Since 2002. Published Tuesdays and Fridays
Letters to the Editor with pictures
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| Every County decision is influenced, but never really, by ecology. The only thing green is the money and the canals and near shore waters. I think the problem is many of those working on the sewer project never saw this place when it was clean and pristine. |
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| [Publix Coming to BPK] OK Piners, (locals, part-time locals and visitors), what do we need more? Another grocery store? Or Habitat for Humanity? or the Flea Market? Read the article in the News Barometer this week about the status of the proposed Publix and strip mall in Big Pine about how the developers will change our law to suit their purpose. |
Hydrofoil surfboard. Jetfoiler. Video |
| I have one persistent junk mail I’m not able to block. I wonder how they override the sophisticated filters and blockers that modern day email clients have? |
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| Those coconut openers you guys are talking about and posting pictures of are available locally on Big Pine Key at the Grimal Grove store located at Tru Value not Ace Hardware. |
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Come on out to help Steve Estes. He’s always been the first to offer help to the community any way he could. It looks like payback is going to be fun! Food, booze and music. You can’t go wrong. Sunday, February 19 at the Tiki. |
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| [Developer “Works” The System] A time-bomb in the county’s new land use code? Link |
I heard a cardinal for the first time this year, but he did not receive a reply from the lady bird. |
| [Old Seven Mile Bridge] $77 million for a dilapidated old bridge that no body really cares about anymore is nuts! And where or whose tax money is being misdirected into the coffers of whom to do this dirty deed? Smells like the Pizza Connection to us. Just like all the Route One Beautification Mods. Somebody is making lots of lolly playing ‘da boss. |
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| [How To Stop Junk Email And Ads] Just set your email program to Forward the junk to your ISP CEO and to your local Mayor, Governor and all the Senators and Congressman. I takes about a week or so for them to stop the crap. |
Me and the girl friend were at Springer’s last night for a bite. We shared a margarita pizza, and then had the beignets. The pizza was outstanding, and the beignets were equally good. Beer was cold, and the service and final bill was righteous. Check it out for yourself. |
| [Conspiracy Man: Skunk Ape Real] At the link is a mind blowing lecture that exposes the fallacy of human evolution as taught in school. It is almost 2 hours long but fascinating.and very detailed, with good humor. “Everything You Know is Wrong” I did not realize that Neanderthals had a bigger brain than humans. (not surprising really, is it?). The differences all over are overwhelming and defy Darwin Theory for human origins. Sasqatch, Skunk Ape, Abominable Snowman are the real deal he argues He even explains how to tell a fake Sasquatch footprint from a real one! He explains in detail why a film of a Sasquatch taken in the sixties cannot possibly be a hoax. He talks about Sumerian tablets that show all the planets in their relative sizes and positions , including even Pluto, not discovered by modern science until the thirties. There is an extra planet, though. He continues with his rather far out theories which may or may not be accurate. His theory is that humans are a genetically engineered hybrid of Anunnaki developed for slave labor. He could be right, since genetic testing showed humans suddenly originating in Africa and we have 46 chromosomes whereas all primates have 48. There are scads of other differences that do not allow a “missing link” between primates and hominoids. Video |
When you have had a few too many at the local watering hole and the oversized Jersey girl across the bar starts looking doable remember this video. It might just save your life. They might be fun to land, but what do you do with them after you’re done? Video |
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| [Conservatives] The Huffington Post reported in February, a study published in the journal “Psychological Science” showed that children who score low on intelligence tests gravitate toward socially conservative political views in adulthood. Ouch. |
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| Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters plays Pigs. Video |
[Seeing Eye Duck] Remember, no matter how bad things get, there’s an emotional support duck named Daniel flying around on planes wearing red shoes! |
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 [Didgeridoo] I have always loved the sound of an Australian Aborigine didgeridoo. This weekend on Friday and Saturday nights, Mangrove Mamas at MM20 features the band Harper and the Midwest Kind. Harper sings okay but really tears up a harmonica and plays a mean didgeridoo! He even has the cyclic breathing down, where his mouth is blowing out while his nose is breathing in, so the tones are uninterrupted. That takes some technique and practice! It is primarily a didgeridoo thing and spiritually meditative in Aboriginal culture, but I watched a trumpet player use the technique on a Youtube video. A didgeridoo is a termite-hollowed eucalyptus limb with beeswax forming the mouthpiece and takes a lot of wind. Harper even has a slide didgeridoo!Dane, the owner of Mangrove Mama’s is back to bringing in first rate out of state bands. He has the best hand cut steak I have eaten in this country, and makes a great mahi sandwich. Try them out! I am also looking forward to The shindig at Looe Key Tiki this Saturday for Steve Estes. |
 
[Parking Vigilante] Winn Dixie fire lane parking violators. ‘Laws don’t apply to me – I’m a resident of Big Pine Key!’ Some people feel they are above the law. Oxymoron: I’ve been doing this for years and I’m entitled to park in the fire lane, especially since no one will ever ticket me! |
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| [Election Profiteering] The House of Representatives 10 year budget projection is already expecting the government to heap nearly $10 trillion onto the federal debt — and that is with statutory caps on domestic and military spending. Trump ran up a federal bill of around $3 million for a trip to Mar-a-Lago where he watched the Super Bowl and dropped in on a Red Cross ball, which presumably brought his resort a hefty fee. The Defense Department is looking to rent space in Trump Tower — which goes for as much as $1.5 million a year per floor — so they can bring the nuclear launch codes along when the president comes to visit his wife in New York. |
 I caught some kind of nasty cold/crud that could only have originated in New Jersey. The doc said a lot of people down here have it and it takes a long time to get rid of it. Maybe we could stop this annual germ invasion if the snowbirds had to get a medical inspection before getting into the Keys. Why does this type of crap all come from the northeast? Is it a toxic waste dump? |
| Tainted pot recall triggers Health Canada spot checks. Video |
 [“Nothing compares to the Caribbean”] Here is a recent picture of beautiful Panama at low tide. |
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| [Libel Suit] Yesterday, 16th Judicial Circuit Judge Bonnie J. Helms added 1/2 hour to the already scheduled 2-hour hearing on various motions in Judith E. Haney’s lawsuit against Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Jr., that’s me, for injunction and for punitive damages to be collected from my inheritance, if I ever get it. Some of the motions are Haney’s, some are mine. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., this Tuesday, February 15, in Courtroom B, Freeman Justice Center, 302 Fleming Street, Key West. Ya’ll come! ~Sloan |
I was in Mallory Square and used the public men’s room. This is a picture of the plate and flush button above the urinal. I was amused that a lot of folks want to have Sloan leave Key West and there in plain sight the name Sloan jumped out as I stood there. Made me wonder what his next adventure will be or where he will show up next. I wondered how many readers knew where this was or had seen it. Sort of a challenge. |
| What to do if immigration officers come knocking at your door. The American Civil Liberties Union advises not opening your door unless the agents can show a warrant signed by a judge. Video |
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| When are the illegal immigrant raids hitting Key West? I hope soon so we can clean the place. Head them up, move them out. |
[Injury Map by State] Well this explains a lot. |
| Sloan was going to court this morning, Tuesday, in KW, to answer to the woman from Birmingham’s allegations of libel. She’s the one who got his websites shut down. She was granted her motion for continuance. I think she said she had a heart attack. Do you think Sloan’s angels had something to do with that? |
 [Old Key West] Deer Ed, Do you or any of your other readers have pictures of the Keys from years past? Images from the 30’s all the way through the 80’s. I’ve seen a few but would really like to see history before the last 20 years. If anyone is willing to share, I’d like to see them or have a website where I could see. The town I live in that was once a quiet drinking village with a fishing problem is now reminiscent of South Florida. I’d love to see the Keys of old. Link |
| [Cheap Homes] Habitat for Humanity has scheduled community meetings to share information about their Homeownership Program. Community members are invited to attend to get information about the new homes Habitat is building on Big Coppitt in 2017, find out what is needed to qualify to purchase a Habitat Home, and learn about the Homeowner Selection Process. Application packages will be available. Meetings are scheduled as follows: Thursday, February 23rd, 5:30 PM at Bethel AME Church, 223 Truman Ave., Key West; Saturday, February 25th, 10:00 AM at Unity of the Keys, 1011 Virginia St., Key West: and Saturday, March 4th, 10:30 am at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 31300 Overseas Hwy., Big Pine Key. For additional information, contact Susan Kent at 305-294-9006 or visit habitatlowerkeys.org |
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| What ever became of the hostile work environment what was caused by Sean Morton and Mary Taglarieni of NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary? |
If you think your canal is pristine, you might get a water quality tester. I did, and it shows that its highly contaminated. It doesn’t tell you what is causing it, but it does check for fecal matter. Ugh. No more canal swimming for me. Please don’t question me on how accurate my data is, blah blah blah. I tried to get code enforcement to check it, but they refused. |
| [Self-Brainwashing] By restricting yourself to only one major news source, refusing to even listen to any news or opinion not vetted through that source, and accepting as truth every information that appears on that channel, many viewers have become victims of what a study termed self-brainwashing |
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| My Fitbit says ‘check engine’. |
North Korea‘s Kim Jong-un has ordered flight attendants to wear shorter skirts to boost tourism. Now all they need is an airplane! |
| [Marine Sanctuary] Well isn’t that nice: The Sanctuary has advertised Meeting No. 4,944, — marking the sixth year since the Sanctuary Management Plan revisions began. Public input begins at 2:45, nearly 6 hours after the meeting begins. Sanctuary and other paid agency staff love these endless meetings since they are always paid handsomely, while citizens are not. Little wonder that working people cannot attend. NOAA knows that the less protest the better — someone may point out that the emperor has no clothes and that glaciers move faster than NOAA. As always, NOAA personnel will feign interest in public comment and then ignore it. Success is measured in the number of meetings held, not progress. What a charade — nice gig if you can find it. People that know will tell you that NOAA has more personnel issues than a cut-rate soap opera with a bloated staff that feeds gluttonously at the trough. Wonder if public input can include a question on the results of last year’s hostile work place case against a suspended superintendent? |
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| “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries.” Nasty Women sign 2017 |
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| [Cats Are The Best] This site has at least 700 people looking in right now. Video |
[Writers Group] Hello, writers! Reminder that 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 is even better). See you there! Full Menu > Ongoing Events |
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A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visitor center is being built on U.S.1 near the traffic light. Some questions for USFWS:
A. Well, I didn’t think of that but it will all work out once the center is built. It’s called Chaos Theory and Survival of the Fittest. It’s going to be a pretty building — inside we’ll have mounts of road-killed Key deer, an ivory-billed woodpecker, and maybe even a monkey. |
Don’t forget Steve Estes’ fun raiser this Sunday. Be there or be square! |
| The County wants to raise the height limit supposedly to lower insurance rates, but the real beneficiary will be developers being able to add an additional story to all buildings in the county. The losers will be the people the ordinance was designed to benefit. There will be more density and more noise and more cars and more boats with trailers parked everywhere. Our skyline will also change for the worse. They say developers will not be allowed to build an extra story, but over time and a relentless flow of money and lawyers, they will be able to show discrimination and eventually be able to add the additional story. That’s something you can bet on! |
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| Forgotten Felines of the Florida Keys will hold its first quarterly meeting of the year at the Martin Luther Chapel (behind the NAPA store on Overseas Highway in Marathon) on Monday, February 20th. The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m. and the public is invited. Pizza, snacks, and beverages will be served and multiple door prizes given out.
Forgotten Felines is an all volunteer organization which provides food and veterinary care to homeless and abandoned cats in the Middle and Lower Keys. They also place adoptable cats in loving homes and strive to educate the public about the importance of proper care and spay/neuter of pets. In the nearly two decades of its existence, Forgotten Felines has spayed/neutered more than 3,000 cats. They also maintain a number of daily feeding stations which service several hundred homeless cats. Questions about the meeting and/or the organization should be directed to Nancy at (305) 396-6590. If you are unable to attend, but are interested in becoming a Forgotten Felines volunteer please call (305) 743-2520 |
It never ceases to amaze me how fast a bottle of gin evaporates. |
| Never buy Mexican light bulbs, in fact never buy anything made in Mexico it’s all junk, and worse than made in China crap. |
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