Letter to the Mayor concerning new barrier in Port Pine Heights. If you live in Port Pine Heights, and feel as I do, then please write Mr.Nugent.

Hello Mayor, I am writing you today as a constituent of your district, pertaining to your district, I believe. As a long time Keys resident, and a resident of Port Pine Heights for 18 years, I am blown away by the actions of, I am guessing, the Public Works Department. I have witnessed public works guys working on this project recently and am wondering what is going on.

At the north end of Key Deer Blvd, the county has decided to erect a barrier. See picture. Can you please tell me why my tax dollars were wasted on this project? This place that they are blocking off from cars has looked like this for the whole 18 years I have lived here. Why are we making a barrier here now? Why do I have to drive by this ugly, used pile of logs every day now?

I am going to estimate its cost from what I witnessed so far. This does not even count the time taken to plan and mark this, what I consider, fiasco. I don’t know what you would call it.

I witnessed 1 tractor trailer to bring the ugly used poles and the Loader.

1 Large Loader to move the poles

3 county workers placing the poles

1 county worker today spraying the spots for the reflectors

1 county worker (maybe more) placing the reflector poles

I am going to assume it has taken a total of 4-8 hours per man to place this here. Other than the cost of asphalt, All these workers could have paved my road in front of my house that needs it, that me and my long term neighbors have been paying taxes for for 18 years.

If I had put this in front of my house in the county right of way, I can not even imagine the outrage from both the county and the Key Deer Refuge people.

Not that I advocate the next statement, but this directs the deer right into traffic. I would have felt the wrath of the Fish and Wildlife people if I directed the deer onto the road in such a manner.

Furthermore, if you look at the tracks inside the barrier closely, the only tracks you will see are the tracks from the county mowing operation tractors. So these smart folks have only stopped their own fellow county employees from making the only tracks that you can visibly see.

Do you think anyone with any sense in Port Pine Heights cares about those tracks or how that little ditch of land looks? I believe not. Even while I was taking this picture one man stopped and asked me if I knew what this was. He also agreed it was a waste of our money. And if you go up the road a little ways there is a ditch that looks just like this one that is not barricaded. What is the logic?

Please Mayor, I am trying to be respectful, but this has to top the most stupidest thing I have seen lately from the county. I love my county and I love living in Port Pine Heights. I will not love looking at this pile of crap for the rest of my time. Please have this eyesore removed as it will serve no purpose than to keep it from getting mowed once a month.

[Animal Shelter] John Wyckoff, Thank you so much for your postings. It is about time someone stood up for what is right in this area. We try to trust these powers-that-be and every time who ends up getting screwed? The little man, the taxpayer, and now the animals? How much lower can politics drive everyone into the dirt while we all stand totally apathetic to the problem.

Katie Bentley,  am ashamed of the treatment you received and apologize for those that did this to you. You deserved a hell of a lot more support which appears to be non-existent. Keep your head down and your chin up. You know your efforts were well worth it in a lot of happy dogs/cats/others either in the shelter or placed in new homes and that is what is important. Equally troubling is the lack of comment from Marathon/Monroe County. Where are you elected officials?

Ukulele night at Coconuts. Video

[Marathon Journal Week in Review]

1. Hybrid vehicles are a promise fulfilled to residents that is not only a good local government vehicle but also satisfying the green initiative. The investment is not only about the money but also about life cycle management. This approach makes sense over the seven years such vehicles are used. For the naysayers the Journal has leased two hybrid vehicles for which the warranty covers everything including maintenance. The Journal has not had any problems with such vehicles.

2. The Coconut Telegraph is on vacation. I am going through withdrawals. I don’t have my big belly laugh when I read FTR’s From the Right. Those repubs are so funny.

3. Homestead is not any different from any other city concerning councilmembers. What is notable is that the Mayor and Council sing happy birthday to some notable. Here I thought the no tie rule for Marathon was quaint but needed. I implore Mayor Cinque not to sing to anyone deserved or not.

4. The furthest city before Key Largo is not Homestead but that fair city called Florida City. I can hear students groan when such geography lessons are offered. Who cares whether students know one end of their town to another end. I have to qualify that with I have lost my way in Marathon a time or two. Fortunately, there is US1 from mile marker 63 to 48. You cannot stay lost forever when the town is only 15 miles long. Do I have that right with the mile markers?

5. I am lost after the cell phone drowned in the bilge. I suppose many people are happy that I don’t have a cell phone right now. I have to say with a few exceptions that a small vacation from the multitude of calls to me is refreshing. I imagine I will not miss anything either.

6. Key Largo is intriguing to me because of all the dive sites. There are five formerly sea worthy vessels sunk for more dive sites. These vessels are the City of Washington, Spiegel Grove, Benwood, Bibb, and Duane. That and the six coral reef diving spots give Key Largo character and a reason to visit by boat.

7. Considering all the recent fuss over pigs and piglets has me taking a hard look at that strange word piglet. There is a five-letter word that means the same, but is more like terms a farmer might use. The five-letter word is shoat. Look it up if you don’t believe me. Actually, a piglet is more of a newborn pig while a shoat is a weaned piglet. Is this the last thing about pigs you will hear? I doubt it.

8. My boat comes back after an intensive punch list. Marine Connection certainly stands behind their boats. Hopefully, we will be able to have some fun now.  ~Publisher@MarathonJournal.US 

We really need the box store on Rockland Key. The county commissioners are driving this deal into the ground. They have conceded on the heritage trail bike path, they have conceded on a 200 room meeting hall for a dollar per year lease to the county. That is enough. They are going to walk away from this deal If Heather keeps driving her agenda for affordable housing.

The working people of this county need a Target or Walmart here. My wife and I drive to Costco to buy bulk goods. that is the only way we can afford to live here and If our taxes and insurance go up again we will have to move away. I think many of us are in that boat. Please, everyone, contact them and tell them enough is enough. Get it done! 

Numbers website. A web site every American needs to see! Link

I wish more of my handcuff stories involved sex instead of police officers.

It seems the month of March 2013 was a very busy month for UFOs. This is the best UFO sightings caught on video for the month of March 2013. Video

[Terrorism] Congress must ban any further sales of pressure cookers! At minimum there needs to be background checks for anyone wanting to buy one of these assault style cooking systems with a national registry of any owned already. Implement door to door confiscation if necessary. These assault style cooking systems are only used by the very extreme; you know the types, assault pressure cooker nuts, the grandmas, the gardeners, the canners. These people are armed and dangerous with these WMD assault style cooking systems. All pressure cookers need to be registered on a national register and background checks for all that own one. DHS needs to purchase all the nails & ball bearings that can be produced immediately. If it saves just one life something must be done to take the pressure cookers, nails & ball bearings away from the criminally insane. All of you that own a pressure cooker are to blame; all of you that own nails and bearings are to blame.

Here’s a happy chap full of positive vibes and good cheer. Gee, what a swell guy he must be to be around.

Who ever said, the customer is always right, clearly never worked with the public a day in their life.

[American Decline] Rome wasn’t built; nor destroyed, in a day. Over time there was a break down in the culture and consciousness that made them viable. Their empire fell apart, never to regain its greatness.

The forces that destroyed the Roman Empire are alive and well in the United States. It’s reflected in our over-reaching government, corrupt politicians and cultural relativism. Character building and personal achievement, along with accepting responsibility for ones actions, have been shelved on behalf of political correctness.

Violence and murderous spectacles inundate our society via the movie industry and Internet. Outrageous and self-indulgent entertainment are put forth as a respected art form.

I know some extraordinary educators and students in our school district. However, children are not being served well by the American public school system. Their second-rate education has ranked last and near the bottom in every measurable academic area, when compared to other school systems from around the world.

Florida’s drop out rate is at 29%. Nearly one out of every three students will drop out of school. These young Americans are funnelled into our society underserved and lacking. Many will require government care, paid for by the taxpayer, in perpetuity.

Dialogue addressing the real issues that are before us has been stifled by zealots and ideologues. Far too frequently ‘free speech’ has become irrelevant, for it has become politicized. Government and journalists sharing a particular belief have conspired in many instances to carry each other’s water, for the sake of advancing their access, power and influence.

There isn’t any need for our rulers to be alert and effective. They are shielded from their incompetence and insulated from the consequences of their destructive decisions by their allies in the press.

Demonizing citizens who value and adhere to a set of principles and ideas differing from the ruling elites, has become the favorite past time of the state run media.

America has been seriously wounded by the partisan drives of those determined to suppress political discourse. They take comfort in smugly mocking our founding documents as being obsolete and irrelevant, as they play with their fiddles. 

Why didn’t I think of this?

Great White shark spotted in Islamorada on Wed. 

[Trust Your Government?] What’s truly tragic about the current gun control legislation brouhaha is not that the background check stuff is not going to pass.  It’s a placebo that will have no real effect on the problem.

The tragedy is that there are so many people don’t trust that their own government isn’t lying to them about what they are going to do with the information such a program would gather. 

[Customer Service] You say you’ll be here between noon and five? Great, I’ll be sure to pay my bill sometime between May and July! 

No more gambling machines in bars as of yesterday.

[Guns] Now Obama is going to put a bill before congress to outlaw fertilizer because you can kill more people with fertilizer then with guns or pressure cookers.

[Half Staff Displays] Flying the flag at half-staff is an area of flag etiquette that most people want to make sure they get right. It is also an area for which the road to error is routinely paved with good intentions. With that in mind, we offer this refresher course as the all-important intersection where knowledge meets benevolence.

Flying the flag at half-staff: The pertinent section of the Flag Code says, “by order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law.

In the event of the death a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that state, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff.” The code also includes other related details including the specific length of time during which the flag should be displayed at half-staff, in the event of the death of a “principal figure”(e.g., 30 days for the death of a sitting or former President, 10 days for the death of a sitting Vice-President,etc.).

Good-faith misunderstandings: Although the code is actually pretty clear, confusion continues to occur. For example, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno recently ordered the American Flag flown at half-staff on all U.S. Department of Justice buildings, in honor of several DEA agents who had died. While NFF understands this gesture, the Flag Code does not give Attorney General Reno the authority to issue that order. Closer to NFF’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania home, Mayor Tom Murphy ordered all flags flown at half-staff to honor the victims of a plane crash. Here again, a well-intentioned gesture, but one for which no authority exists. NFF points out these “good-faith misunderstandings” not to criticize or embarrass anyone, but rather to head off a growing trivialization of this memorial salute, and to preserve the dignity and significance of flying the U.S. flag at half-staff. To any readers who may think that NFF is insensitive for raising these breaches of etiquette, please be assured that our motives are pure. We grieve these human loses deeply; however, we believe proper respect for our flag must be maintained – no matter the circumstances. 

[Joke] The first Cajun says, “There’s this old truck transmission here, give me a haTwo Cajuns are out hunting, and as they are walking along they come upon a huge hole in the ground.

They approach it and are amazed by the size of it.

The first Cajun says, “Wow, that’s some hole; I can’t even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is.”

The second Cajun says,” I don’t know, let’s throw something down and listen and see how long it takes to hit bottom. And and we’ll throw it in and see”.

So they pick it up and carry it over, and count one, and two and three, and throw it in the hole.

They are standing there listening and looking over the edge and they hear a rustling in the bushes behind them.

As they turn around they see a goat come crashing through the bushes, run up to the hole and with no hesitation, jump in head first.

While they are standing there looking at each other, looking in the hole and trying to figure out what that was all about, an old farmer walks up.

“Say there,” says the farmer, “you fellers didn’t happen to see my goat around here anywhere, did you?”

The first Cajun says, ” Funny you should ask, but we were just standing here a minute ago and a goat came running out of the bushes doin’ about a hundred miles an hour and jumped headfirst into this hole here!”

The old farmer said, “That’s impossible. I had him chained to a transmission!”  

[Redux] Birds-of-Paradise Project. Video

Today in 1775,  the first battles of the American Revolutionary War were fought at Lexington and Concord, Mass.

[Earth Day Events Tomorrow]

-Bahia Honda State Park,  Mile Marker 36.8, hosts  its 18th annual Earth Day  Celebration from 9 a.m. to 2  p.m., offering live music from  The Doerfels, a sand sculpture contest, puppet shows,  face painting, kids’ games  and environmental exhibitions by The Turtle Hospital  of Marathon and the Florida  Keys Astronomy Club, among  others. Call 305-872-9807 for  details.

-Florida Keys EcoDiscovery Center at the  Truman Waterfront is hosting  a free “Discovery Saturday”  program for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.“Turtle Talk,” games and crafts will revolve  around the various species of turtles, some  of which are endangered. Kids can make their own sea turtle puppet while learning about the creatures.

-The Eco-Discovery Center, 33 East Quay  Road, also will host an Earth Day Movie  Festival, showing six ocean-themed short  films that explore ocean climate, energy  and biodiversity from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

-Sunset Watersports plans a spring cleaning of Smathers Beach and the Bridle Path,  from 10 a.m. to noon. The company will  treat volunteers to a free barbecue, with City  Commissioner Billy Wardlow as the event’s  special “grill master,” a press release states. Volunteers may also use Sunset’s kayaks, paddleboards and windsurfers for free.

-Lazy Dog Outfitters, at Hurricane Hole  Marina on Stock Island, will sponsor an “Ocean Hour Cleanup” from 9 a.m. to 10  a.m. Paddleboards are available to rent, and people are asked to bring a container to collect litter. A group paddle will start at 10 a.m., from  Lazy Dog to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.  Spaces are limited; call 305-295-9898 to  RSVP.

-The Rev. Carol Morin and the Rev. Randy  Becker will host a sunset meditation and  labyrinth walk at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, at  Higgs Beach beside West Martello Tower  near the White Street Pier. Meditation begins promptly at 5:30 p.m. and the plan is for people to walk the labyrinth while the sun sets. 

Good ol’ Al Gore, he is still showing us all this mysterious unconventional stuff, but it sure seems to produce results in unconventional ways, A la his increased wealth by a billion or more, that is a billion with a B. We should all be so unconventional.

[Guns] On Saturday morning, Dec. 15, one day after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, NBC’s chief justice correspondent, Pete Williams, spoke with “Today” show host Matt Lauer.

Williams shared “new information this morning from a couple of federal officials and state officials.” Said Williams, “They say now that there were actually four handguns recovered inside the school, not just two as we were initially told; four handguns and apparently only handguns that were taken into the school. Either this story is bullshit or they are lying through his teeth to us. When they control the media well we know what happens. Link

Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio and Oria Garcia. His parents were Cubans who had immigrated to the United States in 1956 and were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 1975.

How the hell is Rubio the American son? Not only that, but considering the fact that Cuban refugees have the only the right and privilege of Dry-foot/Wet-foot. No other Hispanics or anyone from the Caribbean have access to this luxury. The Dry-foot/Wet-foot law gives exclusive commodities to any Cuban refugee who has been able to set foot on American territory. This includes free, medicaid, welfare, a work visa and a green card for all Dry foot Cuban refugees. Yet Rubio is pushing harsh requirements for all illegal immigrants? Requirements that will be impossible for them to ever achieve. Well, why doesn’t he include Cuban refugees in this bill too? (The only reason Cubans come here is to make money.)

This is another tactic by the Republicans, so the Republicans can fail on the Hispanic vote again. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not defending illegal aliens in any way. My point is solely, why aren’t Cuban refugees included in this act? Wake up people. What a hypocrite this guy is.

Cameras in USA (London: 1 for every 32 people)  What do you mean, are they going to cut back?  What do you think those little red lights are for on your appliances?

[“Things that happened while Ed enjoyed his vacation that FTR will never share”] Lane Rees, a 61-year-old GOP committeeman for Walton County, Fla., was arrested Monday night for possession and transmission of child pornography. Rees has served as a GOP committeeman since 2008, but has held more powerful positions in local Republican politics in the past. His wife, Brenda, currently serves as Walton County’s elected state committeewoman.

According to his website, Rees was named Walton’s “Man of the Year” in 2011 and has been active in the Evangelical community.

[Credibility] When a person makes a statement of fact such as “enhanced background checks would not make any difference”  in shootings there has to be proof of the statement for it to be viable. I challenge anyone to show me any ounce of proof that enhanced background checks would not have stopped someone from committing murder with a handgun they couldn’t get if they failed an enhanced background check.Just facts please show me your proof. If you cannot back up your factual comment you have dismissed your credibility.

Stay on point please dont do the usual “move the goalpost” spin and change. 

[“FTR’s intentionally misleading and careless posts”] He’s not a news organization who have fact checkers for accuracy. But he does, like all extremist on both sides, intentionally mislead folks. That was done on this week’s gun bill defeat in the Senate. The Right intentionally lied about the consequences of the legislation. The Left does it too, but it is not the “right thing”. Both extremists think they can do the “wrong thing” for their politics and it’s okay.

FROM THE RIGHT

Deer Friends I am truly puzzled by yesterday’s posting that recited a portion of David Stockman’s recent NYT editorial. I think that the poster may have been trying to show that Stockman, a Republican, was embracing liberal views. If that’s the case, the poster is deeply fuddled. Stockman’s criticism of Reagan was that Reagan was not conservative enough. In the editorial, Stockman is telling us that our economy is unraveling because of liberal acts and theory as practiced by Republicans and Democrats. Paul Krugman, unabashed and proud liberal writer and commentator characterized Stockman’s writing as being “…cranky old man stuff the kind of stuff you get from people who read Investor’s Business Daily or listen to Rush Limbaugh.”  I thank the fuddled poster for sharing Stockman’s very conservative thoughts with us.

Another critic urged the CT community to do research on the relationship of Obama and Ayers/Dohrn.  I concur. If you will do even cursory research you will find that Ayers/Dohrn are proud of their time as founders of the Weather Underground, they are proud of the bombings that they accomplished. They do not regret the deaths that their organization caused. The Weather Underground allied itself with the Black Panthers. If you check you will also find that Obama’s political career started in the Ayers living room with a meet and greet fundraiser. Ayers enthusiastically supported Obama. Ayers/Dohrn began collaborating with Obama about 1992. By about 1995 Obama chaired the board of the Annenberg Chicago Challenge and worked with Ayers to distribute money from the fund. Both were members of the board of the Woods Foundation. Both worked on several community organizing projects.

Ayers and Dohrn were/are hard core revolutionaries. Both were/are fervent socialists, perhaps even communists. Both were founders of the Weather Underground, a leftist organization that set about terrorizing   America with a series of bombings. In a 2001 interview with the NYT Ayers said: ”I don’t regret setting bombs,” …. ”I feel we didn’t do enough.”

Frankly, given the background of Ayers/Dohrn it is understandable why Obama and his handlers would resist any attempts to educate the voters on the relationship between Ayers/Dorhn and Obama

I trust that you will remember that Team Obama denied the claim that Ayers kicked off Obama’s political career. In fact Robert Gibbs, a spokesman for Obama’s presidential campaign, categorically denied the fundraiser was ever held.  But, Ayers in a subsequent interview with the Daily  Beast stated: “We were friendly, that was true; we served on a couple of boards together, that was true; he held a fundraiser in our living room, that was true; Michelle [Obama] and Bernardine (Dorn) were at the law firm together, that was true. Hyde Park in Chicago is a tiny neighborhood, so when he said I was ‘a guy around the neighborhood,’ that was true.”

If your interested in learning more I suggest that you check out: Link

Part 2)  Yesterday the Kaiser Health News reported that in recent weeks experts have predicted costs for some health plans could soar next year.

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is predicting that, because of sicker patients joining the coverage pool, medical claims per member will rise 32 percent in the individual plans expected to dominate the ACA (Obamacare) exchanges next year. In some states costs will rise as much as 80 percent, the report said.

Respectfully submitted: FTR@Reagan.com