[Dredging] I don’t understand the need for more tourists in Key West. Last Winter it was wall-to-wall people. When the season was over, I read it was the third busiest Winter in Key West’s history, probably due to a rough winter up north. The hotels are always full during the holidays. Every event, concert, library lecture, parade, art show, and house tour I attend is packed with people—locals and tourists. In the 38 years that I’ve been in the Keys, it’s only gotten busier. Instead of the season ending in May, it’s now become year-round. By the way, they are predicting another cold winter up north. My Dad used to say, “As long as there is snow and ice, people will always come to Key West”.

[“Judging Lunatics”] The problem is all lunatics are using guns, no matter where they come from. Nobody is judging gun owners; we’re saying there’s no need for these extreme guns to go hunting for quail. An assault weapon can only be used for target practice to kill Americans with in the event they want to try to take on our Army. Good luck with that!

[No Name Key – Four Months Later] It’s been four months since the legal battle ended and the first of the NNK’ers starting hooking into the grid. In that time, just over half of the Property Owners Association members have connected, more have permit applications waiting on county processing, and new applications continue to be submitted on a regular basis.

More than a dozen loud, smelly, polluting generators have gone silent. Larger ones have left the island, while smaller units have been stored away for emergency (hurricane) usage. Hundreds of gallons of diesel and gasoline fuel has been removed, and countless batteries have been sent away for recycling.

The few generators left roaring on the island belong to the shrinking numbers of the “solar community”, and this contributor doesn’t believe for one minute those generators are “solar powered”.

Homes previously associated with the “solar community” are beginning to connect to the grid, and numbers continue to shift as two more NNK “solar members” homes are placed on the market. 1934 No Name Drive and 1909 Bahia Shores Road were recently placed for sale through Rose Dell Realty, leaving only six “solar community” members remaining. During this power transition, the main antagonist in the saga remains secluded in Canada.

Four months have passed since NNK’s decade’s long battle ended, and while the super-majority of NNK residents can lay claim to victory, the real winners here are the environment and the special species that call NNK home. Four months later NNK is a much cleaner, quieter, tranquil place. 

I just came back from a trip to Utah, the Holy Land of the gang orgies and multi-marriages. Talk about hypocrites, they censor everything in Utah. Go to a movie and all the sex or adult humor is gone. Their commercials, the same, and the local advertising is for nitwits. Then you go to another state where humans walk upright and it is a different world. How can a state do such things without tampering with the US Constitution? 

Bill Gates admits Control + Alt + Delete was a mistake and blames IBM. Link

[Meteor] “Smoke on the water. Fire in the sky.” Meteor crashed into the atmosphere over Ohio at 114,000 mph. Woosh! 4 Second Video

[Sewer Litigation] I wish shills who are acting like FKAA proxies would identify themselves when they give us a personal song and a dance rendition here concerning virtues of grinder pumps. They are neither accurate nor honest. I am not falling for it and neither should the public at large.

What would happen if I stuck a no trespassing sign on my property to stop the grinder pump guys from digging up my property unless they would install a gravity system?

[Dredging] Here’s a nice blog on Key West and cruise ships. Great message and wonderful pictures too.This is why cruise ships are not the best thing for the Keys. Long term visitors appreciate us more- and spend more money.

“I was bewildered when a couple from Washington, DC said they’d tried Key West on a recommendation and found it was a just “the South’s version of Atlantic City.”

Not to offend too much, but the horror, the horror! An Ode to Home: Link

Crapocalypse in Boulder from the flood.

Americans will always do the right thing after exhausting all the alternatives. ~Winston Churchill

[The Crazy Bassist] Jaco Pastorius composed this tune on a little toy keyboard.  He had asked Charlie if he wrote a tune did he think the band would want to play it. Charlie said, “of course” If I remember correctly we were somewhere outside of Baltimore for a couple of days. At rehearsal Jaco pulled out this tune called “Domingo”. At the time all it was, was a “head chart” When Charlie saw that he told him to “get the F^&% out of here! If you’re going to write a tune? WRITE A TUNE!” The next day Jaco showed up with this elaborate beautiful tune in the form of what people have heard from recordings of it years later. I do know Charlie used a small “Casio” type keyboard to write with when he was on the road. Jaco may have used that. This is as close to the truth I can give you from my first hand accounts. Video

The Old Farmer’s Almanac, North America’s oldest continuously published periodical, features the best in home, garden, history, food, and fun. All this and our famous weather forecasts: as always, traditionally 80% accurate.  Link

Broadband Tests and Tools. Link

FHA needs $1.7 billion dollars from the Treasury to cover reverse mortgage losses?  Link

The Isaac Newton coalition has a full page newspaper ad looking for donations. Before I send any money, I want to know just who they are. Their website tells nothing about them so I assume it’s the same Cudjoe Gardens people who started all of this. There was no talk about population density then, just talk that grinder pumps were pieces of crap (pun intended) that were going to fall apart whenever someone flushed his stash down the toilet. Why the change?

I looked at the FKAA map and Google Earth and it looks like the area scheduled for grinder pumps in Cudjoe Gardens is a little less dense than the gravity system area, but a lot more dense than where I live.

So I see it this way, based on the new population density argument, they want me to contribute to get a gravity system in their area that they say is dense while I am living in an area that will never see a gravity system because there aren’t many houses on my street. In addition to this, they want me and everyone else to pay more for my system so that they can get what they want. This sounds like the “make the gains private and the costs public” attitude of bankers and developers. No thank you.

You know you are a redneck when: You live on Big Pine Key and want to upgrade to Stock Island!

[“Judging Lunatics”] Bravo to the “lunatics” writer. It was a piece needing said. If all Muslims are ok and just a few are lunatics, then the same logic can be applied to gun owners and the NRA. In fact, it holds true that most tragedies have been caused by lunatics. Of course, in my opinion, anyone who wantonly commits murder of innocent men, women, and children is a lunatic, whether for religious, personal, robbery, or just because.

No, I am not a NRA member or a gun owner, but I can think.

[Feminism at the Zoo] The war on men has come to the zoo. That’s right, feminists are now targeting nonhuman great apes, as Reuters reports from Dallas: “A gregarious male gorilla at the Dallas Zoo will be sent to South Carolina for therapy after he bit one female gorilla and sneered at others, zoo officials said on Monday.

But the incident suggests a way in which extreme feminism may be at odds with other elements of leftist identity politics: Patrick was more tolerant of other male gorillas but seemed only to engage with Jabari, who was shot to death by Dallas police after he escaped in 2004 and injured three people. He has a distaste for females but gets along with males and had a special attachment to one male in particular. His genus may be Gorilla rather than Homo, but, well, you catch my drift. Why should he be subjected to therapy because of who he loves?

How to get bold text back on your iPhone and iPad with iOS 7. Link

Grinder pumps will coast all of us more in the long run even if we don;t get them in our area. The extra costs will be spread evenly among all those who poop.

[Then or Than Test] Confusing words that sound alike is not uncommon in English. A good example for that would be the misuse of the word pair then/than. They sound similar, they differ only by one letter, but they are used completely different. Link

Is the ‘do-rag is now part of the official uniform at Burger King?

[“Healthcare.gov”] Thanks for the info & link. There is no cost or info until Oct. 1st. I was under the impression that this was the law on Oct 1st. I was looking forward to seeing what plans and their costs were available. I will check again after the 1st along with every other American.

I am a couple degrees to the left and the politically correct crowd do drive me insane! The minority is the new majority.

Just like the pirate that walked into a bar with the ships wheel stuck down the front of his pants. Someone asked him what it was for and he answered, “Arrgh matey, it drives me nuts.”

Funny ha ha, not funny queer. 

[Priorities] I have always wondered how some of these countries can afford nuclear weapon programs when they still have people crapping in the streets.  But then again, look at us.

How many megapixels do you need? Link

[“Get rid of NOAA and get rid of the exotic snake and lion fish”] That was meant as  a metaphor because NOAA is an exotic pest in the Keys land and waters. They did not belong here.

Sorry, I will take it down a notch and just say NOAA sucks. They don’t do anything good for us and they fence us out of our own playground and grocery store. Do you get that analogy?

NOAA is a bunch of pseudo environmentalists. Real environmentalists do not keep you out of your ocean or stop you from eating your fish. The only areas that come under their grasp are those that they take from you and me. You want them to take it, fine, eat tilapia!

The Regressives say Obamacare is bad for government so they are trying to shut down government. Does anyone else find this an odd response?

[“Socialist programs”] Of course conservatives are going to take part in our country’s socialist programs along with the citizens who put them in place. We really have no choice. Most of us are middle class and as long as the programs are in place we are forced by finances to pay for whatever boondoggle they have dreamed up, to go with the flow till the program and perhaps our country goes bankrupt. To do otherwise is impossible. Just look at some of our biggest socialistic enterprises –Medicare and Medicaid — broke.  Social Security — broke. U.S. postal service — a basket case. Amtrack — ha ha. Public school systems — a disgrace. Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it. It is truly amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.

FTR on 9/19 wrote, “please bear in mind that the sequester has had no apparent effect on our lives, and has saved us a pile of money.” Either FTR is writing at a personal level, “didn’t effect me”, or he is a liar. If one was to google “sequester effect on GDP” there are numerous articles explaining how it greatly affects the GDP. Because FTR is the king of fact-checking (ha) he must be a liar because he writes constantly about our troubled economy.

[“Late term abortions”] Thanks to the poster that proved my point for me quite a few times in their post about Obama being a supporter of late term abortions. Nothing the poster said disproved my point. The post was filled with assumptions. In fact I will use the posters exact wording to say the same. “Mr. Obama indicated that a nine-month-old fetus, which survived a late term labor-induced abortion would be deemed to be a person, therefore, it would have a right to live.” In other words he left the choice up to the Mother and took a stand for the child if a Mothers wants were not met.

As for FTRs comment I asked to see the exact comment where our President said “I support late term abortions”. You 2 couldn’t prove your point. What our President has always said was he supports the right for women to make their own decisions. Not allow the government to make that choice for her.

You did however prove the point where he supported the Mothers decision which is what I have been saying all along.

I’m done with this line of conversation I’m not a huge supporter of men telling women what they should be doing with their God and bodies. 

[Socialism] It is beyond craziness that FTR can’t admit that Medicare is a form of socialism. It absolutely is. He can’t admit that because he has spent thousands of hours on the Coconut Telegraph trying to convince everyone how terrible socialism is and how horrible our government is. Those Tea Party folks love to say, “No government healthcare for everyone else but don’t touch my Medicare!” Hypocrisy at its best.

[Welfare] Why the hell do I have to pay for your dumb ass when you aren’t working or producing anything worth while? Seems all you bums do is hatch more trash that I have to pay for. This is bull shit. America needs cleaning out of the useless trash ASAP!

Senator Cruz wanted to curtail food stamps for veterans. Can’t we at least post somewhat ethical words here? Any person with a pulse knows such words are truly just air-headed blather. Please show some respect for your fellow posters and show at least some restraint when the impulse to post such nonsense overwhelms you. You certainly are only hurting your cause with such statements.

The Regressive Party is against anything smelling of socialism until they enjoy it benefits, then it’s, “I paid something into the program so now it’s okay.”

A number of posters ragged on this Olde Fart for being a Medicare recipient. Apparently they believe that that fact is tantamount to being a supporter of socialized medicine. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all let’s look at Medicare.  Depending on how the figuring is done, it pays only between 50% to 80% of your medical bills.  You have to pay for the balance, and it can be outrageously expensive.  Mrs. FTR and myself  pay about  $7320 per year simply for co-insurance. Plus there is the fact that  we have to pay over $3500 per year for co-pay and deductibles.

Medicare is paid for by every wage earner, a portion of their pay is withheld, and an equal amount is contributed by their employer. You will pay into that fund from the time you get your first job until you’re 65.

Enrollment in Medicare for Social Security recipients at age 65 is automatic. A person can drop Medicare or refuse it, but the financial consequences are horrible.

Like most government run programs, Medicare is rife with fraud, theft, and chronic inefficiencies. It is a program that unless reformed will soon go bust. One of the reasons that private medical insurance is so expensive is that healthcare providers are paid so little by Medicare that they must make up their shortfall by up charging private insurance payers.  In fact there is startling evidence that Medicare could go broke as soon as 2016. I’ll spare us all the technical reasons, and simply urge that you read the article titled: “Trustees: Medicare Will Go Broke in 2016, If You Exclude Obamacare’s Double-Counting.”  To be found at Link

The truth is that if I had invested the money that was taken from me and the matching funds from my employer for Medicare and Social Security, and had invested it, I would be in much better fiscal shape than I am today.

The bottom line is that both Social Security and Medicare are doomed to bankruptcy unless each receives major reform. Obamacare simply adds another money pit that has already robbed three quarters of a trillion dollars from Medicare and promises to increase our debt.

Part 2) The Republican controlled House of Representatives has followed the law and has submitted no less than 13 budgets to the Senate.  Harry Reid tossed each one of them into the trash and refused to even consider them. The ACA was passed without any negotiation whatsoever with the Republicans. It is the product of closed door back room Democrat politics.

Now we watch with our jaws agape that our President is hot to trot to negotiate with Putin, with Iran, and with Syria. That’s the  Iran that is directly responsible for the death of hundreds, if not thousands of Americans, and the Syria that has used chemical warfare. That’s the Iran that is sworn to eradicate our ally, Israel.

Nonetheless, Obama absolutely refuses to even talk with the Republicans about anything. That is the mark of a nascent emperor.  Obama is telling us that Republicans refuse to negotiate, but the absolute fact is that it is Obama who refuses to negotiate. He even admits it, he brags about it. He thumps his chest with braggadocio.

Do you think that it is fair or even appropriate for the President and his staff and the Congress and its staff to be exempt from Obamacare?  Do you think it is fair or appropriate for unions and businesses be spared from OC? Why them and not you? Why are thousands of union members and businesses excused from Obamacare, and not you?  Obama refuses to negotiate on any part of the issue.

The fact is that the Dems are slavering for a government shutdown. They believe that it will be a propaganda tool to attack the Republicans.

Do you really think that taxing medical devices is a good idea, please tell us how that will drive down the cost of healthcare. Obama should negotiate about that. The entire program is so screwed up that it is absolutely fatally flawed.

Obama has given businesses a pass for a year, you deserve the same consideration. Obama has given unions and tens of  thousands of others a “Get out of Obamcare Free Card”, why not you? Obama refuses to negotiate on this.

Our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence and all of our laws are the result of compromise.  No so Obamacare, it was rammed through without any consult, without any input from,  or compromise with Republican legislators. Obamacare is a dangerous anomaly, it is a freak. Now Obama is anxious to shut down our government in order to feed his ego. 70% of Americans are worried that their healthcare will suffer under Obamacare.

The Reps are trying to adding an amendment that will exclude the military from any effect of a government shutdown.  The Dems say no, they say shut down the benefits for the military, social security, etc. etc. etc. all to scratch Obama’s ego. Think about it, our founders were willing to negotiate and to make concessions so as to carve our out Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. But Obama refuses to negotiate in any manner concerning his signature legislation, Obamacare, it’s a sorry display of egomania.

The “respectfully submitted”, then followed by a signature, ending was taught to me when I was a young detective writing reports to my boss.  Respectfully submitted: FTR@bellsouth.net

I think that the latest IPCC report has truly sunk to level of hilarious incoherence.  They are proclaiming increased confidence in their models as the discrepancies between their models and observations increase.

Their excuse for the absence of warming over the past 17 years is that the heat is hiding in the deep ocean.  However, this is simply an admission that the models fail to simulate the exchanges of heat between the surface layers and the deeper oceans.  However, it is this heat transport that plays a major role in natural internal variability of climate, and the IPCC assertions that observed warming can be attributed to man depend crucially on their assertion that these models accurately simulate natural internal variability.  Thus, they now, somewhat obscurely, admit that their crucial assumption was totally unjustified.

Finally, in attributing warming to man, they fail to point out that the warming has been small, and totally consistent with their being nothing to be alarmed about.  It is quite amazing to see the contortions the IPCC has to go through in order to keep the international climate agenda going.