Letters to the editor with pictures since 2002. Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.
 [United We Stand] The fear is over whelming for many when dealing with this virus. People are resorting to name calling and wishing their neighbors harm when the discussion of whether or not to open the country for business is entered into. When the initial reports came out, the estimated death toll was possibly going to reach the million mark. It was estimated that 3% of people infected would die. With that as the given information it is clear why we were put into a lock down mode. The lives lost ratio was going to be unacceptable. Just over a month later and the testing has started to show results in the larger cities. New York and Los Angeles have released the first sets of results. They show that there has been a factor of infection many times what was previously thought. The death tolls were also many times less than first estimated and even those numbers are going down as corrections are being made. The new figures show a death rate of .02 to .03% of infected people die. Yes they are almost all in one or another risk group. This brings the danger of dying directly in line with the annual death toll of the yearly influenza outbreak. It is illogical to suggest that we shut down the country every year to save a tiny fraction of lives.Enter the name calling and hate speech. I do not place money over grandma’s life. Grandma will have the same chance of making it past the season as she always has. The information has changed and it is time to adjust our thinking. It is logical to allow anyone who feels at risk to stay sequestered and continue their social distancing. It is also logical to open the country for business and reduce the damage caused by the shut down. |
[Hand Sanitizer] Fire safety warning. Video |
| [“Ferry route”] I lived near the end of SR4 on Little Torch in the mid 80’s. There where remnants of a ferry stop building still visible on the neighbor’s property. Not much but if I remember correctly, a few stones on a wall corner were still in place. If anyone remembers, it was next to Judy Rays’ house on the channel. |
Due to less air pollution, the latitudes and longitudes are now visible in the sky. |
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 [“Ferry route”] This link may answer some of the poster’s questions regarding original Overseas Highway alignment to SR 4A. Link |
| [Nigerian Con Men] Conspicuous consumption by Nigeria’s Yahoo Boys who make their money from internet fraud. Video |
I just rebuilt our garden trellises that were destroyed by Irma in 2017. There are two of them, one on each part of the garden. It is the last thing I had to redo from Irma. I hate painting lattice. There’s nothing worse to paint because of the drips on the opposite sides if you’re not fast enough with the brush. I would have liked to spray paint them but there’s no place where the overspray wouldn’t make a mess. |
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| [Reckless Driving] Why is it that I do 50 mph over Niles Channel Bridge and a MCSO car is going well over 80 mph coming at me in my lane with no lights on at night? I’m so pissed off they put me in danger. |
[Free Food] United Way of Collier and the Keys announces that a free drive-through food distribution will take place at Marathon Community Park on Thursday, April 30th from 11:00am to 1:00pm. The food distribution is available to all who have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple families may be represented in one vehicle. All passengers must have nose/mouth covering and a box should be placed in the trunk for the volunteers to place the food. Marathon Food Distribution 04.30.2020 |
| [“Dead on the vine”] Yep, farmers are plowing under crops – interruptions in the supply chain – prices will go up based on demand after (if there’s ever an after) the Covid-19 virus disappears. Time to buy organic, non-GMO open pollinated seeds and plant your own. And don’t forget to save and dry the seeds from what you grow so you have food and seeds to barter with in the future. You can grow onions, celery, garlic and a host of other produce from what you normally throw away. Do your research. The Keys have a limited growing season due to the heat. Most of the seed kits online are good for growing zones 3-9. West Palm is zone 10. |
[Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam] Why the canned meat from Minnesota is more popular than ever. Flour and yeast aren’t the only pantry products flying off supermarket shelves. Spam, Minnesota’s pork ambassador to the world, is also enjoying record sales. Link |
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[FKAA] Has anyone else had water meter problems of bad readings and over-priced water bills? My meter said I used 850 gallon in one hour in just one day! Nuts! Who do we call to get this checked? |
| [Virus Warning] I gave too much credit for intelligence to the American people. You have the idea that this virus will go away with prayer, hope, or just by forgetting about it, but that is not going to happen. Stay home until they come out with the real cure, or you are going to die! |
[Bay of Pigs Sandwich] While we’re stuck at home for the isolation, why not try your skills and cook something tasty like my famous Original Bay of Pigs sandwich. It’s fast and easy. Any novice can cook one up easily. Just go to the Winn Dixie and purchase some Bays English Muffins, some Black Forest Ham, and some un-American cheese like Swiss or provolone. On one half of the muffin, place the ham and then the cheese and cover it with the top. Then heat in your toaster-oven until the cheese is melted. Good to go. |
| [“Shut down”] There’s not enough deaths to shut down the country. The death rate is only .02 to .03% not 3%. |
[Channel Marker] I want to thank whoever it is that keeps replacing the last channel marker heading out of Eden Pines. It seems that the outer marker rarely makes it through a weekend without getting run over. Some good soul always seems to get it back up in a very short time. We just wanted whomever it might be to know we appreciate it. |
| Brad Pitt gives us a hunky Dr. Fauci in second ‘Saturday Night Live at Home’ episode. Video |
[False Advertising] My U.S. made, big brand name Schumaker 200 Amp battery charger/booster quit working, so I pulled it apart to see why. I found a 90 amp circuit breaker on the battery connection cable. That’s a long way from 200 amps! One of the two 60 amp rectifiers died, but the breaker is good. Like television’s brilliant but caustic Dr. House says, “Everyone lies.” Manufacturers have paid out millions for lying, but politicians get reelected, officials get promoted, and media ratings go up for lying. Trust no one. |
| [Stimulus] The LA Lakers got 4.6 million (which they gave back). They gave it back but it shows how the stimulus is only for the rich. Meanwhile, the guy who stacks the yogurt at Winn Dixie gets nothing. He’s the one who needs it. |
[Wash Your Hands] When I was little my mother, who experienced the 1918 flu epidemic, always made me wash my hands. Always when I returned to the house. It stuck. I’ve had someone make fun of me for washing my hands so much. Now we have a virus I wonder what we’ll train our young people to do. I hope wash their hands and keep their fingers out of their noses and eyes, I think maybe ears too. |
| [Clorox] Please Mr President stop your musings on tv. Save them for private discussions with healthcare professionals, you’ve got the best. We know that you’re just babbling away trying to solve our problems, but your words get translated into every language around the world; and the more outrageous they are, the more they get played and make you look bad. |
[Celebrities] The actress Mira Sorvino graduated from Harvard University. Not only did she graduate from one of the most difficult universities in the world but graduated Magna cum laude — in Asian studies! |
| [Old Folks Quiz] Are you smarter than a 60 year old? 1. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, Who was that masked man? Invariably, someone would answer, I don’t know, but he left this behind. What item did he leave behind? ______ ______. 2. When the Beatles first came to the U.S. .In early 1964, we all watched them on The __ ________ Show. 3. ‘Get your kicks, __ _____ __.’ 4. ‘The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to _______ ___ ________.’ 16 more… |
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| Finally, are celebrities irrelevant? Video |
[Clorox] Just to clarify, the medical term for injecting disinfectants into the body is called embalming. |
| I will pay extra to support local business, but it irks me to know I am being gouged. I needed new wiper blades. The cheapest at two auto parts stores were $16 each. A decent quality blade was $30 plus tax for each one. I went to Rockauto.com and each $30 blade was about $4. It was $10 to ship 6 blades by Priority mail for a total of under $39.04 with tax, delivered. It would have cost me more than 5 times as much to buy locally. That’s not tolerable or sustainable. |
[Proof of God] This bunny grew wings and flew to Heaven! |
| [“No Name Ferry route”] I want to thank folks for all the responses about the No Name Ferry route to State Rd 4A. A lot of the responses were more questions then answers, but I want to thank the person who had been diving the area and never saw evidence of the BPK to LTK bridge. That’s really what I had in mind was to snorkel the entire route across to look for any items that may have been thrown from the bridge back in the day. When I tell my friends up north I was “treasure hunting” it adds a little more excitement than just “boating” even though that is fantastic here. It always makes them envious when I send pics. Anyway, if anyone has any more info on the ferry or the route I would love to read about it. |
[New Cocktail] Now that the bar at Mar-A-Lago is open they are recommending a new drink. It’s a shot glass of Clorox dropped in a mug of Corona. There’re calling it a Ventilator. |
| For those of you who can’t back a boat trailer. Here’s a real simple solution that’ll have you saying “why didn’t I think of that.” Video |
 [“Technological Luddite”] So you missed one of your parent’s last birthdays because you’re paranoid someone will sell your info? Excuse the sarcasm, but if you’re online and pay an internet service provider, then they already have all your personal information, your address book, photos, music. Everything but your medical, and financial records have already been sold to advertisers. Why do you think you get spam in the mail and online? They already have your credit report too.Because it appears you have little computer knowledge (or you wouldn’t be so resistant to using the computer) let me recommend DuckDuckGo.com. It’s a search engine they can’t trace. If that’s not paranoid enough for you, install Disconnect in your browser where you can control who is watching you and their tracking cookies. But the best medicine is acknowledging that they already have all your information; and just enjoy the features computing brings to your life — like video conferencing with a parent. If a family member or the reviews are great, install whatever they recommend, it will be fun. You won’t die or anything. A parent’s last birthday with family online is better than nothing offline. Google your name and zip code and see what’t they have. |
| [United Way Has More Virus Money] Following an initial $20,000 of COVID-19 Relief funding in March, United Way of Collier and the Keys is announcing a second round of $30,000 to continue directly benefiting Monroe County residents. This is part of UWCK’s pledge of up to $100,000 to serve hard-working, paycheck to paycheck residents in the Keys who are affected by COVID-19’s economic consequences. Link |
Face mask of the week. |
| [Virus] It is still amazing that so many dreamers resist the facts of this plague and want to hug and kiss each other and pray to their deity to save them. Realists know right from wrong and stay in their caves until a real cure is found. Forget standing is peace lines holding each other’s hands. Maybe this is the conspiracy plan after all, to eliminate the airheads and useless eaters? |
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| Deer Ed, Why don’t you publish important stuff from what’s happening to America like what would happen if the Left got power? what would happen is the Commies took over? what would happen if we have martial law? Seems the people need to know. (Ed: I don’t want to publish the alt-right viewpoint or conspiracy theories or the imaginary fear stuff that divides us. I only post alt-right stuff if it is too stupid to be taken seriously, like the post below.) |
[The Master Race] Ever notice it’s the fat, ugly people who breed fat, ugly kids that are useless humans? Why do we allow the lower forms of life to over-birth our home planet? Pick out the best and then we will have futures! |
| [Bitter] I cannot believe politicios, sports figures and actors still want money and glamor when half the planet is dying. Trash all of them. |
 [N95 Masks] Are they really effective against the flu? A little online research will reveal that the flu virus is .17 microns in size. Clearly smaller than even N100 masks can filter out. However, it is critical to understand that the flu virus does not float in the air by itself. The flu virus is transported from patient to patient on droplets of excretions from sneezing and coughing. These particles are typically 5 microns or larger. When a sick patient wears a respirator, the respirator can be very effective at preventing infectious material from leaving the patient’s body, and when worn by healthy individuals, it prevents inhalation of said material. More importantly, wearing a mask is an excellent way of preventing the user from rubbing or touching their mouth or nose, which is a very high risk factor. At the end of the day will an N95 mask guarantee to protect you from the Flu? No. But it can substantially reduce your risk or receiving or transmitting the disease. |
| AARP May 2020 Calendar. Full Menu > Ongoing Events |
[Clorox] President Trump caught a lot of grief for suggesting people could inject Clorox as a defense against Covid-19. First of all, he did not say Clorox, he said “disinfectant” and people have been injecting (actually infusing) disinfectant into humans since the time of the Pharaohs. It’s called embalming. |
| We are all under stress and tempers may be short. Just remember that there are some things that you can never get back. The stone after it’s thrown. The word after it’s said. The occasion after it’s gone. The time after it passes. This situation will be over one day. Be calm, be nice and be careful. |
[We’re Getting Ripped-off] I’m not buying the local excuses for high gas prices. Not one bit. Hell, it’s twenty-five cents cheaper just across the bridge! |
| [Term Limits] Nick Tomboulides, Executive Director of US Term Limits, an organization dedicated to enacting term limits on Congress and every level of government, addresses Sen. Ted Cruz committee on Congressional term limits. Seems a dearth of applause from Congressmen present. Gosh, I wonder why. Video |
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| [“Afraid to install video software”] Doesn’t that guy know that in order to go online you have to give all your personal information to Comcast or DirecTV or AT&T? They sell it to advertisers who then target you through the mail or email or the websites you visit. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Computers are great. The time before computers is even called B.C. |
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