BigPineKey.com

I am considering running against our current county commissioner George Neugent. I have lived here 20 out of the 22 years I have owned property. I am a single mom who does not own a business and has some college experience and depends a lot on common sense. I am tired of the ‘Moron County’ experience, and the sewers smell already and are 20 years to late. Everyone who has sewers has incorporated into their own community and have for the most part gotten them done. I realize that the sewer issue will be finalized before the election. I do have my concerns about grinder pumps. I feel there are better ways to resolve our overdue problem. If Tamarac Park does not have grinder pumps then what kind of system are they on as their neighborhood is at least a mile from the highway and has all the twists and turns of our grinder pump neighborhoods. So why do they work and ours won’t? I am looking for answers and opinions and what concerns the working class people of the Cudjoe Wastewater district. Maybe it is time for poor people to get back into politics. I want to hear what is on the voters’ minds. After all, isn’t that what politicians are supposed to do? My campaign slogan would be “I know nobody, so I owe nobody.” I look forward to your new forum sans national politics.

Does anyone know how or know of someone who knows how to fix a braided necklace?  I had a very nice Maori bone necklace before my puppy chewed through part of the braided string.  The bone is hand carved so the necklace is worth fixing.  Any help would be appreciated.

Sitting with Santa for over 30 years! While most kids stop sitting on Santa’s lap once they hit middle school, these two brothers have returned to visit St. Nick at the North Pole…er, the mall, for over 30 years. Link

Grinder pumps are nothing more than government mandated lawn ornaments.

[Android Rules] 81% of the world’s smartphones use the Android operating system, 12.9% Apple and only 3.6% Windows phones.

How can one person say that nobody, anywhere, has ever changed their mind after reading something political?  

On the first day of Christmas, Mother Nature sent to me a Peacock in a Pine Tree (on Big Pine Key)
On the second day of Christmas, Mother Nature sent to me
2 Gators at the Blue Hole
And a Peacock in a Pine Tree

On the third day of Christmas, Mother Nature sent to me
3 elusive Marsh Rabbits
2 Gators at the Blue Hole

and a Peacock in a Pine Tree

[National Politics Be Gone] “If I could somehow Copy and Paste the posts” that would open eyes about who says what and how they say it to show the citizenry how low some can go and how bubbled most live. Of course it will mean nothing to those posting that stuff and you need a break for sure. Freedom of speech means nothing anymore anyway.

Remember the mimeograph machine and how it smelled?

[Comedy Trapeze Act] Here is a German trapeze couple who are somewhat different. Video

[China On Moon] China’s first lunar rover deployed successfully from the unmanned spacecraft Chang’e-3 that landed on the moon Saturday. Video

[National Politics Be Gone] Methinks you jest. Everything is political in the sense it is someone’s opinion, feeling, or thought to share. However having read some other comments, I understand and respect your decision. I can only imagine what you have to read, edit, inspect, rewrite, reword, and decide to use. I respect your decision and thank you for having the courage to make it.

[Seating Arrangement] Even if you are the most powerful man in the world, if the wife says switch seats, you switch seats!

This is Sunday 12:51 PM. Where is my Coconut Telegram? (Ed: I wasn’t able to complete the job until 1:30. Sunday has double the posts because we don’t publish on Saturdays, but they keep on coming. That’s the next fix I’m trying to figure out. I’d like to get a computer savvy geek to publish for me once a week, but that’s a hard find.)

[What your phone knows about you] Data collected from your smartphone is shaping the future of marketing. Link

The Southernmost Coconut Castaways, the official “Friend Club” of Howard Livingston & The MM24 Band, held their Annual Holiday “Jump Up” at Pincher’s Crabshack on Duval Saturday. Fun, food, drinks, holiday music, a special visit from Santa, and most important, this was a gift drive for teenagers of Wesley House Family Services. Link 

Find out which browser is most popular. Hint: Internet Explorer–because it comes preinstalled on all Windows things. Link

Bye-bye partisan politics on the CT. Just wait ‘til the wing nuts come out of the woodwork for taking away their space to rant like bullies and fight like little boys and girls.

The State is an institution of theft. Video

Today’s special down here at Springer’s Bar and Grill is a homemade beef stew with dinner roll $9.95 and $11.95 with a nice side salad. The stew is to kill for! Come see us. Don’t forget happy hour from 3-7 p.m

[Grinder Pumps] Can the County come up with a thousand or so porta potties when the big storm wipes out their thousands of grinder pumps? We don’t all have generators big enough to run a 220 volt system and I imagine it will take a while for them to get to everyone if we get a storm surge. Of course they will need other special trucks and more crews for that as well, won’t they? Short-sighted thinking.

I really like the new Pope. Did you see the video where the toddler he was holding kept taking off the Pope’s yarmulka and playing with it. I think this Pope is going to be the best yet. He stays in a spartan apartment, won’t wear the red shoes and drives an old car and wants to help everyone. I hope the Vatican power brokers don’t kill him. Link

[Tablets and smartphones are a ripoff] Compared with a 3 year old, $1800, 3D gamers laptop. The 3 year old laptop is almost 3x better and more feature rich than the latest $1000 tablet, also it runs Flash. Most desktop towers are also upgradeable for even more long term value. Run Windows 7 Pro until 2020. Always make a System Restore disk.

Grinder Pumps failed in Indian River County and they will fail here too? Say no to grinder pumps!

“Florida community learns lessons during hurricanes of 2004. Within a six-week period three major hurricanes hit the peninsula. The storms left a trail of wrecked homes, flooded neighborhoods, and tens of thousands of displaced people. The Indian River County community of Rockridge was particularly hard hit. Located just 20 miles north of Fort Pierce, the city lost electrical service for two extended periods of time, ten days after Hurricane Francis and 14 days after Jeanne. Without electricity, the community’s low-pressure grinder pump sewer system was shut down. Sewage backed up into homes and contaminated the area’s groundwater. Entire neighborhoods became giant bacteria-producing Petri dishes.”

[National Politics Be Gone] OK, Deer Ed, You did awesome. I am glad that a lot of negative things are not posted. Lets all pick up the pieces now and start posting happy things that are important to us. Stuff like how good Spingers pot pie was, what a great deal I got at the flea market, why I never like shopping at our local grocery store and why I hate driving 100 miles to Walmart (just kidding on that) .

We want to know about why the highway was closed for any accident.

We need to like the snowbirds — they bring us money. We live in a unique place and love all our neighbors.

One thing all of us readers want to know, is all the grinder pump things posted by one person? ( Ed: No, not at all. This is the first time an issue was not dominated by the same few posters. Many of the posts are from people who have never written to the CT before. I am surprised at the variety of new people concerned with this issue–all are against it.)

I wish there was a park in the old Quay restaurant location on Bayside in Marathon. That would be a perfect place for people to sit and rest, dogs to play and for people to enjoy the view.  Is it public property or privately owned?

 Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to this email.    

[Spies like US] “Every Breath You Take” – NSA’s favorite song.

Every breath you take, every move you make
Every bond you break, every step you take
I’ll be watching you

Every single day, every word you say
Every game you play, every night you stay
I’ll be watching you

O can’t you see, you belong to me…

The Police – Every Breath You Take

Thank you, thank you for getting rid of national politics as it had no redeeming value on this site.

[P.C. Greetings] I don’t understand what the big deal is. If you are Jewish, tell me, “Happy Hanukkah”. If you are Christian, tell me, “Merry Christmas”. If you are African American, tell me, “Joyous Kwanzaa”. If you don’t prefer those, tell me, “Happy Holidays”

I will not be offended. I will be thankful that you took the time to say something nice to me.

[Citizen Of The Day Says] She likes everything about Key West. ‘I can’t think of anything I don’t like.’

[National Politics Be Gone] As the saying goes, you can’t please everyone so you’ve got to please yourself.  I think you do us all a good service with the CT.  As with any newspaper, if you don’t like the one you’re getting go buy another.  Perhaps those that want to spread nothing but their own unhappiness should create their own site for that.  Wouldn’t that be an awful place to be while you enjoy a beautiful paradise cup of coffee.  Keep up the good work.

Eggnog recipe for those who can’t read.

[National Politics Be Gone] Ed is right. The political section of the C.T. turned into nothing more than political attacks and backhanded insults. The proof was laid out for us perfectly on Sunday. Only 1 political posting was posted in the political section on Sunday. Heres a few comments from that single posting (FTR’s).
“I agree that there are many political posts that are inane, cruel and even ridiculous”
“The amount of venom that some posters express is troubling”.
“Many of the political postings are childish and reflect very poorly on the poster”.
“Are the posters too lazy to even do that”.
“It would be a damn shame if the equivalent of bathroom graffiti caused the silence”.

If you are a poster of this site are you wondering where you fit in this list of insults? Multiply that by 50 postings, day in and day out, and you get the idea. What started out as a local site to be enjoyed by everyone turned into a site filled with anger and insults which cannot be helpful in attracting more readers and increasing revenues from people looking to advertise.

Thanks Ed.  The C.T. is much more enjoyable than it was becoming.

Where were Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Big Pine Boat Parade? No candy either! Our family was at Kiki’s on the beach from 6pm until 8:30pm and never once saw either of them. Such a disappointment. Not like my kids needed candy but a visit from Santa would have been nice.

[“National politics 86d”] Thank you Deer Ed. A correct decision. Plus your decision means you will have a more pleasant lifetime in your Paradise.

[Incinerator Man] Enjoy the clean air of the Keys, because when they install those incinerators you won’t be able to do so. You need to contact your commissioners and remind him/her that they were elected to protect our environment.  If the commissioner tells you the story of the guy who went to see a demonstration of the incinerator, was late and asked when the burning was going to start, they told him that it had already started.  Well, this is a crap story told by a salesman.  The reality is that, anything that combusts (even an air curtain incinerator) creates particulate

matter. That is what gets imbedded into the people’s lungs causing respiratory ailments ranging from allergies all the way up to emphysema.  Ask your commissioner If incinerators are such an easy answer to trash wouldn’t the trash haulers be out of business by now?  Wouldn’t Waste Management Inc be Waste Incinerator Inc?

Today in 1773 The Boston Tea Party took place.

[National Politics Be Gone] Dear Ed, Sorry to hear about the political section, but I understand your issue of correcting the posts, but what ever happened to no edit day? Maybe you could bring that back and take Sundays off as well.

[Jokesters take to Amazon to post “bomb” reviews] Websites like Amazon.com aren’t just for shopping anymore. More and more often they are used these days as ad hoc publishing platforms — spaces where everyday users can entertain, or be entertained by doing what’s called “bombing.”

Remember folks, Coconut Telegraph broke this story first. Link

[“Politics section 86d] Gosh, 86d means lots of stuff. Link

[“Can’t anyone say anything nice about Big Pine Key”] Yep! You can’t pry me or blast me off this island paradise!

Thank you very much for the Piano video, it was a delight. Also thanks for dropping the politics. You go, Guy! Video

Some will miss the Political Section, most will not because this is what is happening to lots of blogs. People have had enough of Closet Ranters and Antisocial Hounds. America was once a great nation until the bad guys took over, now we have to clean house to get some peace and love back. I just hope the religious nuts do not take over, which will be much worse than any political hatred!

[Editor Sucks] It’s not Ed! It’s the school you went to and didn’t pay attention while there or didn’t even go. No wonder Ed edits your post it contained so many errors it was funny.

Heck, I don’t see any issue with allowing FTR to keep his posting privilege. 1st and foremost he pays Ed. 2nd and most important he pays Ed & I agree with him. Fair is fair and most of all Right is Right ! Have a blessed and very Merry Christmas.

[“Give up your right to protest”] No way will my lawyer Mr. Spalding let that happen!

I think that most of us have short memories on many topics, even money. I’ll bet that many of had forgotten that Republican/Independent/Democrat Charlie Crist, when Governor, raised auto license and registration fees by about 54%. That sucked. It especially sucked because when campaigning for office he mimicked George HW Bush and promised “no new taxes”.

Governor Rick Scott is now pushing legislation to roll back those fees. While politicos call them “fees’, they really are taxes.

The biggest single cut in the Republican Governor Scott’s package is to lower the base fee for an annual registration from $44 to $32.50. There will also be many other cuts to other tag-related fees. The estimated annual savings for each motorist would be $25, Scott’s office says. Florida issues about 15 million sets of vehicle registrations each year.

The total annual savings of $401 million is the centerpiece of Scott’s election-year promise to reduce taxes and fees by $500 million as an improving economy produces more revenue for the state.

Deer Friends, Republican governance puts more money in your pocket.  

Part 2) Deer Friends, the Washington Post had a very interesting opinion item that is worth reading. Part of it follows: “When historians write the story of Barack Obama’s presidency, 2013 will be his lost year. It opened with great promise and closed with equally great disappointment. In a year that could have been about building his legacy, the president was instead reduced to salvaging the signature accomplishment of his first term.

The chasm between what was expected and what was delivered was evident in the precipitous drop in Obama’s approval ratings throughout 2013, all the way down to George-W.-Bush-second-term territory. Dashed expectations sent Democrats up for reelection in 2014 fleeing for cover and comforted Republicans still smarting from their party’s 2012 defeat.” Link

Part 3) Personally I’m disappointed in our Deed Ed’s decision to scrub national politics. But I certainly understand his pain at having to deal with the garbage that comes to him offered for publication. I suspect that there will be some left fielders who will strongly object to Deer Ed’s decision not to publish political pornography anymore, but that he will continue to publish these humble postings from FTR.

First of all you must understand that I pay for the privilege of posting. I urge those who do object my postings to consider that if they truly have the courage of their convictions as I do, that they should consider paying for  the privilege of posting on CT.

Yep, I pay for the privilege of posting my beliefs. All of this is a surprise to me, our Deer Ed and I have not talked about it, but I’m of the belief that our Deer Ed might afford our left fielders the same privilege. I strongly doubt that our Deer Ed would permit threats of violence, racism, or any such conduct to be posted.  I believe that he would welcome intelligent, well informed dialog from the left. On the few occasions that our Deer Ed and I have had conversations, I have come to the conclusion that his political beliefs are to the left of mine. Reasonable people can disagree reasonably. (Ed: Deer FTR, everyone’s beliefs are to the left of yours. ha. I think I solved the problem of rebuttal. I’ll post your email address along with every FTR post so they can let you know directly their opinion on what you wrote. This way you can address the crap that I hate so much and I can be left alone in Tootsie Pop Yo-Yo Land where I belong.)

Rebuttal? FTR@bellsouth.net