[Smile Training] I’m learning to smile now that I’ve got my teeth fixed, but it’s difficult after so many years of not smiling. My reference point is when I attempt to smile my mouth line is horizontal with no no upward curve. No matter how hard I try to turn the corners of my mouth up I can’t. All I  get for my effort is a quivering lip. I think my smile muscles have atrophied from non use. I’m practicing my smile every day when I think of it and after a week of trying my bottom lip doesn’t quiver as much.

That noise about so many more muscles being needed to frown than to smile is baloney. Although I don’t frown I’ve tried to frown and can tell I’m using just as many muscles as when I try to smile.

Another casualty of not smiling is that I can’t whistle loudly, like when at a rock concert. You know, like when you fold your lips inward and place your tongue over the edge of the bottom lip and blow. Since I’ve been trying to smile I can whistle better and better as I keep working out.

I think a Soap Opera & Food Show Bar would be good in Key West for straight woman to sit and talk, just like you guys do in sports bars. They could have TVs with food shows on them and all the popular Soaps.

[Catch & Release] A simple way to return fish suffering from barotrauma to capture depth is needed because about 60% of fish caught (undersized/out of season/) need to be released. Recent closures of Gulf reef fish fisheries such as red snapper and grouper have focused attention on the importance of successful release and survival of fish caught in deeper water. Video

[Prejudice] A black man is running for the German Parliament–good luck with that!

[Mosquito Rejection Letter]

Dear Applicant:
We appreciate you taking the time to come for an interview for the field inspector position with Florida Keys Mosquito Control. At this time you were not selected for the position, but we hope that you consider applying for our open positions in the future.

We wish you success with your current job search. We appreciate your interest in Florida Keys Mosquito Control District.

Best Regards,
B. Michael Behrend

Do you need a sample rejection letter to send to unsuccessful applicants for your jobs? Here is a simple, standard rejection letter for applicants you choose not to interview. As a courtesy and to emphasize your position as an employer of choice, you want to send a rejection letter.

While many employers skip this step, this rejection letter sample should make applicant rejection simple. This sample rejection letter gives you a template for your rejection letters. Your reputation, that is built one candidate at a time, is critical to your ongoing ability to attract the best and most skilled talent to your firm.

Don’t make a lasting bad impression. Use this sample rejection letter to officially notify applicants of their status.

Did you just say diet!

In 1959, the Western series “Bonanza” premiered on NBC. Theme

[Cannibal] A Boston-area man, who was planning to kidnap children, lock them in a basement dungeon, rape and eat them, should be imprisoned for at least 27 years, federal authorities said. The man, Geoffrey Portway, 40, pleaded guilty in May to distribution and possession of child pornography and solicitation to commit a crime of violence.

All Christians believe in the fourth dimension. Although science has confirmed only three, Christians believe there is another dimension containing Heaven and Hell. Catholic Christians believe in the inclusion of Purgatory in that fourth dimension. They also believe spirits (ghosts) reside there. It is no wonder they are ridiculed when they say they are rational thinkers.

[Foreclosures Down] Lenders initiated foreclosure action in August against the fewest U.S. homes for any month in nearly eight years, a trend that should help reduce the number of homes lost to foreclosure in the months ahead.

Saturn will soon pass above Venus.

[Spies] Yahoo and Facebook ask for more NSA transparency. Mark Zuckerberg and Marissa Mayer are limited in what they can say about their companies’ dealings with the NSA, but one thing is clear: They want more transparency from the U.S. government. On stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference on Wednesday, the Facebook and Yahoo CEOs both expressed frustration toward the government for the way it has handled National Security Agency requests and the secrecy it requires. “I think the government blew it,” said Zuckerberg.

I think the only laundry detergent for those of us who live on an island is Tide. 

[College Majors You’ll Regret] Doing work you love and getting paid well for it is the pinnacle of success. But a lot of people don’t attain that enviable twofer, so they settle for one or the other, either financing a cushy lifestyle through a job they don’t particularly care about or pursuing work they’re passionate about even if it requires financial sacrifice. Link

Please keep in mind when talking about the Christian god that this is what he has in mind for you should you not play by his rules. This includes children too. For all eternity.

Astronaut training resumes at undersea lab off Fla. Keys. Link

[Football Crooks] National champs ensared in latest NCAA scandal. Alabama’s D.J. Fluker, Luther Davis among 5 SEC players receiving payouts during career. Link

[Top Regrets of the Dying] I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
I wish that I had let myself be happier. Link

[Neil Young on Oil] Fresh off a trip to Canada’s tar sands oil fields in Alberta, famed singer Neil Young spoke out at a conference in Washington, DC on Monday against the controversial oil extraction and its export through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, calling Fort McMurray, the town nearest Alberta’s vast tar sands, a “wasteland.”  That’s one thing the Keys don’t have to worry about. Link

[Modern Reasoning] “The boy was a good kid who kept doing bad things.”  A family friend  explaining a 19 year old creep, punk, thug, f**kup who shot and killed a state trooper who had him pulled over.  Say what?

[Size Matters] The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier with the Empire State Building superimposed. Yes they are to scale. That’s one big boat. 

[Bikers Ride to DC on 9/11] You would think something like that would be covered by the mainstream media, wouldn’t you? This is cool. Video

The Ray West Band will be jamming this Friday at the Looe Key Tiki Bar. If you enjoyed Ray West at Wetstock, then come on down and have a blast this Friday from 7-11 pm. Sammysam (The DirecTV man) will be doing his “Bongo Magic” with Ray. Come join us to dance, drink, eat & have a great time. Hope to see you there this Friday the 13th, maybe you’ll get lucky!  

The next meeting of our Big Pine Computer Club is coming up this Saturday, September 14, 10 am at the Senior Center.  Hope to see you there. Events

Why doesn’t Marathon dump their 5% tax increase onto fixing the old Seven Mile Bridge that they love instead of making the rest of the County pay for it like some are trying to do?

[“I don’t believe that Jehovah is the true God of this universe, and I don’t believe that Jesus is the son of God. It’s no ones’ business what I believe, or what you believe.”] That’s the best thing I have ever read on the CT–ever!

[Scam of the Day] A new type of ATM skimming. They use this device to capture your PIN number. Always check the keypad to make sure it isn’t covering the real one. 

The only difference between a naturalist and an exhibitionist is their shadow[?].

[Putin] Anyone who seriously believes that Putin backed down because of Obama’s standing his ground is living in an alternate reality.  Russia made the offer based on the U.S.A.’s assurance that we will refrain from the use of force in Syria. Such a pledge virtually assures Assad continuing to remain in power — which was Putin’s end game from the beginning.

Yesterday the FTR Guy implied Obama should attack Syria just to keep up appearances even if it’s the wrong thing to do rather than let Putin solve the problem. FTR is one hell of a scary guy and he wants more people like him to run our country. Scary.

[Syria] I got it, send Obama over to Syria for a year and he could be their President. Its a win-win. Joe Biden could drive the bus here, with Hillary giving directions.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz says Colorado Senators were only recalled because of voter suppression, and your a racist and…and…shut up.

[“Putin and Assad were backed down by our President standing his ground”] No, I think Putin realized what an attack on Syria would cause, knew what he was dealing with and did what any rational person would do to prevent the start of WWIII via Jehad.  I’m no fan of Putin or Communism, but I’m starting to think Russia has a better leader than we do.

[Sarcasm, I Think] I knew it all along, now it has been confirmed. That deep thinker on Wednesday posted that Obama’s  problems with Syria had all been caused by that dastardly Bush. It is so comforting that one can get their beliefs fortified occasionally by folks like this that are really on top of what is actually happening in our world.

No one that supports our President believes he walks on water like the right tries to convince you they do. However he’s not some evil demon sent from hell to destroy America like they try and sell you every day.

Like it or not Obama backed down Syria and the one that was given a lifeline to look important was the Soviets. It made them matter when the truth is our President didn’t give 2 craps about what they did. Sure they moved naval ships into the eastern Mediterranean, but guess what, they found there waiting already 5 times the amount of American warships. You can continue on with your anti-American rhetoric and no one is really surprised the Conservatives are backing and proclaiming on high of the mighty Russian victory they seem to be so endeared with. Truth is the Soviets look desperate to show the world they matter. They don’t.

I don’t believe our President is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I do believe that when our country stands up to the communist and the mass murderers of other countries I’m damn sure taking America’s side. Guess you will just have to look down your nose at me. Like our President, I won’t flinch.  

[Syria] In this piece at The Atlantic yesterday — published at noon — The paper tries to connect people opposing Obama’s attack-Syria plan with (in the Democrats’ latest buzzword) “Neo-Confederates.” But then, within hours, Obama himself had turned Neo-Confederate, asking Congress to postpone his vote. Oops! The window where you were racist if you didn’t want to bomb brown people has slammed shut. Link

[Arab Spring] The revolutions against dictators in the Middle East dubbed the Arab Spring have degenerated into a complex, bloody mélange of coups and counter-coups, as have happened in Egypt; vicious civil wars, like the current conflict in Syria; a resurgence of jihadists gaining footholds in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Sinai; and a shifting and fracturing of alliances and enmities of the sort throwing Lebanon and Jordan into turmoil. Meanwhile, American foreign policy has been confused, incompetent, and feckless.

Talk about boring. A daily dose of our “President is Satan’s brother” diatribes day in and out is beyond boring. How many ways you can keep saying our President is bad before you become a daily repeat of the day before. Over and over and over and — you get the idea. Yawn.

Then we have to remember that just last Monday, Obama’s former UN Ambassador, now his top security advisor, told the world that we could not trust Russia to support UN Security Council action.  My humble thanks to Sir Walter Scott for the quote: “Oh what a tangled web we perceive when we first practice to deceive.”

Yesterday, 9/11 marks not only the anniversary of the WTC mass murders, but it also marks the one year anniversary of the Benghazi murders. I trust you will remember Mr. Obama’s fiery oratory when he promised that the killers would be “brought to justice”.  Well, nothing has happened, the killers have been identified and interviewed by at least two major US news outlets. And Obama dithers.  One year into the “investigation” we still don’t know the identity of the survivors, nor have we heard their testimony. As of today, the preponderance of the evidence tells us that the Benghazi murders were a direct result of Team Obama’s refusal to provide adequate security. Even worse they took that decision for political reasons. We may never learn the truth from the Obama admin as long as Clinton is a potential Presidential candidate.

Osama Bin Laden is dead, but AQI is alive, well, and growing in influence. It is now lead by Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri who was UBL’s chief conspirator in the 09/11/01 WTC attack.

In just a few days, we will have been at war in Afghanistan for 12 years. About 8 of those years were under GWB. Only about 4 under Obama.  Most of you will be surprised to learn that about 73 percent of all U.S. Afghan War casualties have occurred since Jan. 20, 2009 when Obama was inaugurated.

Couple that with the liberal clamor to launch an attack on Syria, one must wonder what happened to the liberal knee jerk against the use of military force.

According to a brand new Reason-Rupe poll, “64 percent of Americans, including 68 percent of independents and 41 percent of Democrats, believe President Obama” is as bad as or worse than Bush on foreign policy. The poll also found that 74% of Americans believe military strikes against Syria would be “unwise.”

Many union leaders are condemning Obamacare saying that it will shatter the 40 hour work week, the back bone of the US economy. Even AFL CIO president, Richard Trumpka, Obama supporter extraordinaire, is complaining that employers are cutting hours as a direct result of Obamacare. According to TIME nearly 260 large employers are announcing that they are laying off and cutting hours.

The 2.3 percent excise tax on the sale of medical devices, one of the 18 tax hikes in Obamacare, is estimated to cost the industry over $29 billion between 2013 and 2022. Many employers in the industry are compensating for the tax hike by reducing their labor costs. How do they do that? Cut hours, cut employees. Frankly I’ve lost count of the number of big businesses and unions that have received waivers from Obamacare, at last count it was near 2k.

Obamacare reduces Medicare spending by $716 billion from 2013 to 2022, with a majority of the payment reductions hitting Medicare Part A providers, which includes hospitals, hospices, skilled nursing facilities, and nursing homes. As these providers are trying to do more with less federal reimbursement, they are laying off their employees to cut down costs. And unavoidably the quantity and quality of their care diminishes.

The wounded survivors and the families of the murdered Fort Hood terrorist attack are still being denied benefits that they would be entitled to if the Ft. Hood massacre were properly labeled as a terrorist attack. Nonetheless, even after the conviction of the terrorist who has bragged that he was acting as a terrorist, the Obama admin still calls the attack “workplace violence.” Why? Because properly labeling the attack as terrorism would be an admission of terrorism on American soil on Obama’s watch.  Deer Friends that is shameful politics, shameful.

There’s much more to think about, maybe tomorrow.