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2014 May

Monday, May 5, 2015

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The-Coconut-Telegraph-w-CoconutsThe Original Unsocial Media. Anonymous Letters to the Editor with Pictures. Published Daily by Noon Since 2002. No Saturday Edition

cinco de mayo mariachi 282h
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Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to this email. All emails go to the Editor and all emails get read.
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Rare goblin shark caught off Key West. Only the second one ever known to be caught in Gulf. Link
Hunter fans used to come with a lifetime guarantee, but they no longer have confidence in their product so they eliminated the guarantee a few years ago.
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maracas mexicoHappy Cinco de Mayo from Springers Bar and Grill. Today’s Mexican special is Steak tostadas with yellow rice. We will also have special fresh fruit margaritas for your drinking pleasure. Come celebrate a taste of Mexico with us.

Tuesday Special: spaghetti and meatballs. Tuesday is also pizza day, with 2 topping for $10.
Wednesday Special: meatloaf and kids under 12 eat free with a paying adult.
Thursday Special: meatball subs.
Friday Special: shrimp skewers in devil BBQ with rice.

Cornhole begins Thursday May 15, so sign up today.
There’s Always Something Special at Springers.

[Never Trust Big Corporations] British Petroleum’s fleet of lawyers asked the courts to agree to their magnanimous offer of a settlement. Their offer said anyone who had their income decline that year could get money from BP–even if there was no proof the decline was related to the oil spill. They felt that was the only way to restore people’s good will after the disaster they created in the Gulf. The court accepted.BP is having buyers remorse of a sort, and wants the court to reverse its decision and let BP’s lawyers sue all those whom they gave money to who cannot prove their losses were due to the oil spill. They feel enough time has passed and they no longer need the good will of the people of the Gulf who they know have short memories.
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Target CEO resigns
amid fallout from massive data breach. Link
[Twisted Chutzpah Dept] A Houston-based oil company seeking to triple the capacity of its backlogged Trans Mountain Pipeline moving oil from Alberta to British Columbia – thank you gluttonous consumers! – included in its 15,000-page request to Canada’s National Energy Board the argument that spills can have “both positive and negative effects” on the economy because clean-up jobs! As legally required, the report goes on to note a dozen long term lethal hazards of spills, including devastation of public health and the planet as we know it, and the Board has rejected the testimony of 27 climate experts willing to offer more, but still: A few short-term, low-paying, toxic jobs!
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In Germany people bring their own grocery bags, usually cloth. People without bags can buy them for 10 Euro cents or so. People seem happy with the system. Also, people bag their own groceries, meaning stores need fewer employees. And there is more! To get a shopping cart, people need to put a coin into a slot as a deposit. When shopping is done, all the carts are neatly returned because everyone wants the coin back. That keeps the parking lots free from litters of carts. And even more! Most genetically modified foods can not be sold in the stores, though, after much lobbying, it is now possible to enjoy US beef, so long as it is prominently noted that there is no genetic modification to it. This big government works well for consumers, but maybe not in other free countries.
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[Havana Man on the Street
] The Cuban people do whatever is necessary to get by.  This elderly gentleman sharpens anything with an edge on an old homemade grinder with a foot operated pedal.  He’ll sharpen your pocket knife for 50 cents.
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Margaret Romero a conch? I remember her from the IBM days in Southbury, CT. Maybe she’s a freshwater conch. She was a decent exec at IBM, but I’d still vote for Cates as a more balanced mayoral candidate.
contact-us5I miss the “Contact us” link on the main page of the CT. I found it, but some might not. (Ed: There are 7 Contact Us lines on every CT. I thought they were clearly marked as to their function. Do you have a suggestion how I might make the language more clear? I don’t want the text larger than the rest of the posts and I don’t want to clutter the CT with more images. Thanks for your input.)Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to this email. All emails go to the Editor and all emails get read.
A year or two ago when we had the Crane Ave, Sugarloaf light discussion, we heard the same thing from those who were afraid that the light would be taken down. That the drivers involved in accidents were moronic senior citizens from up North. You know, people who drove thousands of uneventful miles to get there and then were moronically stopped at the light while another elderly Northern moron rear-ended them. And no, it has nothing to do with the location of the light which allows people who live off Crane Ave to turn onto Route 1 with the convenience of a light; unlike the rest of us.Here we go again. At least the last discussion got the DOT to switch the light to a blinker when school was over.
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The Stand Your Ground law, effectively removes a requirement that a person try to escape before using violence against an attacker.
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[“Hunter fans”
] Since Hunter no longer guarantees their fans for life, the only reason to buy one is because they have wood blades that don’t sag like the other cheaper fans. I wouldn’t be surprised if they no longer had wood blades either, negating any reason to buy Hunter instead of a cheap fan that lasts just as long.
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[“Yellow pages to trash can”] Ever hear of recycle? “Threw in trash without thinking” is fully correct.
review5[Restaurant review] I just tried the new breakfast & lunch cafe where the Cracked Egg used to be, next to Big Pine Motel and across from True Value. They have totally redecorated, cleaned, and reorganized the cafe. It looks very nice. The meals are slightly lower priced than the local competition. The cooks are masterful! The servers are friendly and attentive. There is more light inside than the competition, which is not so dreary and is great if you want to read the paper with breakfast. It is a family operation and they are starting at the worst time, as the snowbirds are mostly gone for several months, but they said they are concentrating on establishing a customer base of locals anyway. I was very pleased with my breakfast and intend to return. There were not many customers for a Sunday morning, so I know they could use some support from the community. The menu said they are closed Wednesday, but otherwise open from 5:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Please give them a try. I would like to see them survive and stay open. I still like Big Pine Restaurant and Galley Grill, but choice is good.
Tech support in medieval times (Norwegian with English subtitles). Video
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The development team working on turning Peary Court into a 208-unit complex promised to blend into the historic fabric of Old Town have heard plenty of complaints from residents: It’s not pretty enough. Parking will be a nightmare. Our property values will drop.Other complaints have been greatly increased automotive traffic on their streets, invasion of their privacy and destruction of their quality of life. All to satisfy greed, the sole driver of this new development. Even a picture of the finished project, an image of people enjoying the planned swimming pool, stirred up anger, according to Jim Hendrick, whose Critical Concerns firm is working with the developers.

I wonder if Hendrick told Gwen Filosa that the Angela Street residents told Hendrick at a nearby Moose Lodge meeting that they were stirred up by the thought of noise from a public swimming pool and a park inside the new Peary Court, and that pool and park taking up space which would force new Peary Court construction closer to Angela Street?

I wonder if Hendrick told Filosa that he told the Angela Street residents at the Moose Lodge that he and Donna will live in the new Peary Court development? Jim told me years ago that he took, as his fee, a unit in his good friend and client Pritam Singh’s developments.

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[“Phone Book Obsolete”
] Phone books’ yellow pages used t be a major revenue maker for AT&T until the breakup and birth of competing phone companies with their own phone books. Now all of them have been made obsolete by the computer. All you do is enter a business name and zip code or city and a ton of information is right there–a bunch of times faster than wading through a phone book.
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[“Fan Repair”] I have an old business card of a guy named John Zimmerman at 3930 S. Roosevelt Blvd in Key West that says, “Specializing in Hunter Fans.” 305-295-3888.
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[“Refurbishing Bic lighters”
] The accomplishments of some of the Cuban people lends fresh confirmation of the adage that claims necessity as the mother of invention. How they’ve kept those sixty year old cars running without new parts defines ‘ingenuity’.
[Sewer Guilt] Please be aware that just because somebody works for the County or the FKAA, or even the sewer contractors does not mean that they support the idiotic and oppressive sewer system. Some of the strongest supporters and contributors of the Dump the Pumps organization are grinder pump victims that have employment with the dark side and cannot be officially identified as members of Dump the Pumps because they want to keep their employment hassle-free. Many supporters of DTP[?] get FKAA or County contracts or need to pull permits and do not want hassles just because they oppose the injustices of the evil empire. They cannot display one of the red bumper stickers, but they are still 100% for the elimination of grinder pumps on private property. I have had guys tell me that they keep a change of shirt so they can go into stores without somebody showing their contempt. FKAA has never had a lower public opinion, but save your spit for their management and officials.
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[“Exxon Oil profits”] Why do you feel compelled to defend, or correct a post concerning a billions of dollars corporation that isn’t doing anything for us, or the earths environment? Are you profiting from it?
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How to please a woman:
Love her. Die for her. Take her for dinner. Miss the game for her. Buy her jewelry. Be interested in what she says.How to please a man: Show up naked. Bring beer.
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dump-the-pumps-bumper-stkr[Shit Storm] Here’s a military jargon definition from Urbandictionary.com that perfectly describes FKAA’s sewage collection system. How appropriate.Shitstorm: A course of action that would appear to lead to a good outcome, but when undertaken, leads to a situation that is utterly out of control beyond human comprehension.

Nice work, FKAA, you’ve created a perfect shitstorm!

In the age of information, ignorance is a choice.
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[“Looe Key Tiki bar falling down”] Are you a structural engineer or a carpenter to claim that “The rafters of the thatched roof have been rotting away from termites and weather.” Or are you a disgruntled ex employee or customer? If it’s true that you’ve seen dust on the bar counter, can’t it be possible that it’s from the palm leaves due to the wind and rain? I’ve never seen any form of dust on the bar, and I’m a frequent customer there too. The guy who set up the TVs happens to be a local professional with an outstanding reputation for his quality work and integrity. (Ed: Fl Keys Satellite’s Sammy Sam the DirecTV man.)
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[May 5th] During the French-Mexican War, a poorly supplied and outnumbered Mexican army under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeats a French army attempting to capture Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. Victory at the Battle of Puebla represented a great moral victory for the Mexican government, symbolizing the country’s ability to defend its sovereignty against threat by a powerful foreign nation. Link
Peaches and Herb top the pop charts on this date with “Reunited” in 1979. Video
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[“Phone Books”] Someone said that, “without thinking” he threw new phone books in the trash. I guess he isn’t much of a recycler.
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permit-work5Here are the DEP sewer permits. Note the language contained therein below. They are still working on BPK nonetheless–without a permit apparently. Petitions filed last week. Hmmmm…”This permit action is final and effective on the date filed with the clerk of the Department unless a petition is filed in accordance with the above.  Upon the timely filing of a petition this permit will not be effective until further order of the Department.”

BPKN Permit 4-04-14, BPKS permit 4-15-14, Cudjoe permit 4-24-14, Little palm permitUSL permit 4-14-14

I feel sorry for every soldier that ever got sent to Afghanistan (except for 2001 when we did it right), Iraq (except for the first Gulf War when HW Bush did it right), Korea (when MacArthur pushed to within 500 miles of Beijing and brought in the Chinese), and Vietnam (they wanted it way way more than we did).
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[“KW Mayor”] I’d rather give Sloan a chance and vote for him, than continue keeping these corrupted, sellouts presently in office, who are not doing anything for the people who elected them, but are doing plenty to fill their pockets while in office. Why don’t we give Sloan a chance? What worse can he do that hasn’t already been done by the present politicos?
free5[Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden] The 1st Sunday of every month is “Locals Free” day.  Take a break from the noise of town and visit with the birds and butterflies in the quiet of the Garden’s shady palm trees and peaceful ponds and lake. Bring a lunch and picnic in the Courtyard by the waterfall. Free Wi-Fi. The Garden also welcomes all volunteers to dig in the dirt at the Nursery & in the Garden every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Misha is also looking for a skilled office person to help out. Link
Captain Doom and Gloom, your comment about losers joining the military for the free eats is by far very offensive.There are people like me that grew up with nothing that didn’t get a PHD in BS. I wanted to make something of myself, the military gave me that chance. You probably never worked three jobs at minimum wage to make rent, so don’t piss on the ones who have joined the military to better themselves.
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If the Sugarloaf traffic light were never installed, 4 people would still be alive. To my knowledge of 30 years no one was killed at that intersection before the light.
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“May the Fourth be with you!” Seems like we need the Force to combat the evil ones who hijacked the CT back to April 4th. Or could it have been a trick by Loofa Pril? (Ed: Luke, it seems your humble time-challenged editor has done it again. I’ll correct the date now.)
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Is Little Palm Island getting gravity or pumps? I suspect with their influence (big bucks) they’ll get gravity.
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If I lived in Key West I would be all for Margaret Romero getting a shot at city government.   Since most of the people who live there don’t even know there is a city government, what are the rest them afraid of?  She certainly has been concerned, informed, dedicated and involved in her community for a long time.  What’s the worst that could happen?
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[Boring] Why would the residents of Big Pine care who runs for mayor of KW?  That and grinder pumps seem to be the major topics on this site anymore.  I remember a few years ago when bigpinekey.com was fun to read, but lately it’s become really boring.  What happened to the funny, witty folks that use to contribute to this site?  FTR is the only section worth reading.  If that ever goes away, you might as well delete the site altogether.
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National politics is back. Click on this link to send your national political post anonymously. No one will know your name or email address, [Well, maybe the NSA will] not even me. FTR is going to be the new national politics editor. Do not fear, FTR promised to post everything, even if he hates it, he’s that kind of guy.
Your name and email address are not required. Please be civil. I Have Something To Say About National Politics–Click Here
from the right
Thanks to Governor Scott you and I will now enjoy lower taxes. This year he’s cut taxes by $500 million. This latest package of tax cuts means Governor Scott has now cut taxes over 25 times since taking office, including the reversal of Charlie Crist’s motor vehicle registration tax. Cutting taxes and taming tuition were the centerpieces of Governor Scott’s agenda for the 2014 legislative session. Under Scott Florida is thriving.Governor Scott said: “Florida families deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money. When I took office, Florida was deep in the hole and tuition was out of control. At a time when Floridians could least afford it, Charlie Crist raised taxes by $2.2 billion and let tuition climb year after year. This is a victory for Florida taxpayers and I’m going to keep working to make our state the best place in the country to raise a family, find a job, and enjoy every opportunity to succeed.”

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FTR’S RESPONSE TO YESTERDAY’S CRITIC;  Yesterday a poster branded me with the dreaded ANTI AMERICAN label because I was critical of Team Obama’s Bureau of Land Management’s paramilitary assault on Nevada rancher Clive Bundy. The assault was a result of a landlord tenant dispute. I was critical of BLM’s use of helicopters, 100-200 armed agents, earth moving equipment, etc. simply to settle a trespass by cow issue. The critic thinks all of that is just dandy, a perfectly logical use of government power. I disagree.

blm-signThere was no press on the issue, but typically federal courts use US Marshals to enforce such orders. I was a cop, typically I tend to support LE actions, but this action smacked of incompetence, piss poor training, piss poor planning, and the action itself should never had occurred. BLM brass knowing the mood of the community, was insane to mount an armed paramilitary assault. It is a miracle that no one was killed. Ostensibly all over trespassing cows. BLM had other options, the issue has been simmering for decades, one wonders why the rush to armed conflict when BLM could have simply put a lien on Bundy’s property and wait for the old guy to die.

BLM was fixated on seizing and/or killing Bundy’s cattle, cattle were killed. If anything, BLM simply should have ejected the cattle from the federal land, then fenced the land.  But they didn’t, instead they killed cattle. BLM’s earth moving equipment was used to bury cattle carcasses.

As I noted in my posting on the issue, Bundy is not a man to be admired, he is a scofflaw and apparently a bigot. The critic claims that Bundy stated that he “didn’t believe in the US.” Nonetheless he has all the rights that you and I do, even though the BLM attempted to limit free speech to certain “zones” they designated. Free speech is the right that keeps the CT open. The critic spoke of Shawn Hannity’s “take” on the matter, I can’t comment because I seldom watch Shawn Hannity.

I can find no mention of Bundy putting up road blocks that would require earthmoving equipment, but there are several reports of the equipment being used to bury carcasses of cattle that the BLM killed.

Please note that the Governor of Nevada also condemned the raid. And there is an issue that is yet to be resolved. It is reported that the land in question was desired by a Chinese green energy company that is represented by Harry Reid’s son. The Director of BLM is a protégé of Harry Reid. There was big money to be made by the family Reid. That might explain the rush to judgment.

BLM acted like thugs, un American thugs. This episode is yet more proof that the existing governments fevered acquisition of weapons and ammo for and the militarizing of regulatory agencies is not in the best interests of our nation.. Last year in a tiny gold mining town in Alaska, a squad of armored and heavily armed EPA agents raided the town. Their purpose? To check water quality. Team Obama has certainly forgotten the lessons learned from the many deaths at Ruby Ridge and Waco.

As for Reid, once again he proves that he deserves the sobriquet “Dirty Harry.”

40 federal agencies – including nearly a dozen typically not associated with law enforcement — have armed divisions.

A couple of years ago, armed and armored Fed assault teams repeatedly raided Gibson Guitar factories….claiming that Gibson was using illegally imported wood. The exact same wood used by Gibson’s chief competitor who was not raided. Why Gibson alone? Perhaps because Gibson contributed heavily to Republicans and the competitor contributed heavily to Democrats.

The Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, all have their own SWAT units and are part of a worrying trend towards the militarization of federal agencies. Hells Bells Even the Department of Education has its own “special forces” team. Link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/department-education-raid-default-student-loans_n_873272.html

The Bundy raid is only a ripple in the sea of weapon and ammo acquisition by our government for its ever expanding regulatory agencies. That is disturbing, at best.

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A POSTER WROTE RESPONDING TO A PREVIOUS POSTING: “Instead wasting every one’s time re-hashing ancient history about Benghazi”. Ancient history my butt. when our President & White house staff lie about the killing of Americans & who’s responsible. It’s not ancient history, friend.”

A POSTER WROTE: “The reason why the right is trying to keep Benghazi alive is to beat Hillary over the head with it if she runs.”

FTR’S RESPONSE TOMORROW.

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A POSTER WROTE: “Conundrums? More like false logic and conservative propaganda

1. America is capitalist and greedy – yet half of the population is subsidized.

My guess is social security benefits are being included as “subsidized” which ramps up the numbers to “half”

2. Half of the population is subsidized – yet they think they are victims.

Again, see my answer to #1….skewed numbers. And I’ve never heard of anyone receiving social security benefits complain of being a victim. What a ridiculous statement!

3. They think they are victims – yet their representatives run the government.

This makes literally no sense.  What does the second part of the sentence have to do with the first part?

4. Their representatives run the government – yet the poor keep getting poorer.

I believe the middle class is getting poorer but not the poor themselves. Unemployment benefits have been extended to longer time periods than ever

before. Minimum wage is on the verge of unprecedented rise, there’s Obamacare to pay for their medical bills and it’s much easier to get scholarships for higher education if you are poor.  I’d say the poor are getting richer, not poorer.

5. The poor keep getting poorer – yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.

Not sure what the point of this is….the poor have too many “things”?  Who wrote this, a third grader?

6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about – yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

Huh? What countries?

The only conundrum is why anyone would propose that any of these ramblings make any sense!

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