Such a glorious morning! Big Pine rainbow.

[Homeless Bums] The kindhearted on the island of Key West have unwittingly increased the number of homeless men and women by offering services in parks and at beaches and giving in to panhandlers, according to a report released Tuesday

[Your Honor my client is an idiot] The cops answered an advertisement on Craigslist about fresh out-of-season, under-sized lobster tails for $10 each and arrested 20 year old dental hygienist Kasey Marie Platt of Marathon. 

[“Tipped over coral heads for lobsters”] I’ve seen and done it many times in the old days before I wised up.

Wednesday is Cornhole Night at Springer’s. Sign up for CoEd fall season.

[Term Limits] Our Mosquito  Control commissioners should  be term limited. Did a little  research and found if term is  limited, the commissioners  would be more responsible  to their constituents because  they would soon become constituents themselves and live  under the laws they created  while in office. Commissioners  also would have less time to  develop influence and financial benefits from special interest groups. Incumbents have  power and profits from being  in office, and they may have  lost the realities of being the  average person and what we  face on a daily basis, making it  harder for new citizens to run  for office.

Money and power are major  factors with corruption, which  usually comes with control. I  believe that is the general consensus; corruption is less likely  if term is limited. Term limits  provide a painless way for people who aren’t doing a good job  to retire gracefully and automatically. Longtime commissioners in office can become  sour and offer the same stale  ideas, offering nothing new;  refreshing or valuable.

Term  limits force organizations and  citizens to develop new leaders. Also, term limits lead to  healthier boards, thoughts and  views. We citizens here in Monroe  County need to contact and  support Mosquito Control  commissioners that support term limits. We have two  FKMCD [mosquito] commissioners, Bill  Shaw and Stephen Smith, in  their fifth term on this board.  Could you call that a career?

[“Ho Chi Minh sent countless Vietnamese to their deaths”] Ho did that to win the war–and it worked. Patton did the same–and it worked. Lyndon Johnson did the same –and it did not work!

He and his henchman, McNamara, fiddled with the body count and continued to send Americans to their deaths even after they both acknowledged that they had lost the war. They both lied and lied to continue the slaughter of our boys for political reasons that escape me now because they were so unimportant.

On the other side Ho fought to free his country. They are freer now than at any time in the last two hundred years.

Do I like Communism–no. Do I understand history and look at it objectively–yes.

[Council OKs Second Sewer Assessment] The Islamorada Village Council unanimously passed a second $20 million sewer assessment last week with no debate. The assessment will couple with a similar 2011 assessment to help finance the $123.5 million villagewide sewer system on which construction began last year. Like the first assessment, the second assessment amounts to $3,196 per homeowner when paid up front. For those who choose to be billed annually, the assessment will cost $256 per year for 25 years. In addition at the July 25 meeting, the council approved a rate structure for future customers of the newly sewered areas. The average home will pay monthly rates of $74, not counting the assessment costs. The bills will be $10 higher on average than what existing north Plantation Key customers pay.

Calm Keys 

[Non-Construction] Everybody’s complaining about the slow work and small work crews on North Roosevelt Boulevard.  This is nothing.  Wait until work begins on the other side, where most of the businesses are.  We just have to renegotiate this silly contract.  They don’t work weekends; no holidays; they knock off around 4 p.m., and of course, rainy season.  Seriously, we have got to get serious.

Well, some good news.  We have some preliminary indications that FDOT is indeed working on plans to shorten the project, even with night work.  Stay tuned.

Coalition Of North Roosevelt Affected Businesses: Monday, August 5th, 5:00 p.m. at VFW. Public Hearing With FDOT Officials: Tuesday, August 6th, 5:00 p.m.  Old City Hall on Greene Street

[Fresh Fish] The only way you’re going to get a fresh fish dinner in the Keys it to buy it at Fanci Seafood and cook it yourself!

[Bigfoot] It turns out Florida’s skunk ape summers in Canada. Hikers captured video of mysterious ‘Bigfoot’ in Canada (I call it a bear). Video

A professor at Idaho State University in Pocatello has announced that his plan to use an unmanned aerial vehicle to search for Bigfoot is nearly ready for launch. The man behind the world’s first Bigfoot drone is Jeffrey Meldrum, Ph.D., a versatile professor of both anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State—and a noted Sasquatch hunter. He is the author of “Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science.” The professor’s airship is called “The Falcon Project,” reports Idaho Mountain Express. It is 45 feet long. It will carry a remote-control camera. The academic plans to fly it over the densely-wooded forests of “Bigfoot territory.” They said they would never use drones to hunt Americans. Link

Grateful Guitar in Key West can not continue their advertising blitz because there are only 30,000 people there and not that many play guitar or are looking to buy a new one. Do the math.

Still no Federal funds for Keys sewer projects. Link    

The Vietnam War pisses me off because the government fooled me into thinking it was a just war. It was a war that was run by politicians who didn’t mind making their constituents into corpses for their own gain. Politicians should never run wars. If the country has to send troops to die then the gloves come off and total victory with the least casualties should be the only goal. Who cares if our enemies hate us for winning they hate us anyway for losing.

[Things You Should Never Say To A Woman About Her Hair] Memorize this list! 1. “What did you do to your hair?” 2. “That’s an interesting hairstyle.” 3. “Your hair made you!” 4. “You look like Miley Cyrus.” 5. “Your hair looks thin!” 6. “Your roots are showing.” 7. “Who did that perm gurrl (girl)? I can totally fix that ya know.” 8. “You used to have such good hair once. What happened?” 9. “Why don’t you do your hair like hers?” 10. “How long did it take to get your hair done?” 11. “Is that a weave?” 12. “I can give you the name of a good hairdresser.” 13. “Is it supposed to look like that?” 14. “Is that paint in your hair? (Referring to a gray streak.)” 15. “Wow. It’s so soft. It looks coarser.” 16. “Do you color it yourself?” 17. “It makes your face look fat.” 18. “Are you wearing a wig?” 19. “Did you get that cut/color/style/perm because you’re having a crisis?” 20. “Is that human hair?” 21. “What hairstyle (look) were you trying to go for?” 22.”Wow, your hair looks so big!” 23. “Love your weave.” 24. “I liked your hair the other color.” 25. “Really do not like your hairstyle!” 26. “It’ll grow out.” 27. “When are you going to get your hair done, baby?” 28. “Honey, that hurr (hair) looks like a bird fight gone bad that got stomped on, chewed by a hungry dog, then pooped out, worms and all. Get that shit done.” 29 .”She should use Rogaine.” 30. “I like your hair better this way…” 31. “It’s greasy.” 32.”She should get her money back.” 33. “OMG. Who did your hair?” 34. “Bedhead, huh?” 35. “Is that all yours?” 36. “Are you getting your hair done?” 37. “Why darling, you’re bald.” 38. “Oh, it’s shorter than usual. Well, it will grow out.” 39. “Who’s hair is that, and why are you wearing it?” 40. “How is your wig?” 41. “It makes you look old.” 42. “Wow! You got big hair!” 43. “I think you need to color your hair.” 44. “It’s just different, that’s all.” 45. “Is it real?” 46. “It’s fugly.” 47. “You look like Nicki Minaj.” 48. “What made you get it like that?” 49. “Is that how you’re gonna wear your hair out?” 50. Anything negative at all. We all have mirrors. We already know.

You’re right The Isaac Newton Anti Gravity Pump Society needs to get specific before asking for donations. All we’ve seen so far are sketchy gravity pump horror stories, a call for another study, and more blah blah blah.

[“Fresh” fish in Florida Keys Restaurants] Hahahahahaha, yeeeeeeeah, right. One importer of fish based in Marathon distributed over 660,000 pounds of fish throughout the Keys in 2012. Just one of them! Roughly 1.3 million servings.

Dolphin (Mahi, El dorado, that greeny blue fish) from Panama
Grouper (and it’s cousins) from Ecuador
Conch from Turks and Caicos

Next time you’re bangity-bangin down those tasty shrimp tacos, know they ain’t Key West pinks, but instead came out of a box marked “Sysco, farm raised” on it. Fresh fish has been removed from the menu by NOAA. Don’t believe me? Read this article from 2010: In Florida, the Seafood Becomes Less Local. Link

Coming to the Keys for fresh seafood is almost as dumb as buying a house here for the fishing. Both are memories of decades gone by and there’s no chance of reliving them again anytime soon.

[Shuttle Price] The $2 each way was found online the day you posted on the Coconut. If that’s their original fare, then it’s been a long time since their last increase. With the price of gas I think it’s a great deal and you just need to decide if the new rate of $4 is a good price depending on how far you have to go knowing you can go one stop or 50 miles for $4.  Thanks for letting us know the fares were going up on 7/29.  They actually have updated their website with the new prices.

[Sewers] What the County is doing now reminds me of what they did years ago when building the waterline from the mainland. They knew we needed an 18” supply, so they built a 12’ pipe instead. Several years later they tore out the old and replaced it with the present 18” waterline. My facts are a bit fuzzy, but you get my point.

[Sanctuary Backlash] Poorly documented (or completely undocumented) press releases from various agencies, supposed independent researchers bought and paid for by agenda-driven foundations, recreational fishing columnists who are little more than industry shills, short-sighted politicians whose interests extend no farther than keeping narrowly focused pressure groups happy, and competition among user groups are all conspiring to obscure what’s really going on in the world’s oceans today.  What a bunch of goofs the FKNMS has employed.

[Marathon Lionfish Tournament Wrap Up] How do you measure the success of a lionfish tournament? How about with the 163 lionfish divers brought out of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary last weekend for the 2nd Annual Marathon Lionfish Tournament hosted by Sanctuary Friends Foundation of the Florida Keys. The invasive lionfish, caught from 6-feet of water to 200-feet depths, were counted, then cooked for dinner at Castaway Waterfront Restaurant. The largest lionfish was 17 inches, and the smallest was less barely 3 inches. The biggest actually left his lunch of two reef fish at our feet, showing how devastating just one lionfish can be to our precious reef.

Captions to pictures: 1. Team Raw Deal out of Castaway Waterfront Restaurant brought in 131 lionfish for the two-day tournament.  Most of their lionfish were caught in 200 feet of water. Yes, John Mirabella has one in his mouth! 2.Carmen Powers of L.M.T. Last Minute Team brought in two of the biggest fish including a 17-inch lionfish. 3. Glenda Keach of Key Colony Beach shows off two of her catch. 4.This is the 17-inch lionfish, it spit out two reef fish when caught, and four of the smallest lionfish caught. 5. Lionfish are delicious eating here in the Keys with a white, flaky filet much like hogfish. People often ask about ciguatera poisoning, research by REEF.org, the leaders in lionfish studies, explains that you only need to worry about eating lionfish from places where you would also worry about eating a grouper for the same reason. 6. Rachel Bowman of Marathon shows off this invasive lionfish.

[Higher Taxes] The commission voted 3- 2, with County Mayor George Neugent and Commissioner Heather Carruthers dissenting,  to levy a property tax rate of $400 per $100,000 of taxable value.

[Shuttle Price] My gas guzzler pickup truck gets me to KW and back for $15 so don’t complaining about an $8 ride on the Shuttle. It’s cheap by comparison.

[Why Adults have panic attacks] So there I was, just relaxing in front of the TV when the kids yelled, “Hey, come see the kittens!”

[“Land” Grab] Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary held off on voting on a series of recommendations that called for more than hundred miles of new closed areas. Dozens of fishermen attended Monday’s meeting to voice their opposition.

[The Cloud] You are certainly right to worry about the Government snooping in the cloud. Think about these things: Medical records are being computerized so that hospitals and doctors can exchange information.The only way this will work is in the cloud. Many companies are saving money by doing away with their IT departments and going with cloud based services. That means that financial information will be there too. When cities and states do the same, so will tax information. Hell, even your dating service profile will be there. Maybe you don’t care because you have nothing to hide. Think again. If you have the right profile, you will be screwed.

Thank you Homeland Security.

[Just Say No] Reef Relief has announced it opposes channel dredging in Key West  based on a study that predicted such a project would have a significant negative effect on environmental quality and harm coral along 17 acres. Based on this assessment, Reef Relief would vigorously oppose a dredge  operation.

A fresh batch of delicious Smoked Kingfish is just out in the display case at Fanci Seafood.

Before donating to the anti gravity pump coalition, I want to know how much will an all gravity system add to my $4500 hook up fee. There is no way the County can provide a much more expensive system without increasing the fee. “Future savings” don’t buy much.

It’s official: Mosquitoes are attracted to beer drinkers. Link

[Phony Fish] It wouldn’t do any good to ask your server, either, they don’t know, or don’t care. They’ll just ‘yes’ you to death. It’s not their fault. They are just trying to make a living. Pure greed and laziness on the part of the restaurant owner. They could have an honest menu where they don’t have to lie about it, but the greed factor takes over. These newbie owners all suck. Myself, I’ll just wait for the next owners. Hopefully they’ll have a clue.

BPK suspect in ball bat attack has violent past. Duh! Link

[Wildlife Planting at Horace O Bryant School] Saturday August 3rd, 8:30-11:30am at1105 Leon Street, Key West.

Key West is about to get greener, thanks to a grant from TogetherGreen (a partnership between Toyota and the National Audubon Society).  In a partnership between the City of Key West and the Florida Keys Audubon Society, over 500 native trees and shrubs will be installed throughout the City over the coming months, starting with a community volunteer day planting at Horace O Bryant Middle School.

The school is excited to become the first USFWS certified Schoolyard Habitat in the Keys.  “We’ve worked with staff at the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges to specialize in native plants that will benefit butterflies and migratory birds”, says Assistant Principal Brett Unke.  “Now our landscaping is a classroom too!”  Says Refuge Park Ranger Kristie Killam, “We look forward to working with the teachers to learn about how important our native shade trees are to imperiled species.  Being able to match our USFWS “Give A Smidgeon for White crowned Pigeon” grant with the City’s Audubon grant make for a bigger, better project.”

The next phase will increase street trees in several old town locations, says Alison Higgins, Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Key West, “This grant has helped our city reduce its carbon footprint, decrease the heat island effect, increase the walkability, feed native species, improve general quality of life and even increase revenues!  Did you know that shade trees increase property values by 7% and shoppers willingness to spend money by up to 12%?”

The whole community is invited to come out to the schoolyard workday, and the Noon Rotary will be cooking up hot dogs and hamburgers when the last tree is planted.  The event is suitable for all ages, as most of the plants are 1 gallon in size so that they will become well established.  All holes will be pre-dug.  Events 

Save the Planet! It’s the only one with beer.

[“Don’t give up your seat”] When I first started reading your post I didn’t think much of you, but as I continued reading I laughed along with you. I was glad you kept your seat.  Now the question is why didn’t they ask that guy back in row 31 to trade to begin with. They obviously knew you had the better seat. How could they be miffed at you?

Just be glad the plane didn’t go down and certain sections survived depending on seat. Now, that’s the scary part!

[Ice Cream Bread] Just two ingredients makes one loaf.

2 Cups ice cream, any flavor, softened and 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Spray and flour a 8 x 4 loaf pan, or line it with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl mix the ice cream and flour together until just combined.
Scoop into the loaf and smooth out. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the loaf comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.
Remove from the pan and allow to cool.
For best results use full fat ice-cream.

The picture is an example of Neapolitan ice cream. I like butter pecan with nuts being distributed in the bread mixture, however you can use any ice cream flavor you prefer. For those that are scratching their heads wondering how this could work – let’s consider that most ice cream is made of eggs and dairy fat. Toss in some self-rising flour and you have some basic ingredients for a bake-capable product. Just choose the flavoring of ice cream that seems promising and have a fun weekend of experimentation.

Any one else besides me tired of burned bagels?

Hawaii is offering homeless people a one-way ticket to America to leave the islands.  Today’s Citizen: Key West’s new report says local islander’s encourage homeless to stay due to generosity and One Human Family attitude.

There must be a really good story behind this sign.

[Tipped over coral to get lobsters] I’ve been here 33 years and haven’t seen one either, but of course most of the inshore coral are just piles of dead rock.

August calendar for the Senior Center activities. Menu > Ongoing Events

Sunrise at Whale Harbor Channel. 

Life and death in assisted living place. Video

The surprise at Lake Huron now that the water’s cleared up. 

Someone praising Ho Chi Minh is a splendid example of the impossibility of people reaching coherence on any given topic. A person once told me that if some official said that going to work the next day to show their adherence to whatever it was they were espousing, everyone should wear their clothing with their hind ends hanging out, and sure as the sun comes up in the East a certain segment of the population would do that very thing. As we live today their are perhaps millions of people that believe Hitler was a fine specimen of a human being, it just goes to show it doesn’t pay to get worked up with folks that don’t agree with you.

[Honda: Innovation] It took about six months to make this commercial. Video

[Sanctuary Backlash] How does the sanctuary take the enjoyment away from those who live off the water in the Florida Keys?  By making everyone keep note of the minimum size limits, daily bag and possession limits, gear restrictions, fillet requirements, and all other regulations which are forced on us who live off the water.

What goes around, comes around.  The lionfish will take care of it and will eat all that you sanctuary employees are trying to restrict those who live off the water from taking.

Your little derbies will not make a dent, you idiots!

What is the lates nes on our sewer feasco? Looks like the sewer cartoons have been banned from being posted and comments too! What gives Ed?

[Phony Fish] There is an advocacy group called Oceana that does testing on restaurant fish to see if it is as advertised. They found in South Florida that about 1/3 of the fish in restaurants is not what was on the menu. I would like to see the restaurants down here respond to the claims of false fish and state that they only buy from local suppliers. Maybe they could even put it in writing on the menu that what you order is what you get. And to add insult to injury, if they are getting a deal on this Asian fish they aren’t passing it on to the consumer. Link

[Captain Doom and Gloom]“Gov’t Knows Best?” White House creates ‘nudge squad’ to shape behavior.What next?  Legislating behavior? Personality training for the Sheeple? Big Bro is getting too big and too nosie, time to cull down the dizbangs in government. Link

“Grinder Pumps” This is the only reason someone would need to install a grinder pump, if their waterline of the house is below the street sewer pipe.  Anyone’s house above the street sewer line, can use gravity feed. Do not let these money grabbing installers and water company officials fool you!

Also, for those who do need a pump, why cannot the existing septic tank be sealed and used as the storage tank for the pump to save the home and business owner a ton of money?

“Like I’m really going to send a donation to something called the Isaac Newton Society” If you had the intelligence to go to their website, to read what is going on in the newspapers, you just might grow into a human being.

[Zimmerman] The press heroically refrained from presenting this case in racial terms, as it did in the Martin/Zimmerman case. Link

FTR must have missed the part where Ho Chi Minh was trying to unify Vietnam and expel foreign occupiers. The S Vietnam government that asked for the US invasion was a weak and failed government that did not represent Vietnam. It only represented Colonial interests.

FTR doesn’t like the way the North beat the South, sorry, buddy, but they were fighting for their country and their only goal was to win–and they did.

FTR’s opinions are all gleened from what he reads. I’ll bet the last time he traveled outside the US was during his high school field trip to Cancun. No one could be world-traveled and still be as narrow-minded as he.

First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, though clearly the Founding Fathers could not have foreseen FTR guy and all the other RWNJ spin doctors.

Bradley Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy  — the most serious charge he faced — but convicted of espionage, theft and other charges more than three years after he revealed secrets to WikiLeaks. His sentencing is next, then off to jail.

That President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Social Security Act enabling Medicare and Medicaid without financing is the reason that Social Security is broke.

AP just reported on a meeting of the Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board in Tallahassee last Wednesday.  Not good news for Floridians. They are saying that health insurance rates will rise from 5 to 20% for small businesses and 30 to 40% in the individual market through the state’s new exchange. Starting Oct. 1, consumers can compare different private insurance plans through the online exchange. Don’t forget that you will have to choose a plan and buy it. If you don’t, you’ll be fined by the IRS. On the bright side, some folks will be eligible for subsidies to pay for their plan. The dark side of that is that means higher taxes for everyone else. This is going to be a cluster intercourse of epic proportions.

Part 2) There is magnificent news from DC. The Congressional Black Caucus is urging Mr. Obama to anoint Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee as the new head of Homeland Security. What a great idea.

Rep. Lee is possessed of one of the most unique minds in DC. Not so long ago she visited NASA headquarters in Houston to observe a Mars rover puttering around on Mars. She asked: “Is it going to go where the astronauts planted the flag?” The NASA poo bahs were stuck for an answer.

While Vietnam is on our collective minds, maybe we should also think about a floor speech that Rep Lee gave in 2010. She speechified: “Today, we have two Vietnams, side by side, North and South, exchanging and working,” she said. “We may not agree with all that North Vietnam is doing, but they are living in peace. I would look for a better human rights record for North Vietnam.” I’m positive that the current president of Vietnam,   Truong Tan Sang, would be astounded to learn that there is still a North Vietnam and a South Vietnam.  Isn’t that just so special of Rep Lee.

Rep Lee is of course a true champion of racial harmony. During a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee stated that Republicans were refusing to raise the debt ceiling because President Obama is Black.  Yes sir, she would be a just dandy person to be responsible for our safety in our Homeland.

By the way, just yesterday, Bloomberg reported that home ownership has hit an 18 year low.  Not good, very much not good, it’s a slap in face to the American dream.

Part 3) Republicans and conservatives can win big political races. According to the logic of politics, Leticia Perez should have handily won the heavily Democratic and Hispanic district in California’s central valley, and her failure to do so has Republicans eager to develop a victory template for struggling GOP candidates elsewhere in the deep-blue state and across the country.

Fresno cherry farmer and cattle rancher Andy Vidak, who is fluent in Spanish, said he captured the state Senate seat in last week’s closely watched runoff vote by connecting with Hispanic voters with a “common-sense” approach that focused on job creation, affordable energy and opposition to big government. He even cooked menudo, a cow-stomach soup and a Mexican favorite, at a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event at the Bakersfield fairgrounds where 10,000 Hispanics turned out. Read more at: Link 

CLIMATE CHANGE

In a moment of unusual candor, a UN bureaucrat (Ottmar Edenhofer) admitted that global warming is really about wealth redistribution.

This is the first high-level official admission that cAGW was a lie. That global warming has been hyped, exaggerated and falsified for political and economic gain. This is huge folks. The house of cards is crashing down.

Edenhofer: “First of all, developed countries have basically expropriated the atmosphere of the world community. But one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy. Obviously, the owners of coal and oil will not be enthusiastic about this. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole.”

Edenhofer: “Basically it’s a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization. The climate summit in Cancun at the end of the month is not a climate conference, but one of the largest economic conferences since the Second World War. Why? Because we have 11,000 gigatons of carbon in the coal reserves in the soil under our feet – and we must emit only 400 gigatons in the atmosphere if we want to keep the 2-degree target. 11 000 to 400 – there is no getting around the fact that most of the fossil reserves must remain in the soil.”

As such, this man is a huge player in advancing this theory, and he has now made it quite clear – as folks on the realist side of this debate have been saying for years – that this is actually an international economic scheme designed to redistribute wealth.