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Hi there and Happy Friday from Springers Bar and Grill. Start the weekend off right, join us for Happy Hour, it’s 3-6 daily. Come for a drink, have a bite, stay for the fun.

Hope you’ve enjoyed all the Super Bowl fun facts and trivia these past couple of weeks. Today is the last one and possibly the most important: While eating all the wonderful Super Bowl foods we need something to wash them down with. Beer, the beverage of choice for most Super Bowl parties. 51.7 million cases will be sold for Super Bowl Sunday, that’s about 325.5 million gallons of that Icy cold amber nectar. Why worry about having enough beer when you can join us on Super Bowl Sunday, where the tap never stops flowing. No need to wait for an official invite, Springers Super Bowl Pig Roast starts at 2pm. Along with our delicious pig, we are serving up black beans and rice, Mac and cheese and our new tropical coleslaw. Don’t forget the Jell-O shots being given away all day. There is also raffles and giveaways throughout the event with proceeds going to women’s charities. Game time is 6:30 and with our 14 television you’re sure to catch all the action no matter where you park your keister.

[Sand Filled Bathing Suits] Make the bathing suit so small it can’t hold sand. Problem solved

Dear Chairman Smith, Commissioners Shaw and Commissioner Cranny-Gage, Has the “Gang of Three” returned?  May I inquire from the Commissioners that would vote for an increase for employees now; why even review pay scale for increases for employees when it stands now your agency’s pay for staff is higher than 10 other mosquito control districts already?  When Director Fussell was there he made the adjustments for the higher pay,

Now is your chance to do something constructive as to bring in line with other mosquito control districts when tweaking the pay scale.  I do understand it costs more to live in the Fabulous Florida Keys.  But—- Florida Keys Mosquito Control “still paid more on average in 14 of 20 job categories than 10 other mosquito control districts in the state, and some public and private businesses as well”.

Plus some retired employees and staff have life time paid health coverage paid for by the taxpayers in MonroeCounty.  You have worked very hard at getting budget under some control; don’t get another black eye by increasing the pay scale.

Employees will not quit, they have a wonderful job and receive great benefits…where will they go to get higher pay, and benefits…most private businesses are nowhere near these salaries and benefits here in the Keys.  This argument does not hold water.  How many jobs in the Keys pay retirement and health insurance with this amount of wages?  “while places that are more pleasant in which to live, and thus more attractive to workers, will have lower wages and higher prices,” the Florida Price Level Index stated”.

The Key West Citizen did a good job with this article and the facts are there for you to read. 

Also, I do hope you keep to your budget that was set aside on the new building that will be built if the deal goes through on the property in Key West.  You have set aside $100,000 to bring the administrative offices up to par in Marathon, the Taj Mahal and hopefully with purchase of property for around $700,000.00 and another $800,000 for building the new building in Key West, I think you have set aside $2 million in total for both property and building …I would like to request your board to keep building down to a skeleton crew and skeleton warehouse in Key West.

Please think what you are putting on the backs of the Monroe County Taxpayers when making these decisions.   Have an election coming up for BOCC Commissioners.  Would a good platform be— the County taking over the MCD?

 Thank you, Kay Thacker, Key Largo.

[iPhone 5 Fingerprint Reader a Bad Idea] The creation of a biometric payment system would mean surrendering fingerprint data to companies with a history of security breaches. If prints were irreproducible, that might not be such a concern. But it’s not particularly hard to hack a fingerprint. A laser printout of a digital fingerprint has just enough relief for a counterfeiter to cast a glue-based copy. (German hacker group Chaos Computer Club used a similar technique to trick iPhone’s Touch ID within two weeks of its launch.) Therein lies the rub. You can change your password, but you can’t change your fingerprints.

[Marathon Journal] Recent events have been interesting. Former City Manager Roger Hernstadt has resigned for a job elsewhere. Marathon is now looking for a replacement. I have long advocated that someone in the Keys should be the City Manager. I have recently changed that assumption.

Marathon needs an experienced, successful, and professional city manager. Mr. Marathon Mike Puto is an excellent choice as interim city manager. There is no need to rush the city manager replacement process.

If we want to keep our future city manager, then the contract needs to address the financial problem. City managers who want to become a Marathoner owning a home, sending kids to school must have some reasonable expectation of financial security over the long haul.

City managers must be allowed to work for three city councilmembers not just one. The day of one councilmember bypassing the city manager to work with staff are over. A resolution providing for charter enforcement is not hard to do.

My idea would be to appoint an independent master for which any elector could report a supposed violation. The master would evaluate whether the violation should be heard or not. If a violation is valid, then the master would hear the case and render a decision. Obviously, this is just a simple idea that needs more work. Nothing is ever really simple with our city council.

The council dynamic has changed with Councilmember Senmartin’s successful campaign. He got elected by the largest amount of voters than ever in Marathon’s history. What caused that was the perception of dirty politics and bullet voting.

The best solution is to attract new people to run for city council. If you look back over the last six years, the same people have been elected. Running for city council is simple. Collect contributions for signs, radio, newspaper, and so on. You need to meet people face to face as much as is possible. Don’t engage in dirty politics; you cannot get elected in Marathon doing so.

I speak from experience. I did everything right in my 2010 campaign. I got about a 1,000 votes. What sank my campaign was responding negatively to what I perceived as attacks on me from other campaigners.

You want to really change the city council? Go to the county building on 63rd Street the elections office and sign up to run for city council. The elections office will help you every step of the way.

It’s a sad and lonely cafe. In Miami obviously.

The year of the horse. Today is the start of the lunar new year celebrated by many peoples around the world, particularly the Chinese and begins 15 days of partying.

[Another Sick Caribbean Cruise] Two in one week, plus mosquitoes are transmitting a new virus that appears as dengue, joint pain is a sign. Link

[Friday Joke] A distinguished young woman on a flight from Switzerland asked the priest beside her, “Father, may I ask a favor?”
“Of course. What may I do for you?”
“Well, I bought an expensive electronic hair dryer that is well over the customs limits and I’m afraid they’ll confiscate it. Is there anyway you could carry it through Customs for me? Under your robes perhaps?”
“I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you: I will not lie.”
“With your honest face, Father, no one will question you.”
When they got to Customs, she let the priest go ahead of her. The official asked, “Father, do you have anything to declare?”
“From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing to declare.”
The official thought this answer strange, so asked, “And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?”
“I have a marvelous little instrument designed to be used on a woman, but which is, to date, unused.”
Roaring with laughter, the official said, “Go ahead, Father… Next!”

[Minimum Wage] There’s plenty of states that raised their minimum wage already on their own. So how come all of those businesses in those states didn’t meet the doom and gloom people predict when they say raising it will destroy businesses?

Using that logic it should make sense then that instead of raising the wage we should cut it down to $6 and hour and the entire economy will blossom, right? Are you naïve enough to believe that if you cut minimum wages those very same businesses will hire lots more people? I don’t believe that would happen at all.

[Muster parade of tall ships] The 2014 Key West Classic Regatta is set for Saturday when more than a dozen tall ships from as far away as Chesapeake Bay, Va., are expected to compete in an offshore race.

A muster parade of the tall ships is planned for 10:30 a.m. outside of Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, when they will gracefully sail past Mallory Square and out to the seas around 11 a.m. for the start of the race.

When the ships return at 2 p.m., some will be open to the public for tours. Cost is $5 for a wrist band. Link

2006 Ford E150 van, V8, Auto, all power, Keyless entry. Well kept. Asking $6,295. Classified Ads > Auto

[Border Warning] New York federal Judge Edward Korman, on New Year’s Eve, ruled that if you’re at the U.S. border, the federal government can confiscate your laptop, smartphone or tablet for any reason. No probable cause is needed. The so-called “border exemption” extends 100 miles inland from the actual border. That includes everyone on the Eastern Seaboard, the West Coast, the Gulf or the Great Lakes.

Sweetheart Dinner Dance February 8th at 6 pm. Prime rib, twice baked potato, Caesar salad and wonderful homemade cheese cake. Plus Entertainment. $20. Funds will help our Sunshine Grandparents at Moosehaven. Members and qualified guest, thank you. Tickets go on sale 1/24/14 in the social quarters, see Donna A. Sargent. If any questions call 305-745-5175.
Presented by Woman of the Moose, Big Pine Moose Lodge, Wilder Rd, Big Pine Key.  Events 

[Friday Joke] A teacher was explaining government to her second grade class. The homework she assigned them was to have their parents explain what they believed government to be. When Little Johnny got home later that day, he went up to his dad and asked him just that.

His dad thought for a while before answering, “Think of Government like this: I’m the president, your mom is Congress, our maid is the work force, you are the people, and your baby brother is the future.”

”I still don’t get it” replied Little Johnny, so his dad suggested he sleep on it.

In the middle of the night, Little Johnny was woken by his baby brother’s crying. When he went to his baby brother’s crib he found his diaper was full, so he went to his parent’s room to let them know so they could change his diaper. But when he quietly opened their door, he could only see his mom sleeping.

So he went to the maid’s room to see if she was up and could help, but when he got there, he could here strange noises, so he looked through the keyhole and saw his dad having sex with her.

The next morning over breakfast, Little Johnny’s dad asked him “Did you understand my analogy about Government?” to which Little Johnny replied “Yes, last night was a real eye opener. The President is screwing the work force, Congress is fast asleep, nobody cares about the people, and the future is full of crap!”

I find so many people that don’t understand what historic preservation is or even like the idea of it. It’s the same with the environment, many feel if preservation stands in their way of making more money it’s a bad think.

If anyone starts shooting at targets in your neighborhood you’ll find out how nerve racking it can be. This happened to me in Virginia. I went before the Board of Supervisors and they put a stop to it. All it takes is a government with balls!

[“Vegetarian ‘Ham’”] Textured soy protein, water, vegetable oil, whey protein, sugar, wheat flour, salt, vegetarian seasonings, permitted food coloring. Contains soybeans, gluten and dairy. That sure sounds like Twinkies to me!

Big drug bust on Stock Island, the other dealers cheer.  Drug supply vs. demand sets the price, just like with any other commodity. Economy 101.

[Ant Control] Got a ant problem? If they are on your plants that’s a good thing, they are likely going after the white-flies which damage plants. Trim the plants away from your house and they won’t come in. Remove all food and standing water (like in the shower), wash and dry your counters and floors. If you have ant mounds, then wait for a spell of hot days and a dry ground. Grab a bucket and fill it with water, mix in Comet cleanser, boric acid or roach powder, but don’t saturate completely or else add more water. Then mix in a bit of honey or sugar and a dash of something that smells good, like scented shampoo.

Next pour the mixture wide around the ant mound or other areas, thin pooling it preferably, keeping away from animals and children of course. What happens is the ants are thirsty, they drink the mix and feed it to others in their nest, wipes them all out. Anticide!

The Soca crime family is kaput. Yesterday’s Stock Island bust is the biggest in recent memory putting a big crimp on the supply of cocaine, Oxycontin, Xanax and crack in the lower Keys. The three family member crime family were very bad dudes. The son, Juan Soca Jr, had 28 arrests since 2001. Didn’t the judge notice he was a repeat offender after 28 arrests?

The #1 selling ramen noodle soup in Colorado.

[Captain Doom and Gloom] “Historic Preservation” A few years ago, there was a guy who invented a roof shingle that generated electric power just like these solar panels, and it looked like a real shingle. Hard to install, but it would have been great for restoration and supplying power. There was also a company that invented a paint to do the same, but of course all that is on a shelf hidden forever!

What follows is an e-mail that I received from “D”. It appears that D and I have different views on the threat posed by Muslim fundamentalists having possession of nuclear weapons and of our relationship with Israel. As promised I am publishing it. Unfortunately I do not have time today to respond, but I will in Sunday’s CT.

“Being a bit older than you my memory goes back to the depression and WW 2. what I distinctly remember was that prior to WW2 one of the big issues was always if war comes we will be gassed like was used in WW1. At the time father worked for Union Carbide at a large acetylene facility in NY, There were of course thousands of large cylinders on the property, and At one point in early 1939, a group of Germans were taken on a tour of the place and told that this was just one of many mustard gas facilities the US had. Needless to say very little gas was used during the war, yet gas masks were issued to Army personnel until after the Korean war, I know I had one.

Your postings of late seem to have the same message, only about A-bombs, They have been around since WW2, and very few if any have been used in any warfare, If what I read on the net is true, even the military here stopped our ‘deer’ president from blowing one off near SC. No matter what a few muslin nutcases may want to do, they all do not want to die and their scientists and military more than likely do not want to die because a nutcase wants 70 virgins. Iran has enough religious problems to cope with at home.

I also notice that you never mention the fact that Israel has tons of Nuke weapons and always threatens to use them, but will not sign any Nuke treaties or allow any inspections in their territory, but demands inspection of other sovereign nations. Very strange that Israel can “demand’ that we place sanctions on Syria, but will allow no sanctions on itself. Maybe he was right when the late president was caught on an open mike  saying “we control the United States”, and “all goys are cattle”

My thanks to D for his time, I will respond in Sundays CT.

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