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2014 February

Friday, February 28, 2014

CT-Banner7.3.13Published by Noon–No Saturday Edition

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picnic tableIt’s the middle of winter, prime tourist season and every business in town is busy entertaining everyone. My hobby is people watching. My favorite hobby is sitting in the flea market picnic area just watching people. All the young people talk about is where they went last night or where they are going tonight. All the older ones compare their medical treatments. The ones in the middle talk about fishing. Every now and then I see a small child picking out a toy and being genuinely happy, it warms my heart. The group of shoppers that brings me to tears is the older folks with a special adult child. I say a prayer, if not for the grace of god, there go I. In a world of telemarketer begging for money for every illness or dogs or whatever the tv can think of, I see real parents that are in their 70s still taking care of the children without government having to. I see kids in the 40s bringing grandpa who complains and never spends a dime. I laugh and remember my own grandpa who refused to ever buy a new hat. I see many feeble grandmas so happy to shop that they say that it’s ok I can shop more even when they can hardly stand.

I see all of this at a bunch of picnic tables in a flea market. This is what living here is all about for me. I make friends with all these folks and I love having them here on this island with me.

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How can they make some people get grinder pumps and not others? Isn’t that illegal? Won’t the people getting grinder pumps have to pay more for hook up and usage? I don’t see how that is fair. Why should only they be penalized?

luggage overpacked

I told my wife to pack for our vacation and put half of my stuff into her suitcase and half of her stuff into my suitcase, so if we lose one case we would still have cloths. She did, she put one shoe of each pair in each case and one sock of each set, to start with. I do not want to talk about my shaving kit! Blondes, sheeech!

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springers-ad12.30.12
“Man’s ultimate desire is to be God.” When I was in my early 20s I thought I was God. I really did, but I never told anyone. Good thing because come to find out, I wasn’t.

webcam-with-tape

[Webcams] The government is not your friend and they do not have your best interest at heart. They have no hearts. Put black tape over your webcam lens. Only remove it when you are using the webcam because at other times it your unfriendly government looking at you.

[Sewer Easement] Having read a number of posts in reference to the grinder pumps and FKAA wanting to buy a small piece of our land for a whopping $1, why haven’t we figured out what the current market value for our land is at a per square foot price and figure how much area they want and then sell it to them at that price? Example; lot sq. ft is 6,000 sf divided by land price of $30,000 equals $5/sf. Plus have that square footage taken off our property taxes. Sounds fair to me. We work long and hard for our homes and property so why should we be taken advantage of?
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missile rocking flames[Weapons and the Economy] Russia doesn’t need to squander mountains of cash on a bloated military as long as they maintain the capacity to incinerate us in half an hour.  All they have to do is aim a few of their many ICBMs at our giant aircraft carriers and they are gone, baby, gone.  We know it and they know it.  The best thing our Defense Department does is create well paying jobs and re-distribute wealth.  We should dump all our weapons in the ocean and start making more. It’s good for the economy. 

I’ve been following the Cruise Ship controversy for some time now.  Once you read past all the hyperbole, what does it all mean?  Widen the channel and destroy more of the reef, or not widen the channel and try to save what’s left of the reef?  Keep using the Outer Mole and lose money while making HTA [Conch Train, Etc] richer, or not use Outer Mole and save money and the hell with HTA.  In February and March there are only four days with three ships in port.  Most days there is only one ship and this is the busy time of year.  Why does the Key West City Commission insist on keeping Outer Mole if not because someone is making a buck from it.

In another line of thinking, why does Key West need cruise ships?  Who benefits from the ships?  The first to benefit is HTA.  Would anyone on the island miss the trains or trolleys that clog the narrow streets?  Then there are the bike and scooter rentals.  They would lose some of their business.  Next would be the bars.  I have to wonder who owns the bars on Duval St?  They can’t be making much off the cruise ship tourists.  They have to head back to the ship by 3 or 4 o’clock.   Then there’s the t-shirt and trinket shops.  Most likely they benefit more than any other business.  Who owns them?  How about restaurants? They can’t be getting much from cruise ships.  Why eat on land when meals are free onboard?  Not to mention the food is way better than most restaurants in Key West.  I’ve been on many cruises.  I would guess 90% of passengers are cheap.  What other vacation is there for less than $100/day.

What would the island be like without them?  I feel the island would be a better place.  In reality Duval St. bars and restaurants are only busy in the evenings.  These aren’t cruise ship passengers.  These are tourists who fly or drive to Key West and patronize the hotels.  These are the tourists who eat in restaurants three meals a day.  These are the tourists who have money to spend.  Without cruise ships you could safely ride your bicycle on Duval St. in the afternoon.  Without cruise ships the streets would be safer not having to worry about junky trolleys and trains.  Without cruise ships fly or drive in tourists (who spend money) could enjoy Duval St. and Mallory Square.   Without cruise ships there’s no reason for the panhandlers to be there during the day.  Without cruise ships maybe Duval St. wouldn’t resemble a flea market.  Maybe that alone would bring in more tourists to stay in hotels.

So you have to ask yourself.  Who benefits from cruise ships?  Only a select few of the “elite”.  I lived in Chicago for 41 years.  I know dirty politics. I also ran for and won an election.  I know from experience no government entity, whether Federal, State or Local, does anything without someone making money from it. 

advert-accurate-home-insp8.14.13

[Sloan] Mike Tolbert, who was born in Key West, and thus is a Conch, but mostly grew up elsewhere, told me at Daddy Bones BBQ, he’s the manager and co-owner, tonight that he’s been telling Conchs they should try on something different and vote for Sloan this year, and they ask him if he is crazy? Did his recent heart attack cause him to go insane?

I reminded him that I had said recently that if I were elected, there would be people in Key West who would go insane. The chicken hollering about the sky falling comes to mind. 12 years of Conch mayors, or darn near Conch mayors, Morgan McPherson, whose parents are Conchs, but he was born in California, I think, but grew up on Key West, and look at how well the Conch mayors did doing something with Truman Waterfront? Look at how well the Conchs did behind the scenes doing something with Truman Waterfront. Look at how many cruise ships the Conchs let come into Key West. Look at home many T-shirt shops the Conchs let spring up on Duval Street. I suppose I should not mention the strip joint, lap dance parlors and whore houses and certainly not the orgy den. No point in dragging all the bars into this. The Conchs want Fantasy Fest toned down, while the above rages full speed head. Perhaps Conchs have a different definition of insanity.

Sea-horse28
[Spies like U.K.) British spy agency and NSA team up to take a still image every 5 minutes from all Yahoo webcam users, discover plenty of pornography. Shown your goodies on Yahoo? Good chance the NSA & the Brits have a copy of it. Link
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octopus wavingoctopus waving

[“Octopi“] The next time you see more than one octopus they will be octopuses. Octopus is Greek, and the plural is octopuses not octopi. I would want to know. I hope you do.

You people really trashed the 17 year old, totally misreading his post. No wonder only old people read the CT.
nira tocco realtor 9.12
Those of you pro Keystone Pipeline, This is the reality. So you think the Keystone Pipeline will help strengthen our energy independence and bring gas prices down? Then you are a sucker. Link

dollar sign king

 

[“Tis The Season”] You must be imagining all the people visiting down here in the Keys. The place is booming! The FTR guy says we are in a failed economy caused by our current leadership so what you are claiming to see couldn’t be possible.

[Make Windows 7 faster] If you have a older or underpowered computer you may want to learn about a few easy tricks to speed up it’s performance. In the Start search menu, enter ‘adjust’ and select “Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows’. In the window that appears, select ‘Visual Effects’ and select ‘Adjust for best performance’ (to clear all entries) then select ‘Enable desktop composition’, ‘Smooth edges of screen fonts’ and ‘Use visual styles on windows and buttons’. Click ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’. Windows will look almost the same, but less performance robbing animation and other details you likely won’t notice is missing.

Next in the Start menu enter ‘msconfig’ and press enter. Select Services and ‘Hide all Microsoft services’. Choose carefully of the remaining items if you really need them or not. Next do the same for ‘Startup’, be careful not to deselect anything from Microsoft, especially Windows! Many third party programs install a start-up process and it’s not removed when the program is uninstalled. Many of those start-up processes check for updates, so again be careful what you deselect.

Bloated anti-malware is a big cause of a machines slowdown. If your careful (not opening email attachments, trading a lot of files, visiting adult sites, made backups etc) and don’t need ultra-paranoid anti-malware, you may want to consider using the free Microsoft Security Essentials. Download and save it first, then disconnect from the Internet and uninstall your present anti-malware and all of it’s components. (Avast leaves stuff behind!). Then install MSE, reboot and go online for the updates and first time scan.

If your machine has a boot hard drive, then download the free and popular Smart Defrag from iObit. When installing, be careful to uncheck (not install) the Advanced SystemCare (payware). Once that is installed open it and turn on the ‘Boot time defrag’. Configure the boot time defrag for every boot. Use the Disk Clean up. Turn on auto-defrag. Reboot to do the boot time defrag. Start Smart Defrag again and select ‘Defrag and Prioritize Files’ and let it work.

This is all dependent upon a malware free machine, if you have adware, spyware or a root-kit, then your machine is not your own and performance may suffer regardless of what you try above. Contact a local PC professional to backup your files, reinstall the operating system, create a backup system and harden it first before again attempting the above tweaks. The older Intel Core 2 Duo processors work really well on a 7,200 RPM hard drive or Solid State Drive as they cache memory to the storage a lot more often. So you might want to consider a upgrade if the operating system is going to be reinstalled anyway on it. More RAM (physical memory) also will assist the machine perform better.

isaksen-flood-roof 4.23.13 
[Poor People] Are Commissioners Yaniz and Rossi afraid of the “financially challenged”? Do they think all the crime is committed by them? How much crime is committed by the “financially challenged”? I looked up the arrests for a 7 day period ending Feb 1. The Key Weird Storm Troopers made 28 arrests. (they didn’t murder anyone) 6 homeless (21%), 7 out of town (25%) and 15 residents of Key Weird or Stock Island (54%) So who are the dangerous ones? I’m more in fear of the residents than any others! 

astin28

 

Magazine advertisements we’ll never see here. 

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bullet angry speed[Bullets] All of you who are neighbors of the Big Pine target shooter have my sympathy, in fact most of Big Pine has my sympathy.  Please read this about how far bullets travel. Link

The NSA has placed ‘back doors’ in most popular software with the manufacturer’s blessings. That might not be a crime, but it still doesn’t make it right. This country can only regain it’s glory when we start doing what’s right and not what’s legal.

In reference to that ‘back door’, do you think only the NSA uses it? Hackers are having a field day playing with us.

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Today (Thursday) in the Florida Keys is pretty special. It’s 77 degrees and a bit overcast. Not a dull dark overcast but a very bright puffy cloud overcast. It rained just enough this morning to give the plants a drink and leave a wonderful fresh smell in the air. As I sit on our porch I realize how much our palm trees have grown. They pretty much have engulfed the porch with beautiful fronds going in all directions making it feel as if I were in a tree house. The ocean view would be more enhanced if I were to trim them back, but I just love the feel of being surrounded by these tropical beauties
cat-founbd28
Souther accents. Video
tempura-shrimp28The weekend is almost her so start it off right at Springers Bar and Grill. Have we got some great specials for you. Today we have a tempura shrimp with citrus salad appetizer and a surf and turf dinner special, jumbo shrimp and sirloin. Tomorrow we have mahi with a garlic mustard sauce over mixed vegetables. We bring you the best of land and sea. 

Don’t forget Friday night karaoke starting at 7 and Happy Hour daily from 3-6. 

Weekends, always something special at Springers, definitely a step above.

Flea-Market-ad10.9.13
[Citizen Of The Day Says] He is proud to be in an area where fresh, healthy fish are caught daily. It’s paradise.

fishing fighting chairIt’s fishing time in the Keys. The fish are biting and the springtime sun is getting warm. The winds change fast and storms come up quicker, so get yourself prepared. Come to the Big Pine Flea Market Saturday and Sunday 8am to 2pm to get your supplies.

We can help you get fishing poles, tackle, that extra anchor you should have had, boating towels,bait buckets and more. We have fishing tee shirts, hats, umbrellas, sun glasses, boat cleaners and homemade soaps for when you get home.

It’s a great time for fishing so come on to the market and stock up on supplies, tell your fish stories, then get a fish sandwich and enjoy the great Keys weather.

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exercise gym equip[Rumors and Mistruths] Dear Cudjoe Gardens Friends, Dr. Jean Gormley and I would like to clear up some misinformation that has been spread regarding my ownership of the building at 21460 Overseas Hwy and the Pirate Wellness Center (PWC). First of all, I own all stock in Vantage Property Development LLC, (Vantage) which owned the building. Pirate Wellness Center LLC is a completely separate corporation and Dr. Jean Gormley has owned it since June 1, 2013.

Vantage has been in litigation with First State Bank regarding mortgage provisions, for about a year, over a five year loan modification that FSB cancelled after one year. In December, Vantage and FSB reached an agreement in which the ownership and operation is to be transitioned over time to FSB so the building can come off their books. The FSB’s problem is largely with the Federal and State bank regulators wanting their balance sheet cleared up. Vantage’s problem was that the building rents would not support a mortgage that was going to increase by 50% in 2013 and another 50% in 2014. When the problem arose, Vantage was current on all mortgage payments.

Despite the rumors that have been started, PWC is not being taken over by the bank or being closed. Its lease runs until December 31, 2017 and the bank has agreed to honor it. Due to the work of our team, PWC is finally profitable and we expect some very positive changes in the future. One of the reasons that the Pirate Wellness Center is located on Cudjoe Key is to serve Cudjoe Gardens. We hope you continue to support it.  ~Walt Drabinski and Dr. Jean Gormley

ad-manley-deboer6.27.13
[Just Say No] I got a request in the mail for the easement on my property. It fell in the trash. Oops. I’m not going to sign it. I think the Dump The Pumpers should take out an ad and state the facts. Some people are just uneducated and do not understand the ‘gravity’ of the situation.

webcam baby computer

Britain is spying on Yahoo’s webcam chats. Link

So you want to legally drink when you are 17 (we all know you doing plenty of it already)? You can join the Army and kill people or be killed when you are 17, however you will be living in a highly controlled environment that will regulate your drinking and behavior.

secure lock swing on chain

[Hacked] Target’s quarterly earnings  for the last quarter of 2013 showed they had a 46% loss in the all important Christmas shopping season. The staggering loss was a direct result of their lack of security for protecting our credit card information. Evidently they knew about the vulnerability, but refused to do anything about it because of the cost to fix the problem. They were penny wise, but pound foolish. I hope others take heed and spend the coin on improved security.

[Sloan] At last! A man with integrity running for mayor of Key West. A man who isn’t trying to add to his bank account. He only wants to improve Key West. Do what’s best for Key West. Sloan for Mayor
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[“Bruce Schmitt for Marathon City council”] Where do I donate? I got a brand new Benjamin to give.

sneeze flower sm

Is anyone else suffering from a allergy? This is my first time to have it so bad. Could it be the trees? Allegra helps a little.

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cowboy ready to eat

 

All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner, hosted by Boy Scout Troop 573, Saturday March 8, 2014 from 5-7 pm at the Big Pine United Methodist Church, Key Deer Blvd, Big Pine Key. $10/adults and $6/children includes all you can eat salad, spaghetti entree, garlic bread, and beverage. There will also be door prizes and delicious  homemade desserts

Please join us and support our troop’s effort to attend summer camp in the mountains of North Carolina. Thank you so much! We had a great turnout at the January and February dinners. We really appreciate all you help and support of our troop. For more info call Sally Events

[Help Wanted] General maintenance and repair workers for the Monroe Regional Service Center in Marathon. Annual Salary Range: $24,579 Call Classified Ads > Help Wanted
Radio-Shack-1.2.14

After having lived in Key West I have to wonder why anyone goes there.  There are so many problems in Key West.  After much thought, I think I’ve figured it out.

First, you must be the type of person who likes to live on the edge.  On your first day in Key West you take the chance of being murdered by the Key West PD.  If you survive your first day you will be rewarded with another day.

Second, if you make it to day two you can start looking for employment.  Good luck!  If you don’t have a permanent address, you will not be hired.  The larger resort/hotels (ie. Casa Marina and others) would rather hire eastern Europeans here on a six month visa, pay them squat, pack them in 3-4 to a room and charge them for it.  Many ads in The Citizen say “local address only need apply”  Again, good luck!

Third, until you are lucky enough to find employment, you will probably live in your vehicle, at K.O.T.S. or on the street.  Either way you will be harassed, looked down upon, reviled, accused of being an alcoholic or drug addict, continually harassed by the Key West Gestapo.

Fourth, if you are really lucky, and find employment you will not be able to afford to live in Key West.  You will only be able to afford a crappy place on Stock Island or further up the Keys.

If for some oddball reason you can afford to live in Key West, (especially if you can buy a place) you will have many other problems.

The city will not do anything about or even admit the water around Key West is polluted with fecal matter.  If you go to the beach, stay out of the water! (advice from doctors at the hospital).

The city council accomplishes little to improve life on Key West.  There is the cruise ship controversy going on for years.  Destroy more of the reef to benefit certain members of the council, or dump the cruise ships and save the reef and waters around Key West?

Then you have the Truman Waterfront.  12+ years and nothing accomplished.  You will also have the Tree Cops telling you not to trim trees, the BS about loud music on Duval St. (once again this only benefits certain members of the council).  You have too many restriction on codes.

And most recently, the shit wars about sewage and the burning of yard waste. So what is the solution to these problems?  

1)  Disband the Key West Police Department and let the county take care of Key West like they do most of the other Keys.   At least (from my observation) they are not as heavy handed.  And do not hire former city police.  Few of the police officers (I use that term loosely) would make it past probation in a real city.
2)  Stop hiring non US citizens.  There are many homeless who want a job.
3)  Stop voting for anyone who has an interest in the tourist industry. They only care about their bank account, not what’s best for Key West.
4)  Dump the cruise ships.  (they don’t spend that much money and only benefit a select few)  This will attract more fly/drive in tourists.
5)  Build the park at Truman Annex
6)  Designate a place for vehicles to park overnight.
7)  Stop arguing about sewers and do what’s best for the Keys.
8)  Make Duval St. pedestrian only. (except for early morning deliveries)
9)  Forget about the noise ordinance. (the bars were there when you moved in, deal with it)

So will any of this ever happen?  I seriously doubt it.  The elite of the island keep voting for the same idiots.  The idiots keep supporting and giving orders to Donnie Lee [police chief]and covering up for the KWPD, the idiots keep reaping the profits from the cruise ships, the idiots forgot what made Key West was it is.  

The diverse assortments of crazies, nutcases, oddball people, the “leave well enough alone” attitude, is what attracted people to Key West.   It brought color and flavor to this piece of paradise.  Now the elite want to change it to their own idea of a cash cow.  

A relative of mine came to Key West in the early ’60s.  He owned his own plane and fast boat.  He made his millions the same way the elite made their millions.  Yes, he is 91 years old and still lives there.   

After living in the Virgin Islands for a while I can tell you the difference.  In the VI no one cares about money. There is very little crime. There is no group of elite that try to run the island.  The bum looking guy in the shack has millions, a $60,000 dollar boat in his front yard.  The cab drivers make 150K to 200K a year.  The water is so clean you can see 30-40 feet deep clear as day.  The reefs are thriving thanks to research.  The marine life is thriving, you can buy fresh caught seafood anywhere you go.  

Will I come back to Key West?  Hell yes!  As soon as I’m finished in St. Thomas, V.I.   I will be back to do my best  to restore Key Weird to what it used to be.  Will I get arrested by the Gestapo, probably.  Will it be worth it? Yes. 

glass half empty half full

If my glass is half full, then I start wondering where my bartender is.

Solar Power System. 180 Sq. Ft. of solar panels (20 panels), 16 storage cells, 3 water pumps, 2.5 KW inverter (trace eng.), Xantrex load controller. Working system, dismantle and haul it away for only $2500. Call Classified Ads> Miscellaneous
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Seventeen year old world class banker wants a beer? I can see his future, a bank teller with a DUI. Somebody is not getting enough attention from mommy and daddy.
Coffee-ct
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money where mouth is

[Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is] After reading Thursdays CT, and viewing the drastic differences between several very stupid nitwit posters and a few very informed obviously educated posters, I will never respect the CT again until Mr. Ed., brings back the World News Posts and Political Posts. As far as FTR goes, he is one of the very few who has the balls to tell the rest of you bubble dwelling mouth breathing bible thumping losers, the Dog’s honest truth! Yeah FTR! 

Lay low, wait, stay hidden, train and prepare is sound advice.
[“17 year old can’t buy beer”] Just what we need, another banker that bitches about nothing anybody cares about.
politics-zone2
from the right

 There is big trouble brewing for our friends from left field. A new poll from very liberal news outlets, NYT/CBS News, has dire news for Democrats.

arrow down springyPresident Obama’s job approval dropped 5 points since last month’s poll, dipping down to 41 percent, tying his lowest-ever rating in that category. Public esteem for the president’s party slipped to 42 percent, a level not seen since, you guessed it, 2010. Republicans led in the generic congressional ballot test by 4 points, higher than any NYT/CBS poll during the last midterm cycle.

Wondering why? Consider that the percent of respondents who said that ObamaCare should be repealed in its entirety jumped 8 points to 42 percent since January. Democrat politicos, like rats, are jumping from the sinking Democare ship. Even Hillary is promising that she is ready to make changes in the horribly flawed law.

The share of voters who believed the law can be repaired dropped 6 points to 50 percent. Among the 38 percent of respondents who called themselves independents – the largest category of potential voters – Democrat candidates trailed Republican candidates by 14 points in the generic ballot. The survey was conducted among a random sampling of adults.

crutch bearPart 2) Hopefully you will remember that Democare has spawned many new taxes. Perhaps you didn’t know that one of those taxes is levied on manufacturers of medical devices. It was widely forecast that the tax would stifle research and would actually increase the cost of health care.

Now we beginning to see proof of that.  The  Daily Caller reports that: “The world’s only company specializing in making orthopedic equipment for children is slashing its product development budget and freezing hiring as a result of Obamacare’s medical device tax. ‘We are a company that is not yet profitable. We’ve only been in the market for 5 years. This is a very burdensome tax because it is based on sales, not profits, and the only way we can pay a tax like this is to cut expenses,’ OrthoPediatrics CEO Mark Throdahl told The Daily Caller.”  Way to go O, certainly parents of children in need of orthopedic support will be very happy that your law has hindered their ability to get that support.

Please send me your comments at 1776ftr@gmail.com