BigPineKey.com

The problem is the KWPD has been instructed by the city commissioners to be as hard as they can on the homeless.  If the city of Key West would give up KOTS and let the homeless sleep where they want, life would be better for everyone.  The homeless disappear after dark, the homeless are not seen or heard from after dark, except for a few on Duval St.

Everyone in Key West talks about the street people.   Everyone in Key West whines about them.  Once you are secure in your house for the night, do you really care about who is sleeping where?  Most will not steal from you.  They just want a place to lay down their head for the night. They just want a place to lay down with their children to be safe for the night.  They just want a place not to be harassed by the KWPD.  Why is it a crime to be poor in Key West?  A homeless person who is lucky enough to have a job, but works until 2AM can’t go to KOTS.  They are by default a criminal in the eyes of the city commission and KWPD.

The homeless are not the problem.  The problem is the fault of the mayor and commissioners.  They alone caused this problem and whether they like it or not, they “own” it.  Their attitude is costing the tax payers millions every year for KOTS, jail, courts and the hospital.  I like Sloan’s idea of a drunk tank rather than jail and court cases.  If they’re drunk and causing a problem, lock them up until they’re sober, then let them go. That should also be done to tourists and locals.

The homeless are not going away.  There are more every day in this country.   With the downsizing of our military by the current administration, record home foreclosures, and no jobs available, there will be even more homeless.

The Key Deer thrive on Big Pine Key because there are two separate fresh water lenses that hold an estimated at 20-30 million gallons. The very existence of the key deer, lower keys marsh rabbits, rice rats and now two species of endangered butterfly depend on the availability and quality of the water. These two lenses provide a freshwater source to the Blue Hole and small ponds that support the deer and plants needed for this a unique ecological system. According to studies, most of which were conducted in the 1980-90 period, it takes about 2.5 years for water on the surface to make its way through the lens to the nearby waters. There are no recent studies on the size, movement or impact of a sewage system of any kind on the freshwater lens on Big Pine Key.

A pressure system, with almost 1,200 grinder pumps and plastic pits, thirty lift stations, and two booster stations, require many miles of HDPE plastic pipe, thousands of thermal pipe welds, thousands of shut-off and check valves, and dozens of concrete pits all buried anywhere from 2 to 12 feet deep. Grinder pits only hold about one day of sewage during power outages, after which sewage either flows into your home or yard if you continue to flush. There is a 100% probability that there will be leaks: thermal weld or valve failures, excavation or drilling through the pipe, or simply cracking of the plastic pipe or concrete pits over time. When that happens, the leaks, which are almost impossible to detect in a pressure system, will contaminate the freshwater lens, eventually creating a poisoned source of water for the fragile ecological system that will take years to dissipate. Think about a two year plus cycle to get rid of any spilled sewage! A gravity system is somewhat better because the number of miles of piping is greatly reduced, but the real solution for Big Pine Key is a vacuum system, which is also the least cost alternative. As George recently pointed out, when a vacuum system leaks, the water enters the system, instead of the sewage entering the water. BTW, the problem of leaking vacuum pit seals being experienced in other parts of the Keys, will likely occur with grinder pits as well since the pits use the same type of seals between the plastic pit and the surrounding area.

Almost eighteen months ago I asked for a review of the CRWS design in order to address the many serious questions being raised. While we are now at the eleventh hour, the final decision for Big Pine could have major consequences and needs to be reviewed by professionals, not politicians. Every politician, environmental and homeowner group who loves or has a concern for the unique environment of Big Pine Key should demand legitimate answers. The representatives of the Key Deer Preserve, the EPA and DEP should demand real, timely and independent analysis before any work goes forward. Simply meeting the minimum design requirements of State law is not adequate for this sensitive environment. This is too important for the FKAA to just do what our politicians want without questioning the long term impact. I live on Cudjoe Key and will have a gravity system. I seek no political office and my firm, by choice, does not work in Florida, so I have no financial interest in this issue. I am raising these questions because I have a moral obligation to my neighbors and our children to assure that we get the right system.

The residents of the Keys and all of Florida need answers. When this system leaks, is there any way to find the leaks? How long will it be before the plastic piping begins to deteriorate? How do you keep 1,200 grinder pumps working when there is a power outage? What do the scientists say about the impact of sewage in the freshwater lens? Why is a system that costs more over the long term even being considered?

Commander Raymond J. Evans, USCG (Ret.) enlisted in the Coast Guard on 18 September 1939 in Seattle and immediately volunteered for sea duty when offered the chance.  In the years prior to World War II new recruits were sometimes sent immediately to sea without attending boot camp if a local cutter needed crewmen.  Such was the case when CGC Spencer tied up in Seattle while en route from Valdez, Alaska, to Staten Island, New York.  Along with Evans, another local recruit named Douglas Munro also joined the Spencer.  They both struck for signalman and both later transferred to the Coast Guard-manned assault transport USS Hunter Liggett (APA-14).

During the war Evans saw extensive combat service, including participating in the attack on Guadalcanal, where both he and his shipmate, Douglas Munro, gained national acclaim for their heroic rescue operation that saved a Marine Corps unit that was trapped behind enemy lines.  Munro gave his life for his country that day and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.  Evans survived the mission and was awarded the Navy Cross.  Evans was commissioned in mid-1943 and continued his Coast Guard career after the war, retiring as a Commander in 1962.

During the war, in addition to his Navy Cross, he was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon with 1 battle star, a Commandant’s Letter, the American Defense Service Medal with one battle star, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five battles stars, and the Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal, among others.

History regarding Commander Raymond Evans, Jr. provided by USCG. Link

Just look at what Conservative President George Bush tried to do to help stem the aliens flowing in.President Bush said the nation has failed millions of illegal immigrants who live in fear of deportation, he proposed an ambitious plan that would allow undocumented workers to legally hold jobs in the US for the first time. The program that would bestow temporary legal status for at least 6 years on 8 million undocumented immigrants, as long as they keep their jobs. But it would not automatically put them on a path to obtaining citizenship or even permanent resident status.

“We must make our immigration laws more rational, and more humane,” Bush told 200 Latino supporters attending his first White House announcement of the election year. “I believe we can do so without jeopardizing the livelihoods of American citizens.” What Bush calls his “temporary worker” program was eagerly embraced by business groups but condemned as stingy and impractical by advocates for immigrants.

He wanted to give them amnesty for 6 years.

later of course one of the leading Conservative Presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush told us “they come here for love”.

Maybe the new RNC logo should be an elephant inlaid with a hippie peace sign. We will see Rick Scott and Jeb throwing flowers on them as they cross the border if they get elected. Peace my brother conservatives

“Have you noticed that every week when FTR Guy has his tirade against Obama and Democrats for doing, or not doing, something. He never has a plan of his own, I mean he doesn’t even say what the Republicans would do in whatever situation he is ranting about. The closest FTR Guy has come to this was last Friday when he was going on about immigration from Central America. It was “The answer is crystal clear: Republican governance.” And that means doing what?”

FTR’S RESPONSE: Thank you both for your postings. I really appreciate the lead in.

Contrary to the first posters statement, ISIS/ISIL is a fairly new threat. They have only been identified as a serious threat within the last year or so. Please remember that at the end of the US presence in Iraq on December 18th 2011, Iraq was pretty much pacified and had an operating Democratic government. That withdrawal was required by the terms of a treaty negotiated by GWB. Obama failed to negotiate an agreement that would have permitted a small peacekeeping force in Iraq such as we left in Germany, France, S. Korea, Japan, etc. etc. etc.. As a result ISIS/ISIL was born and nurtured during the Obama admin.

Obama has purposefully adopted a “lead from behind” philosophy in foreign affairs, he has purposefully made the USA into a nose picking bystander rather than a leader in world affairs. His treachery in his dealings with Israel, Poland, Ukraine, Syria, et al, have destroyed our worldwide reputation for leadership.

In Israel Obama has consistently given more credence to Hamas than to Israel. He has harshly criticized Israel for defending itself from Hamas terrorism

In Poland he reneged on the American promise to install an antimissile defense. He did so to curry favor with Putin.

In Ukraine, he stood by silently while Putin invaded and conquered the Ukraine territory of Crimea. He did so to curry favor with Putin. In Ukraine, Obama’s most recent failure to act was in direct violation of an agreement that we had made with that nation to defend them from aggression. Ukraine gave up its entire nuclear arsenal in exchange for our promise of protection.

Obama was warned more than a year ago about the ascendency of ISIS/ISIL by the military and the intel community. He did nothing.

Iran has just now announced that they will not meet the deadline they agreed on, November 2014. Obama does nothing.

Obama should set about repairing America’s fractured international reputation. He should set about building alliances with other nations to first contain ISIS/ISIL, and then to strangle them. He should take lessons from GWB’s skill at alliance building, but he seems to have only scorn for other world leaders except Putin who he seems to fear.

Britain, France, Italy, Holland, Germany, Turkey, Kurdistan, Egypt, and Jordan are among the nations that have expressed deep concern for the explosion of the power and influence of Muslim fundamentalism. Obama dithers, vacations, and postures.

No matter what your views on the invasion of Iraq by GWB are, no one can deny that it was a multinational effort. GWB put together an alliance of 48 nations to prosecute the Saddam Hussein regime. ISIS/ISIL and Muslim fundamentalism are a real danger to free people everywhere in the world. It will take a multinational effort to smother that danger.

That effort will have to include rewriting immigration laws and closing borders. It will have to include support of moderate Muslims and the suppression of teaching of fundamentalism in Madrasas. Today, globally, Muslims have the lowest literacy rate. That must change.

The effort will have to include finding means to combat poverty in nations and areas that are populated by Muslims because the masses, especially those who suffer economic hardship, increasingly follow the fundamentalists. Population growth, lack of development and a falling standard of living, set against the backdrop of oil riches that elude the masses, create a setting that is ripe for fundamentalism. The rulers of those Arabic nations must be convinced to put in place measures that will encourage work and improving living standards for the masses. None of this can be accomplished by leading from behind.

All of that is academic if we fail to vanquish ISIS/ISIL on the ground. We must provide light and heavy weapons to the Kurds and Iraq. We must support them with air power. We must make use of the superb skills of our special operators whenever those skills are needed. We must increase our dedication to intel gathering on the ground. Electronic surveillance is important, but it will never replace human intel. Obama and the Democrats are dead set against nearly all of the foregoing.

They refuse to acknowledge that the world is getting smaller and much more dangerous.

Part 2) Certainly you will recall Hillary’s determined efforts to convince one and all that she is “just folks”. She told us that she and Bubba were essentially broke when they left the White House. That notwithstanding all the royalties from her books, speaking engagements, etc.. They try to minimize mention of it, but they are fabulously rich.

In fact, Hillary and Bubba are raking in money hand over fist. Hillary charges about $300k for each of her speeches. But wait there’s more: What follows is a part of her standard demands before she will speechify:

* Round-trip transportation on a chartered private jet “e.g., a Gulfstream 450 or larger jet,” plus round-trip business class travel for two advance staffers who will arrive up to three days in advance.

* Hotel accommodations selected by Clinton’s staff and including “a presidential suite for Secretary Clinton and up to three (3) adjoining or contiguous single rooms for her travel aides and up to two (2) additional single rooms for the advance staff.” * A $500 travel stipend to cover out-of-pocket costs for Clinton’s lead travel aide.

* Meals and incidentals for Clinton, her travel aides and advance staff, as well as all phone charges.

* Final approval of all moderators or introducers

But wait, there’s more: No more than 100 spectators, including her entourage of 20. No more than 50 permitted to have their pic taken with H. And the whole gig can’t last more than 90 minutes. Not bad for $300k.

By the way, H hasn’t driven a car since 1992.

Yessir, good ole Hill and Bubba are just regular folks. Democrat rank and file have a lot in common with them and just love them like crazy. –Not!