Last year a 2-page slanderous flyer about the Coconut Telegraph Newspaper [Ed: Not associated  in any way with bigpinekey.com’s Coconut Telegraph] was distributed at the Murray  Nelson Government Center, local clubs and businesses.  It stated that the Coconut Telegraph Newspaper’s “efforts are at attacking veterans”, and “The “editor of the Coconut Telegraph Newspaper is a plus-size-moo moo-wearing-autophobic-drunk who uses her little newspaper to draw attention to herself.”

This long diatribe had to have taken many hours or even days of researching my website on the internet to twist my words into a 2-page attack on my newspaper, my family and myself. Everyone that knows me knows that I am not against veterans and just in the 7 years with the Coconut Telegraph Newspaper I have helped the community and veterans a whole lot, so much that I can’t fit it all in this column plus what I did before the newspaper. I am  very proud of the veterans in my family and I am a member of the American Legion Ladies auxiliary and the VFW  Ladies Auxiliary At Large.  

The damaging flyer was unsigned, however, Monroe County Veteran’s Affairs employee Gary Johnson and his wife were seen handing out the flyers all around town.  I wrote a letter of complaint to Mr. George Brentnall, Gary Johnson’s boss at Veteran’s Affairs, who responded with a letter dated 7/31/2012 that Mr. Johnson “denies writing and circulating the letter” and if I want to refute Mr. Johnson’s statement to provide him with notarized statements that he is in fact  circulating these letters on County time and he will pursue it further. Hmmmm.  Interesting.  

They did not realize that I have a website tracker with which I can tell who has been visiting the site and spending how many hours, even days, on it. I narrowed down the IP address to,  you guessed it, the Murray Nelson Building, where Gary Johnson has his office! That  office and his salary are paid  for by our tax dollars.

With a Veterans Affairs office in Key West and Marathon, do we really need one in Key Largo if the man operating it can spend that many hours researching my website and composing a 2-page flyer to defame me? Why would anyone be so vicious and vindictive to a little newspaper?

[Animal Shelter] Excellent article in the KonkLife magazine from last week. Scroll down to article on page 5 by Richard Boettger titled “The Great Debate: Non-Profit Board Members Beware!” It is about the continuing, ridiculous persecution by Monroe County of Stand Up For Animals. There is something criminal going on here, and it’s not by SUFA. Link

Happy George!

[Developer Exempt From Taxes] I am truly impressed at how much The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting has already uncovered at Link

The press here in Monroe is a bit timid about the issue as maybe they fear being labeled “unpatriotic”, but the issue is unfair taxation. Only one small newspaper has had the courage to dig and publish extensively on this subject.

Here is another example of what Balfour tries to do when it comes into a community and bluffs its way on property taxes. It’s almost fraud: Link

We also know that one property appraiser in Florida’s Santa Rosa County was able to stand up to them and negotiate a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (I am told that is illegal, but good for them anyway). There’s a lot more. It seems they are doing this all over the country and RICCO comes to mind, but that’s another story .

[Tile Popping] It can happen if the installer lays out too much thinset and it “flashes”, that is, gets the top surface a bit too dry and ‘skins’ over the still wet thin set. This acts like a layer of thin Saran Wrap and does not make for a good sticky grab to the tile. No more than three tile lengths of thin set should be spread and then the tiles laid, before the next three lengths of thin set is spread. It also depends on the moisture and heat in the area. Also, the surface may need a prep-primer to give better adhesion. Never put tile over treated plywood or any loose surface. Sometimes the loose tiles can be reset or epoxied in place, then re-grouted.

[DirectTV] “Deer Sammy, what happens at the end of one year? What would the new rate become?”

1st year per month: Entertainment Pack:  Choice Pack:  Choice xtra:  Ultimate:  Premier:  $29.99, $34.99, $39.99, $44.99, $44.99/3mns

(Continued below FTR’s post)

Dickhead! 

[Lessons Not learned] County commissioners want to leave their mark”on the world to show that they matter. Being prudent in not spending gets them no glory and nothing named after them. For the majority of these payasas, it is not about public service, it is all about their ego-and the kickbacks.  Normal people generally do not want to be politicians.

Sundays: A dismal countdown to Monday.

[Boogie Woogie Redux] Frank “Sugarchile” Robinson – Caldonia 

I hope that info about Roundup was wrong. I use it now & then to knock down some weeds in my pearock.

[Boating Course] The Key West Sail & Power Squadron is offering America’s Boating Course at The Key West Sail & Power Squadron Building, 5205 College Avenue, Stock Island. This two Saturday course covers boat handling, elementary seamanship, navigation aids, weather, marine radios, Florida boating regulations and more. Completion satisfies Florida State boating certification requirements. Bulletin Board

[More Bar Wisdom] Sure I’ll drink more water, granted it’s frozen and surrounded by ice.

[Donna Farmer in Marathon] Dude – it’s her laundromat that closed. Read the papers lately? And Friday’s poster may be the harbinger of truth.

Why does toilet paper need a commercial? Who is not buying it?

[Tile Popping Time] Hank Ballard and The Midnighters — Finger Poppin Time

If you don’t do wild things while you’re young, you’ll have nothing to smile about when you’re old.

Why one cop carries 145 rounds of ammo on the job. Link

Recent warning sign erected throughout the Keys

[The meek shall inherit the Earth] Sure they will–6 feet of it!

[Lessons Not learned]  If you don’t participate in your local government don’t complain when the elected leaders are fiscally irresponsible.  Stop complaining, put on your big girl or big boy pants ,call the County Administrator’s office at 292-4441, get a schedule of the BOCC meetings,  start attending, sign up to speak and when you do speak out loud, make your presence known.  If the Commissioners see a respectable group of taxpayers in the audience they will hopefully think twice about voting for  some pie in the sky marina or developer’s boondoggle proposal stuff that is brought before them.  In regards to Pigeon Key, it needs to be sold to a  company that will manage it, make a profit and pay some County taxes or commit to repairing the bridge.  It is time to stop the non-profit and developer  welfare that has been going on in this County for decades.

The daughter of Republican biggie John Boehner is scheduled to be married May 10 in Delray Beach — to a local yokel with dreadlocks and a drug arrest on his record! Lindsay Boehner, the anti-pot House Speaker’s eldest daughter, is getting ready to make babies with Jamaica-born construction worker Dominic Lakhan.

Andrew Dice Clay 1987  Then P.C. came along and castrated us guys. We need to re-grow our – what were they called? Video

[Republican Economic Policy]  How about having your own economic policy. Why rely on anybody but yourself to solve your personal issues.

[Rebuttal: and here is the Democrat’s economic policy in a nutshell]  Take away from the rich, who earned it and give it to the lazy, no-ambition, entitlement crowd.

[Spin] How Republicans can yammer on and on about Benghazi with straight faces and totally ignore the fact that 9-11 and the bogus invasion of Iraq happened on their watch.  They have to be the all time masters of spin and revisionism.

[Democrats] When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!

Obama vowed Friday to  join Planned Parenthood in fighting against  what he said are efforts by states to turn  women’s health back to the 1950s, before the  Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide,  and singled out the GOP-governed states of  North Dakota and Mississippi for criticism.

FROM THE RIGHT

Part 1) On Friday a poster noted that Congress had budgeted less than Team Obama had requested for State Department security operations.  Some folks on the left, trying to deflect responsibility away from Mrs. Clinton and Team Obama, for the Benghazi  murders are blaming the reduction in funding for the attacks.  But, the career folks at the State Department don’t share that view. In a Washington Times article from September 2012, they quote a State Department official.  That State Department official told The Washington Times that there was no impact on security in Benghazi from the cuts. Since 1999, the official said, the department has spent $13 billion on 94 new secure diplomatic facilities “and security upgrades to existing properties that have moved more than 27,000 people into safer, more secure facilities.”

While it is true that Congress did not meet the State Department’s budget requests, it is also true that the funding legislation passed in the Democrat controlled Senate and was signed by Mr. Obama.

The fact is that the only reason that the terrorist attack on Benghazi was successful was that Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama had made a carefully considered decision to actually cut security and then to keep security at a bare minimal level so as to present a friendly non-intrusive façade to the Libyans. Their policy has earned the sobriquet ‘light foot print’. That is evidenced by their desperate attempt to convince us that the attack was only “mob violence”.  Team Obama is fully and totally invested in the notion that AQI and other Muslim jihadist organizations are on the ropes. The facts prove otherwise. Team Obama is looking more and more foolish for adopting this nonsensical light foot print posture.

Part 2) In case you’re not feeling all warm and cuddly because of our nation’s welfare policies, perhaps what follows will perk you up. A new study shows that on average the government spends $168 per household on various assistance programs, one-fifth more than the median income of $137. Yep, welfare spending per hour per household in poverty is $30.60, which is higher than the $25.03 median income per hour.

Of course we all know that direct welfare payments are not taxed, so after accounting for federal taxes, the median hourly wage drops to between $21.50 and $23.45, depending on a household’s deductions and filing status. State and local taxes further reduce the median household’s hourly earnings. By contrast, welfare benefits are not taxed. Link 

Respectfully submitted: FTR@Reagan.com 

Long Winded Tome

[DirectTV Continued] “Deer Sammy, what happens at the end of one year? What would the new rate become?”

1st year per month:

Entertainment Pack:  Choice Pack:  Choice xtra:  Ultimate:  Premier:

$29.99                          $34.99       $39.99         $44.99         $44.99/3mns

                                                                                                 9mns $89.99

2nd year per month:

Entertainment pack:         Choice pack:  Choice xtra:  Ultimate:  Premier:

$44.99                     $53.99         $58.99         $64.99         $109.99

Over 140 chan.                         Over 150 chan.    Over 205 chan.      Over 225 chan  Over 285 chan.

These are the “Lock your price in for 2 years” (2yr. contr.)! Price package is for the Primary set! Each additional TV is only $6.00 more per month. If you pick the Entertainment package for $29.99 Basic (Digital) TV, W/3 additional TVs. It will come out to 1st TV$29.99 + $18.00 3add. TVs= $47.99 per mnth, 1st year!

Same package same amount of Tvs 2nd year= $62.99 per month tax not included.If you want HD/DVR (Genie) whole home service add another $24.00 to this price per month. Unlike ComCast or U-Verse, your bill does not get higher and higher every month. Many of my former customers who switched to ComCast or U-Verse realized this, even though I warned them, and ended up coming back to DIRECTV. Now, please keep in mind, that with the growing advancement of TV technology today, they have spoiled the consumer with high-tech bells & whistles, and the motive for this is $$$$$! If you want to economize then keep it simple!

As many of you out there know, that my loyalty and reputation is dedicated purely to customer service, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret! The secret to keeping a monthly affordable bill as a DIRECTV subscriber is to 1. refer as many friends or co-workers etc. For each person that you refer to me, and I do get to install. DIRECTV will give you and that referral $100.00 per person referred. You can refer up to 10 people per year! The way DIRECTV pays you the $100.00 is by deducting $10.00 a month off your bill for 10 months. If your DIRECTV bill is $62.99 per month, and you referred 6 people to me, and were installed by me, your bill will be $2.99 a month for 10 months tax not included.

2. Another way to keep your monthly bill down is by taking DIRECTV for 2 years, and then switching to DishNetwork for 2 years, and go back and forth every 2 years.

3. Or, after the 2nd year call DIRECTV and tell them that you want to cancel your DIRECTV service, and switching to another TV provider for less money monthly, and the DIRECTV disconnect dept. will do everything possible to keep you on with them and will offer free upgrades, free movie channels and lower your bill for at least 6 months just to keep you as a customer. Many of my loyal old time customers have used this tactic, and it has worked for them. But don’t tell anyone I told you this! Shhhh! Keep it a secret between you and meOK? I’m not supposed to be telling you this! I hope everyone found this very informative, and useful!

One other issue that I would like to address is, that many people down here are under the misconception, that if they call the DIRECTV 800# for Directv sales, service or installation, that DIRECTV will automatically send me to cover whatever is needed. I’ve heard this countless times and let me tell you that this is NOT the case! When you call the 800#, DIRECTV will send Miami contractors only! Many customers have made many negative comments to me, due to the results of calling the 800#. Many cases involved non Englishspeaking installers, or not showing up when they were supposed to, and the customer took the day off from work, or installer talked his way out of doing the job! I always tell my customers NOT to sit home waiting for me! In fact, what I do tell them is that I will call them 1hr before I get to their home, just to give them time to get home from work or shopping etc.

The primary reason as to why I decided to open my own local authorized DIRECTV provision here. Is because, I’ve been doing this for 32 years and it’s what I love to do! I haven’t been to a job that I couldn’t install or service. I learned at an early age that one must take pride in their craftsmanship, have exceptional people skills and stand behind their service. That’s what I do! many times customers have called me, and I’ve given them the option of getting something they needed free by the 800#, or me charging them. The results have always been the same. The customer either appreciates me telling them that the 800# will probably do what is needed for free, or the customer tells me, that they don’t want to deal with the 800# and would rather pay me instead. Many times Corporate DIRECTV has commended me as to my dedication and the service I provide to my local customers. As far as I’ve heard from Corporate, no other authorized DIRECTV providers in the state of Florida, dedicate themselves to quality, professional sales, service and installations as I do!

If you have any further questions, you can call me @ 305-896-3017, or post it on the C.T.. I’m also on face-book as Sammysam, you’ll see my profile pic installing an HD dish!   ~SammySam