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2017 April

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

The-Coconut-Telegraph-w-CoconutsSince 2002. Published Tuesdays and Fridays
Letters to the Editor with pictures

[Cost of New Transportation Center] I do not profess to know enough about this purchase or the property to be able to weigh in with an opinion –BUT- as at least those of you familiar with me know, I have a broad general opinion of Schools’ real estate based on my observations of MCSD performance for over ten years when it comes to managing real estate –  purchase, development, maintenance – the entire spectrum.

I think it’s fair to say that the people involved are not more expert than most people in general, and should not be making big real estate decisions. Why did the people of Key West vote years ago that any real estate purchase over one million dollars had to go to referendum?  Apparently, the general public agree that our elected officials are not competent to make big decisions outside their own areas of expertise.  It shocks me to be reminded, that in spite of their many failures in the area of real estate in just the past decade, our school officials are still able to make, without public input,  decisions such as those that leave us with Marathon Manor, the loss from the public domain of the beautiful, historic Harris School, cost overruns on HOB, including the illegitimate “concessions” building, the sad and neglected unused Reynolds School,  properties everywhere in deplorable condition, etc. etc. ad infinitum.

When I brought up maintenance years ago to the Board’s longest-sitting member I was told that it doesn’t pay to maintain the buildings because they become outdated and useless.  The awake public and I strongly disagree.  That buildings can be saved and repurposed is well underscored by the restored Glynn Archer School, which we the public fought for and showed you our will.   I have always gotten the feeling that the involved officials love to play real estate with our hard-earned tax dollars.  Why not?  No personal risk in living vicariously.

I am sorry to have to feel and express such negativity about my elected officials, and I hope my own representative, Mr. Highsmith, will apply his special area of expertise and adequate time and energy to this issue.  I chose the schools years ago as the part of government I wanted to monitor, because of my education and teaching background.  I wound up steeped in the real estate issues because of my later experience in building and land development.  I add this only to validate slightly, the general opinions I have stated.  ~Maureen Bramlage

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[“Sanctuary cities”] The spread of sanctuary cities across America tells me one thing–not all Americans are against illegal aliens. California made it illegal for a cop to ask illegals for their “papers”. We need them for the farms because Americans just won’t do the work. It’s not permanent work.  New Hampshire pays a living wage and cannot get anyone to pick their produce and Vermont wants to be a sanctuary state to get people to milk their cows and work in their dairies.

 

26 chocolate eggs, 6 chocolate bunnies and two dozen Peeps.  I call it an Easter hangover!

[“Betty Brothers is Alive“] Please contact me if you wish. You have my email address. Thanks. She is not dead. (Ed: I’m happy to hear that the rumors of her death have been greatly exaggerated by myself. I made an awful error and do apologize to Ms Brothers, her family and friends.)
[FTR on Korea] Deer Friends, thing’s are getting sporty in the N. Korean Konundrum (yeah, I know it’s misspelled).  So what do we do? Do we continue down the Obama track, basically doing nothing but talk and impose pinprick sanctions against the Looney Toons Kim Whatever? or do we actually take decisive action before Kim gets his ICBM’s in working order and tips them with nukes or thermo-nukes?  Do we act, or do we wait and put our homeland at the mercy of Kim the Crazy?
[Flying Today is Crappy] This is all caused by deregulation. Regulations are to help the average guy. Removing them is a slap in the face of the average guy just so corporations can make more profit. The average guy seldom benefits from removing regulations. Regulations are there to protect us and the planet.
[“Gender neutral toilets”] Well I got into trouble in Key West when I walked into the head to take a leak and the screaming made me run out of the room. I thought the new laws said Bi-Sexual Restrooms, but those guys were really embarrassed, I guess!   ~Judy G

 

Komondor puppies for sale end of June.  These dogs are wonderful pets and good guard dogs.  We can show you how to cord[?] them.  Please contact me if you are interested in a new puppy.  Maybe Deer Ed wants one for his birthday?  ~Pat.Hamilton47@Hotmail.com

Is there an Equalizer living in the Keys? We need one badly to take care of light pollution, noise pollution, traffic pollution, barking dogs, iguanas, trashed properties, bad politicians, developers and just about anything that needs fixing.
[FTR on Voting At Large] I wonder how many of our Deer Friends are aware that our system of county governance is very, very interesting.  As I understand it, here’s how it works. The county is broken up into a number of different districts.  It’s supposed to be set up so that each district has about the same number of people living therein, and so that each is within the same basic geographic area. Each of these districts has an elected commissioner.  Each commissioner is responsible for representing the best interests of the district wherein he/she was elected, and for the overall best interests of the county.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. The elected commissioners aren’t chosen only by those who live in the district that each commish represents–all the commissioners run countywide!

Monroe voters vote “at large.”   A Key West voter can vote for the Key Largo commission candidate and the Key Largo voter can vote for the Key West county commissioner wannabe even though each city has differing issues of concern.

Yep, the candidate who wants to represent the Big Pine Key district doesn’t necessarily even have to campaign on Big Pine or even live there.

If the candidate thinks that he/she can get a lotsa votes in Ocean Reef and in Key West then the candidate might decide not to even bother campaigning on BPK.  Even more important, given that money is the mother’s milk of politics, where will every candidate go to get their money to run their campaigns?  I think that you will agree that they’ll go where the money is.  I suspect that you have an idea as to where the money in the Keys resides.

At some point, you have to ask yourself, who will my district’s county commissioner be worrying most about? Will it be the people of the district that he/she is supposed to represent, or will it be with the people who funded their campaign?

More on this later.   Please take a minute and put forward your opinion.

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England invaded Afghanistan from their colony in India in 1839 with their Indian troops. Britain’s terrible defeat was the first time the Indian people witnessed anyone from England being defeated. They thought the British were infallible. It was a terrible blow to the British Empire’s prestige and was the first chink in their armor that eventually lead to revolt.

I don’t think anyone has ever been able to conquer Afghanistan.

Any of you anglers headed to Cuba for the Hemingway Billfish Tournament? I am not an angler and don’t plan on participating, but I’m trying to lineup a ride to spectate. I have two tentative boats lined up. The Tournament id 6/9 to 6/14. Link
[Bad Business Department] Here’s an idea. Don’t over book flights! Why this was ever acceptable is a total mystery to me. Let’s see, the aircraft is full and al seats are sold… humm… let’s just keep selling tickets. How could this be a good idea? Oh, I forgot about greed.
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[Time For Change] What does it take to reach my county commissioner or any county commissioner? I have called my commissioner at least 3 times in the last year with no response. I wish it was just Commissioner Neugent that was the miscreant, but I have telephoned another commissioner with no response, also. If their policy is not to return phone calls, I believe their receptionist or phone message should say something to that respect. Shame on them. Or is it shame on us?
Hey Ed, Betty Brothers is alive and well! I saw her on her 98th birthday in December and sent you a message in December to that fact with the very picture you posted Friday. She has not passed away. I just confirmed it with the facility she lives at. Please post a correction asap so people know she is okay and doing fine here in Broward. (Ed: I sincerely apologize for my gross negligence in reporting Ms Brother’s death. Thank you so much for correcting my terrible mistake. I saw my first dolphin from her when she use to keep them.)
[Inconsiderate People] I have a nice place for rent and scheduled twelve people to look at it last Friday. We agreed on a time, but not one of them showed up! It appears they only wanted to talk about it. I just don’t understand people.
[“Deer Ed and Sloan Sued”] Deer Ed, Haney has reduced me to publishing my readers’ anonymous comments about her, because I know she will sue them, if I don’t disguise who they are. Then, they will suffer like you have suffered from being sued by Haney. Like many people have suffered from being sued by her. What quite a few people besides you right now are suffering from being sued by Haney.

I do hope Judge Helms will put a stop to Haney suing anybody herself. Pro se [without a lawyer] . Make her hire lawyers, who have to get the Court’s prior approval before filing any lawsuit for Haney. And before filing any later pleadings, discovery, subpoenas, in any court-sanctioned lawsuits.

Your readers have though thought it was great fun reading about Sloan’s fun with Haney. What a jolt it must have been for your readers to learn long after the fact, that Haney had sued you, too, and you had not told them until it was told in the Key West Citizen.  ~Sloan

[Tax Reform] Can a government official change the tax laws to benefit himself if the public has never seen his tax return to know if he will benefit?
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It never ceases to amaze me that exactly one month after the warrantee runs out, the appliance dies and it is considered too old to fix.
[Abortion] Who the hell is the government to tell me I can’t have an abortion if I want one? It’s my Goddamn body and I will do what I want with it and I don’t care if I have to pay for everything myself. Religious zealots are killing this planet. What the government should do is pay for sterilization for anyone wanting it.
Why do most people exaggerate everything they write on the internet? What happened to facts?
[Sewers] Another big issue has surfaced with the Cudjoe regional sewers. On February 22, flow to the Cudjoe sewer plant hit 71% of permitted capacity! Obviously, nowhere near 71% are connected.
This is about double the flow of the day before and the day after. Marathon airport reported no rain on the 21st, but 0.63″ on the 22nd. (0.63″ is about 5/8″ of rain, so not much.) No rain was reported on the 23rd. This is seemingly indicative of excessive rainfall inflow (not infiltration) At that rate, just the inflow from a 2″ rainfall would exceed the design AADF of the plant. Actually, inflow could be expected to be higher since 5/8″ of rainfall on dry ground will mostly be absorbed. At 2″ of rain, cleanouts can start leaking water in and rainfall on pavement is likely for a longer duration with a lower percentage of evaporation and run-off. The entire system is designed assuming very low inflow & infiltration rates, so if the issue is not very promptly corrected, the entire system will choke on every heavy rain and your poop will not make it to the plant.

Did Monday’s heavy rains overwhelm the plant with only a small percentage of customers connected? All over the CRWS, I see manhole tops set below pavement, and if off road, below surrounding grade. Manholes could and should be slightly above surrounding pavement here because speeds are slow and there is no snowplowing. Properly paved, a slightly high manhole does not mean it is a speed bump. it is unnoticeable. In a misguided attempt to limit rain inflow, FKAA uses unvented manhole covers and “rainguard liners” that not only don’t work well, they encourage a buildup of dangerous gasses that can be ignited by the inappropriate and illegal incendiary pumps they used in the lift stations

I wonder why religious organizations are tax free when the rest of us have to bust our humps paying the bums in our government.
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Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. Video

 

 

 

Painting by Ineke de Raad

[School Board] The greatest fear the SB has is that Porter will leave and they will have to search for a replacement.  Last fall, when Porter was looking into positions elsewhere, they almost collectively wet their pants.  Loathing the prospect of searching for a new superintendent, they go along with anything that Porter suggests and will not criticize.  We all remember the HOB daycare financial imbroglio that Porter tried to cover up and the SB did not much care once they found out.

MCSD is once again awash in money and the SB are like the proverbial drunken sailors and cannot spend it fast enough, hence the Stock Island property purchase and the rehab of the high school auditoriums.  As I have said before, “Who cares?  It’s only money.”  So, MCSD is going to purchase land on Stock Island for a price above the appraised value as if there was something unique and different about that piece of land.  We are told that there is a building on the property, but nothing about it, e.g. square footage, need for rehab and so on. There has been no discussion about the cost to build a transportation center.   It’s like buying a piece of property on which you plan to build a house but you do not include the cost of the house in your budget.  Who knows what the final cost will be?  The superintendent surely is not going to tell us and the SB could care less.  Such is life

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[“Gender neutral toilets”] It’s not about who leaves the toilet seat up that makes bi-sexual lavatories a stupid idea. It is about the ill-mannered morons on both sides that take out their mental problems with the opposite sex by doing something nasty to the facilities. It won’t work like it does in the rest of the world where they are used to a hole in the floor or throwing it out of the window.

 

There should be a weight limit for yoga pants.

[Coconut Telegraph Sued] It’s a shame that Alabama lady is trying to shut down the CT. What happened to the First Amendment?
[Dive Tortugas] Any suggestions on dive entities which takes divers out to the Dry Tortugas for the weekend? We don’t want to be on a stinky fishing boat and we also don’t want to pay four grand to do this. Unless it is on a big fancy yacht.  Are the corals nice out there or are they bleached and diseased too? Link
Teach your children to read.  They will grow into adults who can think.
Hello, writers and aspiring writers! Greetings on this rainy Monday afternoon. We’ll meet at the Big Pine Key library from 1-3 pm. Optional meet and greet for lunch at Bistro 31 at noon (arrive no later than 11:45 am if you want to order breakfast, 11:30 am even better). See you there! Full Menu > Ongoing Events
[Publix] I wonder what the guy who declared war with Winn Dixie’s problem is? He says the store is dirty. It is not, Publix in Marathon is. The Big Pine W/D is only a few months old since it was completely remodeled. At the same time they lowered their priced by quite a lot. This guy (it’s always a guy who declares war) seems to go to a lot of trouble boycotting them, going so far to shop at a convenience store instead. What a waste of time and emotion. We like W/D. There’s nothing wrong with it. I suppose he wants to build a Publix here that will create more traffic than he’s ever considered just because of some imagined issue he had with W/D. Be a real man and pick your battles, dude. Sheesh, he’s worried about a goddamned super market!
[DUI Patrol] It seems like the super-cops have stepped up their game on DUIs. Don’t risk it, man. A nasty cab ride is nothing compared to the cost, embarrassment, & hassle of an arrest for DUI. Don’t do it!
[Bad Slop] It’s truly a shame that when my customers ask me, “Where is there a good place to eat?” I really don’t know where to send them because most places just serve over priced slop. So I tell them, “Most places just serve over priced slop.”

 

 

Captain Bill from the “Deadliest Catch” was in town looking for a bar to have a cool one and meet some Piners. He found us–Coconuts! Skipper, you fit right in. We at the “NUT” enjoy your show and thank you for your business.

The home-sharing platform Airbnb is suing the city of Miami, where officials threatened to crack down on hosts who publicly protested regulations prohibiting short-term rentals. According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Miami-Dade County by Airbnb and five individual hosts, the city violated the First Amendment rights of hosts who spoke up at a March 23 city commission meeting.
[Water] What we should be doing in the Keys is getting our water and volume straightened out. We are on the borderline to fail if that pipe breaks. The Navy won’t supply all the Keys for sure. Why can’t we redesign that Cudjoe poop plant to make drinking water like most other cities do? Also, why are we wasting all that fertilizer and not using it like most of the world does?

 

 

In Denmark they have an Easter beer, we are such a third world country.

With 47 affordable housing deed restrictions set to expire in the next two years people are starting to realize “affordable housing” is just a temporary way for developers to get permits to build market rate luxury homes approved.
[Unreliable Sources] Wikipedia bans Daily Mail as ‘unreliable’ source. The online encyclopedia editors rule out publisher as a reference citing ‘reputation for poor fact checking and sensationalism’
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[“Sanctuary city”] There’s only one way to have a sanctuary city and that is to have those who want it pay for it, and those who do not–don’t.

 

 

 

Location, location, location!

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.  ~Theodore Roosevelt

[Manslaughter] A doctor who saw Prince in the days before he died had prescribed the opioid painkiller oxycodone under the name of Prince’s friend to protect the musician’s privacy, according to court documents unsealed Monday that revealed nothing about how the pop superstar got the fentanyl that actually killed him. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug is 50 times more powerful than heroin.

Why are churches who discriminate against groups they hate, breaking federal law, still tax exempt? Hate in any form must be discouraged.
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DEF: Billboards n, Ugly graffiti for profit
DEF: Media n, A system to display bent thoughts
DEF: Fishing n, A way to vent frustrations by torching helpless animals.
DEF: Advertising n, A dumbing down method to open wallets
DEF: TV n, The ultimate mind control of sheeple
DEF: Entertainer n, Someone who is inept at producing something viable.
DEF: Politician n, Someone who is inept at producing something viable.
DEF: Priest n, Someone who is inept at producing something viable.
DEF: Boy-scouter n, A deranged guy in Key West
DEF: Girl-scouter n, A hairy fat chick from NJ
DEF: Developer n, Anyone who destroys your ‘hood for profit and lives elsewhere
DEF: Sanity n, Something no politico wants to have laws to test for

 

 

 

 

[“Ed: I can’t upload any more images today”] Apparently, that brothel girl animation must have messed up the uploader.

Hunt expands for the evil Cleveland gunman: Five states are put on alert as search continues for shooter who filmed himself randomly killing an elderly man then posted the video on Facebook. Link
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