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2014 February

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

CT-Banner7.3.13No Saturday Edition

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fight-surveillance

[The Day We Fight Back!] February 11th 2014 is mass protest day about government surveillance. Show your support. Websites can add the banner. Pass the word. Freedom isn’t free, it’s earned! Video

ad-manley-deboer6.27.13

[“Burning pollution”] I’m more concerned with the smell in the air than the environmental footprint of burning on Ramrod. I remember what it used to smell like in Key West from the burning dump on Mt Trashmore in the 70s and 80s.

copter11

 

You never know which vehicle the President is riding in. 

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advert-dennis-ward8.16.13
[“Never left home during hurricane”] I used to have this same attitude however Wilma’s and Sandy’s floods changed my mind. Sure a house on stilts running a generator may be fine, it’s taking the chance of vehicles, boats and anything ground based being flooded or carried off. Insurances don’t pay enough and there isn’t enough high ground for everyone. After a hurricane passes, the mold growing on everything organic outside or inside a few days later spews toxic airborne spores that coat everything inside the house requiring costly eradication efforts. My opinion is go instead, shutter and seal the house air-tight, take your non-elevated vehicles and boats. After the hurricane passes arrange with someone very knowledgeable to check inside the house for water damage before the mold grows. If fine, then wait for a few days or weeks with hot wind to blow-dry the outside mold and it’s spores away before returning. If you did get water damage on the inside then immediate action is required less your problem escalates. Seek professional mold remediation services right away, they can quickly assess and mitigate the damage.

toilet plunger dog

[Potty Talk] You say that scale on the bottom of the toilet is from pee not being flushed? As soon as I can get the old lady to chisel it out I’m going to start flushing after every tinkle. I’ll report back in a couple of months with the results.

FAVOR Florida Keys General Annual Meeting Saturday, Feb 15th from 12-2 pm at the Lower Keys Property Owner’s Association building 1668 Bogie Road, Big Pine Key, near the Old Wooden Bridge Fishing Camp. Join us for a celebration of our accomplishments for 2013 and help set the stage for a successful 2014 season.

Current and former volunteers, seasonal and permanent residents and others who are interested in learning about the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges’ events and opportunities are invited to attend. Come meet some of our FAVOR-ite people!

For more information call the Refuge Visitor Center at…Events

Radio-Shack-1.2.14
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Shirley-Temple-1

 

[Good Ship Lollipop Sinks] Shirley Temple had died at age 85. I don’t think there is a person alive who didn’t love that happy little darling. 

[British Humor] Free Puppies. Mother is a Kennel Club registered German Shepherd. Father is a Super Dog, able to leap tall fences in a single bound.
coconuts-ad-11.13
Mary Barra, GM’s first woman CEO is getting $14.5 million this year. Nice work if you can get it! Link

bank11

Is this Southard Street bank one of Sonny McCoy’s designs? For a conch and prominent architect he was totally insensitive to Key West’s historic architecture. Another of his crappy designs was the new courthouse plopped right next to the beautiful old courthouse. It wasn’t until many years later that he finally ‘got’ it, but by that time his crappy buildings were all over the place.

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springers-ad12.30.12

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.

computer love pc to pc

One third of recently married people met online.

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
(now get this…)
The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

johnsons-ad-7.25.13

quilt old woman

The Paradise Quilt guild now meets the first Thursday of each month at the Big Pine Senior Center. Social time starts at 6:30, meeting begins at 7:00. For more information email … Events > Ongoing Events

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jesus-mex

 

Gay marriage is written into the Declaration of Independence under the part where it says “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” Those who call themselves patriots, and are against gay marriage, aren’t. 

advert-accurate-home-insp8.14.13
Anyone figure out why Fox News is trying so hard to sabotage the Winter Olympics in Soshi?

fisherman tiny fish

[Big Fish Stories Getting Littler] They came, they fished, then snap! They posed. Right in front of their Big Catch — and thereby hangs a tale. Link

chamber-ad10.17.13

Florida11

 

Sunday was Groundhog Day everywhere but here. In Florida, this is what we do.

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uke-niteCoconut’s Ukulele Orchestra meets at the NUT the 1st or 2nd Wendesday of each month at 7 pm. Yes, we are a little loose. It’s a fun time. You can learn to play the ukelele in a evening and a bunch of fun doing it. This is less that 2 minutes of Uke nite. If you would like to know more about the Nut, check us out on Face Book, Coconuts Liquors & Lounge or TripAdvisor under Coconuts Bar and Liquor store, Big Pine Key Florida, 33043. The Coconut Ukulele Orchestra. The “NUT”, Pine Key. Rockin’ Right at the Light for over 30 years. See ya there! Video
nira tocco realtor 9.12
The “Waterways” series continues to educate viewers about the south Florida ecosystem in a new two-part episode.  This latest episode delves into the importance of fish spawning aggregations in the Florida Keys and the new book Tropical Connections: South Florida’s Marine Environment. Link
Donna-A1[“Hurricane Evacuation”] I think your whistling pass the grave yard my friend. There are many very good reasons to leave the Keys. Most folks have never been through a REAL hurricane. You will be without power & water for many days, even a week or 2.. The roads are full of nails, you can’t drive without getting a several flats.The bugs are off the hook. How do you feel about snakes. If you need meds or have a medical emergency for any reason you may be in big trouble. Once you’re here, you’re here. There is no getting out. You have lost that option my friend. There is nothing macho about going through a hurricane. The photo is of the American Legion Marathon, Hurricane Donna in 1960.  Yes, that’s a boat in the center of US1.
isaksen-flood-roof 4.23.13 
[“Hurricane Evacuation”] People died in Katrina in New Orleans and in Hurricane Andrew, for starters. Maybe there hasn’t been a death in the Keys since 1935? Is that what you’re thinking?

cannon-002

 

This guy is either prepared for a dangerous day on the high seas or a typical beautiful weekend at Picnic Island! 

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fanci-11-2-13
Common sense is not a gift, it’s a punishment. Because you have to deal with everyone who doesn’t have it.

sushi

If the Sochi Olympics were held in Japan they’d be the Sushi Olympics.

[Cheat] I’ve seen a County Public Works van going up and down US1 so slow just milking the clock.  So I wrote down the license plate, found out which employee it was and subsequently found out that that particular employee has a higher than average mileage rate on that van as compared to the other Public Works employees.

So when you notice a slow going Public Works van lumbering down US1, he’s not lazy, he is milking the system, burning his hours and has less stress in his life than all the other workers combined. 

Flea-Market-ad10.9.13
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jersy11

 

[Dolphin Deaths] Biologists looking into the death of many dolphins in near shore waters have determined that it was likely caused by a group of Jersey women skinny dipping (er, I mean fatty dipping).  It seems that the greasy slick left by the bathing beauties ebbed back out from the shore and the dense lipids and garlic residue clogged the dolphins breathing apparatus causing them to beach themselves in a mass suiside attempt to avoid further contact.

[Sewers] HDPE pipe is being used for the LPS (aka grinder pump) sewer system. Some say it gets brittle and breaks. It does. FKAA found a bunch of leaks in water services behind Kmart in Marathon from brittle pipe that would snap like a dry twig in your hand. One Florida city had so many pinhole leaks in their HDPE service lines that they switched to PVC. I just read a technical paper on line from geosyntheticssociety.org that says “The semi-crystaline, microstructure of HDPE, which is responsible for its excellent chemical resistance and strength properties, is also responsible for its susceptibility to stress cracking.” I found that well documented and very contrary to what Matthews Consulting told the BOCC at the last meeting. Oxidative “Degradation of a layer 50 to 60 microns deep at one of the pipe surfaces is all that is required to yield Stage III failure. This “surface embrittlement” phenomenon has been thoroughly studied and confirmed by a number of authors.” says in an excellent paper. Link

That is bad enough having raw sewage leaks in neighborhoods, but FKAA took a $250K credit and gave $250K to contractor Layne out of a $3.5 million contract add-on for an HDPE pipe under Niles Channel to skip the protective casing pipe that would have contained leaks. Now we will never know how badly it is blowing raw sewage into the ocean, except for the closed beaches and increase in water borne disease and algae blooms. Nice work Layne- a quarter million dollar payment for NOT doing part of something that was a contract extra in the first place! Where is the financial oversight, and where is the EPA?

second-nature-2.6.14
[Windows 8 doomed] Adoption rate of Windows 8 is weak compared to Windows 7. Only 9% of people seem to like the Metro UI interface, less prefer it on their smartphones, why iOS and Android dominate. PC users want the polished and user customizable UI of Windows 7 with the speed and stability improvements of Win 8. Wait till Windows 9 next year or buy a new Win 7 PC online, just ask for Win 7 and many online PC vendors comply. There are downgrade rights from Win 8 back to Win 7 also. Understand the Win 8 hate debate better here. Link 

snow11

 

Well crap! Looks like the Southeast is going to get shut down again. Enjoy your good Key’s weather.

Burn in Hell Juan Carlos Chavez! 2-12-14 will be the day that a family will finally get a little justice 20 yrs to late. RIP Jimmy Rice.
politics-zone2
from the right

The poster who chronicled the FBI’s 1997 investigation of Columbia/HCA was partially correct, but either intentionally or by error some very, very important facts were left out.

scott11First of all the FBI did arrest four top execs of the company. Those execs were the targets of the investigation, But Scott was not arrested.  Scott was never even questioned by the FBI. Scott was never considered to be a suspect by the FBI. Four of the top execs were targeted. All were arrested, two were convicted, two acquitted. The two that were convicted went to prison. You can be absolutely certain that if any of those execs had any proof or even any indications that Scott had been involved in fraud or illegal acts, they would have traded that info for consideration in their prosecution.  But they didn’t.  If there had been even a scent of evidence against major Republican Crist, Democrat Reno’s staff would have been all over it like ants. But that didn’t happen because Scott’s hand were clean. He knew nothing of the frauds.

The issue was flogged to death during Scott’s first run for the Governorship. His primary opponent was Bill McCullum and his Democrat opponent was Alice Sink. Both made it a big issue. They said that Scott is “a man who barely escaped imprisonment”. The liberal Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Heralds political “Truth-O-Meter” declared their statements to be false. It’s obvious that the majority of Florida’s voters agreed that Scott knew nothing about and had nothing to do with the fraud.

Had Scott been a target of the investigation, you can be certain that he would have been interviewed by the FBI, and he would have been charged. But the FBI did not interview or charge him.

One of the investigating attorneys said of Scott: “I did not see Rick Scott act in bad faith, but what I did see is the corporate culture he presided over. I did not see Rick Scott to be inclined to do anything criminal”

There is 0 evidence that Scott was “forced to resign”.  There are scores of news reports to that effect, but there is not a single quote from anyone who had direct knowledge.  None of the news reports even name the members of the Board of Directors. But Scott himself tells us why he resigned.  He said that he voluntarily left Columbia/HCA over a disagreement on how to move forward in light of the investigation and as a result  he and the company parted ways. The board of directors wanted to settle the fines, but Scott wanted to litigate the issues.

Scott was convinced that there could be honest disagreement over how the regulations were interpreted.  Scott was right, ultimately the courts agreed with Scott.

If Scott was “forced” to resign, why did he receive a settlement of nearly $10 million, and stock worth about $350 million?

On the other hand there is now sworn testimony that Crist took payments from one of our nation’s biggest Ponzi schemers, in exchange for the appointment of certain judges.  The schemer, Scott Rothstein, in a trial, under oath, testified that he had paid then Governor Crist for political favors.

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