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2013 November

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

CT-Banner7.3.13No Saturday Edition

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dollar sign down toilet[Sewer Meeting] Damn the cost! If we’re going to do this monumental sewer project lets do it right. Let gravity do the work (with help from some lift stations placed throughout the region). Instead of this simple low maintenance system they are going to install a complicated assortment of pumps and valves and electrical connections that are doomed to fail and doomed to be very expensive to maintain. There are going to be tons of man hours needed to keep this mish mashed system running, plus all the pumping equipment, tankers, valves, engineers and inspectors. When the electricity goes out sewerage can flow back into your bathrooms. You can’t even use the toilet when the electricity goes out! The speaker last night suggested we buy generators to keep them working or use the toilet as little as possible.

There are too many parts and too much maintenance in the grinder pump system. Tinker Toys would be a good analogy or maybe Erector Set might explain the system’s compliticaredness. Lets think of the future and spend the money now and be done with it. Or eventually your sewer fees will increase beyond what you are willing or able to pay.

There should be a gravity system everywhere possible and then centrally located communal grinder pumps in the others. All other remote properties should have their own self-contained poop plants maintained by FKAA.

The money to pay for this very expensive project can be made available by issuing bonds (I’d like to buy some if the interest rate looks good). Millions more could be used if the County doesn’t buy Rowell’s Marina. Another millions more could be used from the one cent tax we approved for this purpose.

We don’t need almost nine thousand problematic grinder pumps and their attending problems. Let’s finally do something right in the Keys instead of complaining about it for the rest of our lives.

Flea-Market-ad10.9.13
[Sewer Meeting] The word snakeoil comes to mind. 

vote woman5

 

[Women’s Rights] Today in 1872 Susan B. Anthony was fined 100 for trying to vote for President Grant.

On this day in 1974 Ella T. Grasso became the first woman to win a gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.

Woman are still fighting for their rights.

What happened to the Big Pine Key Laundry Loft? I was told the shopping center was sold and the laundromat would not be affected. Looks like they were affected!
ad-manley-deboer6.27.13

[Sewer Meeting] The sewer meeting was a hoot on Monday night. It is like everyone just woke up and realized what is happening. The poor folks at the water authority got it with both barrels and kept explaining that they were just doing what the County has given them enough money to do. The poor engineer was trying to answer questions when the design is still being completed and could not answer many of them, so he was really given some guff that was not really fair. He can answer your questions when the drawings are on the table  folks, just give it a little more time and work with him. He seems like a really good guy who is trying to do his best. Remember these are water people not sewer people (kind of half the problem, don’t you know).

If people would storm the special meeting the County is having about buying Rowel’s Marina (another boondoggle that we do not need) and apply that 2 million to the sewers, more homes would not have to have the feared grinder pumps. Face it, gravity is the way to go and those stuck with these pumps will have clogging, backflow, and replacement issues, where as those with good old gravity will have a much easier flowing free sewer.

Either one works, it is just that the gravity is much more expensive, with bigger pipe and more huge lift systems. I believe we on Big Pine owe a huge thank you to Danny Koledge (sp?) for getting us more of the hybrid gravity sewer mix. So here is one from this family! I am just thanking my stars that good old Eden Pines is getting gravity. We must be living right.

People, if you want more money for sewers to get the best system go to the Rowel’s Marina meeting and let them know what we want. Your life will be much easier without the problems associated with grinder pumps. Would someone please post when and where this special meeting is to be held so we can show up and let them know what the people want hard earned tax dollars  spent on. Have them apply this saved millions to getting rid of more of the grinder pumps.

gooney bird

Take a photo of your favorite bird contest. Link

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advert-accurate-home-insp8.14.13

[Sewer Meeting] Divide and conquer. It seems the way FKAA is using to keep the grinder pumps instead of a gravity system with lift stations is to break us up into small groups in order to convince us individually that grinder pumps are good. At the meeting it appeared that one hundred percent of the crowded hall were against grinder pumps. As the presenter singled out areas and explained their code on the map some people were relieved and left the meeting. That’s what the FKAA will continue to do until only those 8,800 that are getting grinder pumps will be left and those property owners will not have enough influence by themselves.

george5

[November 5, 1994] At 46, George Foreman, became the oldest heavyweight champion when he knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their WBA fight in Las Vegas. Foreman vs Moorer 10th round knock out. After watching this video I know why they call that punch the pile driver. Video

[Citizen of the Day] …she enjoys hanging out with friends and spending time at the beach.
advert-dennis-ward8.16.13

[Sewer Meeting] Where was Commissioner Nugent? If he was running for re-election he’d care about us.

fosel5

 

Meanwhile in Little Havana the annual spelling bee continues.

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chamber logo170h

[Chamber of Commerce Newsletter] Here is this month’s Chamber Compass.  Check out this monthly newsletter filled with great information and great member-to-member discounts.  We always appreciate your input. November Chamber Compass

Radio Shack Ad pixlr9.16.13

[Sewer Meeting] The People do not want grinder pumps. We want centrally located GP’s in the road not on our property or stuck on the front of our beautiful homes. Isn’t that clear yet?

rafters5

 

[“Nyad statue“] Such BS. She swam, tens of thousands of others rowed!

[Living Wage] Never forget that the American Labor Unions led the way to the creation of what is now called the middle class.   hey made it possible for ordinary people to earn a living wage,  a huge step up from what was, at the time they became influential, barely an existence wage.   As a result the whole country prospered–business owners and their employees alike.  Unfortunately there are many people who have everything money can buy who can’t stand that concept, who can’t be happy unless they are the only ones with lots of stuff.

direcTV-ad-4.26

[Crabby] Thanks again, overfishermen!  By removing both claws you are killing stone crab season.  Why can’t you follow the rules, do the right thing and have some compassion?  Leave them with one claw so they can mate and defend themselves.  You people are awful – just awful.  Link

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past-nose5

 

[Sewer Meeting] Look at the big picture for once. Do it right. Sell municipal bonds to pay for doing it right. Look at the future maintenance costs that will outspend any savings we see now. Look past your nose!

5AARP November Calendar. Events > Ongoing Events > AARP
Bluewater-Ad
[That’s My Spot] You dreamers that come down here and believe you can plop down your crab traps anywhere you feel like have a lot to learn.

beach bums

[Sewer Meeting] No to pumps! That being said, there was only one well-dressed person in that whole crowed place. We Lower Keyers sure don’t know how to dress any more. Everyone was rumpled or we looked like we just got up. The well-dressed person was a man and had on a beautiful green shirt and a very nice pair of slacks. (Hey, somebody’s got the be the Fashion Police around here.) 

[Sewer Meeting] All those 9,000 grinder pumps are going to have to be replaced some day and at what cost then? How much did we really save. Nothing. It’ll be more expensive in the long run than a mixed centrally located grinder pump, lift station and gravity system.
coconuts-ad-11.13

Govt scientists use Florida like a lab rat.  They say they want to return the natural flow of water.  The Everglades used to include nearly all the land south of Orlando.  It’s less than half that size now.  When they started raining[?] the sawgrass, tree islands like Chekika’s Hammock got bigger.  The bigger islands provided habitat for wildlife that’d been forced inland by development.

bacon5

I’m officially changing my name to Chris P. Bacon

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filiment5A magnetic filament of solar material erupted on the sun in late September, breaking the quiet conditions in a spectacular fashion. The 200,000 mile long filament ripped through the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, leaving behind what looks like a canyon of fire. The glowing canyon traces the channel where magnetic fields held the filament aloft before the explosion. Visualizers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. combined two days of satellite data to create a short movie of this gigantic event on the sun. Video 
The FKAA meeting on BPK was packed to overflowing out the door. Could that be an omen of Grinder Pumps doing the same thing?
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Naked beach goers break skinny-dipping world record in Haulover Beach. How’s come so many of them have tan lines? Link
revolve_peace_fingers

The takeaway from Monday night’s sewer meeting: FKAA would rather put in gravity systems but the County won’t give them the money.

If you want to complain about being stuck with a grinder pump call your Commissioner (ours didn’t even bother to show up for something so important to his constituents). Oh, that’s right, his home in Marathon didn’t get stuck with a grinder pump.

Ask what the criteria is for being stuck with a grinder pump and they say it’s density. Density is 40 homes close together. Why is Mates Beach on Little Torch being assigned grinder pumps when density is higher than the 40 homes? “Call FKAA to ask for reassessment.” And around and around it went. My dog could have given me more insight into the arbitrary designation of this miserable solution to our sewage dilemma. What a joke.

johnsons-ad-7.25.13

mrmagoo5

 

[Sewer Short Sightedness] Why does the FKAA say we are getting the famous individual “grinder pumps” at our homes?   Does this mean it is absolutely physically impossible to do this sewer system any other way in the Keys?  I know I don’t want this contraption on my land if there is some other way possible. I know a guy in Marathon who has one at his house as part of their new system and it already broke down once and some plumber had to come over and fix it.  It sounds like some local buddy bubba political appointees are calling the shots on this who know or care nothing about the long term big picture.  What we get is going to be forever. 

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chamber-ad10.17.13
[“Obamacare website is shutting down every night from 5 pm to early morning”] Yah, what a bunch of dopes. I’m so glad you were here to let me know the straight skinny. Oh, but wait, I just went to Healthcare.gov and a big banner across the top says they are closed from 1am to 5 am! They must have read your post and changed everything around because you made them look like such dummies.

uke-out5

 

[Coconuts Liquors & Lounge] O my, Uke nite is this Wednesday. It does move around some. 1st or 2nd Wednesday. Well it’s the 1st Wednesday this month. Yep, we run a tight ship at the NUT…Uke out.

I can’t believe so many people don’t know about the Kikin Back convenience store. Ten years ago it was called the Owl. It has been around for at least 25 years. It is located just across from Blimp Road about the 22MM. It is bright yellow with a blue roof. Next to it is a large tent where fresh produce is sold. I shop there for fresh tomatoes and other great vegetables. They also sell beer and wine,lottery tickets and all the other things you would expect.

nira tocco realtor 9.12
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Kitchen5[Trailer For Rent] 2 bedroom, 1 bath unfurnished trailer. Situated on a large, fenced, corner lot. 1,000 square feet of living space includes an attached, enclosed sun porch. Central air, almost new fridge and stove. Workshop and shed for storage space. Shed has hook-ups for washer/dryer. Located in a quiet neighborhood, 1 block from ocean and canals. Yard service is included, utilities are not. $1,050 per month. Need first, last and $500 security deposit. If interested contact Kelly. Classified Ads > For Rent

[Sewers] To the person that planned to run only the toilet to his grinder pump pit during a power outage: It seems a waste to shower outside since you will (initially) be paying 3 times the water bill for sewer service that you will not be getting. But there are other issues. First off, it is illegal to spill even grey water from your sink, washer or shower on the ground. Second, it is illegal to valve your plumbing to divert some to other than the sewer collection system. Since you are such a criminal in times of survival mode, I suggest that you give the plumber who connects your sewer a couple hundred dollars extra to dig you a cesspit and just divert all the flow to it. If everyone does that, there will be no problem with grinder pumps during a power outage and FKAA, the County, and the DOH can still feel good about how they eliminated perfectly good septic tanks & drain fields. Yeah, great progress guys- now everyone is on a cesspit or has sewage flowing across their yard or out the door.

deer lights

Is it legal to stuff a real Key Deer or two for my Xmas lawn display of Santa’s Sleigh?

isaksen-flood 4.23.13

poodle skirt

[Comments made in the year 1955] I’ll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it’s going to be impossible to buy a week’s groceries for $10.

There is no sense going on short  trips anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $2 a night to stay in a motel.

No one can afford to be sick  anymore. At $15 a day in the hospital, it’s too rich for my blood.

If they think I’ll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it.

[FKAA] Who authorizes plumbers and contractors to make such a hook-up? How do we know the workers know what they are doing? I was told no average hook-up should cost over $1500 with parts and labor. If so, what was the $4800 for? Did the FKAA get any money from the State, the Fed? What do we do with our septic tanks? I cannot get answers to these questions anywhere. Smells bad around here again!
fanci-11-2-13
Yes, Ladies and Germs it is Moron Monday once every week on the CT and the mentally deficient turn out in droves to post their illogical bubble-brained idiocies and display their inabilities to understand realities and their demented reading skills. God save the Queens! 
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kickin-back-food-store00

[“Never seen Kickin’ Back”]  Are you serious? Maybe you should get together with Stevie Wonder, and boycott Florida. But maybe driving down US1 at 25 mph, concentrating on the road, I can see you missing the Owl, aka Kicking Back, Hello It was there for 30 years as the Owl. 

[Captain Doom and Gloom]  How lucky to still have readers of the Bible. Right and left. Do you ever asked where was the so-called main political actors (a) the Conservatives “The Right” and (b) socialist “The Left”? By chance, I found these extracts from the Bible:

– The heart of the wise is in the right, and the heart of the foolish” to the left “(Ecclesiastes 10.2)

– He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left (Matthew 25: 31-46).

It really is a clearer explanation, is not it? For my part I have nothing to add.

USMC-238-birthday

medal-award-Norm-Higgins

religion politics zone

Dear US citizen, I guess you won’t have to have $1700 per month for COBRA Health once Obamacare kicks in. So I guess this will be the last email we send you. Unless you want to just give us a bunch stupid money.

Oct 30, 2013 Obama: If you like your insurance you can keep it–period. False–over 2,000,000 cancellation notices to date. Obama: ACA will save family’s $2500.

Fox News: Kenyan wins New York City Marathon again, GOP blames Obama.

[Grinder Pumps]  I would like to know how many County Commissioners will have Grinder Pumps installed at their houses.  The answer is probably none.  The County Commissioners probably made sure that they would not have to install Grinder Pumps.  It is just like ObamaCare.  Congress and the County Commissioners pass laws but they exempt themselves from the very laws that they pass.

The one knocks FTR every day must be a commie because he never posts anything worth reading, only anti-FTR slurs. 

40 percent of Syrians need aid. Things are better in Syria than here where 50% of Americans are receiving Government aid. Link

A little subsidy here a little there, of course our benevolent government will decide who will get the fattest check the result will be largely governed by a little political donation here a little their, and the little old game just goes on and on.

After reading FTRs daily diatribe it finally dawned on me. He may be the most naïve poster in C.T. history. I guess there no reason to continue trying to help him sort thru things hes going to just wake up have a big ole cup of FOX news and be right back where he was hook, line and sinker.

Its no wonder Putin is his most heralded hero. Kudos my Comrade.  America will miss your love of country. America didn’t leave you, you left America.

[Obamacare]  I’m still digesting this. It is ok for McDonald’s to pay its workers at the poverty level and educate them and help them obtain state and federal assistance so that they can post record profits. But it’s wrong to open up online marketplaces and subsidies to provide affordable healthcare to all Americans? Who is McDonald’s screwing?

from the right

My apologies for the extremely long and duplicate posting yesterday. I made a cut and paste error and sent in, for the second time, a posting concerning flood insurance rate hikes, etc.

obama-god - CopyPart 1) Democrat/Liberal/Progressive political thought is absolutely fascinating to observe. Now, Obama is rapidly losing his cache in those circles. He no longer is the Messiah of many in the DLP crowd.

Rob Reiner – made famous by his role as Meathead in the legendary sitcom All in the Family, and his far-far left politics – opined on HBO’s Real Time Friday (“Overtime” web segment) that Barack Obama now politically “is right around where Reagan was.”

That musing was on the Bill Maher show. He and guest Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (Chair of the Dem National Committee and ferocious progressive) and Meat Head all solemnly agreed that the Democrat party had “moved to the center.” Meat Head, in a fit of faux wisdom further opined that “Obama right now, is right around where Reagan was, right around where Nixon was. There, he’s no more left than those, those, those Republicans.”

Can there be any more odious association in the lexicon of the DLP crowd?

Maher then tossed Obama under the bus by saying that “(Obama) He’s barely, barely a liberal.”

Deer Friends, our DLP fellow travelers are suffering from magical thought if they think that Reagan was a liberal or that Obama is a conservative. I suggest that you check out the search term “magical thinking.”

bush-god - CopyPart 2) In re withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. A critic yesterday pointed out that the SOFA agreement negotiated by President Bush ended the Iraq war.  That is absolutely true. Bush was responsible for the end of the Iraq war. Obama was a bystander.

It is a great tragedy the Obama chose to be a bystander. One day we will pay dearly for that.

The truth is that because of Obama’s inaction, Iraq now is rapidly descending into sectarian violence and nearly certainly will become yet another redoubt for Muslim terrorism. That will mean huge problems for the US. That need not have happened if Obama had even attempted to negotiate a second SOFA agreement that would have left American troops in country as we did in Japan, Germany, Italy, France, etc. etc. etc.. A second SOFA agreement was expected by the Pentagon and urged by much of the world.

In fact negotiations had begun between the Iraqi government and Obama. Obama abandoned those negotiations.

What follows is a synopsis of an October ’11 article in the WSJ by Max Boot as found in the Weekly Standard..

“Friday afternoon is a traditional time to bury bad news, so at 12:49 p.m. on Oct. 21 President Obama strode into the White House briefing room to “report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year—after nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.” He acted as though this represented a triumph, but it was really a defeat. The U.S. had tried to extend the presence of our troops past Dec. 31. Why did we fail?

The popular explanation is that the Iraqis refused to provide legal immunity for U.S. troops if they are accused of breaking Iraq’s laws. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki himself said: “When the Americans asked for immunity, the Iraqi side answered that it was not possible. The discussions over the number of trainers and the place of training stopped. Now that the issue of immunity was decided and that no immunity to be given, the withdrawal has started.”

But Mr. Maliki and other Iraqi political figures expressed exactly the same reservations about immunity in 2008 during the negotiation of the last Status of Forces Agreement. Indeed those concerns were more acute at the time because there were so many more U.S. personnel in Iraq—nearly 150,000, compared with fewer than 50,000 today. So why was it possible for the Bush administration to reach a deal with the Iraqis but not for the Obama administration?

Quite simply it was a matter of will: President Bush really wanted to get a deal done, whereas Mr. Obama did not. Mr. Bush spoke weekly with Mr. Maliki by video teleconference. Mr. Obama had not spoken with Mr. Maliki for months before calling him in late October to announce the end of negotiations. Mr. Obama and his senior aides did not even bother to meet with Iraqi officials at the United Nations General Assembly in September.”

There is little doubt but that we will reap the whirlwind that will result from Obama’s failure to secure an American presence and American influence in Iraq.

There are many articles on the subject to be found on the web, try the search term “Obama failure Iraq”. I especially suggest the NYT article to be found at: Link

Part 3) Just for the record, it is not true that 95% of new businesses fail to meet initial expectations as suggested by a poster yesterday.  Dun and Bradstreet reports that success rates are actually fairly high. Data from the Census Bureau shows that 69 percent of new firms with employees survive at least two years. A Chief Executive with a record of management successes would have had the management skills necessary to avoid the Obamacare roll out debacle. Obama brought no executive experience to the White House. It shows. Link

CLIMATE CHANGE

This news story about the Nebraska state legislature wanting to fund a (relatively small, $44,000) study of natural climate cycles might seem like a welcome, albeit a small step in the right direction.

The problem is … so far, no Nebraska researchers will touch research money that doesn’t have humans-to-blame as a theme. According to the article,

“For one thing, “cyclical” isn’t a scientific term, said Barbara Mayes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.”

Oh, really? Gee, that’s news to me. Maybe “oscillation” is used more, but “cycles” implies pretty much the same thing to scientists, engineers, and mathematicians alike.

I would guess today’s research funding lopsidedness is currently running at least 100 to 1, humans versus nature or lets say science vs. anti science. Is that really how the public would like their tax dollars spent? Link

Part 2)The year 1851 and CO2 is 287ppm in Law Dome Antarctica. The climate is perfect, but Australians were dealing with the worst fires in recorded history, scorching heat, drought, searing wind and by the sounds of it, an arabian dust storm. There are no skycranes, no mobile phones, and no helitankers. Temperatures in the shade hit 117F in Melbourne, 115 in Warnambool, 114 in Geelong. But those are not official records many suggest they were much warmer (official records didn’t exist until some 50 years later). The conditions were unprecedented in living memory even though, at the time, many people said fires and droughts were commonplace. Businesses stopped, and it was described as “wanton martyrdom” to go out in the streets. People fighting the fires realized they had to flee instead and took en masse onto galloping horses to head for bare hilltops or watercourses. One writer two weeks later suggests the fire consumed 150,000 pounds of life and property, “to the utter ruin of many families.” The population was around 80,000.

Despite the devastation, no one suggests a carbon tax. Link