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[“Jury duty”] As it is now, Jurors are selected from the voting roles which cause the same people to be selected time and time again. I feel we should adopt the system of paid jurors that most of Europe enjoys. The paid jurors want to serve and are very good at it. Here, we don’t want to serve. Let me clarify that, we would like to serve but it interferes with our lives so much that it makes it a great inconvenience. I know that in the European model of paid jurors, they have to all be college educated in addition to other requirements.

If we won’t use paid jurors than at least expand the potential pool by drafting jurors from those holding driver’s licenses in addition to those registered to vote.

[Joke Friday] A preacher was completing a temperance sermon: with great expression he said, “If I had all the beer in the world, I’d take it and throw it into the river.” With even greater emphasis he said, “And if I had all the wine in the world, I’d take it and throw it into the river.” And then finally, he said, “And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I’d take it and throw it into the river.”

He sat down. The song leader then stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, “For our closing song, let us sing Hymn # 365: “Shall We Gather at the River.”

Truth in advertising. Brilliant

[Old Ad from Malaysian Airlines] At least they keep their word!

[The Vernal Equinox] Ah, spring! This season brings increasing daylight, warming temperatures, and the rebirth of flora and fauna.

The word equinox is derived from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” Days and nights are approximately equal everywhere and the Sun rises and sets due east and west.

At the equinoxes, the tilt of Earth relative to the Sun is zero, which means that Earth’s axis neither points toward nor away from the Sun. (However, the tilt of Earth relative to its plane of orbit, called the ecliptic plane, is always about 23.5 degrees.

As sewer installation with grinder pumps and gravity continues in earnest throughout the lower keys, one glaring omission is quite evident. As has been the case for years, us on No Name Key are once again relegated to second class status. We are the only area with no existing sewage plan. Our waterway on the island is in the top five most polluted sections in all of the Keys. The County agreed with the DEP that as part of their funding to address the worst areas with a higher level of remediation. But like they took the State supplied Bogie Bridge repair money for the last nine years and used it elsewhere, no allotment for sewer installation has been made.

Costs may dictate that they consider on site systems but will they work? Only half of the homes have electricity. Will the alleged “solar community” put new solar panels on top of their septic tank? We all know no solar system will operate the dreaded grinder pumps so that only leaves the option of a gravity system with street pumps powered off the evil grid power.

Ignoring the situation will not make it go away. What is the mystery? Are they afraid that if sewers are brought out that heaven forbid we should want potable water at the same time? Of course none of them are drinking water which came off their roof shingles with associated dirt, grime, and bird feces. I can only imagine the long drawn out drama ,which is sure to come. Maybe it will be another opportunity for Sloan to berate our citizens more. Did anyone also notice that all of the three homes for sale on our island are all owned by members of the solar group? Guess they were the ones to benefit from the power grid and sell their homes at a higher valve. Go figure

Multi-business owner Sam Nekhaila has been elected to serve on the Good Health Clinic’s board of directors for a three year term.

Nekhaila employs over 250 individuals at locations spanning from Key Largo to Key West, including Wendy’s, Island Grill restaurants in Key Largo and Islamorada, B&B Tavernier Cinema, and Marathon Cinema.  

“We always have a patient serving on our board to ensure patient needs are represented in all decisions. It is great to now have the perspective of a large employer who is concerned about families who cannot afford comprehensive health care,” said Good Health Clinic executive director Jennifer Rickmann

[“Jury service”] I always vote to acquit in drug trials. It’s our duty as Americans to not help govt further unjust laws. You getting whacked on coke, meth, weed, booze, whatever, is your business not anybody elses!

[Grinder Trouble] From the Alachua Today newspaper, Feb 14, 2014 comes the following excerpt from a report on a City Hall meeting:

“This first workshop will focus on what Booth said is the most serious city sewer system issue, the failure of 10-year-old grinder pumps and their replacement costs. The workshop will be held at the High Springs Elementary School and Community Center to allow input from a larger group of city residents than usually are able to be accommodated at City Hall.

“We have 500 110-volt grinder pumps that are 10 years old,” Booth said. The cost to replace them is $2,500 each, not including installation.” nor the mess caused to the victim’s yards and landscape.

[Joke Friday] A family is at the dinner table. The son asks the father, “Dad, how many kinds of boobs are there?” The father, surprised, answers, “Well, son, a woman goes through three phases. In her 20s, a woman’s breasts are like melons, round and firm. In her 30s and 40s, they are like pears, still nice, hanging a bit. After 50, they are like onions.” “Onions?” the son asks. “Yes. You see them and they make you cry.”

This infuriated his wife and daughter. The daughter asks, “Mom, how many different kinds of willies are there?” The mother smiles and says, “Well, dear, a man goes through three phases also. In his 20s, his willy is like an oak tree, mighty and hard. In his 30s and 40s, it’s like a birch, flexible but reliable. After his 50s, it’s like a Christmas tree.” “A Christmas tree?” the daughter asks. “Yes, dead from the root up and the balls are just for decoration.”

Sarah Palin and her magnificent hubby belonged to a group up in Alaska that wanted to secede from the USA.  Too bad it didn’t pan out (pan out, Alaska, get it?).

If I was going to commit suicide I’d want the background music to be Billie Holiday’s God Bless The Child. That’s the background music in the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room when one of the major players offs himself.

Billie Holiday — God Bless The Child

The spokesperson for the  FKAA and the grinder pumps is former State Attorney Kirk Zuelch, obviously an attorney and not an engineer. The thing about attorneys is that they will defend their client, whether guilty or not. That’s their job.  Maybe Kirk is just doing what attorneys are supposed to do, but  I cannot believe that George Neugent is acting like an attorney, or doing his job when he knows damn well this scheme is a disaster for everyone in the Keys.

Think of all the evidence that has been presented from other  places and the screw-ups that have occurred there and the inconsistencies of the plan. Zuelch has to defend that as his job, but Neugent has taken the position that he knows more than anyone; and how dare we question him. Such arrogance to those who question this scheme, and such blindness to the evidence against the grinder pumps. Sad.

[“Free Rent for repairs”] I tried that once and the tenant never did anything after the first month. I got double screwed. Eventually I had to evict them and hire a contractor to fix the mess they created. What they did was all wrong and had to be redone. Hiring a contractor is cheaper and less stressful than trading work for rent where you usually don’t get the rent or the work!

[Free rent ad] For those of you who rent out your homes and then wonder why there is damage, no rent, etc, a simple background check can save you tons of grief and money. First off, Lucas’s name was misspelled in yesterday’s classified ad, but it took me about 4 nanoseconds on google to find out what kind of person he is.

[Arguing] City commissioner Teri Johnston called out the entire elected panel for “nasty” behavior at Tuesday night’s six-hour-long meeting at Old City Hall, which was riddled with tension and verbal scrapping.

“These are not passionate comments,” Johnston said, minutes before midnight. “They are rude and nasty and disrespectful comments.”

Commissioners ended the Tuesday meeting just before midnight, to comply with a rule that bars them from discussing any agenda item after 12 a.m. They meet next at 6 p.m. April 1 at Old City Hall, 510 Greene St.

Commissioner Tony Yaniz summed up the contentious meeting as proof the panel has “passionate” discussions about city business. “It’s a great sign that you have a dynamic working city commission that doesn’t rubber stamp things,” Yaniz said. “We advocate for our constituents while we’re up here.” The only problem the commission has is its attempt to adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order which doesn’t allow true debate, Yaniz said.

Johnston strongly disagreed with Yaniz’s description. “We’re not passionate up here, we’re basically rude to each other,” Johnston said. “We’re rude to people in the crowd; we’re rude to each other; we treat Bob (Vitas) with disrespect; we treat the mayor with disrespect. This commission is out of control.” Johnston urged her colleagues to cut it out. “We are supposed to be doing the will of the people. We’re up here nit-picking or trying to stand on somebody’s head so we’re all taller. It’s a ridiculous way to run this city and we have got to stop. We have got to come together. ”

Yaniz replied, “I’m glad you used the word ‘we.’”

Cates said, “You had your chance,” before apologizing to those who waited all night only to have to come back April 1.  ~Gwen Filosa Citizen Staff

[“Free Rent for repairs”] Not a good idea. You need a realtor to check on the renters since you do not live here. I have rented my home out for 20 years although I live nearby I have never had a problem. Rental property is a headache if you do not live here. I hope you had a security deposit. You are lucky they did not sell the appliances. You are better off hiring a contractor to do the repairs. People will live there free and have every excuse why the repairs are not done. Good luck.