Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Govt. Bureaucrats, Democrats & EVs Add To Storm Misery

While Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina residents continue looking for missing relatives and neighbors and dig out from underneath the devastation of Helene and Milton, the doofus bureaucrats that run FEMA say the agency is broke. They say it ‘ran out of money’ after spending billions on illegal immigrants.

They added that they need any cash left to help LGBTQ+  folks. In a virtual meeting from March 2023, a FEMA Emergency Management Specialist named Tyler Atkins said the agency was prioritizing LGBTQ+ people because they are “already disadvantaged.”

“They already have their own things to deal with. So you add a disaster on top of that, it’s just compounding on itself,” Atkins, who uses he/they pronouns, told the group.

Talk about the “Politics of joy!” These nitwits are “gayly” going their own way, doling out our tax dollars, not to those that are the neediest, but to groups they say are most deserving. How does anyone from the LGBTQ crowd need rescuing, food, shelter, or security any more than heterosexuals who are also wet, hungry, desperate, and homeless?

When Peter Doocy of Fox News asked that question in the White House Briefing Room Karene Jean Pierre snapped back barking, “Your question is  ‘misinformation,’” and angrily stomped out. Oops! She forgot to remind him that Vice President Kamala Harris comes from a middle class family in a neighborhood with nice lawns and that her mother worked hard.

What about the $147 million dollars that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken tweeted the administration is sending to the people of Lebanon a couple of weeks ago?

This administration says it needs Congressional approval to send money to Hurricane Helene victims in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, but it apparently didn’t need it to send a pile of dough to Lebanon, a country that harbors terrorists that kill Americans and are currently attacking Israel.

Meanwhile, in an equally bewildering scenario some $1.2 billion in U.S. aid is going to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Does the Harris-Biden White House have a special department called “Aid For Terrorists” or “Bureau of Stupidity”?

***

Speaking Of Incompetence: Harris, as part of the Biden administration, clearly displays that she lacks any leadership skills and that her political instincts are nonexistent. And Biden is in obvious mental decline.

Harris doesn’t have the excuse of having dementia, she truly is flat out stupid and totally incompetent. To compound that her dreadful choice of Tim Walz as vice president was exposed during the VP debate with JD Vance when Walz came across as dumber than a barrel of hair and a hand-clapping, lying, ridiculous looking, bouncing clown.

In the meantime while the Harris-Biden administration has been conspicuously absent in the flood ravaged areas Trump has been very active and visible helping in those regions. And despite Florida being ravaged, Governor Ron DeSantis has also assisted other states with aid.

Charitable groups delivering supplies to storm victims complain that the federal government people that are there are in the way of their relief efforts. On top of that there are reports of FEMA confiscating relief supplies sent by private organizations being confiscated by FEMA bureaucrats.

“The men and women on the ground were doing the best they can,” said volunteer and former Green Beret and UFC martial arts star Tim Kennedy. “But FEMA has every priority wrong,” he bluntly noted. “They didn’t know what to do or where to do it or how to access these mountains. They were turning people away trying to deliver funds. They’re telling helicopters to land, the president’s coming in and creating a no-fly zone while we’re doing airborne evacuations. None of it made sense… for FEMA to come and start impeding the efforts of organizations like ours trying to get into deliver goods. It is unconscionable.”

“I recently traveled to NC and victims of Hurricane Helene told me nearly two weeks after landfall, the Biden-Harris Administration had STILL not provided them with all the resources they desperately needed,” Speaker of The House Mike Johnson (R-LA) said this week.

Based on these and other recent storm reports I’ve read it is obvious that Ronald Reagan was 100% correct when he said, “Government isn’t the answer to the problem. Government IS the problem.”

***

Running Out The Clock: How bad was Kamala Harris during her Bret Baier interview on FOX News Wednesday, Oct. 16? Her performance resembled that of a losing football team attempting to run out the clock to prevent the other team from piling on.

She defensively responded to almost every single question saying: “What about Trump?” She had no offense. And never mind that she performed so badly that her crew pulled her out of the interview early. She used the word “clearly” repeatedly telling Baier that all the mistakes made by the Harris-Biden administration during the last three and one-half years were “clearly” Donald Trump’s fault. As my American Spectator pal Larry Thornberry commented after the interview: “It’s clear that if she wins we’ll have to expand the cabinet to include a Secretary of Non Sequiturs.”

The one thing she did make clear to me and my friends who watched was that she’s not fit to be in position of authority or decision making anywhere, much less in the White House. One pal said afterwards: “I’m praying we will soon be unburdened by what has been.”

This was “clearly” one of the worst interviews I’ve ever witnessed, and I doubt she’ll be doing any more, even on Saturday morning kiddie shows. It’s back to the basement, sitting next to granny’s canned prunes.

 ***

EV fire in a Florida home garage.

Speaking Of Piling On: If the storm and inept federal bureaucrats weren’t enough, folks who forked out big bucks for electric cars are discovering that if the hurricane and federal government ineptitude didn’t do enough damage to their property their pricy EVs could finish them off.

EV owners are rightfully leery of evacuating a storm area due to concern over finding charging stations along the evacuation route, so they leave them in their garages. That’s a big mistake says Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, whom Fox Weather describes as a leading voice on this issue. Numerous Florida fire departments have also warned residents to be careful with their electric vehicles, as the batteries can catch fire.

“If you’re evacuating and leaving an EV, or other lithium ion powered devices like scooters, bikes, or golf carts in your garage, you’re creating a real fire threat for your home, your communities, and first responders. Take this threat seriously. If there’s even a small risk of your EV being impacted by storm surge, move it to higher ground before it’s too late,” Patronis said.

EV’s burning while being transported.

Saltwater exposure can trigger combustion in lithium-ion batteries, say the experts. This includes golf carts and electric scooters. Don’t drive these through water they say.

“I have heard EV owners say, ‘I don’t have an engine that can be flooded so I can drive in deep water.’ That’s not the case,” Patrick Olsen, a spokesperson for Carfax added.

In a statement, the U.S. Fire Administration said, “Residual salt within the battery or battery components can form conductive ‘bridges’ that can lead to short circuit and self-heating of the battery, resulting in fires. The time frame in which a damaged battery can ignite has been observed to vary widely, from days to weeks.

Some of the first victims of the storm’s winds are solar panel farms and windmills. Bits and pieces of solar panels ripped off roofs and plucked from fields can be found scattered around the countryside, while the clanky windmills sit at the bottom of the  ocean.

It wouldn’t surprise me if these extreme climate change fanatics next insist we convert to squirrels on treadmills to power our cars and homes.

***

Fat Men From Space Return: Closer to home one of the Fat Men dropped in on the new Scully’s Irish Pub & Eatery at 14 S. 2nd Street, and eagerly plowed through its  $12 “Smashburger”, $14 with lettuce and tomatoes, and $16 with fries.

Scully’s “Smashburger”.

“I could not wait to sit at the bar with a pint and enjoy this burger,” says the Fat Man, adding: “Scully’s has lots of good spirits and beers on draft to satisfy any Irishman but more importantly they have a great burger.

“Now I was a little confused when I first saw the burger. Smashburger? Not quite. This was a nice juicy pub-style burger, thick and delicious. It comes with American cheese, grilled onions, raw onion, pickles, and Russian dressing. I passed on the raw onion, but I added the fresh lettuce and tomato for a $2 up charge. Well worth it. The bun was a great vehicle for this burger, soft but hardy. What I call fries, they call “chips” of course. Their “chips” were exactly what you’d expect from an Irish Pub, steak fries. Steak fries are one of my favorite food groups. I love them, I loved these. Steak fries with this burger was absolutely perfect. I demolished this burger while sitting at the bar.

“The bartenders were great. Fast with my order and even quicker with my pint. This was a really good overall experience. Scully’s is a great addition to downtown Fernandina. On my burger scale of 1-10, I’d give this burger an 8.2.”

Not far behind his spacey pal, the other Fat Man landed at Café Karibo, owned by the Poynter family, which also owns Sculley’s, Greggor McGregor miniature Golf, Timoti’s, and other eateries and family  entertainment venues hereabouts.

Cafe Karibo burger

“There’s not much that brings me joy these days for less than $20”, said the second Fat Man. As much as I love space travel, even Elon Musk can’t do it on the cheap. Eating out is my pay off, and I’m going to share with you, gentle reader, a recent delicious cheeseburger I stumbled across.

Cafe Karibo is a local eatery that’s been around a few years, and they feature a half pounder, that’s EVERYTHING  a human being, er, spaceman could want. For a mere $14.99 plus a little extra for certain cheeses, you can dive into this beauty. Do you enjoy short ribs? It’s made from some of those. Fresh ground Angus beef and brisket, too! That’s not enough for ya’? Then how about a fresh Brioche bun, that’s actually warmed on the grill to contain this meaty masterpiece? Speaking of hot, delicious fries…this cheeseburger comes with a mix of sweet potato AND regular fries! Oh, wait, need something to dredge those tasty potato-y planks in? Even their special sauce is sublime.

“Yes,  space fans, this burger has it all! Transport yourself to Cafe Karibo at 27 North 3rd Street, Fernandina, and cool your jets with one of these beefy beauties.”

On a side note the Fat Men are typical meat and potato guys from outer space. They write exclusively for this column without pretense, pomposity or pandering.

They keep their evaluations simple and, as they like to joke – “down to Earth,” – as opposed to other  area media outlets that thrive on over-the-top, ostentatious, mentally indigestible dining reviews.

One of the most extreme is the Amelia Islander Magazine’s Lois Chappell Winkler. Ms. Winkler’s latest exotic word salad in that magazine’s October 2024 issue followed her visit to local Salt Life near Main Beach. There was nothing, and I mean nothing, there that didn’t arouse, excite, or stimulate her starting with edamame, which she says, “satisfied my green needs nicely.”

The “giant” salads “beckoned” while the grouper containing “complex elegance” was “ideal, plump and glorious.” The flavors “excited” her. Her drink was “gorgeous” and, she says, it “must be the love child of a strawberry daiquiri and piña colada.”  I’m not making any of this up, it’s in the magazine on page 70.

Her over-the-top review reminded me of the restaurant scene in the film “When Harry Met Sally” where actress Meg Ryan feigns an orgasm and a female customer points to her, telling a server: “I’ll have what she’s having.”

  • Comment (4)
  • I do have something positive to say during one of the most negative times in my life.

    My son’s house WAS on Keaton Beach. There was nothing on his lot but the cement pad, several broken pilings and tons of his neighbors rubble when he returned after Helene. He applied through FEMA and yesterday they gave him a travel. It finally feels like we are making some progress.

    I spent four days in the shelter in Perry and want to say how pleasant and accommodating the volunteers from Perry were and how efficient and helpful the Red Cross was. This whole experience has helped restore my faith in the human race.

  • This election Republicans must do the right thing:
    –Reject all RHINOs
    –Remember what is means to be a true Republican
    –Respect our American heritage
    –And vote.

  • If Trump was going to destroy America, he would have done it in his first term. If Kamala Harris was going to help America, she would have done it in her first term.

  • LOVE it, Dave!! No one “gets it” like YOU do, haha:

    “Harris doesn’t have the excuse of having dementia, she truly is flat out stupid and totally incompetent. To compound that her dreadful choice of Tim Walz as vice president was exposed during the VP debate with JD Vance when Walz came across as dumber than a barrel of hair and a hand-clapping, lying, ridiculous looking, bouncing clown”

Leave Your Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

•••

Recent Posts

•••

Recent Comments

Prince Borghese - if you would agree to have your enclave annexed into the city…
Robert M. Weintraub (Bob) what a silly post. It was fun to read though!!!!...especially since…
It is not just a newspaper that is sinking into the depths of hell. Fernandina…
Dave - we’ll miss your witty observations and opinions in your blog over the next…
I am very disappointed in the local elections. I live in the Omni Resort {…
Sleep well America. Let's ALL work together for peace and prosperity.
•••

subscribe to my blog