[County to Buy Rowell’s Marina] The money to buy the land was coming from county sales-tax revenue, not property tax, which means 60 percent of the funds would come from tourists. I’d thought property taxes were going to be used to buy it.

I’m now in favor of the purchase, but I’m not in favor of paying $300,000 more than the appraisal price. Something’s fishy.

[Balfour Beatty and Holly Raschein] There was a recent comment about Rep Holly Raschein being in Balfour Beatty’s camp. That is not exactly accurate. She was one of the legislators who actually voted against their special little tax exemption bill that they and their lobbyists tried to pass last session exempting Balfour from paying property taxes on their privatized former military housing. Fortunately Governor Scott vetoed that bill. Before the sale of Peary Court could go through they had to pay 2.4 million in back taxes of the 11.6 million that they have been assessed on their other properties. That’s a pretty good win for the taxpayers here and hopefully when the case goes to court in November we will get the remainder of what they owe us. They can afford it.

[Guitar Work] Are there any luthiers reading this who can tell me how to removed a pick guard from an acoustic guitar without damaging the wood or bracing? I’m not to concerned with the finish just the wood and bracing. I don’t mind the registration that will be left after the pick guard is removed; I just want it off without damaging the wood.

[Presidential Rankings] After a little more than 5 years, Americans have rated President Obama the 5th best president ever. The details according to White House publicists: Reagan & Lincoln tied for first; 23 presidents tied for second; 17 other  presidents tied for third; Jimmy Carter came in 4th; and Obama came in fifth.

[1¢ Sales Tax] I must have been misinformed when I voted for the increase in sales tax as I thought it was to be used for the sewers system and not to be used for whatever the commissioners want to use it for. They want to use it for the influx of Miami residents that descend on the Keys on the weekends to sleep in tents on the bridges and dump their raw sewage in the ocean from buckets and don’t spend any money in the Keys they should enjoy Rowell’s Marina. I was wondering if we have any legal recourse about spending the money from the sales tax for this project.

[Name That Plant] Thank you for contacting the Key West Botanical Garden with your inquiry.  We are sorry for the delayed reply, but your photo needed discussion.  We believe this to be the Limber Caper, Capparis flexuosa, a nectar plant for butterflies, moths and bats.  It is identifiable through its leaves, blooms and oddly shaped seed pod.
~kwbgs@kwbgs.org 

I saw a handy tip here where if you tied the ends of dental floss together making a circle, you wouldn’t have to wrap them around your fingers, usually cutting off circulation and you wouldn’t have to keep tying and untying the floss to re position the string.

It won’t work because it’s waxed, the floss won’t hold a knot unless you use a fishing knot which is entirely too much trouble just to floss your teeth, or if on Big Pine, tooth. 

“Living on an Island” boat tour of house for sale on Cedar Drive. I hope to meet YOU in the Keys real soon! Video
Sincerely, Nira

[“Wanted: Cheap waterfront lot”] Try to find someone with more dock space than they need and see if they will rent you space while you need it. They help you and you help them.

[Rowell’s Marina] Apparently, the District three commissioner now also represents the interests of the people in Key Largo. She voted yes for the 5 million dollars marina, the second Hickory House, and was rude and deplorable to the folks proposing a CVS in Stock Island.  Her attitude towards the folks making the CVS presentation was unprofessional.  She is so angry and mean, maybe she needs to get back on her meds. ~isagrand5600@hotmail.com

[New Dump] Has anyone heard about the new dump/ transfer station that Discount Rock and Sand would like to open on Aviation Blvd in Marathon behind the Airport? They have already pushed there crap into the bay and mangroves back there and it is starting to smell like a dump already. They have taken the trees out that use to buffer it somewhat, and pushed the fence and junk into the mangroves and the Bay. Calls to the EPA have been made and we will fight this.

What ever happened to Howard Livingston’s son who used to play at the Tiki?  He disappeared from the Keys and I wonder why.  Did his pops exchange him for new kids?  

[“Solaris Hill Closed with Little Notice”] Business 101: Don’t tell your employees you are shutting down until the last day.  If notified ahead of time they may do sabotage, harm you, rob you, or at least bail early and leave you short handed.  Some places  bring in security on the last day. Instead of notice businesses usually offer severance pay.

[Night and Day] Bradshaw reunites with Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson. Both these guys on the same team?  Coach had his hands full. Video

[Navy Yard Shooter] Alexis was arrested Sept. 4, 2010, by Fort Worth police after he was accused of recklessly discharging a firearm inside the limits of a municipality, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.

Alexis was previously arrested on May 6, 2004, in Seattle for shooting out the tires of another man’s vehicle in what he later described as “an anger-fueled ‘blackout,'” according to the Seattle Police Department.

He told cops he could not remember firing his gun at the man’s car until an hour after the incident.

We need to start a group called “Friends of My Tax Money”  because the County Commission is definitely not being a friend towards it when they consider blowing a huge load of it on re-building that decrepit bridge to nowhere.

[Monkey Business] When nobody was looking, Fu Manchu would use air ducts to get into the dry moat surrounding the exhibit. He then yanked the door to the furnace room open just enough to slide around his homemade key, pop the lock, and escape.

Fu Manchu was so stealthy, zoo keepers began to fear for their jobs, as zoo officials were convinced the escapes were due to employee negligence. His escapes were done in the late 1960s. At the time, it wasn’t widely known that animals, even higher primates, had much of a thought process. Link 

Before the world greatest bass player, Jack Pastorious, went completely mad he got a sweetheart record deal from Warner Bros. to write and produce 3 albums. One of these was called ‘Holiday for Pans’. When the record company heard it they refused to support or release the album. Later a live album from Japan recorded around the same period was released. The Japan tour was where he went completely mad. See one strange Video set to his music.

[Legal Pot] Pot is becoming legal because the governments can now tax it, control it, and license you to have it.

[Anti-Depressants] The mainstream media keeps pushing gun control after every mass shooting.What they never say is how many mass shooters were on anti-depressants. I’ve read several articles on the internet that said, going back several years, 98 percent of shooters were on anti-depressants. Big phara won’t ever let this be known.

[“The anti-science cult Left goes crazy”] Wait, what are you saying? that fundamentalist Christian Right Republicans are now embracing science and logic?

Drowning is the leading cause of death in children under five in the state of Florida, and the number-two cause of accidental injury death for children ages 14 and under across the United States. Every year in the U.S., about 280 toddlers drown in residential swimming pools; overall, approximately 760 children ages 14 and under die from accidental drowning, and an estimated 3,000 go to the emergency room after near-drowning incidents.

My beef with the KW Citizen is not about how they treat employees, but as soon as they took over they cut vendors out of the commission they made on their box routes[?] and went to a flat pay. Much less money for the vendors.

Another is the lack of news that is bad for tourism. Example: the killing on the beach last week was not in their paper at all. So murder on one of our beaches is not newsworthy. Really?

[The Upside of Grinder Pumps] Try this. Look up the number of EDU’s[?] and the number of grinder pumps. Divide the number of EDU’s by the number of grinder pumps and multiply that by $4500, then subtract $4500. That’s a rough estimate of how much more you and all of the rest of us will have to pay up front for the system. If you really need to know, you can figure it out pretty close by doing some homework. 

You’re home! I thought you’d never come back!

[Captain Doom and Gloom] “What grinder pumps will do to property values” It took you how long to figure out the real reason for this con? It is all about getting the dirt we live on, Dude, and always was, as is the rest of their scams to drive us out!

“Rowell’s Marina Purchase”This looks like the thing to do if the junta wants to start the Keys takeover for the big guys who want these islands for their tourist circus and all the garbage that goes with it. They are getting the plumbing installed at locals’ expense, and the Hickory House is the southernmost step right? All that has to be done is raising our taxes 10 fold and we are all in the poor house or out of here. This is the way it works folks, so do not cry because you were too lazy to do anything about it.

The Florida Code -When giving directions in Florida, you must always start with the words, “take I-75, “take I-4 “or “take I-95.”
-If you’re a snowbird or a non-working retiree, you absolutely cannot drive between the hours of 6 A.M. to 10 A.M. and 4 P.M. to 7 P.M. This is considered to be rush hourand you are not in any rush. No exceptions.
-Freeways can only go north and south, not east and west.
-Tolls are a fact of life, the state has to make money, so deal with it!
-‘A1A’ and ‘Alt. A1A’ are the same road.
-Traffic lights are not timed and never will be.
-We measure the distance we travel in time – not miles.
-If you travel more than 5-10 miles on any road in any part of Florida without seeing an orange barricade, you’re lost!
-Every street in Florida has both a name and a number (i.e. Adamo = Rt. 60) just for the heck of it — and also for the pleasure we get from reaction of visitors when we give them directions.
-Once the light turns green, only 3 cars can go through the intersection eight more go through on yellow, and 4 more on red.
-Know the difference between SunPass, Sun Fest, Sun-Sentinel and Sun Trust.
-Flip flops, tank tops and baggy shorts are also known as business casual.
-Your car’s signal blinker means nothing.
-English is our first and second language.
-It is perfectly acceptable to brag about the size of your emergency generator.
-We have alligators here in Florida and they will bite you. Don’t be stupid and try to feed or pet one.
-When a hurricane is headed our way, even though you have advance warning and you are told to be prepared, you’re not a true Floridian unless you wait until the absolute last minute to go to Home Depot to pick up plywood or to Publix to stock up water, ice, and potato chips.
-You know how to spell Okeechobee. There is an Okeechobee Lake, Town, County, Blvd, Street, and Avenue.
-A true Floridian does not own a boat. They make friends with someone who already owns one. That way you don’t have to deal with any of the headaches.
-You weren’t born here. If you were, you’re angry that everyone else has moved here.
-There’s always a Walgreens across the street from a CVS on nearly every corner – with more being built every day.
-It’s normal to sweat when you are putting up your holiday decorations.
-There is a city called ‘The Villages’ where 87,000 old people live that all drive golf carts and dance in the streets.  50% of these people are swingers; the rest just got too old to care about it.
-Jupiter is a city, not a planet.
-Seniors have to do their errands during the weekdays not weeknights or weekends, that’s for the working folks.
-There are three types of dolphins: Mahi-mahi, Flipper, and also a football team.
-You can’t say; ‘this is how we did it up north’. If you think that way, then go back up north.  Just remember, I-95 and I-75 run both ways.
-No matter what they decide in Tallahassee you will never, ever be able to figure out your property taxes.
-Learn how to dress in layers. It will be 90 degrees outside, but inside any restaurant or business it’s 65 degrees. 

[Federal Reserve] It’s so exciting to see economic policy being discussed here on bigpinekey.com. The Federal Reserve, a private entity, creates money out of thin air, by indirectly purchasing unlimited T-bonds (“Quantitative Easing”), as well as directly purchasing other securities. When you consider that the man behind the printing press, Ben Bernanke, is a Republican, and his likely successor, Janet Yellen, is a Democrat, you may begin to see what a shining example of bipartisanship it really is. It is also delightful to see our resident conservative advancing the distribution-of-wealth issue, an issue generally believed to be advanced by liberals (never mind that notable Republican Al Greenspan was advancing it as far back as 2007).

When the primary method of injecting artificial liquidity into your economy is the purchase of infinite T-bonds from the only people allowed into the auction (large banks), and the direct purchase of certain securities, the only people who are really going to benefit are the large banks at those T-bond auctions, institutional investors, and of course Congresspersons, who, by current interpretation of securities laws, may trade on insider information (and now you know why they’re all millionaires).

The oint is, the whipping-post of choice, our Spymaster-In-Chief Obama, has relatively little to do with this wonderful example of the new American bipartisanship. And now you know why 93% of this newly-created wealth stays where it does. Don’t forget to vote!

[“Get the Luddites to approve Keystone”] Why would we want to approve a pipline just to sell Canadian oil to overseas buyers? The pipeline was originally to help us with oil independence, but now it is just another boondoggle to add to the billions in profits for big oil. The jobs are insignificant compared to the environmental damage it will cause. Oh, that’s right Republicans only care for money.

[Public Image] It seems Republicans are trying hard to shoot themselves in the foot or should I say, feet, because of how hard they try. It seems they will go to any extent to prevent all Americans from having health care coverage. Today they are trying to pass a bill that would shut down the Government unless Obamacare funding is cancelled.

Let’s fast forward to the next Presidential election and think what theme Democrats will use in debates. “Do you want a Republican President who voted almost fifty times to prevent all Americans from getting health insurance? Do you want a Republican President who voted almost as many times to give breaks to corporations and the rich, but refuses to let all Americans have health insurance? — going so far as trying to shut down your government in spite?

[Gun Nuts] This comment is for all the anti gun people putting thier stupid spin on things. If that guy killed people with a screw driver we could outlaw hardware stores, and yes it is the same. Also for all the people getting worked up about assault rifles, Ar 15’s..etc. The weapon used was a shotgun, yes you heard it, a shotgun. I don’t know if it was a pump,semi,or double barrel, but as soon as we know, you can start the fight to outlaw them.

[Muslims] In so-called “honor killings,” victims – usually women – are slain following perceived sexual misconduct or immodest behavior, usually by close family members. Reasons given for honor killings in recent years have included a single woman running away with a man, a woman’s refusal to marry a man chosen by relatives, and rumors of promiscuity.

A little known fact, however, is that Palestinian Authority law grants reduced sentences for murders committed in a “state of rage,” and caps sentencing for “honor” murders at six months in prison.

After a 2011 “honor” slaying caused public outrage, PA President Mahmoud Abbas changed a law giving a pardon for murder in cases where a man murdered a wife after witnessing her committing adultery. However, an Abbas aid Hassan al-Ouri, later said that the law was not used in practice.   

[Gun Nuts] Does anyone on the Right know why they keep on saying that the Left wants to take away their guns? There might be a few who want to disarm Americans, but there are also a few that want to kill everybody that disagrees with them. Let’s discard those few and the hyperbole along with it and admit what the Left really wants–gun control. This can’t be debated until the Right faces the fact that the Left doesn’t want to take our guns away.

[Obamacare $100 a Month] About 6.4 million Americans eligible to buy insurance through the new health exchanges will pay $100 or less a month in premiums because of tax subsidies, according to a Department of Health and Human Services report. Link

[Navy Yard Shooting] Get ready for the logical gun control arguments versus the irrational NRA arguments that forks kill so we should ban fork manufacturers.

[“Balance of Power by Richard North Patterson”]  Instead of reading fiction, maybe you should put the books down and observe the real world for a change.  This shooting took place in a city with some of the strictest gun control laws in the country.  I guess, using your logic, if we took guns away from everyone in say, Oklahoma, the people in DC would be safe, right?  Wrong.  The problem isn’t guns and never has been.  It’s people with no morals who don’t value human life and don’t feel that they’ll have to answer to anything, no matter what they do.  Or maybe, the perpetrator of this crime just secured himself 72 virgins.  In any case, taking all the sharp objects away from the little kiddies will not keep them and everyone else safe.  At some point, we have to expect better from members of society and hold them  responsible when they misbehave, not try to find blame with everyone and everything else.  People that blame guns, inanimate objects, for perpetrating crimes, are in fact, enabling true nuts to commit these horrendous acts.  Not only will they not be blamed for their actions, they become stars, heroes to the anti-gun cult for helping to promote their cause.

[Gun Nuts] Now that the Navy Yard shooting is over the NRA will begin it’s spin on why everyone in the Navy Yard should have been armed so this wouldn’t have happened.

Of course they will not address the burning question of why there aren’t background checks at gun shows and why gun show sellers don’t have to be licensed or even ask your name. 

[Gun Nuts] Wow, here we go again with the anti-gun nuts and their guns kill children campaign. You bleeding hearts should have your Vasoline jars equipped with custom grips and the same goes for your holy water pistolas.

Republicans disagreed with Obamacare asking about your medical conditions when getting enrolled in government health insurance. All insurance people ask those questions when you’re applying for insurance.

[Gun Nuts] It looks like the sweet shooting AR15 is off the hook for the Navy Yard massacre.  But we probably won’t have long to wait for it to pop up again in some other mass slaughter at the rate they are occurring these days.

That same car is still burning in Benghazi, I saw it again on Fox News this morning.  How can that be?

[Gun Nuts] Yep, the Navy Yard shooter had a AR-15 rifle, shotgun and a pistol. If you want to ask the real question how did someone with his weapon and navel background become a defense contractor for the United States? That’s the answer I want to hear. The ball was dropped yet once again.

[“Americas median annual income has plummeted since the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007”] What party is in control of Congress now? Go ahead, you can answer, we already know.

Let me guess. It wasn’t the Republican President’s fault then because it was Bush, but now that a Democrat’s in the President’s chair it’s all his fault. Yep, Who didn’t see that coming? Stevie Wonder saw that coming.

[More Guns Prevent Deaths] Keep this in mind as you process the mass shooting at the Navy Yard. One of Bill Clinton’s first acts upon taking office in 1993 was to disarm U.S. soldiers on military bases.

[Gun Nut] The Navy Yard nutcase passed both an FBI and state background check the other week when he bought the gun he used yesterday. The guy was also an Obama fan. Link

[Gun Nut] The shooter was an Obama supporter so Obama should be blamed.

Anti-Obama song — I’m a Good Ole’ American

[Anti gun nuts] Looks like all of you were misinformed again by the liberal media. It seems that he only had a shotgun, which, by the way, Biden said, “All you need is a shotgun”.

It’s no surprise that the anti-gun set are slavering at the opportunity to advance their agenda as a result of the Washington Navy Yard tragedy. It’s the left wing credo, “Never let a tragedy or a crisis go unexploited”

The FBI defines “mass homicide” as an event in which 4 or more vics are murdered. In such cases a firearm is the usual weapon. In 2011 mass murders accounted for far less than 1% of all homicides. In every mass murder episode, the shooter was found to be mentally ill. In 2011 60 persons died from lightning strike, but about 83 were vics of a mass homicide.

Some people blame the availability of military style rifles for mass murders, I emphasize style because such rifles are not fully automatic, nor are they military grade, as the reason for violence.  These folks refuse to acknowledge that rifles, all rifles, are only rarely used as murder weapons. More people are murdered by beatings than are by rifles. Just for the record, personally I think that the military style rifles are ugly as hell, currently I don’t own a single long gun.

The investigation of the incident is only beginning, but it looks like the primary weapon that he took on base was a legally purchased shotgun. The FBI announced yesterday that there was no military style rifle used in the shootings.

The government has some responsibility for the killings because they failed to provide adequate security at the facility.

Have you noticed that many persons from the left are compelled to toss pejoratives at any one who holds a different belief? For example, yesterday’s CT was salted with references to “gun nuts.” I am a shooter, and have been for the last 50+ plus years. I know scores of people here in the Keys and on the mainland who enjoy the sport. Some may be nuts, but I do not consider even a single one as being a potentially dangerous “nut”.

On the other hand I’ve dealt with many, many murders, including shootings with multiple victims. Not a single one of those murderers was a “gun nut”. In each and every case the shooter saw the gun only as a tool that helped him to kill.  The killing itself was the desired result. The gun was only a tool.

As of now we have no idea what the shooter’s motive was, but there is evidence that he was addicted to violent video games. As best that I can remember every single mass murderer in recent memory was a heavy user of violent video games. Perhaps we should outlaw violent video games, and all forms of violent entertainment. Perhaps we should refer to those persons who enjoy virtual violence as “violence nuts.” Perhaps we should outlaw all forms of violent entertainment.

Please remember that a gun did not execute the biggest mass murders in American history. In 2001 in was airplanes and box cutters. In 1862 38 Sioux men were murdered by the US government in one day by hanging. 38 elementary school children and six adults in total, were murdered plus an additional 58 other people were injured  in a single day by a bomber who used dynamite blasts in 1927 at Bath, Michigan. I suppose that the bomber was a “bomb nut.”

You should think about the fact that in 2012 mass homicides (the FBI standard is 4 or more vics), in which a firearm is the usual weapon, accounted for substantially less than 1% of all homicides. In 2011 60 persons died from lightning strike, but about 83 were vics of a mass homicide.

The fault for the crime is never in the instrument used to commit the crime, it always, always is in the heart of criminal.

Perhaps Bill Clinton also shares some responsibility for the Navy Yard and the Ft. Hood carnage. Clinton signed an order that prohibited military personnel from being armed on stateside military bases. Bush 2 should have rescinded the order, and Obama should have rescinded the order, they didn’t. The Ft Hood and the Navy Yard had a rich supply of helpless targets. Many of the targets were trained and competent to carry side arms, but they were forbidden to do so. It’s easy to speculate that armed military could have ended the incident before the shooter had managed to kill so many people. It’s incredible, but in each incident it took civilian police to take down the shooters.

Those of you who have an anti-gun mind set should think about the facts that the Navy Yard, Ft. Hood and Washington are all totally gun free zones.  Then there is the fact that there is no city in the US that has more stringent gun control laws than Washington DC. And still the carnage occurred, the anti-guns laws are failures that cost lives.

Just for the record, the number of children murdered by guns has been declined sharply since 2006. That’s a fact even though gun ownership has exploded. There were 120 in 2006; 96 in 2010 according to the FBI. There are no stats that I can find that record the manner of death for all children, but we do know that many die violent deaths at the hands of adults. More than twice as many children drown each year than die by firearms.  We must outlaw water. “Water nuts” are killing our children. About 2000 children are killed in car crashes each year. “Car nuts” must be driven from our society.

Between January 1999 and December 2010, there were 1,612 bicycle-related deaths among children younger than 16 years old. We’ve got to stop these “bike nuts”.

The very sad fact is that the shooter was a desperately mentally ill man that could not have been identified or helped under the current protocols that are in place. 30 years ago, his complaints to the police that he was suffering from auditory hallucinations and that he was being denied sleep by “rays” would have resulted in him being involuntarily hospitalized and he would have received help and treatment. PC is the root cause of this tragedy.

The term “gun nut” is nothing more than the expression of a person who is uninformed on the facts. Even though it’s very chic in some circles, it’s just a cheap shot. (Pun intended)

Part 2) Changes to health insurance premiums are expected to vary widely by state and age as a result of implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” according to a Manhattan Institute for Policy Research analysis. On average, rates will increase 24 percent in the 13 states for which data is available, but rates will decrease in some states while rising dramatically in others. Imagine that, a nearly 25% increase in the cost of buying healthcare insurance.  The Manhattan Institute will soon have a cost calculator online as more and more data becomes available. I suspect that you will be astonished. Link