wholly reprehensible comment demonstrates the true depth of Sloan's depravity.  Odd that I and others have been labeled as "despicable" for being anonymous challengers to fools, but comments like this are not held in contempt by his followers.  That such outrageous hyperbole is being used to bully would-be voters into granting the school board their insatiable hunger for more tax monies being diverted to their operating budget is ludicrous.  That the Monroe County School Board (MCSB) has harnessed their cart to this rabid fool is a testament to their continued lack of judgment.

As for John Dick's tell-nothing letter to the CT on Saturday, I ask this:  where is the rest of the information we want and deserve to know?  What of the other people on the MCSB payroll beyond the actual schools you failed to illuminate for us?  Why the secretive "email me personally" invitation when what we want is that this information be broadcast to the community at large?  And why on God's Green Earth has the MCSB made no substantive effort to make the necessary cuts or come up with any real solutions to their budget woes beyond reaching into our wallets again?  Interesting that some from within the MCSB know of the bloated bureaucratic black hole and know that forking over more monies is not the answer, that drastic cuts need to be made to eliminate the fat.

The virtual firing of 70 janitors by slicing their pay in half was cowardly and begs the question of whose jobs are being secretly protected at the expense of those non-union janitors?  We know that there are 1000+ teachers and staff working in the schools, but we also know there are more people on the payroll beyond those that have neither been addressed nor admitted to as of yet.
 
Give your head another really good shake:  it is neither the teachers nor the children and their parents we have as targets; it is those extra un-mentioned and seemingly secret collectors of MCSB pay cheques, the "bloat" that John Dick failed to address in his inadequately brief note, that we want detailed and accounted for before we vote on this referendum.  His ploy to have private email discussion is naught but a mechanism to keep us all in the dark until it too late.  We do not want private emails with Mr. Dick, we want full illumination of the MCSB for all in the community.

Perhaps Mr. Dick can explain what these numbers mean and what these four sub-divisions actually encompass, not in a private email to be swept out of sight, but to the community at large:

Excerpted from: http://bit.ly/uGeZsA "Monroe County's spending budget on education, this past year, was $108,661,000, a sum compiled from the expenditures of four other sub-divisions: Instruction: $48,784,000. Teacher Salaries: $31,312,000. Pupils: $4,510,000. Total Support Services: $31,429,000"

I say emphatically, let there be light!

Eagle watching http://bit.ly/uehE3m

Are charter schools the new way for the Keys? http://bit.ly/uWPzB1

We call it troughing.

Ileana must go. Talk about someone who is worthless to us voters! Unless you vote by party lines get rid of her and every Republican blowing every opportunity in the house. Goodbye.

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

Re: Yesterday’s put your name on your attacks post, the person who sent me the post to Naked Conch was Matt Gardi, not Dennis Reeves Cooper or Rick Boetger. The rest of today's post dissects the part of an article in The Citizen today on the handwringing of Superintendent of Schools Jesus Jara over budgets cuts, prelude to tomorrow's School Board meeting at Coral Shores High School in Tavernier. Also today is the legal question of whether the School District can fund unexpected charter school enrollments, when to do so forces the the School Board to reduces its reserves below the state-mandated 3 percent of total revenue level. You can read all about that and a bit more by clicking on this link: home economics –school district, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com.

According to new research, yawning may cool the brain.

[Fractured History] “Then Washington brought the spoils and the prisoners back across the Delaware” I bet you are real fun at parties explaining why jokes are not logical?

[Generation Y] People born before 1946 were called The Silent and powerful generation; People born between 1946 and 1964 are called The Baby Boomers; People born between 1965 and 1979 are called Generation X; And people born between 1980 and 2010 are called Generation Y.

Y should I get a job?
Y should I leave home and find my own place?
Y should I get a car when I can borrow yours?
Y should I clean my room?
Y should I wash and iron my own clothes?
Y should I buy any food?

[Reimbursement Only] Roman Gastesi wants $300 more a month for mileage.  Apparently, $650 a month is inadequate.  Considering that the County requires everyone else to be reimbursed for their expenditures, why doesn't the same apply for Gastesi and other County contractors?  They require non-profits to operate on a reimbursable basis as well as their employees.  Why this exception?  Standard procedure?  Change it!

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Dedicated to Bench Bob. Performed here by Tom Waites. It was written by songwriter Jay Gorney, who was born on this date in 1896. He was blacklisted for his liberal views. Gorney is the man who discovered Shirley Temple and for whom he wrote her first movie song "Baby, Take a Bow" (in Stand Up and Cheer). Gorney wrote such standards as "You're My Thrill" and "What Wouldn't I Do for That Man?" plus hundreds of popular songs for theater, film, and television. His memorial was held at the New York Public Shakespeare Theater, not in a religious setting.
P.S. Bench Bob can happen to any of us!

Christmas 2011: Napa Valley lights up for the holidays (photos). http://huff.to/tYSiSn

[Phony Win] Your email emerged as one of our special winners to receive £2,839,740.00. (Send us your name, address, phone number and country) Mr. Darwin Wilberforce.

John Lennon remembered 31 years after his death. http://aol.it/tmFtUM

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Armed to the Teeth] A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which also includes their own government.

[Faith] I think this faith thing is getting out of control like our politics are, so I’m going to step in. I’m an agnostic. I can see both sides. The atheist crowd can’t understand faith, they’re the scientific bunch. The faithful crowd can’t understand how anyone can’t acknowledge something! And there lies the great divide. Never the twain shall meet so I think I’ll continue to mind my own business.

Jesus responds to Rick Perry. http://bit.ly/sQwPl0

[Update]--The unemployment rate for November fell from 9% to 8.6%
--Herman Cain suspended his campaign due to accusations of extramarital affairs and sexual harassment
--Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank announced he will not seek reelection in 2012
--The Justice Department sent a letter to Congress explaining why it was dishonest about the Fast and Furious operation
--GM is now offering to buy back any Chevy Volt that catches fire
--Last week, President Obama mistakenly referred to the British Embassy as the "English Embassy"
--On a recent episode of Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough called Mitt Romney a RINO
 

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

[Political Debate] Looking closely at the candidates, some are Mormons and Masons and all are J.C. freaks. We are in deep crap, people, if these holy rollers roll into DC and start dictating to the rest of us that God now runs America.  I hope there aren’t any Muslims running.

Can't get enough of huge boobs?

[We criticize Muslim governments for invoking Allah]  No, we criticize Muslim govt’s for using religion to justify killing  anyone who disagrees with them.  They can talk all they want.

[Photo Opportunities]  Eventually Obama will have to go to Israel to get his picture taken at the Wailing Wall, etc. He needs the Democrat Jewish vote and that’s the only way he’ll get it. For all practical purposes his trip will be useless because the peace talks have long been tabled due to lack of progress and Obama hasn’t been siding with Israel on the matter of the Palestinians.

[9/11 Blame] As it turns out it’s not the democrats that are saying America was responsible for 9/11 it’s Republicans running for the office of the president. The usual anti President whiners beat the drum of Obama-hates-America everyday, but don’t mention that their own candidates come right out and say it. I wonder why that is? GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul launched a harsh charge against the Bush administration Thursday night, alleging that it responded to the 9/11 attacks with "glee."

"Think of what happened after 9/11, the minute before there was any assessment, there was glee in the administration because now we can invade Iraq, and so the war drums beat," Paul told a gathering of students in Ames, Iowa, according to Politico. "That's exactly what they’re doing now with Iran."

Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary under Bush, quickly responded in a tweet: Paul's libertarian bent has long made him something of an agitator and an outlier in the Republican party on the issues of 9/11, terrorism and war.

The Texas congressman made a stir with a blog post he wrote over the summer that argued repeated intervention by the United States was at least partially to blame for the attacks on September 11. He was targeted by rival GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum about this claim at a later debate, and was booed by the audience when he continued to make the same claim.

He furthered this argument last month on CBS' "Face the Nation," blaming a flawed U.S. foreign policy for the terrorist attacks.

During that same appearance, he also cautioned that the U.S. should not pursue extreme action toward Iran without concrete proof.

"I think the greatest danger now is for us to overreact," he said. "Iran doesn't have a bomb. There's no proof. There's no new information regardless of this recent report. And for us to overreact and talk about bombing Iran, that's much more dangerous."

If you love American going to war then vote Republican. If you want America to jump right back into a war vote republican and get your wish.

[Captured Drone] It looks like somebody figured out how to hack into the controls of our secret drone and neatly landed it intact in Iran.  I wonder who?

Bad Obama, didn't that stupid form of thinking get Obama elected?[?]

Frank Sinatra, singer, actor, philanthropist was born on this date in 1915 in Hoboken, N.J. Sinatra never graduated high school, instead focusing on his illustrious musical career. He often performed songs by acclaimed composers such as George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers, all non-believers and free-thinkers, catapulting their works into greater fame.  Sinatra raised over one billion dollars for various charities.

“I believe in you and me. I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for. I don’t believe in a personal God to whom I look for comfort or for a natural on the next roll of the dice. There are things about organized religion which I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in his name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion and I’ll show you a hundred retrogressions. Remember, they were men of God who destroyed the educational treasures at Alexandria, who perpetrated the Inquisition in Spain, who burned the witches at Salem. When lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution on Sunday, then cash me out. I can’t believe that decency stems only from religion."

[“We criticize Muslim's government for the same thing”] What a steaming load of crap. We criticize Islamic fundamentalist governments for stoning women, slicing off their genitals, hanging homosexuals, jailing and torturing journalists and political opposition, threatening to obliterate other sovereign UN countries, killing and banning those of other religions, and a host of other atrocities, all in the name of Allah. That you could even equate such behavior with the Republican debates where candidates only profess their faith is sickening. You and you alone deserve to live in a world overseen by Ron Paul.  

Chuck Woolery on budget cuts http://bit.ly/rTJ03F

[From the Right] Entertainment Weekly recently conducted a survey that compared the viewing preferences of liberals and conservatives. Media-savvy comedies with a sarcastic bite and morally ambiguous antiheroes attract liberals. Conservatives tend to watch serious, work-centered shows, along with reality competitions.  That explains a lot.

(Part 2) At last, yesterday there was a posting that I can totally agree with. That posting accused me of being biased. That’s true, I am biased. Very biased. I believe with every fiber in my body that Obama must be defeated in the upcoming election. I believe with every fiber in by body that Obama’s governance is a real and present danger to the very the fabric of America. I am convinced that history will condemn his Presidency.  I will continue to post my strongly held opinions (at least as long as our Deer Ed allows). I will continue to attack liberal misstatements of fact, and will continue to present those rebuttals with every fact that I can garner. Have I made mistakes? You betcha! But, my critics are quick to point them out. I appreciate that. I am biased, but I have no journalistic responsibility whatsoever. I do have a self-imposed duty to fact check and to be accurate. But my onions are my own. It is the intent of these humble postings to convince the readers of the worth of my point of view.  I’m also convinced that every single person who submits political postings is also trying to influence thought.  Please, please, you really should take the time to check out the claims in each and every political declaration that you come across.

Monday December 11, 2011

Click here to send a comment!

Sunday December 11, 2011

[Greed] County Administrator Roman Gastesi gets $650 a month for auto expenses. He now wants $950 a month. He says he drives a lot. Dear Mr Gastesi you can buy a new BMW for $$950 a month! Isn’t your $185,000 a year salary enough for you?

[Imported Workers] All the Hawks Cay staff worked their collective butts off putting in long hours, lots of double shifts, but the rewards were substantial. Certainly more than impressive compared to my salary as an educator. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a middle class family, but I remember waiting on families of ten or thirteen whose lunch tab was close to ninety or a hundred dollars. The average vacationing family stays for ten days to two weeks. You do the math. 

I remember thinking, who are these people? What’s their line of work that they can afford such a place? But I didn’t ponder the question too long. I was just happy that some of this wealth was coming my way. This was all before the introduction of the contract laborer into the workforce (employees brought to the Keys by the owners from locals as diverse as East Europe, Russia and Jamaica). Before them virtually everyone I worked with was a local so the money earned pretty much, one way or another, found its way into the local economy. Contract laborers (who now make up a huge portion of the workforce) send most of their earnings home. The only local who makes out as far as I can tell is the neighborhood Western Union.

[Saunders running for Senate seat] I wouldn’t vote him for dog catcher after he sold out to the gambling forces that hired him to get legalized gambling to his district. That is a conflict of interest to the peoples’ wishes that only a politician can’t see.

[Hopalong Cassidy] I used to hate it when I was a kid and now that I’m an old man I really hate it. I watched an episode the other evening out curiosity to see if it was as bad as I remembered. It was.

[Small Boating] If you’re going boating don’t go out if the wind direction has an E in it because it’ll more than likely be rough. Those are the days to go to the back country.

[Prices] A Sony 40” HD TV is only $600. I can’t believe how cheap these things are getting and they’ve got so many more features than the $2700 TV I bought three years ago.

[Bench Bob]  I hope people are not talking about the guy who sits at CVS. He is still there. He is part of the Keys and we would miss him at the bench.  We are not the only ones who walked by thinking about how he probably has the right idea.

[Missing Tooth] A woman I know was complaining that she might have to leave the Keys because she couldn’t get a job. All the jobs she was applying for required her to face the public. She was personable an well qualified, but she had a front tooth missing and when you see here that is all you see is that black hole. No one is going to hire anyone to represent their business with missing teeth unless the store is in the West Virginia mountains. In the Keys a missing tooth immediately puts you in the dirtbag category.

Before self-stick stamps and envelopes us folks in the tropics had a lot of trouble with lumps of stamps and bunches of envelopes glued shut.

$1 billion pledged for schools by State. Monroe County could see $1.5 million of it. http://bit.ly/t4nbcD

[Little White House Whitefly Lawsuit] Poison or amputation? Send in the ladybugs! http://bit.ly/uajbHx

Mortality defying moments video. http://bit.ly/rTkYUe

[Sinage on U.S.1] County might relax sign rules. Support BPK's own Good Food Conspiracy. Tell Marney the Coconut Telegraph sent you. http://bit.ly/v5Z2TF

The whole hippy thing went south after the Charles Manson thing. For a while it was scary to be a hippy in L.A.

Pigeon Key ramp closed. http://bit.ly/sSJ68P

The Pope will visit Cuba this spring.

Ruining your reputation really frees you up.

[“Dangerous to leave the bees there”]  There, you answered your own question.  There will be more, many more and anyone coming near will be in danger.  If any guest or family member is allergic it could prove fatal.  It looks like a bee of some type, hopefully not the Africanized type.  Get the bug man out there to remove or destroy them, whatever he recommends.

[Online vote] We should have a non binding referendum vote held online with proper notification in the media. It would be cheap. Don’t waste money on non- binding referendum voting for items or studies. Instead of those expensive ballots we should have a scheduled online election twice a year or so, but not more frequently. Proper advertising and notification would be key to its success. Traditional voting must stay in place until better internet security is figured out, but online voting would be perfect of non binding issues.

[Redistricting] Keys could lose Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and her anti-Cuba stance. http://bit.ly/v6L5yz

Christmas for the reef. http://bit.ly/tdjt8X

[“Shareholders are getting rich, and screwing us”]  That’s a good reason to buy stock and be a shareholder.

[Learning To Be A Bum] There is a very successful way to not work by “working” the system. I worked until retirement but always wondered how some do so well by not working. I wish there was a college class on all the ins and outs to get a Government check every month. Classes in fake disability, food stamps, caring for a dead mother or father money, fake unemployment. Maybe they are the smart ones?

[Sad Day] Let’s combine Pearl Harbor Day with 9/11 Day and Memorial Day and have just one big Sad Day.

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

Today's homily, aka blathering, starts off with an email and blog link from "concerned citizen" putting to question the rent increase and waterfront offices said to be enjoyed by the Public Defender's office in Key West, and stating "concerned citizen's" pet peeve, not getting written answers to written questions. I replied to "concerned citizen" that I, too, have a pet peeve, which is people attacking other people on blogs anonymously. (It provides an awful role model for children.) I said I would like to know who "concerned citizen" really is, which I might or might not be able to accurately guess from "concerned citizen" revealing writing for Key West the Newspaper. No written reply yet from "concerned citizen." Also in that segment of today's post, some intrigue about an endorsement by former School Board member Stephen Pribramsky of Barbara Bowers over Robin Smith-Martin, which was squelched in the bud by and article written by Rick Boetger and Dennis Reeves Cooper, the end of which slammed Stephen Pribramsky.

Also on the topic of putting your name on your attacks is whiteowlspeaks slam on yesterday's Coconut Telegraph of what I've been writing about the .5 mil referendum and school district finances. I replied in length to whiteowlspeaks in an email copied to School Board Chairman John Dick, asking John to correct anything I said incorrectly of which he had knowledge. John also had posted to the Coconut Telegraph yesterday, correcting incorrect information put on the Coconut Telegraph a couple of days ago by another conspiracy freak. John included his school district email address and invited anyone to write to him directly about any school district questions, and said he will reply if the person includes his/her name and address. John's is included in today's post, along with his short email to me saying I seem to have understood the situation pretty well.

You can read all about it by clicking on this link: put your name on your attacks, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com. I always say "which is supposed to" in case the link doesn't work, which seems to have happened yesterday. I did something to screw it up. That always can be overcome on the same day as the post/teaser by going to the website and opening Today's FlaKey Drivel.

[Andy Rooney] At my retirement party my co-workers gave me a new iPhone. What does the “I” in “iPhone” stand for anyway? Why does everything need a pronoun in front of it? There’s the iPhone. There’s YouTube. There’s Wii Bowling. And of course there’s she-males. But that’s just at one bar I sometimes go to with Mike Wallace.

This new iPhone comes with a 2-year contract. That’s a long term commitment for a man my age. The library won’t even lend me books anymore. My health’s not that good. Last week the doctors found blood in my urine. The week before that, they found urine in my blood. Even as I’m typing this, I’m tasting copper. They used to make pennies out of copper. Now it’s zinc. Zinc’s a funny word… It… Oh, f**k it.

You can type on an iPhone. I like to type on a typewriter. Too bad Underwood didn’t ever get into the cell phone game. That’s a brand you can trust. It’s the Studebaker of typewriters!

I understand that these phones have to be charged. I never have to charge the phone in my kitchen. I don’t think you should have to charge an appliance. If you had to charge your blender, you’d never use it!

I went to get my fedora blocked and the owner, Gary, was on something called a Bluetooth. That sounds like something you get from eating too many blueberries. Not to be confused with a Blackberry, which is another kind of phone. Maybe they should get together. Black and blue. They could create a phone called The Bruise. Whew! I almost collapsed after coming up with that one!

Morley Safer said this phone comes with 500 minutes. I don’t know if 500 minutes is enough – I could talk for that long just about cottage cheese. Not that you’d ever want to talk to Morely Safer for 500 minutes. He’s a very boring man.

Now, where was I about cottage cheese…

[I know he was hung, but how did he die?] “I always wondered what my life would have been like if I was hung like a horse?"

“With your personality? No change!"

[Barking Dog Cure] Hopefully all the posts about poisoning the neighbors dogs with anti-freeze, Bakers dark chocolate or macadamia nuts doesn’t give some local psychopath the wrong idea. Posts like that could instill thoughts in those that otherwise would not have known about how well these poisons work.

[Washington Crosses the Delaware] It might be helpful if this poster brushed up a wee bit on history: Washington crossed the Delaware into, not out of New Jersey. Objective? To catch the British off-guard in Trenton. He succeeded. Then, he brought the spoils and the prisoners back across the Delaware.

[Rejected Applicant] I went on a job interview the other day and have come to a conclusion the bubba system is alive and very well here in the Keys.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Morality] Newt was fined over $800,000 for ethics violations. The only good thing about him is he recognizes global warming.

I find it extremely biased how the FTR guy will attack any thing any Democrat does and make excuses for any thing a Republican doesn’t.

[Just Say Yes For Once] “Financial institutions have plenty of high-powered lawyers and lobbyists looking out for them. It’s time consumers had someone on their side.” Thus sayeth Obama while trying to get Republicans to confirm his pick to head a new consumer watchdog office. Republicans continue to say no to anything that might help the average American, instead focusing their legislation on actions that benefit the wealthy.

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

[Nobody can get into heaven] No one wants to go to hell. Hell promises to be a place of eternal torment in a lake of fire. We all want to go to heaven, where we can experience God's love, peace and happiness for eternity. Therefore, in the Bible, the Lord Jesus gives us clear instructions on how to inherit eternal life. He gives us eight steps that we must take to get to heaven. In this short video we examine the eight steps so that you can prepare your eternal soul to enter the heavenly kingdom of God when you die. http://bit.ly/si0x7q

[Republican Debate] Only one candidate last night, Ron Paul, didn’t talk about God. We criticize Muslims government for the same thing.

About the auto industry screwing us: the shareholders are getting screwed too, trust me on this.

[Petrol] FTR always refers to it as the "petro" industry. There is no such thing as "petro". There's "petrol" if you're from the UK. But aside from "Petro", the currency proposed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, there's no such thing.

Isn't that just typical FTR? Inventing facts.

By the way, Oilmen have been portrayed as sleazy for a reason. Oil interests would drill in Mother Theresa's grave if they thought there was a pocket of fossil fuel below her bones.

I O W A:  Idiots Out Wandering Around

[Iran] U.S. officials have confirmed that Iran has recovered an American top secret RQ-170 drone. “With early knowledge that the aircraft had likely remained intact, the senior U.S. official also told Fox News that President Obama was presented with three separate options for retrieving or destroying the drone. The president ultimately decided not to proceed with any of the plans because it could have been seen as an act of war, the official told Fox News.” Somebody tell the President that the Iranians already are at war with the U.S. regardless of this incident.  This is a regime sworn to destroy America. http://bit.ly/tlymcd

The problem for Team Obama is that, so far, they have found no clear way of encapsulating his case for a second term.  The option of running as the candidate of “hope and change” is no longer available for a man who has occupied the Oval Office for almost three years. But the search for a concise rationale for his candidacy — the ‘bumper sticker’ of the 2012 campaign — has not yet been fruitful.

One wonders why are country is in such bad shape.  According to fiscal year 2010 data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maryland and Virginia distributed about $130 million in food stamps to individuals who were not eligible. For every $100 in benefits, those two states doled out $6.11 and $5.04, respectively, to those not eligible. The national average for that time was $3.05. Inefficiency in the food stamp program spending is costing taxpayers billions.  Of the $64.7 billion spent on the program last year (a record high that is only slated to increase), an overall $2.5 billion was spent on improper food stamp payments.

[Bad Obama] The best way to fix America is to vote for whoever runs against Obama.

[Bad Santa] The number one threat to our security is Santa Claus. I know what you’re thinking, Santa?, but he’s so jolly and happy and nice. You are just saying this because you’re Jewish! Wrong. My religious beliefs have nothing to do with this post. I love Christmas as much as the next person. The snow, the gifts, the alcoholic beverages, seeing parents pay out the nose for toys that their spoiled kids will get tired of in less than a day. It’s great!

I’m here to talk about the Number 1 threat to you, your family, your friends, and your friends’ families. If you don’t think that Santa is a threat, then stop watching the liberal media and listen up. Santa doesn’t care who you are, or what you do. Santa merely wants to get you. Now you might be asking yourself how I can say all of these things. Well, let’s take a look, shall we?

First of all, Santa is a person who climbs down your chimney and enters your house. Um, if I’m not mistaken, that’s called Breaking an Entering, and that is most certainly illegal. So right off the bat, he’s breaking into your house. “Oh but Goji, he’s delivering presents.” Yeah, right. Let’s take a look at some of these “presents”. You really think these presents are safe? No? Would you let some obese man in a red jump suit break into your house? I wouldn’t.

Another thing, Santa routinely violates the air-space of sovereign nations all over the Globe, yet nobody has been able to track him long enough to shoot him down with a cruise missile. Why is this? Is there some secret to Santa’s sleigh? I believe that there is. Just look at his front running reindeer: Rudolph. Why does his nose shine so brightly? Is it a birth defect? A miracle? No. Two words: Radiation poisoning. That’s right. Rudolph has been exposed to massive amounts of radiation, and I believe that nuclear power is the source that powers Santa’s sleigh of terror. Rudolph is the primary engineer on the damn thing! That’s why his nose is so red. He’s been bombarded with so much radiation that he’s glowing. Why does Santa even need an atomic reactor? What else is he hiding? Nuclear weapons, perhaps?

Have you ever been to the mall at Christmas? It’s certainly nice to see Santa having fun with the kids. He loves having kids on his lap. Now if that doesn’t throw up a red flag, I don’t know what will. The man is obviously a pedophile, and he’s going to drive his atomic-powered sleigh to your home, climb down your chimney, abduct your children, and God only knows what he plans to do with them. Maybe disguise your child as an elf and force him into slavery in his workshop making nuclear weapons to kill you and your families with?

Santa Claus has a beard. You know who else had a beard? Osama bin Laden. Coincidence? Hardly. Don’t let the liberal media trick you. Santa Bin Laden is very real, and is the most dangerous threat the world has ever seen! Yet, so many people love him! Why is that? It has been said that the Devil’s greatest trick is to convince the world he does not exist. And if you want even more proof, just look at his name: Santa. What happens if we re-arrange some of those letters around? S-A-T-A-N. Yeah, you had better gasp collectively.

My friends, I urge you. This Christmas, if you hear footsteps on the roof, it’s not jolly ol’ Saint Nick. It’s a fat terrorist pedophile in a red jumpsuit who could very well bomb your house in the name of Allah. Stay vigilant. Don’t believe the liberal media’s lies! And most importantly, arm yourselves. This time, it’s war.

[From the Right] Obama’s Osawatomie speech was really disturbing. I suggest you get a copy of the text and read it. When you cut through all of the ruffles and flourishes, he is lecturing us that capitalism just doesn’t work. While he fails to inform us of his alternative, he is crystal clear that he is dead set on waging war against capitalism

He continued his shameful claims that he has no fingerprints on our current mess. He continues to accuse previous admins of causing our current distress. In so doing, he lied to you. Obama lied to you, like Clinton, he is a very skillful liar.

U.S Government data prove his statements to be lies. He said that the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 created massive deficits that thwarted job creation. Government records prove his claims to be lies. The tax cuts took effect in 2004. From 2004 through 2007 the deficit was cut drastically.  In 2004 the U.S. government's official budget deficit was $412 billion. The U.S. federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2007 was about $161 billion. In the first three years of the the tax cuts the deficit was cut by $2251 billion. Then the Dems took over, and now only 5 years later the deficit is a hair burning $1.3 trillion. 

Deer Friends, Obama did not make a mistake, he lied. His lecture on the evils of the previous admin claimed that hiring had been thwarted by the tax cuts. Yet another Obama lie. In January 2001 there were 136 million Americans employed. By January 2007 the month the Dems took control there were 146 million Americans with jobs. Thanks to a Republican President and a Republican Congress we put 10 million more Americans to work in the 6 years between ’01 and ‘07. Today, after only 5 years of Democrat control, the number of Americans with jobs has declined to 14.5 million. Those stats are from the BOLS. Democrat governance has lost us jobs.

The ‘01/’03 tax cuts increased  Federal tax revenues from Total Revenues in ’03 of $1,783 Billion to $2,407 Billion by 2006.

Obama claimed that the previous admin failed to properly protect the public and regulate finance; he argued that poor unsuspecting borrowers had been tricked into accepting loans that they could not afford.  Damn, more lies. First during the early years of the Bush admin passed the Sarbanes Oxley Act also known as the 'Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act. It was said to be "the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of FDR. Obama’s claim that the previous admin is responsible for the piss poor regulation of the mortgage giants is another lie. The historical record is replete with attempts by the Bush admin to reform FM/FM. A decent synopsis is to be found at http://bit.ly/siRf87                                

Each and every attempt to reform the Democrat shielded eF’rs was massively opposed by Democrats, especially Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.  They were the masters of the programs that forced lenders to give loans to folks who not a prayer of being able to afford. Not a single borrower, not a one, was forced to take the mortgage loans that they knew they could not pay.

There is much more to be said, but for today, please consider that Obama has now blamed the Bush admin, capitalism, Congress, the internet, lazy American workers, greedy capitalist bastards, Bankers, Wall Street, the health insurance industry, the Tea Party, the petroleum industry, the health care industry, and automation for our current mess.  Maybe Mother Theresa is next. Perhaps worse, he refuses to tell about his vision of a more perfect America. I think I know why. Another term for Obama is simply unthinkable. 

Sunday December 11, 2011

Click here to send a comment!
 

(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: all picture's might not be posted today. If you want them posted resend them tomorrow)
 

Saturday December 10, 2011

Facts; 

1. Monroe County School District has 1,019 employees as of Dec. 9, 2010.

2. The School Board is NOT asking to raise taxes, we are only asking to continue the shift of .5 mill from the Capital Account to the Operating Account.  No matter how the vote goes on the referendum it will not change anyone's tax levy.  It will only change what account the funding will go to.  It is needed in the Operating Account which is already down $14 million from just a few years ago.  The referendum represents $9 million which is presently being used in our Operating Account.

3.  Anyone that has any questions about the school district or the referendum may contact me via email at

 john.dick@keysschools.com  and as long as you provide your name and address I will respond.  I would ask that you be wary of some misinformation that a few seem bent on spouting.

4.  The referendum vote will take place on January 31, 2012 which is the Republican Presidential Primary, however all registered voters will have a ballot, those that are not Republican will have only the School Board Referedum on their ballot.

I am asking for a YES vote on that referendum.

John R. Dick  Chairman Monroe County School Board

Florida has a very broad Public Records Law.  Email addresses and virtually all written communications to or from School District Personnel are public records available to the public and media upon request. E-mail sent or received on the School District system will be considered public and will only be withheld from disclosure if deemed exempt from disclosure or confidential pursuant to applicable state and federal law.

Free fish on Friday. Where I grew up in Ohio it was a fairly common practice for the neighborhood pub to kick 
out some free grub with reduced happy hour drinks. We used to go to a strip club for cheap beer and free food. 
We would hang out with girls and smoke pot. Eat free food and look at boobies. Those were the days. This girl 
we were hanging out with had to go on stage to dance so we followed her over and my buddy started biting her boot 
while she stripping when the large brunhilda manager grabbed him by the ponytail and dragged him off. The yes the keys definitely
 need something like that. 

One man born poor, decides against joining the rat race, spends his 
days dissipating and in mostly aimless pursuits and is known locally as a bum.!!  
Another man born into money leads basically the same type of lifestyle and is known locally as that progressive eminent playboy.

Help! is this a honey bee or a wasp?  I found a hive of them under the  
house rafters.  I don't want to kill them but I'm not sure if its  dangerous to leave them there. 

Help! is this a honey bee or a wasp?  I found a hive of them under the  
house rafters.  I don't want to kill them but I'm not sure if its  dangerous to leave them there. 

I was walking my dog at Wilder Rd & Winifred Street on Big Pine Key & 
was horrified to see the yard on the corner. It was all Brazilian peppers, many 
in full fruit. There ought to be a law against polluting the neighborhood properties and
 public lands like that. I hope whoever lives there will be going to Saturday's free 
Blue Hole herbicide giveaway. There will be info targeting this taxpayer money-draining problem.

Nice book review. Any keys books out there?

RE: Long time CT follower

That’s great!!

I am a long time poster, but first time reader…

It really raises some people's ire about a fella sitting on a bench.  
As long as he's not hurting anyone, dislodge the sticks from your  butts, you cranky farts.

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

Today's fugue takes up where yesterday's left off. I get reamed in an email from Audit & Finance Chairman Stuart Kessler, and then in an email from AFC member Larry Murray to Todd German, for my suggesting, as a joke, that children, their parents and school teachers might send dead fish and letter bombs to Stuart, Larry and their School Board stooge Robin Smith-Martin, if the .5 mil tax for school operations fails. Then comes Todd's reply to Larry, which I told Todd was well written. Then comes an account of a telephone conversation with State Attorney Dennis Ward about dead fish and letter bombs. Dennis said he had received a citizen inquiry about prosecuting me, but he didn't sound yet like he was ready have me arrested. The angels have sent me thousands of dead fish and letter bombs, and I sort of hope they send a few to Stuart, Larry and Robin for trying to defeat the referendum, which, if they succeed, will amount to mass murder of children, their parents and school teachers. There is a bit more than that in today's fugue, but you will have to click on this link to see the rest of it: one flew over – school district production, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com.

Why oh why are some folks upset because another human being chooses to  
sit on a bench and read???
What's up with that???  I swear certain complainers will whine just  because someone else is breathing.

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

FTR is going through a lot of trouble, (several rambling paragraphs,  
in fact), to say, "The other guys did it, so nobody should care too  much about what Newt did!" Waaah waaah wah.

The current Occupiers of the White House will claim the slight dip in the unemployment rate from 9 percent to 8.6 percent is proof the economy is beginning to lumber out of the recession they imposed on it. Don’t believe the spin. The economy continues to sink. Once the employment data is analyzed and the economic truth comes out, it will be seen that one of the probable reasons for the dip in the unemployment rate is that 315,000 more Americans have quit looking for work, making them persona non grata when it comes to being counted in employment statistics.

Denial runs deep in our corrupt, power-abusing government, does it not?

In addition to those 315,000 Americans who are statistically null and void, there are 14 million who are out of work. The proportion of Americans unemployed or underemployed has reached 18 percent, meaning the employment picture remains ominous.

Meanwhile, the debt continues to escalate, with Fedzilla borrowing $170 million every single hour.

Slice it any way you want, but what this adds up to is an employment and economic train wreck. And things are going to get much worse with Captain Train wreck Obama at the controls.

The writing is on the wall  In a speech delivered at Osawatomie High School in Osawatomie, Kansas, on Tuesday, President Barack Obama argued that while a limited government that preserves free markets “speaks to our rugged individualism” as Americans, such a system “doesn’t work” and “has never worked” and that Americans must look to a more activist government that taxes more, spends more and regulates more if they want to preserve the middle class.  Spoken like the Marxist Socialist that Barack Obama is.

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

The premise that Atheists attempt to assert between science and religions is 
 patently a paper tiger, the conflict is between interpretations of science brought forth 
by different religious worldviews, indeed ridiculing someone for not believing as you do is nothing but elitist snobbery. 

Saturday December 10, 2011

Click here to send a comment!

 

Friday December 8, 2011

[“Bench Bob is clearly more literate than whoever called him a bum.”] Literacy does not prevent one from being a bum. Anyone can live in Bum City. That's the whole point--there are no requirements.

To celebrate Pearl Harbor Day I used Japanese bread crumbs (Panko) to top my tuna casserole.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages, the MOONDOGS will be playing Mangrove Mamas tonight, Friday, Dec 9th starting at 6:30.   I know all you Cudjoe and Sugarloaf people want to come out and rock some, so come on out for great food, drink, music, and dancing. The first set is a little lighter and the last two sets will rock out! 

Don't forget next week the Moondogs will be down at Bobalu's in Key West from 7 to 11. Also in January we will be playing the Tiki on Ramrod and the at The Curve (Island Grill) in BPK.

We want to thank everyone that has supported us over the years and wish all a very Merry Christmas. See you tonight at Mangrove Mamas.

~Your Fried Flip Flop Bob

[Book Review] Author Richard Preston's The Hot Zone traces the discovery of Ebola, HIV and the Marburg viruses from Lake Victoria to an outbreak in suburban Washington, DC. He does it in a novel way that layman can understand. All the characters are real; some of their names have been changed. Preston reveals how the end of civilization as we know it fizzled out. The Hot Zone is so interesting that it was made in to a movie.

[Bench Bob] I would like to submit the following on Bench Bob. A few years ago he came into our office looking for a job as a carpenter. I hired him and gave him the pay he asked for. He started missing work the first week and after being late and missing work for 4 weeks in row he was fired, I terminated him. Call him what you will. I am probably just jealous because I can’t do it!

[School Board] I'm really glad Mark Peterson got into the school board race.  He's too polite, however, when he says Duncan "Dancing in the Classrooms" Matheson did a good job.  In my mind, this is an excellent chance to send another Acevdo apologist on down the road.

[Pearl Harbor Day] Apparently on Big Pine and the surrounding Keys there was only one place that had their flag at half mast to acknowledge our veterans on Pearl Harbor Day, the first 9/11. Only one!

I have been a follower of the CT since the very beginning and an occasional poster. I enjoy following the local gossip and the laughs I get.

[Lost Dog] 15 year old Golden Retriever mix. Lost around Mangrove Mama’s. She’s old and pretty much blind. If found please call 305-395-0455. Thank You. Classified Ads > Lost & Found

[Joke] One dark night outside a small town in Saskatchewan , a fire started inside the local sausage plant and in a blink it exploded into massive flames.

The alarm went out to all the fire departments from miles around.

When the volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the sausage company president rushed to the fire chief and said, 'All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant.

They must be saved and I will give $50,000 to the fire department that brings them out intact.'

But the roaring flames held the firefighters off.

Soon more fire departments from surrounding towns had to be called in as the situation became desperate.

As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer was now $100,000 to the fire department who could bring out the company's secret files.

From a distance, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came into sight.

It was the nearby Melville rural township volunteer fire department composed mainly of Ukrainians over the age of 65.

To everyone's amazement, the little run-down fire engine, operated by these Ukrainians, passed all the newer sleek engines parked outside the plant, and drove straight into the middle of the inferno.

Outside, the other firemen watched as the Ukrainian old timers jumped off and began to fight the fire with a performance and effort never seen before.

Within a short time, the Melville old-timers had extinguished the fire from the middle outward and saved the secret formulas.

The grateful sausage company president joyfully announced that for such a superhuman feat he was upping the reward to $200,000, and walked over to personally thank each of the brave, though elderly, Ukrainian firefighters.

The local TV news reporters rushed in after capturing the event on film asking, 'What are you going to do with all that money?'

'Vell,' said Nick Sputski, the 70-year-old fire chief, '.....da furst thing vee gonna do is fix da brakes on dat focking truck.'

[Giant bugs on BPK] They’re on Big Pine Key and came here from  New Zealand. they must have come here in some cargo. There's a guy that was bitten a few days ago by one of these. I though it was a joke until I found one in my yard. I have never seen a bug that big. I understand that there are sighting of them all over the Internet and on the news. Kind of like an invasion. 

I agree that "Bench Bob is a bum”, three times. I’m so tired of hearing all that sympathetic crap about the bench. The man needs to find another place to sit in public and smell up the community. Get a friggin’ chair to read in at home Bob, like, here's an idea, at home like the rest of us do.

Over 2,000 saturated fat recipes. http://www.crisco.com/Recipes/

Baggage handler in dog abuse case accepts reinstatement at airport. http://on.rgj.com/v7HAvU

The next meeting of the Big Pine Computer Club is coming up this Saturday, December 10, 10am at the senior center.  Hope to see you there. Bulletin Board

[“Watered down shots are not the way to make happy hour friends.”] Neither are 7 ounce happy hour draft beers,  half priced, half-sized appetizers and over priced iceberg lettuce salads described by fancy names and pictures on the menu--that show up being "not quite" as described. 

The Lower Keys really needs a locals hangout. What happened to all-you-can-eat fried fish on Fridays? Or a catch-of-the-day that was really caught in the Keys that day? Gawd I miss what was.

Tai Chi is on Thursdays around 1 PM at Vineyard Church on County Rd in Big Pine.

What the frack! The EPA has said fracking is bad. http://bit.ly/sYGh9M

More boobees

[Free Lecture] Thursday, January 5, 2012 Night Moves in the Florida Keys by: Donna Blaszcak

After discovering the Florida Keys in 1971 and vacationing here since, two years ago Donna permanently left New Jerseys shipwrecks for the Florida Keys. Many divers dive the Florida Keys, but most miss out on the diverse and exciting night life under the waves.  Come dive with Donna to see and identify what is hidden from view during the day.  The reefs come alive after the sun sets. Bulletin Board

[Giant Grasshopper]  I don't know about the picture, but I can tell you I've seen some huge grasshoppers right here in my yard, and other people's yards here in the Middle Keys.  I would say they were at very least 5-7 inches long nose to rear, and had a big strong set of back jumper legs.  Big fellas!  Maybe a little smaller than that picture, but pretty damn big all the same.  Maybe the ones I saw just weren't mature yet.  No, I didn't handle or play with them.  I would imagine if you tried to pull these guys' legs off, they'd give you a fight!

If my wife was having a secret liaison at Hawks Cay at least someone would be getting laid.

[Air Force’s Funny Ground Crew]  Great to see those guys injecting some fun into their duties!  I used to marshall aircraft at a major airport.  If I'd tried any of those moves the air crews would have had me hauled off for a blood alcohol test or just used me as a wheel chock.

[Miles to the Gallon] Its amazing that in 1986 you could buy a car that gets 50 mpg. Now it’s got to be electric to get that many. The auto industry has been screwing us for years. http://1.usa.gov/ubTzQP

Christmas Bazaar & Bake Sale yomorrow, Saturday Dec. 10 from 9-12 noon at Lord of the Seas Lutheran Church 1250 Key Deer Blvd, Big Pine Key. Hand made items to buy for gift giving ~ coffee, hot cider, home made sweet treats available for a cash donation In the spirit of Christmas all proceeds from food sales will to be given to the Food Pantry on Key Deer Blvd. Come and meet your neighbors inside the church. Questions please call Jean 872-7935 

[Sarcasm] I want some of those giant bugs so I can turn them loose when I get tired of them.

[In the Dumps] Soldiers' remains went to landfill. Support the troops, but no this way! http://fxn.ws/vRHuMu

“Hello from Ohio” I miss you & love you, too!

[Activist] When did it happen that just because somebody wants to say something about what's going on around them they get labeled "activist"?  I'm not politically correct currently so I do not know whether being activist is a good thing or bad thing.   All I know is I'm not a label.  I am not an activist.

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

Today's audit explores lots of stuff accountants probably have wet dreams over but humans view as unintelligible at best. Hard to say where to begin describing today's thrashing about in a teaser, other than it continues where yesterday's left off. Can't say it looks to me that the school board and school district are doing a much better job selling the public on passing the .5 mil for operations referendum than school board member Robin Smith-Martin and Audit & Finance Committee members Stuart Kessler and Larry Murray are doing. You can read all about that and related attractions and distractions by clicking on this link: humanese vs. accountantese – school district, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com.

[Jog Strap] For the man that has everything. Video

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. Check out the following for examples:

I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.

If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse always gets the cheese.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a workstation.

Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of a pool and throw them fish.

I thought I wanted a career, but it turns out I just wanted paychecks.

Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, "In an emergency, notify:" I always put, "DOCTOR."

I didn't say it was your fault; I said I was blaming you.

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but always check when you say the paint is wet?

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut and still think they are sexy.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You definitely need a parachute to skydive twice.

The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some darned good ideas!

Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

Hospitality: Making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.

I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.

There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.

When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

You're never too old to learn something stupid.

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination whatsoever.

A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.

Facebook is the go to place for protests. It made possible the overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt last summer. More than 30,000 people have promised on a Facebook page to attend an anti-Putin protest in Moscow on Saturday and similar rallies have been called for more than 70 other cities. Before Facebook people didn’t know where to go on the Internet to find like-minded others.

[Manboobs for the ladies]  I don't know any ladies into zombie sumo wrestlers on trampolines, which is what that looked like.  They looked scary.

If a boob shot is “classy” it's kind of missing the point.

I'm rich! Silver in the hair, gold in the teeth, crystals in the kidneys, sugar in the blood, lead in the ass, iron in the arteries, and an inexhaustible supply of natural gas. Geez I never thought I'd accumulate such wealth.

[Marc the Funny] Santa's been running the most notorious sweat shop for centuries. Not to mention the socialist redistribution of wealth and gifts.

My favorite occurrence took place a couple of years back when the H C[?] entire staff was informed that a no-nonsense, top-of-the-line, one of a kind managerial type had just been hired and that this individual was not only beyond reproach but that it was his intention to run the ship with an iron fist.  A week later the individual drove off a bridge on property and was cited for a DUI.  At the next attendance-required-by-all-staff meeting, the guy spoke of the necessity for decorum and general good behavior among all employees.  Many a laugh was stifled that morning.

A total eclipse of the Moon will be visible in the early morning skies of western Northern America. The action begins around 4:45 am Pacific Standard Time when the red shadow of Earth first falls across the lunar disk. By 6:05 am Pacific Time, the Moon will be fully engulfed in red light. This event - the last total lunar eclipse until 2014 - is visible from the Pacific side of North America, across the entire Pacific Ocean to Asia and Eastern Europe.

Not only will the Moon be beautifully red, it will also be inflated by the Moon illusion. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects. In fact, a low Moon is no wider than any other Moon (cameras prove it) but the human brain insists otherwise. To observers in the western USA, therefore, the eclipse will appear super-sized.  http://bit.ly/s8QIVW

[White Fly Invasion] Ladybugs sold commercially are not the answer. Other Coleoptera beetles will do a far better job, especially with the Rugose Spiraling Whitefly. From my understanding purchased ladybugs do not stay on the property, so it not worth the money to purchase them. It is far better to increase Nepasphis oculata, a beetle that will stay on the gumbo limbo leaves, walking through the white sticky, waxy mess searching for eggs and immature stages to feed on.

The problem with this beetle is that it is not commercially available. But it is a continual search for a healthy population that can be harvested and released to other locations. Also, the wasp Encarsia guadaluape (again not commercially available) are very effective in using the immature whitefly as a food source. Again these can be collected and released at other sites.

[Productivity] I've learned that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

[Timeline of Pearl Harbor Attacks] Here is a very interesting and informative slide show depicting the chronology of the attack on Pearl Harbor 70 years ago. This is a solemn occasion where we remember the loss of life that catapulted us into WWII. Slide Show

[Timmy Tuxedo] Always check your tux rental in all lighting conditions, especially black light!

[Free movie] A Sea Change Thursday, January 12, 2012. In A Sea Change, retired high school teacher Sven Huseby learns that the oceans are becoming more acidic because they’ve absorbed much of the carbon dioxide we’ve pumped into the atmosphere. He’s worried at the prospect of an ocean without fish – not for himself but for his grandson Elias, a mischievous, whip-smart five-year-old who loves the sea. Huseby sets off on a journey to learn more about ocean acidification, talking with scientists, lawyers, alternative-energy entrepreneurs, and artists. He sends letters for Elias to read when he's older and can more fully appreciate his grandfather's quest. 
The documentary is a solid primer on the science of ocean acidification, a problem that gets less attention than its twin issue, global warming. One of Huseby's strengths is that he doesn't preach what he knows but rather learns along with us. We can relate when we see him squinting in front of his computer at home, Googling keywords like “CO2 + H2O.” During interviews, he comes across as an eager, enthusiastic pupil.
But if A Sea Change only focused on science and facts, it might appeal to our brains but not our hearts. Fortunately, it's anchored in the connection between Huseby and his grandson; it’s one of the most touching depictions of the grandchild-grandparent relationship in recent filmmaking. When we see the pair happily fishing together at the film’s end, there’s a sense of heartache at what could be lost but also hope that we can save it. Bulletin Board

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Leadership] Newt Gingrich.  I've never liked the guy, but that doesn't count for beans in this election.  I'm not nominating him for sainthood, I'm looking for someone to lead this country.  I want him to have intelligence and an appreciation for the Constitution and our history.  I want him to look out for the USA first in all dealings with foreign entities of any kind. 

[“If Tim Tebow’s god was real, isn’t that cheating when he prays so hard for victory?”]  Nope, the other side has equal opportunity to pray.

"The Muppets are Communist", Fox Business Network says. It ain't easy being green, but according to Fox Business, Kermit the Frog and his Muppet friends are reds.

Last week, on the network's "Follow the Money" program, host Eric Bolling went McCarthy on the new, Disney-released film, "The Muppets," insisting that its storyline featuring an evil oil baron made it the latest example of Hollywood's so-called liberal agenda. Bolling, who took issue with the baron's name, Tex Richman, was joined by Dan Gainor of the conservative Media Research Center, who was uninhibited with his criticism.

"It's amazing how far the left will go just to manipulate your kids, to convince them, give the anti-corporate message," he said.

"They've been doing it for decades. Hollywood, the left, the media, they hate the oil industry," Gainor continued. "They hate corporate America. And so you'll see all these movies attacking it, whether it was 'Cars 2,' which was another kids' movie, the George Clooney movie 'Syriana,' 'There Will Be Blood,' all these movies attacking the oil industry, none of them reminding people what oil means for most people: fuel to light a hospital, heat your home, fuel an ambulance to get you to the hospital if you need that. And they don't want to tell that story."

Indeed, there was no mention of the benefits of oil drilling in the Muppets, but there was also no discussion of any other aspect of the industry. Richman, played by Chris Cooper, was out to destroy the Muppets theater. Kermit and his friends, then, were not committed environmentalists (though one must imagine the frog is concerned with his swampy homeland) but simply puppets looking to save a place they once loved.

Still, Gainor blamed the film, and its predecessors, for Occupy Wall Street and the environmental movement.

"This is what they're teaching our kids. You wonder why we've got a bunch of Occupy Wall Street people walking around all around the country, they've been indoctrinated, literally, for years by this kind of stuff," Gainor said. "Whether it was 'Captain Planet' or Nickelodeon's 'Big Green Help,' or 'The Day After Tomorrow,' the Al Gore-influenced movie, all of that is what they're teaching, is that corporations is bad, the oil industry is bad, and ultimately what they're telling kids is what they told you in the movie 'The Matrix': that mankind is a virus on poor old mother Earth."

The Teletubbies were unavailable for comment. Mahna-Mahna. How did FTR guy miss this chance to blame Obama for something else?

One's good work doesn't make them a (fill in your religion). One does good works because they are a decent human being. 

Money not selling. Video

[Leadership] I think I'd rather have a leader capable of a certain amount of scheming and treachery when dealing with terrorists.   Japan used to be the terror of most of it's part of the world, till it tangled with the US.  Once they were dealt a smashing blow, we helped them back up and taught them how to deal with the rest of the world in a more civilized manner.  The jihadists could use a similar lesson.

[Atheism is a Religion] Will the poster please stop saying that and stop trying to skew his system of beliefs to fit atheists’ non beliefs. It just doesn’t work that way.

“Atheism is a religion” so sayeth the 7th Judicial Circuit of the Court of Appeals of the United States.  And the beat goes on ...

[Religious Critic] “Indoctrinated by your religions” I would humbly request where you got the information that I was indoctrinated with any religion? My point to you was your seemingly superior attitude in belittling anyone who did not agree with your beliefs. Are the ruling citizens of communist Russia who largely disdain religion the type of people you had in mind when insinuating atheists had a free mind? As for Santa Claus the character comes in many forms not necessarily the one you alluded to in your post. Which is another example of someone believing that everyone agrees with your interpretation. Remember someone also said once that the world was flat.

The Dems say reducing spending will make an insignificant difference in our debt situation. How do they know this when it has never been tried? A large part of the reason for the Mt'g.[?] fiasco was the fact that beginning way back with Clinton, and extending into the Dem congress, the banks in true Illinois fashion, were made an offer they couldn't refuse. An offer that would have made Capone proud of them.

[Religion Critic] “We all have our particular religion” The religion critic and fifteen million other Americans don’t have any religion, can’t you get that through your faithful head?

[Republicans Off Track] How did the republicans go so far off track to get here? Donald trump is the man you want to have a serious debate with? In truth, Trump has never entirely left the race. Since his ignominious exit in May, many of the Republican candidates in the race have held high-profile meetings with Trump. Until now, there hasn't been any real downside to such meetings, even if the ring-kissing may look rather unseemly. Trump has plenty of cash, which would attract the attention of any political candidate. On top of that, paying respects to The Donald might have mollified him enough to head off a Trump independent bid. All Trump really seems to care about is being the center of attention, and a few uncomfortable moments around dinner wouldn't be too high a price to keep him from making any more mischief.
Unfortunately, Trump has returned to the forefront, abetted by a conservative publication that inexplicably hired disgraced former CNN executive Eason Jordan to produce the debate. Jordan is the same man who in 2005 accused the American military of deliberately assassinating journalists in Iraq, and who admitted to airing Saddam Hussein's propaganda as news to curry enough favor with the regime to keep CNN's Baghdad bureau open. If one of the purported motives in creating this new forum is to provide an alternative to the "mainstream media" and its hidden agendas, as a few Trump defenders insist, it's a little difficult to see how having Jordan producing a debate moderated by a man who keeps threatening to run against the Republicans achieves this goal. Why not just have MSNBC host a debate moderated by Barack Obama?

I love it when the circus comes to town. Hey, peanuts over here! ...

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

[Republican Tax Increase] Michele Bachmann wrongly claims there is “not one shred of evidence that lowering the payroll tax rate created jobs.” Actually, the economy has gained more than 1.4 million jobs in the 11 months since the payroll tax holiday began.
That’s 84 percent more jobs than were added in the same period a year earlier. The unemployment rate has fallen from 9.4 percent in December 2010, just before the payroll tax was reduced temporarily, to 8.6 percent in November.
By itself, of course, the acceleration in job creation doesn’t prove that the payroll cut was the cause. There are many forces at work in the economy. But there is widespread agreement among economists — whose job it is to study all the evidence and tease out the effects of different variables — that cutting payroll taxes creates jobs. The director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office testified last month that cutting the Social Security payroll tax would increase take-home pay and, in turn, “spur additional spending” and “increase production and employment.” Economist Joel Prakken, among others, agrees. He says keeping the Social Security tax rate at 4.2 percent for one more year, rather than let it return to 6.2 percent, would create 400,000 jobs in 2012.
The Social Security tax rate on workers’ paychecks was reduced this year by 2 percentage points, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, as part of a bipartisan agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts for two years. But the payroll tax cut expires at the end of the year. The president’s jobs bill would further cut the Social Security tax next year to 3.1 percent for employees and extend it to employers on the first $5 million of their payroll expenses. The Republicans, however, blocked the measure because it would be paid for by imposing a surtax on millionaires. Discussions, however, are continuing.

[From the Right] Our left field friends have launched a very interesting attack against Newt Gingrich. Frankly, I think it is because they are showing us who they fear the most.  But if not, if they really have a deep conviction that Gingrich’s personal life, his character, is so disordered that he could not be trusted with high office, then you’ve got to wonder.

You’ve got wonder about the liberal adulation for Ted Kennedy. Teddy killed a very young woman, an intern campaign worker, while he was driving drunk. He left her to drown. Teddy was married and had three children at the time. Teddy’s notorious womanizing played a role in his wife’s tragic alcoholism. Teddy and special Liberal Pal, Chris Dodd were infamous for their “waitress sandwiches”. Of course, Teddy and Dodd are forever ensconced in the Hall of Liberal Heroes. And the triumvirate of Kennedy, Dodd, and Frank were the three horsemen of the fiscal apocalypse that still fractures our society.

Then there’s Bill Clinton. There is substantial credible evidence that Bubba was a rapist, and sexual predator. Like Teddy, Bubba was a serial womanizer. We know for certain that he disgraced the Presidency by abusing his power and seducing a young intern. Yep, ole Bubba enjoyed a whole series of BJ’s in a closet next to the Oval  Office. On the other hand, he did give the cigar industry gazillions of dollars in free adverts. And we did learn from Bubba that a BJ is not a sex act. We mustn’t forget Whitewater and the assorted scandals that accompanied it.  Then of course, he compounded his infamy when he further violated his Presidential oath by committing perjury. Clinton has his own special personal space in the Hall of Liberal Heroes. Do you remember when Clinton was candidate Clinton? If so, you will remember the maelstrom of evidence of his chicanery. Do you remember that the Democrat poobahs lectured us that his “character doesn’t count?  Do you remember that in 1996 Liberal Senator Bob Kerry told us that: "Clinton's an unusually good liar. Unusually good. Do you realize that?" Senator Kerry did not make this observation during the heat of a primary battle, Clinton was then President. Kerry was not only a Democrat Senator but was then a leader of his party and Chairman of the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee. Senator Kerry knows whereof he speaks. Clinton has his very own very special personal space in the Hall of Liberal Heroes

FDR, LBJ, JFK, Teddy, and Bubba all had serial extra marital affairs. LBJ had a history of exposing and shaking his very own “Johnson” at inappropriate moments. It is widely reported that he did so during policy meetings and that he often waggled it to make a political “point”. He even named it: “Jumbo”. I know it sounds bizarre, but just look it up. Try starting with lbj’s organ, I dare you.

What of Barney Frank, Liberality personified, BF’s live in boyfriend lover operated a male prostitution ring out of BJ’s, oops sorry, BF’s very own home. Our entire current fiscal horror began with BF. He knew what was going on and promoted it. His spot in the Liberal Hall of Heroes is adjacent to the men’s room.  All of the foregoing Liberal leaders are considered to be heroes of liberality.

We really should wonder about the character of the current Liberal In Chief. He holds as friends and mentors persons who are racists and terrorists. His wife held America in disrepute until he was nominated for the Presidency. He tells us that the very fabric of America is flawed and must be replaced. The ascendency of the current Liberal In Chief is shrouded in mystery. We’ve all intently followed his trail of lies and broken promises. This Liberal in Chief is the only President to actively attempt to abandon the precepts of our founders. He is the first to actively attempt to convert our capitalist society to an entitlement society dependent of government largess.

The poster who complained about Gingrich may have accurately reported. And yes, there is much evidence to suggest that Gingrich was not a nice guy in his relationships with his spouses. And no, Gingrich is not a warm and fuzzy guy. But we do know that when he was the Speaker of the House, the defacto leader of Congress, that we sailed through a sea of economic stability. Thanks to his leadership and initiatives we ultimately had balanced budgets. He championed tax reform and welfare reform. While he was the foil to Clinton, we had prosperity. On the other hand there is a hell of a lot of good to say for Romney.

Character does count to this Right Winger. I would prefer that Gingrich did not have the stains on his record.  But, his vision, his fundamental love of our nation and our heritage combined with his history of delivering what he promises carry one helluva lot of weight.  That said, I’ve made no decision as yet, nor is it likely that I will until I vote.

Friday December 8, 2011

Click here to send a comment!

 

Thursday December 8, 2011

["Things are well along in making the Monroe County School District one to be proud of"]  I beg your pardon; really?  Then why are hundreds of students retaking tests online because they failed in class?  Then why are we paying many times more for a software program that teachers started using before it became officially purchased?  Then why is the MCSB begging for $9,000,000.00 over and above what they already have to work with?  (that is a 9, with 6 zeros behind it before the decimal point)  Give your head a shake!  Start counting ALL of the people drawing a nice salary from the MCSB.  The district web site you suggest has all the answers does indeed show 500+ teachers and 500+ others employees IN THE SCHOOLS,  but if you look on the links Deer Ed cut out of my original post you would see that at least two other state and teacher organization websites that list the total staff (teachers and staff actually in the schools) as well as including the administrative staff NOT in the schools themselves as just shy of 1400 people.  What I and others want to know from an official of the MSCB is how many people are there really who get a pay cheque every week?  It appears that there may be as many as almost 900 people who are not teachers being paid by us taxpayers.  We want to know if each and every one of them is absolutely necessary or are there hundreds of redundant jobs being held and paid for unnecessarily.

Some people think we should allow the school board to simply take money we gave them for one purpose and use it for another simply because they need it. Not good enough. 

Some think that scaremonger tactics and threats of the loss of sports or "Armageddon" will make us eager to blindly hand them the keys to the cash-box. Not likely.

Smart people see the spurting artery and demand to know what was and is very wrong with the school board and will refuse to apply a blank cheque to a bleeding wound. And make no mistake, it will be a blank cheque because next year they will have this precedence to cite in order to do the same thing again, if no real changes are made. Changes the school board do not want to make because to do so would require admitting to grievous errors in judgment and their laissez-faire attitude towards the taxpayers burden. In fact, in one of Sloan's blogs he suggested that there are things the school board should not tell the public because it might scare the public into not voting for the .5mil referendum. Methinks that whoever picked Sloan as their horse in this race made a serious error in judgment with comments like that one.  We absolutely have the right to know every detail about what we are paying for.

Someone on the school board needs to address the 900 pound gorilla in the room:  the 900 staff who are not in the classrooms teaching.  What are they doing?  If each one of those 900 makes $30k, that is $27 million. What if they all make closer to $40k per year or more? That is a lot of money we are throwing into a big black hole.  It's time we all knew where our money is going, and as smart taxpayers we will not succumb to scaremongering and threats. I suggest they tell us what we need to know before the referendum, or the .5mil will not pass.

Ladybugs pose solution to whitefly problem. http://bit.ly/vdwFpu

[Bench Bob's a Bum] Sorry, my 15 watt friend. I refuse to engage in the politically correct word games of the Left. A bum is a bum, not "homeless person". Try to say it 3 times fast: Bench Bob's a bum, Bench Bob's a bum, Bench Bob's a bum. 

Reading recommendations and book reviews. What a great addition to the CT.  I enjoy hearing about what others are reading and their opinions about the book.  

I just finished reading "Flashback" by Nevada Barr.  It is part of a mystery series about a National Park ranger. Each book in the series takes place in a different National Park.  "Flashback" takes place in the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson. The author did a lot of research into the history of the Fort and it's a good read if you like mystery and history. I would recommend starting with the first book in the series and reading them in sequence. The author captures the essence of each park and the nature descriptions are well worth the read.

http://www.nevadabarr.com/booklist.htm

Are there any tai chi classes in Marathon, Big Pine or the lower Keys? I have a muscle disorder and I heard it will help.

[Buying Guns] The background check and associated fee must still be paid even if you have a concealed weapons permit.   The only thing the CWP does is negate the Waiting period on a hand gun purchase.

Monroe County School Board Chairman John Dick wants to raise property taxes. http://bit.ly/vh7VKX

Air Force’s funny ground crew. http://bit.ly/v7pY1M

I know you said no more boobs, but how about some for the ladies?

BPK Retired attorney and substitute teacher, Mark Peterson, files for school board seat. http://bit.ly/vClPUW

Former Illinois Governor Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison on corruption charges Wednesday, mostly for trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama. He was convicted for 18 charges. Blagojevich  received by far the harshest sentence among the four

Illinois governors sent to prison in the last four decades.

Holiday baking http://bit.ly/sHzxoV

Governor Scott asked to pee in a cup. http://bit.ly/vy4XuI

[Traps] Please clarify what you mean about plunking traps down where ever you want.  I just want to understand your point.

The black and white boobs animation is the only one so far that is classy. 

Bitchin’ Kitchen has to be the worst Tv show I have ever seen.

Boycott Florida Keys has Sal's fingerprints all over it.  Same style and sleaze factor as his other website.  Even the last picture of the guy holding the two big lobsters from Eleuthera.  That photo was on Sal's website some time ago, uncropped.  In the original, Sal is standing next to that guy, but he cut himself out so no one would connect him to this new site. Tell me you're really surprised...

[Big Bug] What a coincidence! The picture of that beetle like thing eating his carrot shows up in Popular Science as well. Who got it first? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tribute to my dear friend, Charles James Brockner.  AKA "Planet". Charlie died this year of cancer.  He was 64.  He was a great man and was the 'Poet Laureat of the Keys'.  Perhaps you knew him.  Everyone from Big Pine to Key West did. I am the crazy man known as Beefeater Bob in the Keys.  I still own a house there but live in Arizona on the Mexican border. 

Looking at the Planet

And the Planet speaks

He says “Let the Son talk”.

And the Planet says to me,

“The same line drawn on me

Was drawn on you.

We both crossed the lines.

And we held on to both the Snake and the Apple.

We both regret.

We both will go forward and are fearless ‘bout the future.”

And Captain Dan ordered his last two beers at Mangroves.

And Barry Cuda pushed his piano down Duval for his next gig.

And Captain Tony breathed his last breath.

And Johnny crashed his bike into the damn.

And the Vandenberg was sunk.

And Raven sounded like Cash.

And Possum played that mouth harp.

And Billy walked his dogs and drove  his cab.

And Saoul pissed in the street and droped his Corona.

And Skenny drank another beer.

And Richie and the Chip Skipper flew the bird.

And Howard fired up the Johnson.

And Jackson and I argued politics.

And we cried together about Buca and Ziggy.

And Kelly watched Mako and Coral make a big splash.

And Mel Fisher found the bullion.

And I fed some more sharks.

And Life Was Good In Paradise

“Don’t die sleepin’ on a featherbed.

You can run but you can’t hide.

You can run but you can’t hide.”

I fell asleep on the couch.

And then Warren Zevon said:

“I just want to see the other half of the sandwich.”

I cried.

I miss the Planet. I will never see him again.  In this life.

But I know He is in God’s Hands.

I cry.

The Giant Weta is the world's largest insect. Photographed in New Zealand. No worries Keys gardeners.

[Holy Fart] In the spirit of keeping the Feliz in Navidad. To the anti-anti-religious critic, would you still love me If I Farted In Heaven? http://bit.ly/tEhJQj

Deer Ed, I hope you continue the CT well beyond 2012. You provide so much of everything to our community.  Keep up the excellent job, it is greatly appreciated.

[Buying Guns] You can go to any flea market in mid and north Florida and the south and find people selling guns off their tailgate. You can examine a gun, cut a deal, show cash, not ID and leave in under 3 minutes. You can also buy nice vegetables.

No more boobies! How depressing. Maybe a nice pair of Tits would be acceptable?

Study: Men think about sex an average of 19 times a day. Actually, men think about sex constantly but get 19 interruptions.

[Myth Busters Snafu] Errant cannonball goes through home. http://bit.ly/w40Hbq

[Contract Workers] Look out the window when you're at some of the nation's major airports, many airlines hire ATS contract workers so they don't have to hire their own employees.  That reduces costs in wages, benefits, and union related issues.  That was how Continental got rid of the burden of hiring its own ramp workers at Denver's new airport years ago.

[Screwy Rules of Life]

People who love anvils pound it!
Money can't buy happiness, but it's better to cry in a BMW than on a bicycle.
The Pope is the head of the Mafia.
Forgive your enemy, but remember his name and sight radius.
Religious people masturbate more than sane people.
Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
Redheads pee the bed.
Many people are alive only because it's illegal to shoot them.
The perfect hook, line and sinker is a baby
Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but neither does milk.

Blondes have more fun because brunettes work for a living.

The angle of the dangle Is directly proportional to the beauty of the cutie and the heat of the meat
He who laughs last got away without buying a round.

Charity begins at home only if your girl friend is rich.

Nuns have hairy legs.

There is no word for maintenance in third world countries.

Man who lives in the wilds of Alaska is husky pucker!

[Sloan] Good Morning Florida Keys Join Sloan Bashinsky for his daily missives about anything and everything What did he dream? goodmorningfloridakeys.com

Today's inquisition begins with an article from yesterday's Keynoter on the recent school district Audit & Finance Committee meeting, which turned out to be a Pearl Harbor attack on the school children, their parents, teachers and the entire school district by AFC members Stuart Kessler and Larry Murray, who finally have convinced me that they want the .5 mil tax for school district operations referendum to fail because they see that as the only way to force the school district to make the cost cuts they feel the school district should have made years ago. Short version of slightly longer story today, including County Commissioner Sylvia Murphy's expression to me yesterday of deep disappointment over school board member Robin Smith-Martin's public remarks that defeating the referendum could produce a tax cut, and her anger over the anti-referendum talk which she said only will hurt children and won't save the taxpayers anything. Also included today, what I think voters should be looking at, instead of at what the three kamikaze pilots (Kessler, Murray and Smith-Martin) are saying, and an invitation for referendum naysayers to attend next Wednesday's school board meeting at Coral Shores High School on Key Largo, to hear cold, hard facts from the people who will have to make the draconian cuts and changes if the referendum does not pass - school board chairman John Dick and the other three school board members, school superintendent Jesus Jara, school chief financial officer Michael Kinneer, and school internal auditor Ken Gentile. Also included today, more referendum comments, pro and con, from the Coconut Telegraph of bigpinekey.com. Then bringing up the cow's tail, a truly disturbing forward from Sancho Panza saying all vaccines are contaminated with life-threatening pathogens, including such beauties as cancer, HIV, and an allegation, which I first heard in the early 1980s, that HIV is an American bio-designed virus, as in weapon, which is making pharmaceutical companies lots and lots of money. You can read all of it by clicking on this link: Pearl Harborschool stuff, which is supposed to take you to Today's FlaKey Drivel at goodmorningfloridakeys.com.

[Giant bugs on BPK] The picture of that carrot-eating insect some goof posted yesterday has been all over the internet lately. It was found in New Zealand. Come on fella’, we already have FTR spreading propaganda on this website. We don't need anymore re-heated horse crap.

[Hawks Cay] Oh, do tell us more about the secret liaisons going on at Hawks Cay. There must be lots of employees working there having fun.

Made in America video. http://bit.ly/rNmQim

The Flying Burrito Brothers. In the late sixties they pioneered the country rock sound. They were never really a commercial success, but they were one of the most influential bands of the rock era, blending hillbilly soul and raucous rock. They paved the way for artists like the Eagles, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam and others. Founding members Chris Hillman and Gram Hillman called it cosmic American music. The melding of acoustic instrumentation interrupted by searing electric guitar riffs was certainly a sound new to the music scene. Although the Gram and Hillman managed to stay together for only 3 years and 3 albums, their music would far outlast their shortened career. http://bit.ly/urxSJd

[?]Watered down shots are not the way to make happy hour friends.  It doesn’t matter what the waitress thinks is funny.

“December 7, a day that will live in infamy”. Which, by the way, is the name of the number 1 car company in America, Toyota’s new car[?].

[Butt Lift Lady] How could any guy be that horny?

[Dogs] In China some dogs are eaten, the lucky ones get dyed. http://bit.ly/vwQDTF

Will the bike path be done after all the sod had been set and grown to two feet tall or before?  Talk about futures ...

Compost cookies. You can put almost anything in them. http://abcn.ws/u5oZyf

[Tavernier] Community activists oppose Homeland Security offices. http://bit.ly/rIlLlu

Caution: NATIONAL POLITICS and Religion, etc

[Payroll Tax Break] It will be passed, and it should be. We pay enough taxes. The question as a older person receiving SS is do you want your account cheated out of those funds? If not, do you want it taken from folks that make a lot of money? Their money that they earned? Or do you want the federal government to freeze hiring and pay raises on an all ready bloated system and take it from there? It has to come from somewhere. Let’s get lean and mean here. How many folks do you know that work for the local, state or federal governments? Who do you think pays them? You do. Are you happy with what you see in your local, state and federal government? Do you feel they could do a better job with less waste? I do.

[Trump] Republican debates are so without substance, or any candidates with real ideas that the producers are bringing in a reality show star to make the debates more entertaining and improve TV ratings. Coming next they will have a swim suit competition and a talent contest. Who ever wins gets to be the President. How about Dancing With the Candidates?

[Revisionist] Clinton and Gore had a balanced budget, but the silence of the national debt still increasing during their term is thundering. Semantics and things taken to ridiculous extremes in order to make a point. Any one can balance a budget if they wish to do it by sheer chicanery, taking money out of S.S. and replacing it with an I.O.U. and, bingo, you have spent a huge sum of money and it never was recorded as an expenditure. Our Government is awash with similar schemes. Pretending that Clinton and Gore legitimately balanced the budget is ludicrous. There are folks who believe that Clinton and Gore decreased the debt, which of course never happened.

Click here to send a comment to the Coconut Telegraph

If Tim Tebow’s god was real, isn’t that cheating when he prays so hard for victory?

[A Club of Liars, Demagogues and Ignoramuses] Germany's Der Spiegel with a devastating editorial on the GOP: bit.ly/rt7P2w 

[Christian Hate] Islamic lack of intelligence and compassion or why the world should be purged of these insects. http://on.msnbc.com/ruPhn0

[Reading Suggestion for Christians] The New Testament of the Bible. I am amazed at how few Christians have actually read the New Testament.  I am Christian and time and again I hear self-professed Christians saying that heaven is assured for them because they lead a good life or they do good works, go to church often, donate money or time, not indulge in nasty habits, etc.  In fact, the New Testament states that no one can earn their way to heaven.  Eternal life is a free gift from God through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, a gift simply to be received.  One's good works doesn't make them a Christian, one does good works because they are Christian.  Read the Book, receive the Gift, it's there for everyone!

[Newt Gingrich] There has been a lot of talk about Mr Gingrich and his ideas about putting America back on the right path. All you need to know about this person is how he keeps his word. He has exchanged marriage vows three times. He cheated on the first two, on the second one while she was in the hospital with cancer. Another of his fine beliefs was that the people who helped or worked with Freddie Mac  Fannie Mae should be arrested and jailed. That was before it was revealed that he and his firm had profited to the tune of 1.6 million dollars for what he describes as providing “historical perspective”. Can you say influence peddling?  All of this speaks to his character or lack thereof. Trust him if you will, but I sure wouldn’t buy a used car from him or believe anything that he says.

[The Music Man] Remember in the movie The Music man when Robert Preston came to town and proclaimed all of his wonderfulness to anyone that would listen?

Well he’s now going to be considered a serious debate moderator for the Republican Party. Yep The Donald, a TV reality star, and his huge ego will be displayed in a serious context. I’m assuming Roseanne Barr will be the republicans candidate for the Children and Family Dept. because she was a Mom on a T.V. sitcom. Maybe the republicans can get Chuck Norris to run the department of defense.

But the very fact that the nation's pre-eminent carnival barker, political charlatan and bona fide "birther" has somehow re-injected himself into the GOP race tells us something about the contest itself: It's descended into complete chaos. Not that a little chaos isn't a good thing in presidential races. After all, no one is supposed to be the appointed nominee. We like a good race, and we love it when voters engage, but this is starting to look more like a bad game show than a good argument about who is best qualified to become the leader of the free world.

And here's a sentence I never thought I would write: One person making the most sense here is Ron Paul. He spoke about Trump with Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union." "I don't quite understand the marching to his office," Paul said. "I didn't realize he had the ability to lay on hands and anoint people."

Speaking of anointment, it's time to talk about Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Gingrich, the front-runner du jour, was one of those candidates making the pilgrimage to the golden Trump Tower to pay homage to the self-proclaimed kingmaker. So what happens when two self-proclaimed transformational figures meet? They come up with a transformational idea, of course: "Un-celebrity Apprentice," so poor children can learn to work. It's a Gingrich idea produced by The Donald. It’s perfect. That brings us to Romney, who smartly rejected the idea of answering Trump's questions. But here's the real point about Romney: He had better start answering somebody's questions, and doing it soon. It's great that he's not aligning himself with the spectacle of Trump's circus, but how about opening up and showing the voters what you've really got to offer?

It’s all coming right here to River City. (Cue the dancers and carnival barkers.)

[Obama a Socialist] In Osawatomie, Kansas, Obama stopped pretending that he isn’t a socialist. He laid out a progressive agenda. His speech promoted the view that collectivism is both morally and functionally superior to individualism. It decried self reliance and praised interdependence. He stated without qualification that market economies do not work and that only a government directed command economy can bring lasting prosperity.  He made several assaults on job creators. He accused mortgage lenders of “tricking” people into buying houses they couldn’t afford. He accused insurance companies of being in business to defraud. He engaged long rhetorical condemnations of wealthy Americans. The entire speech was built on a foundation of class warfare and anti-capitalism.  As Europe collapses into economic and political chaos, Obama points across the sea and insists that America follow them into the abyss. He sees any American resistant to taking that path as bitter and “clinging to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them.”  He, however, is enlightened. He understands that Euro-socialism is what America needs. He has always believed that American xenophobia should not be allowed to stop the inevitable march of history toward socialism but has tried to play the role of capitalist. Barack Obama finally let his mask slip.

President Obama and his re-election team have prided themselves on their well-oiled get-out-the-vote effort. But a new study suggests Democrats are losing ground organizationally in nearly all of the key battleground states in the general election.  The group's analysis found that, in the eight politically-pivotal states that register voters by party, a significant number have left the Democratic Party since 2008, with many choosing to register as independents. Over 825,000 registered Democrats in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Pennsylvania have departed the party rolls since President Obama's election in 2008.

Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence that we have “unalienable rights from our Creator, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. Obviously President Barack Hussein Obama believes in a “guarantee of happiness” and that he, along with his liberal disciples, are the arbiters of fairness. America is about equal opportunity, not the liberal progressive mantra of equal achievement. Nice try Mr. President but teleprompters and poll tested messages do not equal visionary leadership. Sorry, I know, that isn’t fair!

[Atheism is a Religion] Atheism is not a structured system with defined rules. It is simply the lack of a belief in the existence of a god, gods, or the supernatural. It has no uniform beliefs and is not a means of understanding our existence. Atheism is not philosophy of life. My unbelief in Santa Claus is not a philosophy of life, and thus my unbelief in god isn’t, either. People like you are so indoctrinated by your religions that you can't conceive of a mind that is free of it. It’s a sign of your desperation that the best argument you have is not that atheism is wrong, or that god does exist (supported by evidence of course), but that atheism is a religion too.  And as someone once said, if atheism is a religion, not collecting stamps is a hobby.

The republicans have no fixes for the economy. They are clueless. Unless they can return homes to the middle class and bring back all the millions of good paying manufacturing jobs we have lost, there is little they can do about employment or the economy. Reducing spending will have only a modest effect on the debt while stalling the economy even worse.

It was the republican administration that got us into two wars, one on completely false pretenses that has blown a trillion dollars and killed or maimed thousands of the best and brightest. It is really pathetic the complaints of the right wing about Obama compared with what Bush and his fellow travelers did to this country. They certainly think the public has a short memory.

America got much of its wealth from manufacturing. With vast numbers of jobs going to China, it is China that is booming. American big business of course has been shortsighted worrying about quarterly results rather than the long term picture. It is not the democrats running big business in America and giving out massive bonuses like nothing has changed.

With so much manufacturing outsourced, America had only one source of wealth for the rich to plunder, and that was the savings of the middle class and the hopes of home ownership by the middle and lower middle class. The equity in their homes was the only real source of wealth that was available for looting. The financial industry is not run by democrats. It is the republicans that protect and defend Wall Street and benefit from its excesses.

The securitization of home mortgages and giving mortgages to whose who couldn't afford them was no accident. It was an organized plan to suck out of people what was left of America's wealth. By turning the mortgages into securities, Wall Street got to also suck the wealth out of banks and investors from around the world. We can thank the republicans and their rich friends.

Why do you think that nobody of any importance has been prosecuted for any of the mortgage fraud?

And you republican fellow travelers think that the republicans are going to fix the economy or help you out, are the worst fools. Even you who think you are rich enough to be a republican, forget about it, unless your net worth is over at least 25 million. The republican candidates could care less about you, unless you are contributing big money to their campaigns.

[Newt Gingrich] Dear God, please save our nation from this man. Amen.

(Ed: As a special Christmas treat for you all, the FTR Guy is apologizing today in Part 3. Enjoy!)

[From the Right] One of the more noisome of the currently stylish liberal rallying cries in their war between the classes is “income inequality”. Simply put they claim that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. Do you automatically believe that, or does it make you think, then wonder, and then want to find out if any of it is true? 

In 2007 The Treasury Department conducted a study on that issue. It was entitled “Income mobility in the U.S. from 1996-2005”. That study revealed that during the study period there was “considerable income mobility”. It revealed that a lot of the rich get a lot poorer while a lot of the poor got richer.  One measure revealed that that nearly 60 % of those in the lower income brackets moved to a higher bracket.

It also revealed that during the study period  only about 40% of those who were the top 1/10 of 1%’ers on the economic spectrum at the beginning of the study remained there at the end of the study.

The study concluded that (quote from the study):  “To the extent that increasing income inequality widened income gaps, this was offset by increased absolute income mobility so that relative income mobility has neither increased nor decreased over the past 20 year.”

As far as I can tell, no such Treasury Department study has been done for the subsequent years. I wonder why. Nonetheless, we’ve learned that at least until the end of 2005, the liberal “income inequality” whine is false. But maybe something happened to change all of that after the end of 2005. In 2006 the Democrats won control of Congress. They actually took control of Congress in January of 2007. Since 2009 we have had a Democrat President. The Democrats, for the last 5 years, have had control of our nation's economic policies.

If the Democrat class warfare battle slogan is true, and I don't think that it is, it is as a result of Democrat malfeasance.

(Part 2) The past is prologue: In 1910, the New York Sun reported on Teddy Roosevelt’s infamous Osawatomie, Kan. Speech touting himself and progressivism. They reported: "the third greatest crisis in the history of the nation has arrived, and warned every honest and patriotic citizen to prepare himself against this new Napoleon who deemed it his mission…to overthrow and destroy in the name of public opinion and…personal advancement." WOW!

(Part 3) Apology: I was wrong, flat and totally wrong when I said that Clinton did not leave a budget surplus. In fact, he did. He left a budget surplus in last two of the eight years that he was President. Some will argue that the he achieved a balanced budget in those two years only because he was blessed with a Republican Congress, but that is an argument for another time. I was wrong, totally and absolutely wrong. The fact is that Clinton did leave a budget surplus. I screwed up because I read the previous posting about the issue and did not properly interpret what was actually on the screen. I read “national” debt” when the words were budget deficit. I was wrong, totally wrong.  I apologize without condition.  There was no intent to deceive; it was simply a screw up on my part. I will endeavor to do better. On the other hand, each and every year Clinton was President, the national debt increased. Those are two totally different issues.

Thursday December 8, 2011

Click here to send a comment!

 

Wednesday December 7, 2011

[Today is Pearl Harbor Day]

1.) The Empire of Japan controlling East, Southeast, and South Asia and the entire Pacific Ocean.

2.) The combined powers of Germany and Italy controlling Great Britain, all of Europe, Western and central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

3.) The United States, controlling North and South America. http://bit.ly/sFAyX0

[Flood Insurance] FEMA is raising its ugly head again and requiring the county to enforce its critter protection rules restricting development or it will remove Monroe County from the subsidized flood insurance program resulting in loss of mortgages for homeowners.

The County says enforcing the rules would cost $433,000 the first year and $210,500 every year thereafter and open the County to liability property “taking” suits costing residents about an additional thousand dollars apiece -- a year.

That’s a lot of money to keep subsidized flood insurance. Why should residents without a mortgage be required to subsidize flood insurance for those who need it to get a mortgage? Basically those of us without mortgages would be subsidizing those with mortgages to get their flood insurance in addition of us already subsidizing the national flood insurance program of FEMA’s

[Traffic Light] I understand the light at the Sugarloaf school is controlled and maintained by the county not DOT.

If it takes getting a petition to disable the light outside of school hours, I'm for it.

[School District .5 mil Tax]  I never thought for a minute the school district portion of the property tax would decrease if the referendum fails.  It should, but we're not naive enough to believe that bit of baby Pablum.  If the referendum fails, the school district just will pass a budget with a significant millage increase the following September -- probably .5 mil and then some, depending on whatever rationale they can generate in the meantime.  What we all really want to know is would the .5 mil tax really stop the problem? Is it enough to cover the inexcusable laxness of the past few years when they should have been addressing the falling revenue and budget issues?  Give us a figure that they can defend, Deer school district!  What is it that you really need to cure your ills? And what would the true and real picture become if you don't get the tax?  Why aren't you being forthright?  School districts all over this state, and all over the country have revamped their operations, streamlined and cut, and yes, there was bleeding to stop a hemorrhage further down the road because they saw the long road to recovery.  You haven't done that yet. 

You've managed to side step the really tough choices since 2006-2007.  Was that smart, do you think, or have you merely allowed the problem to compound to the point of catastrophe?  

According to another poster, there are approximately 800 district employees who are not full-time teachers.  Who are they and what do they do?  Let's see 4-5 administrative staff per school, one maintenance staff on duty, a couple of folks in the library, and 3-4 cafeteria workers times 9-10 schools (I may have missed one), that accounts for approx. 120 people who aren’t full time teachers.  I think all of the 800 are not necessary.  (Cutting the jobs of janitorial staff was absolutely a for-show sort of effort.)  70 employees and benefits savings.

On the cost of the private contract, did you really save a million dollars, or is that merely the salary and bennies figure?   What was the real savings between the two?  Was it substantially less than 1 million?  Why did you stop there?  By itself, the janitor staff cut took on the identity of a token gesture, which is exactly what it was, and you know it.  If you'd kept at it and carved and carved all the way through the redundant and bloated staff and programs that are a burden on the budget you  might have actually achieved something.  Shame on the School District Board letting this go on and on.  

I say tear down the internal structure of the school district and its processes, eliminate the b.s. programs, the filler employees, get back to basics. Education first then extras like sports, etc. Add them one by one when you can afford them. Rebuild a school district that is fully accountable, streamlined to meet the needs of our students' education.  If we have to let the school district fall flat on its face before they wake up and start being realistic then that's what has to happen.  The County faced it and many other school districts have faced it and done the hard work. Why don’t you get on with it? I am willing to support Keys’ schools through property taxes, but I am not willing to blindly support this charade of smoke and mirrors any longer.  I will vote no on the referendum unless something truly significant comes out of the school district between now and then. They can’t ask for more money until they rebuild the system and get rid of the bloated staff.

In Key West, sea level has already increased by 9 inches since1913. Regional climate change plan ready for release. http://bit.ly/rXMGGO

County could lose flood insurance. http://bit.ly/w4N0JX

Saks incredible light show redux. http://bit.ly/tyhLco

Remembering Pearl Harbor. Rare unseen photos. http://yhoo.it/rSmfxI

Robber picking the wrong time video. http://bit.ly/vGSCpV

[Recipes] If it's Smuckers, it has to be good. http://bit.ly/vMw7Pe

[Howard Livingston] Hello Friends, I know I must sound like a stuck record but this is an amazing day in the Keys. The temps are in the low 80s and there is just enough of a breeze to make the tropical air just about perfect. As I sit on the porch I see a group of pelicans and realize they are here for the same reason as we are, they headed to the Keys for the winter to stay warm. Pretty smart birds I would say. The angle of the sun on the water right now is breathtaking and I should count how many times Cyndy and I say to each other, “Look how beautiful it is out there!” There are a million things I should be doing right now, but somehow sitting at my laptop with Anderson lying at my feet and staring at the ocean seems to be the most important. Also, our world is about to get even better. Yesterday was the one week birthday of Grace Duet Livingston, Anderson’s little sister puppy. Gracie will be heading to the Keys in another 7 weeks (not that we’re counting).

We’ll be playing December 10th at the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon in Key West from 2:30–5:30 pm. This is the same day as the lighted boat parade, so come hang with us before the parade then head over to see the magic on the water. We’ll have the full band for this afternoon party so, come out and celebrate the holidays with us. It’s free and open to the public. The Smokin’ Tuna is at 4 Charles Street Key West, just off the 200 block of Duval Street.  If you can’t make it be sure and watch us on the Tuna Cam.  Send us a note on Facebook during the show and we will give you a shout out.  http://smokintunasaloon.com/index.php

[Silent Fart] I agree, let's keep the Feliz in Navidad. Let's get the carols started! http://bit.ly/uxihuy

[Too Many Non-Teachers] The person trying to put out misinformation about the school board need only to go to the district website (click on district information) to see how many teachers and employees there are.  So while the person spouts 1400 employees with 538 teachers the fact is there are only 1,047 employees 577 (477 staff to 577 teachers) of them are teachers.  As for the bloated administration mentioned, that's down from a peak of 67 administrators to presently 44. Things are well along in making the Monroe County School District one to be proud of. 

[Hawks Cay Exposeded]  Like everyone else, I was required to take the obligatory drug test before I was hired.  A test designed to determine whether or not I was saturated with any illegal substances.  I’m happy to report I passed with flying colors. Shortly afterward, I was sworn to secrecy regarding any possible shenanigans I might stumble upon where the administration was concerned.  I’m joking, of course, but it probably wouldn’t have been such a bad idea considering some of the outrageous behavior that I observed.  Yes, more than one administrative assistant slept with her married boss, usually in a freshly-vacated room, keeping the housekeeping staff at bay while abundantly fueling the rumor mill.  Promises were made.  Some were kept, some were broken.

[Boycott the Florida Keys] The post had photos of people supposedly arrested in the Keys for short lobsters. One of the pictures was of Detroit Tiger star Miguel Cabrera during his DUI arrest in St. Lucie County. The webmaster should at least make his story believable. It makes me wonder about the rest of his site.

[Reading Suggestions]  Anything by Michael Connelly.