Letters to the editor with pictures since 2002. Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.
 There has not been a single report of anyone dying because no ventilator was available! Not one, and you can be certain that had it occurred it would have been major news, so what’s all the fuss?Lots of jawboning in Tuesdays CT suggesting that socialized medicine was a cure all. Some folks seem to believe that big government in the form of socialized medicine would have saved many lives. That ain’t so. The stats are crystal clear. As of 1:30 PM Tuesday, April 7, it is reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University that the death rate for Chinese flu in the US of A is 3.1%. In Italy, with socialized medicine the death rate is 12.5%; Spain, socialized medicine, 10%; France, socialized medicine, 9.1%; and the UK is 11.3% |
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[Garlic Breath] Smashing or chopping a garlic clove initiates a chemical reaction that produces a quartet of volatile organic compounds. All four contribute to garlic breath, but one of them, allyl methyl sulfide, or AMS, is most to blame. Your gut doesn’t break it down, so it enters the bloodstream and passes through your lungs and into your skin, whence you exhale it or sweat it out. But you needn’t swear off garlic. Chemicals in apples, lemons. fresh parsley, spinach or mint neutralize (that is, not merely mask) garlic breath. And to get the odor off your hands after working with garlic, wash with salt and lemon or a dab of toothpaste-—or rub your hands across a stainless-steel utensil under running water. |
| Are they going to put a mask on that Bronx Zoo tiger that has the virus? |
Social distancing from home. |
| [Friday Joke] Little Johnnie was sitting on a curb playing with a jar of turpentine. A priest came by and asked what he was doing. Johnnie told him, “I’m playing with this turpentine.” The priest said, “That’s very dangerous, I’ll trade you the turpentine for some Holy Water.” Johnnie asked what good does the Holy Water do?” The priest replied, I can put it on a woman’s stomach, and she can pass a baby.” Johnnie said, “That’s nothing Father. This morning I put some turpentine on a cat’s ass and it passed a motorcycle!” |
[Take Out] A very grateful and sincere thank you to the food purveyors on Big Pine who remain open for take-out during this difficult and stressful time. Your service keeping us fed is appreciated more than can be expressed |
| I have had way too much time to ponder things since I am at home. For example: What if in a few years another coronavirus pops up? What can we call it? The novel novel coronavirus? The new novel coronavirus? SSDD coronaviris? And wouldn’t all Jersey girls have herd immunity? |
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| [Crooks] Military housing landlord Balfour Beatty Communities, the focus of a Justice Department inquiry following Reuters reports it falsified maintenance logs, said it has taken steps to prevent the practice and make its homes safer for service families. Link |
[Unemployment Frustration] I tried to file for unemployment about 2 weeks ago and I spent days on the computer, I couldn’t get anywhere. I was ready to rip my hair out. First I blamed myself since I am not good with a computer, but then somebody told me that it happen to her too, so she tried again at 2 in the morning, I tried it also, and filing was a breeze. Within 30 minutes I was done. It was such a load of my shoulder, so don’t give up. |
| [Friday Joke] Saturday morning, I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife’s back; now with a different anticipation, and whispered, “The weather out there is terrible.” My loving wife of 5 years replied, “And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?” And that’s how the fight started. |
[Homeschool Day 1] I wonder how I can get this kid transferred out of my class. Many parents are about to discover the teacher was not the problem. I sent How to Cook Your Kids to all the neighbors — in crayon |
| [County Lay-offs] County to furlough 30-100 employees. Video |
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| You really know that things are bad when Mexican food starts to be nutritious and taste good. God help us! |
[Happy Hour guidelines] I just read where the government says the new CDC guideline now limits your drinking to no more than 6 glasses a day. The guideline also said that drinking can begin at 4 o’clock instead of the traditional 5. |
| [No Healthy Workers] Sioux Falls Smithfield pork plant shuts for 3 days because of workers sickened by COVID-19. Link |
Coughy filter? |
| With the counterfeit hurricane stickers to get into the Keys all over the place, does this effect the supply trucks getting in and are they inspected for illegal snowbirds trying to sneak in to the Keys? Can we shoot them for bait? |
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| What if I get sick besides the virus and need an operation? What hospitals are still open? Is there a list of local doctors in the Keys? |
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| [China Virus Drill] No idea if it is real – but (there’s always a ‘but’) I have doubts police in China have the word -POLICE- and/or SWAT on their vests along with, I assume, Mandarin characters stating the same and a video with English subtitles.
Tongbai China – I looked this city up on Google Earth, is maybe 160 miles North of where the Wuhan virus originated. This reportedly is a SWAT team training exercise for uncooperative drivers with a fever and/or showing signs of Covid19 in a quarantine area. Anyone seen anything even close to this magnitude of action here (USA)? Naah, didn’t think so – we’re not serious — yet. Perhaps not enough of us have died, I guess. Watch, it’s only 3 minutes – a traffic stop drill and wellness check at a toll booth in Tongbai China. Video |
 [Brassy Jazz] While checking out a band that plays excellent New Orleans brassy jazz (with hip hop overtones that I can do without on some cuts), I found a tune that reflects my views on TV in general and their “news” in particular. Listen carefully to the words and enjoy the trombone solo near the end. I really like their instrumental-only tunes, so explore some.Shammar Allen and the Underdawgs — I Don’t Want to Think Like You |
| [Virus] It’s diet time in the old corral and this virus will see to it we keep tightening our belts until we can use a Cheerio for a Hula-hoop. I hope the markets start stocking necessary foods and not worry about junk food or kiddy treats that are useless. The Keys are in for some fun for sure. Some woman down my street thinks she can go fishing every day. She doesn’t have a row boat[?]. Some people never get it. |
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| [Cost Savings] If the county is going to furlough, let’s get rid of the Administrator, Roman Gastesi. His salary alone should take care of 50 county employees. |
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| Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower |
[Testing] The question everyone asks is where to go to get checked for this virus in the Lower Keys? Who can I call? Do you know anyone who’s been tested? |
| [Masks] When I was a young man, I was always advised to put a bag over the head of a homely girl. My how times have changed, now it needs to be a politically correct, government approved face mask. |
Today’s best t-shirt. |
| [Capitalism] I get a kick out the local mom and pop grocery stores who have no morals when they buy from the big markets then inflate the price to sell it for profit. Sort of like dope dealers. |
[Spreading the Virus] Some people are so stupid, desperate for money, or religious they will not follow the rules and blindly go out in the world taking this virus with them infecting others. There should be tougher laws, when a person knowingly infects others, that they are held responsible and locked up and prosecuted. Those idiots cannot realize the dangers of infecting are no different than using a bloody gun! |
| [Free Money] We’re being had again. The Fed is giving money to businesses and other organizations to help them keep going. Hey, it’s my money and I’m not getting anything for it! Why not give me back my money so I can spend it. This is survival of the fittest and the fittest wear suites and laugh at us tax paying idiots. Don’t give me that crap about keeping the country’s economy going. The only people that need help are the farmers, truckers and water worker’s and the other citizens. If I hear of the Fed giving my money to illegals, religious nuts, or celebrities, I swear I’ll never pay taxes again. |
[Rustic Weave Artisanal Toilet Paper] From tree to bum. Video |
| [Four Reasons the Ruling Elite Love This Crisis] Lee Camp is a gifted comedian and satirist, and recently turned columnist for Consortium News, where you can get news that is not corporate propaganda, ie mainstream media. I recommend adding your name to their mailing list, so that you can read what is going-on from the perspective of a person who is not in lock-step with the ruling elites, and their propaganda machines. Link |
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