Published by Noon–No Saturday Edition
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 To Captain Doom and Gloom, That’s the perfect name for you, sir! There is a huge difference between cruise ship tourists and fly/drive tourists besides the amount of money they spend. Cruise ship tourists are polluting the only real asset Key West has, the ocean and the reefs. Cruise ship tourists/day trippers are only here for a few hours every day, clogging our streets and leaving a mess for others to clean up. Between the years 2005 and 2012 cruise ship tourists have gone down 12%. Fly/drive in tourists have increased by 52%. In 2012 cruise ship/day trippers totaled 1,125,050 visitors (chamber of commerce data) That’s an average of 3000+ per day, every day arriving on Duval St. for 5-6 hours. Do you live in Old Town Key West? If you did you would realize the trolleys and trains are only busy during these times. We will never get rid of the fly/drive tourists, they are the only thing driving the economy of Key West, but we can do without the cruise ships. When Cuba opens that will solve the problem, or at least reduce it substantially. Key West will never be what it used to be due to tourism. Without tourism Key West would be nothing but wealthy retired people. Stock Island would be empty. Where will you get your groceries, gasoline, etc? Anyone who wants Key West to be like it was 50 years ago should find another island |
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| [Party Time] Someone complained yesterday because others had a party in their neighborhood that featured a live band. The jerk even called them a jerk for doing so. Some people forget what it’s like to have fun. I heard the band from my house too. They were pretty good and they stopped about ten pm. What’s wrong with that on a Saturday night? |
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[Mystery Flower] I saw this beautiful flower online, but it was not identified. |
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| [“Sunday’s Homeless”] I have only one question. If you’re so accomplished, then when you had all your wealth, why not instead of owning seven houses and the many new cars and motorcycles, didn’t you save a dollar for each you earned to protect your future rather than throw it around like you were some kind of big dog? Being accomplished doesn’t necessarily mean you were smart, nor does it make your condition now, everyone else’s fault. You still have the ability to make choices, so if you don’t like it here, move somewhere else. |
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| [Tax Dollars at Work] County spending $40,000 for Navy jet-noise study. They didn’t like the results of the study the Navy did last year. Link |
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I need a used wheel chair. Big Pine or Lower Keys. Dr Paul. Classified Ads > Wanted |
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Florida Keys Senator Dwight Bullard still is holding up the Bill to Elect FKAA Board Members – Which was peviously passed by Key’s Voters and the Florida House of Representatives. Why sue and go to court with the FKAA over sewer pumps when the bill to elect the FKAA Board sits on Bullard’s desk? By electing the Board we can run the FKAA and dump the pumps. All the while Bullard wants to pass the Pot Bill. Give me a break. Can’t anyone think anymore or are they stoned. |
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Best fat chick dating sites. Link |
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[27th State] March 3, 1845 Florida became the 27th state in the United States. |
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| [Gun Nuts] It looks like the gun guy on Big Pine needs a restraining order placed on his neighbors who are complaining about his idiocy. He needs Fox News to get on this and champion his gun rights cause, they love stories like this. |
 [Insurance risk] On the left coast you have earthquakes, wildfires, drought and mud slides. Anywhere there are mountains, you’re going to get floods, and when they come folks are bewildered. Just ask the good folks in Colorado. From the mid-west through the entire central plains and eastward, you have tornados that wipe out thousands without much warning or notice every year. In the heartland and south, thousands are flooded every year along the mighty Mississippi River and its northern tributaries. And even though taxpayers spend millions on levees, dikes and dams that often fail, they continue to rebuild in the very same locations. In the northeast, you’ve got nor’easters, floods and snowstorms that cost the taxpayers plenty. For the south east mainlanders you’ve got hurricanes that ravage entire cities and sinkholes that swallow up entire buildings. So why is it then that every year we have to hear about the uniqueness of the Florida Keys’ potential to have a catastrophic hurricane that causes insurance companies to double and in some cases triple the cost of insurance policies? We’re not unique here. Our storms are simply labeled different, the media makes more out of it than necessary, and the insurance companies just keep raking it all in. |
| [“Garage Sales, the ultimate stupidity”] I think not, but it would be pretty dumb. I did once purchase an item at a yard sale though and asked the person if they could deliver it for me as he had a pickup and I didn’t. I offered him $20 dollars and he happily accepted. |
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[Will Cash Become Extinct] Consumers rely on cash for a long list of everyday transactions, not all of which are strictly legal. Examples include tip jars, church collection plates, small fundraising campaigns, bake sales and lemonade stands, casual betting pools and poker games, off-the-books employment and under-the-table sales. Link |
| [Party Pooper] Sounds like the sour grapes about the party with the band playing in Eden Pines was from someone who wasn’t invited. |
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[Aphorisms] A pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” |
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[Name That Plant] It is an orchid: Eulophia graminea. Native to Asia, it probably hitch hiked to you yard in some mulch! Go to the Fairchild Gardens site to learn more. |
| [“Jury Summons”] I would love to be able to go and sit for jury duty. I am the caregiver (financially, physically and otherwise) for my elderly parents. I cannot go farther than the grocery store or pharmacy. So to have a day where the County buys me lunch and I don’t have to cook, clean and care for a couple of grumpy people all day, 7 days a week, would be really nice. I send it in and get excused. So I threw my sewer easement in the trash instead. |
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| Cruise Ship passengers are the worst. They don’t buy anything other than a t-shirt and they don’t tip. R/V tourists might be just as bad, but at least they buy gas. |
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[Party Pooper] I am confused by the post about the party in Eden Pines on Sat. night. Was that person just kidding when he complained about the live band? I wasn’t at the party but live just a few houses away and the music was pretty good. The music stopped at 10:00 PM and the partygoers were pretty quiet as they left. I am really shocked that anyone would complain about it. I would like to be invited the next time though. It sounded like a really good time. Maybe the complainer would like to be invited also. |
| The Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual Radio Auction, hosted by Conch Country 98.7 on Wednesday, March 12 from 10 am – 4 pm. The Chamber has collected hundreds of valuable items including gift certificates for many restaurants, hotels, services and attractions; power tools; gift baskets and even a lunch with County Administrator, Roman Gastesi! The Chamber is hosting an Open House & Preview Party at their offices, 31020 Overseas Hwy, Big Pine Key, on Monday, March 10 from 1 pm – 6 pm, so the public can come in and see what they will be bidding on during the auction. Everyone tune into 98.7 on the 12th and call 305-872-5678 to place your bids. This promises to be a very lively day for Conch Country Radio and the Lower Keys Chamber. |
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| [Gun Nut] The Big Pine active shooter is giving responsible gun owners a bad rap. |
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[Speed] In answer to the Awesome 270 MPH Venom, A Ford GT 40 clocked 278+ MPH , at the Texas Mile LSR Track last week. That’s right 278+ mph on 1 mile track! Video |
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I have been sitting here trying to come up with a really negative and nasty posting but try as I might I can’t come up with that mindset so: Be safe and have a nice day. There, take that! |
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I used to program on PCs, then switched to Macs in ’89. I’m not thrilled with the Mac bashing. I would say: “Bashing someone else does not make your soul any more pure.” If someone likes what they use, great. If not, try something new. There are well known comparisons on what is free on a Mac to justify the cost upcharge. As for me, I buy on eBay for a large discount (usually a couple years out or more). I just bought an Intel iMac circa 2006-7 for my business use for $105 – and it works faster than the 2-3 year old PCs next to it. Macs will likely evolve over the next five years, with the real question of tablet/computer convergence. The whole industry (including Apple) is in jeopardy – the unintended victim of Computer Armageddon from the Tablet Asteroid. The Darwinian aftermath is not for any of us mortals to divine, nor will it be likely pretty. |
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| The last five people left after climate change kills everyone will form a panel to investigate whether climate change is real. |
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Not just any music, mind you, the cows have a strong preference for slow-tempo music like R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts, Oronoco Flow by Celtic Woman, and What a Difference a Day Makes by Aretha Franklin. Cows exposed to faster-tempo music like dance hits and club mixes showed no increase in milk production. The researchers didn’t have to tell dairy farmers twice, however, as farmers in both Europe and the United States had long been playing music to their cows. A dairy barn running at full operational speed is a noisy place and farmers had been playing soothing music like classical, slow country songs, and soul music to their cows for years. Adding a twist and a bit of fun to the whole affair, the British Columbia Dairy Association, in 2012, called on the public to create play-lists for the cows in Canada. The cows “voted” with their milk production and the Association released lists of cow-friendly songs as part of their Music Makes More Milk contest. |
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| Hot window cleaner. Video |
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Of course he can push the issue and wind up in court, the law gets changed. Him and everyone else in Florida to be screwed if lawmakers decide to use this incident as part of a larger objective. Like to ban or strictly license all private property outdoor gun ranges. Doug could wind up being famous as the most disliked gun advocate ever. Link |
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| Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden tries propagating orchids in lab. Go native! Link |
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Crane Point Hammock zip line plan appears dead. Link |
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Defrag that old Windows machine] Computers with hard drives, regardless if a Mac with OS X or a Windows PC, require defragging and optimization to return and maintain their performance. Although OS X does some defragging on small files automatically, it won’t do so on large files nor any optimization at all. For Mac’s there is the $30 iDefrag, run it when you have time to leave the machine on and not being used. For Windows, the free iObit Smart Defrag will defrag and optimize in the background while you’re using the machine. |
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[Teen Drinking]Most of the young people today have been raised to be sociopathic, all in the name of self esteem. The last thing we need is making them even more dangerous by allowing them to run around drunk. |
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| Don’t believe me or FTR concerning Rick Scott’s billion dollar fraud case. Simply search the words “Rick Scotts whistleblowers” and then you make the judgement. Snakeoil salesman’s best tool is to keep saying its not true until it becomes their reality. You decide. The best way to fight 1/4 truths is to read the actual truth. Or read this one article then decide. Link |
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| [Gun Nut] When it comes to guns, shooting guns, permitting guns, and all gun things, the operative word here is “concealed”. |
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Kudos and a tip of the FTR fedora to the poster who wrote the excellent piece about income inequality. That poster was spot on, and his/her posting and life perfectly reflects the American ethos. It’s tragic that liberality has gravely damaged that ethos. Our government seems to have purposefully set out to stifle ambition, pride, and self-reliance. They have succeeded!
The recession has been over for nearly 5 years, yet the trend continues and may be accelerating. At the end of October 2013, there were 3.9 million job openings, higher than the 3.6 million reported one year earlier. Far too many Americans no longer are interested in making their own way in life. That is evidenced by the fact that migrants make up 16% of the work force, and over 50% of the labor force growth. This is no small matter, since the U.S. labor force participation rate has been falling over the past decade and has accelerated since the financial crisis. As jobs go unfilled people drop out of the labor force and sustain themselves in relative comfort with government handouts. That guarantees that our economic growth is stunted. Perhaps worse it perpetuates the “gimmee” mind set that is running amok amongst us.There is a terrible irony in that. While the Democrats are supported and funded by ultra wealthy persons, they aim their propaganda at poor and middle class persons by blaming the ultra wealthy for the plight of the poor. Please send me your comments at 1776ftr@gmail.com |
[Contented Cows] In 2001, a pair of researchers at the University of Leicester in England made light-hearted headlines with their study indicating that cows exposed to music produced 3% more milk (not an insignificant increase for dairy farmers’ production quotas).
[Big Pine: Doug Varrieur’s gun range] Made front page of the KY Citizen. My opinion is although Doug is in his rights and the law probably isn’t clearly defined to address problems with congested living areas, he should respect his neighbors wishes and concerns, give the cops a break.
Under Democrat governance the gap between rich and poor has widened. While the rich get richer and poor get poorer, the middle class shrinks. Yesterday’s Huffington Post reported: “Median Incomes Fall For 5th Straight Year, With Inequality At Record High”. The typical American family’s income has fallen every year since 2007, the year the Great Recession began, and the year that the Democrats took control of Congress.