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2014 July

Thursday, July 17, 2014

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The-Coconut-Telegraph-w-CoconutsThe Original Unsocial Media. Anonymous Letters to the Editor with Pictures. Published Daily by Noon Since 2002. No Saturday Edition

deer-run-bed-_-breakfast_2[“Composting Toilets and Corruption”] We own and operate Deer Run Bed and Breakfast on Big Pine Key. A few years ago, when Long Beach was a cold spot for sewers, we were told before we could get any permits, we had to become 2014 compliant. So, we hired Solaria in Marathon who designed a high performance sewer system for us, to work in conjunction with vacuum flush composting water toilets. The toilets are approved for all states, yet here we had to circumvent the local powers that be because they said they didn’t know about them, and they were not approved (wrong, of course).

We have several of these toilets installed here, and our water bills have absolutely plummeted. They use approximately a half pint of water per flush. If one did not want to invest in the entire system (which means the composters), you can still purchase and install the toilet, and have it connected to the soon-to-be-installed city sewers going in where ever you are. Although Long Beach was designated a “cold spot” for years, suddenly it became a “hot spot” and was slated for sewers (which we learned about from reading the local paper last year). The reason the County and FKAA are not talking about this toilet option, in our opinion, is because if everyone installed these toilets, the system as designed and as being, would be so overbuilt it actually would not even work properly as that much less water is needed. Further if we all used these toilets, “they” wouldn’t be making the money hand over fist that they will be. The basic toilet, without the composter system, is about $500 cost. You do not need a permit, because this is simply replacing an existing toilet in your home. And, indeed the toilet will pay for itself in roughly 1 year of water savings. They are nothing like the “dry composting” toilets of days past. These are high performance, modern, and absolutely everyone should have them. If the County and FKAA actually subsidized these composting toilets instead of the sewer system being built, to be blunt, we wouldn’t even need the sewer system, and it would be far, far better for the environment. If everyone put in composters, we wouldn’t be talking about gravity or grinders, nor shallow or deep injection wells to shoot into the substrata with treated effluent.

The County and the FKAA is doing a vast disservice to us citizens. Anyone who still thinks the sewer mandate is mainly for the environment has their head up their arse. It’s about money. This County and the FKAA has screwed so many of us residents and businesses in so many ways it’s mind-boggling.

Deer Run has been running far ahead of the pack on eco-issues since we took this place over in 2005, despite the County of Monroe and it’s monkeys (no offense to monkeys) seemingly doing everything they can to stop us. This County has been nothing but a huge pain in the neck. In fact, most of the County Commissioners and County Administrator Gastesi do not even respond to our calls or letters anymore, including our own District Commissioner. Us getting the word out on these modern composting toilets is at least one thing we here at Deer Run can do for our community. Call us, we are happy to provide you the information..

fanci-7-1-14
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artificial-sweetners17
I just read about artificial sweeteners and will never use them again. I realized that if I have to stick something into my food to make it taste better, I should not eat the crap! Link
[Veterans Memorial Party] I hope everybody shows up and donates!
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[Political Doublespeak] Last Thursday at the Boondocks forum, county commission candidate Danny Coll stated, “he was against the purchase of Rowell’s Marina, and the old 7 Mile Bridge”.

Last night at the Key Largo candidate forum the moderator called him on that specific statement. Candidate Coll replied he, “was not against these projects”.

It can’t be both! Nor can it be dependent on what island one is addressing at the time. So, which is it really?

fish17
Everybody say, “Cheese!”
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[“Conch-rete”] The recipe for Roman concrete was described around 30 B.C. by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, an engineer for Octavian, who became Emperor Augustus. The not-so-secret ingredient is volcanic ash, which Romans combined with lime to form mortar. They packed this mortar and rock chunks into wooden molds immersed in seawater. Rather than battle the marine elements, Romans harnessed saltwater and made it an integral part of the concrete. Link
[Funeral Expenses] Mike Tolbert, co-owner of Daddy Bones BBQ behind Checkers on North Roosevelt Blvd, told me a few months back that Mayor Cates refused to pay the burial expenses of a homeless man his daughter ran over and killed in front of Checkers on North Roosevelt Blvd shortly after Mayor Cates was elected the first time in 2009. Mike said he was working at Daddy Bones when it happened, and he walked over to the accident scene and talked to people and concluded Mayor Cates’ daughter and the homeless man both were at fault. Mike said, when Mayor Cates would not pay the burial expenses, which was all the family asked, they brought a lawsuit to get the burial expenses paid
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$17.6 billion is the estimated cost to fix the Veterans Administration.
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[Woe is Me Part 2] (Ed: The Dell tech guy came from Miami with a new motherboard to replace mine that got electrocuted in last week’s lightning storm. He was here three hours until he deemed the new motherboard defective. He’s coming back from Miami today with another. UPDATE: The tech just called from Miami asking me where the parts are?)
[Illegal sarcasm] The Coast Guard intercepted a boatload of people off the Texas coast. This placed the Coast Guard in an awkward position, as the boat was not heading to the US, but towards Mexico and Central America.

Another surprise finding was the people were white American retirement age seniors. Their claim was that they were trying to get to Central America or Southern Mexico so they could return to the US as illegal immigrants. Then they would be entitled to far more benefits than they were receiving as legitimate American retirees. It is believed the Coast Guard gave them food, water and fuel and assisted them on their journey.

We are booking on the next boat out. Let me know if you want to join us

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protest17
[“Religion–to each his own”
] You might be right if you are referring to the population of the Keys, but the rest of the world wants to use their particular version of Sky Wizardry to oppress us all.  Organized religion is nothing more than a control system for the masses.
O’Reilly on America’s race problem. Audio
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Funny gun safety commercial. Video
godbender17
[“Religion”
] I’ll see you Hypnotoad and raise you one GodBender.
[“Old bridges, conch-crete, saltwater”] I believe there was no re-bar used in construction of the old bridges. Aggregate was shipped down somewhere from the Northeast – granite. New bridges have local aggregate, limestone, etc. and the green epoxy coated DOT re-bar. Also a lot of ice was added to the mix to keep it from setting up to quickly in the heat, It left the plant and then was driven to the old bridge and then to a couple of yards concrete bucket on a tug and then to a barge and then hooked to a crane and then poured thru a “tremmy” into column forms.

Ah, the good old days, every now and then some broads from Fanny’s would buzz the barges w/o their tops on! Most fun I ever had working.

bluewater-750w
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peace flagTime to revive the peace movement. Give peace a chance! Link
Who buys scrap metals in the Keys? I have aluminum, steel, cast iron, copper, brass, and lead.
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How can I sell hunting rifles on this blog? (Ed:Contact Us. Send us your comments and attach any stuff you want published to this email. All emails go to the Editor and all emails get read.)
kaiser17Happy Thursday from Springer’s Bar and Grill. Today we have 2 great specials for you, pesto chicken with roasted red peppers on a Kaiser roll and our cranberry walnut chicken salad. Both so delicious you may have to flip a coin to decide. Better yet, join us for lunch and dinner then no decision needed.

Friday special: Mango curry mahi mahi

[“Conch-rete”] The reason the ground level houses built in the 50’s and 60’s don’t have spalling is because there is no steel in them.
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[Redux] The Penis song –America’s Got talent. Video
[Bad Editor] Why post the post at all if you edit out the true meaning of the post, the whole point of the post was that the courts have declared atheism as a religion, most people are not aware of this fact, the way the post reads now it is purely a vanilla waste of time., certainly not the point the original poster was trying to convey.just a jumble of gobbley gook meaning nothing !!  Why take the time to try to convey ones feelings in a civil manner when the editor changes the content to his thoughts, and   leaves the original poster totally frustrated ??  Of course Ed. it is your property and in the end you certainly can do with it as you wish, I for one doubt if I will be making any more postings, which is perhaps to your liking, but editing a post to fit ones own beliefs (yours evidently) destroys the very essence of this kind of posting. (Ed: The writer didn’t write that the supreme Court had said it was a religion. I thought the writer erred. How belief in nothing can be a religion totally escaped me. The Court also said corporations are people [paraphrasing]. That logic escaped me too.)
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lens17
[Whiteout
] 300mm zoom photos I took of a great white heron against a dark background of mangrove trees washed out the detail of the white bird. Can anyone recommend another camera setting that will show the bird’s detail?
[“Conch-rete”] I had a vertical seawall constructed at my home in Eden Pines in the 90’s by Tom Ryan Construction. I can’t say enough good things about that project, or the construction crew – a terrific job for a fair price.
Anyway, the foreman Brendon Beale (Deer Ed, if this identifier is not appropriate please edit and delete as you deem correct) told me that the old 7 Mile Bridge was constructed with concrete from Germany barged to the site and poured with very little if no rebar. I don’t know if it’s true, but I don’t see any spalling on the old bridge, and it’s been there since around 1912
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atom bomb[Hot weather threatens cooling canals at Turkey Point nuclear power plant] An amazing, disturbing article in today’s Miami Herald. Once again DEP is involved. Biscayne National Park superintendent Brian Carlstrom, “I’d rather be on the side of erring with an abundance of caution than be on the response side of trying to mitigate an environmental catastrophe.”

The same could be said for the Cudjoe Regional Wastewater System. Link

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[“Conch-rete”] They did use salt water to mix the concrete for the bridges. They might not have drawn it directly from the sea, but probably from brackish wells. Carting that much fresh water from the mainland was impractical.
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[Gaza City] I saw my first photo of Gaza City. It looks like a major western city. I’d always imagined it to be just a bunch of mud huts with a bunch of dirty Arabs sitting around hating Jews
[Egyptian Perspectives on Guerrilla Warfare] Arab nations like to fight among themselves. Link
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homeless17
It’s illegal to be homeless in a growing number of cities. Link
[Mideast Mess] Even if I weren’t solidly on Israel’s side already I’d have to think twice if I were on the fence or wanted to give Hamas the benefit of the doubt once I happened across their motto, “We love death more than infidels love life.” Okay Israel defense Force, I’d say it’s time to oblige them once and for all. It’s too bad about the kids, but I put their deaths squarely on Hamas’ shoulders. Time to drain that swamp. The western world and most of the Arab world would complain for a few days to satisfy their useful idiots, but they all want it too.
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[Word Crime] All of us have been guilty of this crime, some more than others.

Weird Al Yankovic – Word Crimes

lobsterSize
Are you ready for Florida spiny lobster season? Link
[Trickle Down Mess] Every GOP administration since 1952 has let the Military-Industrial Complex loot the Treasury and plunge the nation into debt on the excuse of a wartime economic emergency. Richard Nixon comes quickly to mind, along with Ronald Reagan and his ridiculous ‘trickle-down’ theory of U.S. economic policy. If the Rich get Richer, the theory goes, before long their pots will overflow and somehow ‘trickle down’ to the poor, who would rather eat scraps off the Bush family plates than eat nothing at all. Republicans have never approved of democracy, and they never will. It goes back to preindustrial America, when only white male property owners could vote. ~Hunter S Thompson
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[Cable] About 12 million people cut the cable since 2010. Canceling cable is growing every year because over pricing, having to buy unwanted channels and bad customer service. Link
Florida scientists press Gov. Rick Scott on climate change. Several scientists have sent a letter to Governor Gollum about climate change. This is the number one issue in southeast Florida. This is the one reason to vote for Crist. Link
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[“Composting toilets”] Don’t most restaurants in the Keys use these to cook with?
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[Chronic
] D.C. just passed a law decriminalizing small amounts of pot. They imposed a simple $25 fine. Can you spell empty courts and jails?
[Bar Talk] Someone told me if he had the money he would buy one of the major Keys along Route 1 and make it his private island with his grand estate and have it totally secured with mangroves, hidden fence, and security. I asked why do that if you can buy a small country for the same price and be free of the local politicians and taxes? He said, he was a local politician and never paid taxes in his life. He never bought me back a beer either, cheap bastard!
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oscar17
FTR
tells posters to be civil and in one sentence he insults the entire female population of a state! I think he owes an apology to over 4.5 million people. Now the court of public opinion is what FTR bases guilt or innocence on, good to know. He tries to sound like Oscar Wilde but is more like Oscar the grouch.
[Captain Doom and Gloom] DEF: Intellectualism, n, That which most humans, who stand in an ocean of knowledge and logic, never get their ankles wet with!
DEF: Useless Eater, n, A creature unable to see the entire picture of wasting what 13.5 Billion years put under his feet!
DEF: Warrior, n, A person who can defend themselves in any situation except in the social interaction of peace!
DEF: Professional, n, A person doing things for barter or monetary gain, who may or may not have the skills of a craftsman.
DEF: Bible, n, A novelette portraying unproven historical happenings, that takes up space in motel room draws.
DEF: Heresy, n, What we would have if animals could talk!

DEF: Runs, n, Has nothing to do with Montezuma. The daily 24/7 trek single guys do from bar to bar hoping to meet somebody intelligent to talk to!

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 Fewer executive orders by Obama means fewer post offices, bridges, libraries, gov’t buildings have been ceremoniously opened. His ‘fewer’ orders have kidnapped the rule of law and order. It’s true, as president, he can declare what laws should be usurped by him, and he does. He still operates like a community organizer. More like a disorganizer however.
 Our Government is supposed to contain a system of checks and balances.   When it comes to President Obama all the Republicans remember are the checks.   By the way, the Fox News Great god Cheney jerked the rug out from under his would be successor, Sarah Paling, saying that trying to impeach Obama was bad idea.  He probably would be in favor of letting him off with a good old fashioned water boarding, though.
For FTR:
“The salient economic assumptions of liberalism are socialist. They center on the notion that the economic ass can be driven to Point A by the judicious use of carrot-and-stick, an approach that supersedes the traditional notion of conservatives and classical liberals that we are not to begin with dealing with asses, and that Point A cannot possibly, in a free society, be presumed to be the desired objective of tens of millions of individual human beings.

The liberal sees no moral problem whatever in divesting the people of that portion of their property necessary to finance the projects certified by ideology as beneficial to the Whole. . .

The call by liberalism to conformity with its economic dispensations does not grow out of the economic requirements of modern life; but rather out of liberalism’s total appetite for power. The root assumptions of liberal economic theory are that there is no serious economic problem; that in any case economic considerations cannot be permitted to stand in the way of “progress”; that, economically speaking, the people are merely gatherers of money which it is the right and duty of a central intelligence to distribute.” WFBuckley

from the right
The Big Pine Restaurant has long been a huge favorite of those us who live on the rock. John and Samantha offer one of the most varied menus and really special specials to be found in the keys. Their offerings are always first rate, the service is always friendly and efficient.

Even with that success, they have decided to kick it up a notch and are adding a slew of new special menu items. The other night t-bone17I tried their brand new Black Angus T-bone steak, it was fabulous. Cooked to perfection, tender, juicy, and delicious. They’re also really expanding their menu by adding: Gluten free wraps. (All salads will be available in a gluten free wrap), Crab and Avocado Stack- Avocado and marinated crab meat topped with minced tomato basil and a drizzle of wasabi vinaigrette, Fresh Fried Zucchini stix, Heirloom tomato & Thai Basil Salad-Fresh heirloom tomatoes, avocados, Thai basil and zesty ponzu dressing, warm Spinach and Shrimp (Wrap) or salad-baby spinach, fennel, prosciutto, pine nuts. But that’s just the beginning, check out their Thai Curry Soup, Fire Roasted Chili Relleno-spicy poblano stuffed with chicken, cheese, corn and black bean salsa, wild mushrooms, spinach, and eggplant. Topped with homemade avocado salsa verde and cilantro. Or you might want to try out Chicken and Waffles or a 1/2 baked chicken, or spicy chipotle shrimp flatbread sandwich.

There’s a bunch more that you’ll just have to stop by at the Big Pine Restaurant to check out. One more thing: now John and Samantha offer premixed drinks such as the world’s best breakfast, Bloody Mary’s. Then there’s my favorite (aside from Rob Roy’s) Jim Beam and Ginger, or Jim Beam and coke, or White Russians, or Mudslides.

The good just keeps getting better!

border17Part 2) The former national deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Ronald Colburn tells us that the Obama administration has undone all of the progress made at America’s southern border since 9/11.

“We’re back to a pre-9/11 situation basically, and this administration did that in the past five years,” he says. “All of the good that was done after 9/11 up to now has been reversed singlehandedly.

Colburn, who spent more than 30 years working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, says the resulting national-security risk has to do with the “clutter” of people at the border. He says all of the gains made since 9/11 came as a result of reducing the number of people crossing the border. The Border Patrol’s task is to sort through the haystack of people as they come across, he says. “What this situation on the border is doing is growing the haystack, is adding clutter, so that those dangerous needles get through because we’re tied up capturing, instead, juvenile children from Guatemala and El Salvador,” he says. “When you see the cartels — the Zetas and MS-13 and the Gulf Cartel — laughing about this on the Internet, you know what’s behind it.”

Colburn says the “gangsters down south” enjoy social media, taking selfies, and talking about one another online. Border Patrol officials monitor the cartels’ online communications along with officials from the Department of Defense and intelligence community, he says.