Our hero! Diana Nyad riding in an impromptu parade down Duval Street yesterday Photo: ROB O’NEAL/The Citizen

[Nyad Sets World’s Record] I remember in the late 50s a young person swam the English Channel’s 30 miles (I think that was the distance), and the world was all abuzz. Now this old lady swims 107 miles from Havana to Key West and I’m the one who’s all abuzz!

[Regulators] We don’t need extreme, draconian rules such as closures. FWC mutton spawning aggregation study locations of fish catch data collected were vague. Fish populations increased at Riley’s Hump due to the elimination of fish traps. This fishermen knows of 30 or so fish aggregations throughout the Keys that change based on temperature and current variables. There are no mutton snappers at Western Dry Rocks right now. Reducing bag limits can protect mutton snapper, but that will just increase fishing pressure elsewhere.

10% of fishermen catch 90% of the fish. A little bit of law enforcement goes a long way. There is a lack of law enforcement. Getting rid of traps was effective. There is no need to close off areas.

[“City of Marathon’s Dog Park”] We are in the process of preparing the site for sod installation. The Community Services Department and Dog Park planning members are removing dead and decaying trees and are requesting 2014 funding for park improvements.The City has spent over $3,800 so far and is budgeting $9,000 for 2014 improvements.

~Debbie London, Community Services Department

A photon checks into a hotel and the porter asks him if he has any luggage. The photon replies: “No, I’m travelling light.”

PC cleaning apps are a scam. Link

In 1888, George Eastman patented his roll-film camera and registered the Kodak trademark.

Welcome to the world this morning Miss Monarch, your Majesty!

The front page of The Mangrove from April 15, 1941. It wasn’t really from 1941. They were a bunch of jokers. mangrove duplicate1941

Tonight, Thursday is Trivia Night at Springers in the bar area from 6-9 pm in the cold A/C.

[Your Face & Advertising] A while back Facebook used people’s names and profile images in advertising without clear permission. People got mad about these “Sponsored Stories” and started a class-action lawsuit. It ended last week with Facebook paying out $20 million. While the lawsuit was going on, Facebook put in a setting so you could opt out of Sponsored Stories. Now that the lawsuit is over, Facebook is wasting no time changing how it does things. To that end, it’s updating its site policy – you probably got an email about it. If you didn’t read the email, I’ll give you the short version.

Starting September 5, if you use Facebook at all, you’re giving it explicit permission to use your image in ads. There is no opt-out, even for minors. Of course, Facebook is taking user feedback on this change. Just be aware that in the past Facebook has ignored what its users want. It will probably do so this time.  

[“Jesus Loves You”] The glee which posters exhibit while criticizing some of the religious posts are truly a lesson in: do as I say, not what I, in fact, do. After chastising the religious poster for stating her opinions and beliefs, we are then subjected to a litany of beliefs of the one making the critique. Kind of like it all depends on whose ox is getting gored, or one persons junk may be another’s treasure.

Some of the statements Captain Gloom and Doom makes, to my thinking, are right on, while others are ludicrous. The point being, because one’s opinions may differ doesn’t mean one party is crazy or stupid. It just means both parties have a different opinion.

Everyday products we’ve been using wrong. See more. Link

A 65-year-old Orlando diver died Monday. Deputies responded to Dolphin Marina on Little Torch Key at 6:15 p.m. as the  diver was being brought in by Tow Boat  US. Workers performed CPR on the man en route to the marina, reports say.  But once ashore, he was taken to  Fishermen’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead.  The man was on his third dive of the day in 15 to 20 feet of water with a friend at Big Pine Shoal.

[Happy Birthday Google] In 1998, graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page filed paperwork to incorporate Google, their 2-year-old research project.

[“Jesus Loves You”] The post was real because Jesus really does love you. You just won’t accept the fact.

I finally figured out what I did wrong all my life. I did not steal from others, never conned anyone, worked hard at a functional product producing job, paid my own way, never had to borrow money, went to college to learn how to take orders from my bosses, fought for my country, never acted like people owed me a share of their worth, never used the system without paying for it, never harmed anyone, and I raised my kid the same way. Yes, this is what I did wrong all my life and seeing what the crooks, pro athletes, religious geeks, actors, politicos, and other bums do to exist in their gold plated mansions makes me want to pray (pun intended) that my kid becomes smarter than me!

[Shark Petting Tank] Nurse shark bites little girls’ arm at KW aquarium. Will someone tell mainland America that this is not Disneyland. In fact would someone tell the sheeple to stay in their protected, gated communities within the confines of their alarmed homes and play on Facebook, Pintrest and Twitter.

Let me guess, the parents were not watching when the kid stuck it’s paw in the shark tank. Or, the aquarium didn’t think nurse sharks would bite and put them in a petting pond. No matter what, if a tank is low enough for a kid to put its paw into, that is an “attractive nuisance” Can you spell L-A-W-S-U-I-T? Link

[Fashion Police] “Never wear white after Labor Day” What do these people do? use the color of one’s clothes to reflect the month of the year? What a crock. Let the sheeple follow their obscure rules and I shall continue to wear white whenever I damn well please. 

[Government To Issue Online ID] Pretty soon we won’t have to wonder if the government is watching everything we do online. We can trust them not to misuse our trust. Ha. Link

I got busted for possessing Viagra without a prescription. My lawyer said I won’t get hard time.

[“Praying for Capt Doom – God Bless and protect You”] There are a lot of anti-Christians posting here and your thoughtful prayers brought them out of the woodwork – God Bless them too. It seems that Jesus can still stir up a crowd after all these centuries.

If you take the time to seek God you will learn He is real and alive and is in the flesh. When I read the prayer in that post I knew that Jesus was alive in the Keys.

[Scam of the Day] Sometimes I forget there are folks out there that are not aware that bad people want to steal there money. This is a scam that I hope none of you would ever fall for. This comes complete with a great looking Logo & all the bells and whistles copied from the real Chase site. Never click on the highlighted link, never! Just delete this stuff.

Chase
Dear Chase OnlineSMCustomer:
This is an Automated Alert to help manage your account. Due to multiple invalid attempts to your online banking, we have restricted your account online. You are required to verify your identity to unlock your account and ensure your security. Please Click Here to continue to the verification process and ensure your account security.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Go Paperless! It’s fast, simple and secure. Sign up now.
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC

Reward. Cats are disappearing on Little Torch Key. The fourth cat was just reported missing in the past two months near Linda St and St road 4A. Several of the missing cats were wearing collars with ID tags. The local shelters have not received these missing cats. I am posting a $1,000 reward for information on the name(s) of the person(s) responsible. You can remain anonymous. Please e-mail me at Classified Ads > Lost and Found 

[Grief] What’s wrong with individuals’ expressing their personal grief? As you said, it is personal and should be kept personal. Others do not need your grief, we have enough of our own.

[Wetsock 9] I’d like to thank Flip Flop Bob for all the hard work that went into last Sunday. I’m Bob, guitarist for the band Phoenix. It’s been my pleasure to work with Flip Flop with different bands over the years, the first being The Stray Dogs, whose only appearance was at Wetstock, the band consisted of Flip Flop, Kenny Wissman, John Nunez, Greg, and myself. What a blast. It was a pleasure to open up for Cat 4 and Ray West for this year’s event, in my opinion the best ever. Attached is a shot from one of the early Wetstocks with Becca, formerly of the Moondogs, singing.

[Swimming Score] So let me get this right, a 43 year old Miamian can’t swim to his boat and drowns, and a 64 year old lady swims over 100 miles!

[Hippocrates] 1) What country in the world has killed the most civilians in the last 20 years?  2) What country in the world has used the most chemical weapons in the last 50 years, ie agent orange, napalm, sarin, mustard, etc?  3) What is worse, killing innocent people with gas, or killing them with bombs?  

Gas at least leaves the infrastructure intact, and the future can be rebuilt for the survivors.

Time to sequester Air Force One. Video

[Unspoken Rules For Being A Liberal – John Hawkins] 1) You justify your beliefs about yourself by your status as a liberal, not your deeds.

The most sexist liberal can think of himself as a feminist while the greediest liberal can think of himself as generous. This is because liberals define themselves as being compassionate, open minded, kind, pro-science and intelligent not based on their actions or achievements, but based on their ideology. This is one of the most psychologically appealing aspects of liberalism because it allows you to be an awful person while still thinking of yourself as better than everyone else.

[Rattlesnake Logic] If you always do what you always did, you’ll always be what you always were. Link

The Syria situation gets curiouser and curiouser.  Truly it is very much like Alice In Wonderland.  Think about it. This most recent use of chem warfare on Syrians was either delivered by Assad or his opposition, it all depends on which news cast or news source you access.  There is no doubt that this most recent episode is at least the 3rd event of chem warfare in Syria in the last 2 years. This breach of Obama’s “red line” is not the first. Why has intervention suddenly become urgent?

We know for certain that at about 120k people have died at the hands of Assad in the conflict. We think that we know that 10% of them died from chem warfare. Are the 10% any more or any less dead because they purportedly died from chemical warfare? Why have we not intervened for the 120K dead? Clinton intervened on his own nickel in Bosnia. Obama intervened on his own nickel in Libya. Other Presidents have intervened in crisis situations. What purely political motive caused Obama to drop his plan to intervene and to kick the can to Congress?

More than 2 million or 10% of Syria’s population have fled, become refugees. It is a humanitarian horror.

Then we have to realize that over the course of the last two years, Obama has told us that weapons would be provided to the Syrian resistance. But now we know that not a single rifle has been delivered to the resistance.  Now we are told that the resistance is not a unified front. According to some honcho Republican politicos about a third of them are AQI or clones, the balance are “moderate secular Arabs.” I’ve got to wonder what in the hell that means. There is no indication whatsoever that either of the disparate groups have given any indication that they are “friendly” to the US.

Then you’ve got to wonder if Obama did not ask for approval for his Libya adventure, why is he now asking for the congressional stamp of approval for intervention in Syria.

Then you’ve got to wonder why just the other day he and Kerry stridently told the world that they were intervening in Syria, then suddenly they did a 180 and are now pushing for Congressional approval.  Obama actually does have the Constitutional authority to intervene. Why does he not shoulder that responsibility? Is he afraid? Is he seeking political cover? Is this just another lead up to the dog ate my home work or Bush did it?

Then we’ve got to wonder what the ultimate goal of our intervention will be. Are we gearing up for another Viet Nam, are we championing regime change. Obama tells us “no”, absolutely not to that. Do we believe him, or is Obama simply covering his skinny butt?  All in all, this Olde Fart is not sold on intervention.

Please note that the Chief Republican Pooh Bahs are. I’m among the 59% of the American public who oppose intervention. Obama simply has not made his case. He is dealing with the issue as a political issue rather than a national security issue. It’s worth noting that Kerry refused to rule out “(American) boots on the ground.”

It’s a good bet that if we intervene that it will ignite a regional war. It’s a safe bet that Iran will jump in with both feet. It’s a safe bet that Israel will be attacked.

Please also note that only a single nation on this globe has offered even lukewarm support. The UN, a latter day bar scene from Star Trek, has also condemned intervention. A lot of us are very tempted to say “so what” Nothing is easy or simple.

Part 2) This is really cool, no politics involved: Video

CLIMATE CHANGE

Global warming will now save New York from another Superstorm Sandy. A recurrence of Superstorm Sandy – which barrelled head-on into the Atlantic coast, swamping New York City and large parts of New Jersey – is less likely under climate change, new research suggests. Scientists expect stronger hurricanes under climate change, and possibly even more frequent storms – especially those at category 3 and higher. But New York City and much of the seaboard will be at lower risk of taking a direct hit, the study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said.

Oh good grief! Is there anything Global Warming can’t do?? Quick change the science and then pretend like you always said fewer hurricane would hit the east coast. Do you guys in the cult left understand that the people are now laughing at you?