The United States Senate has a rule that senators will have 48 hours to read a new bill prior to voting on it.June 29th, they were give about 30  minutes to read the transportation and student loan bill that among dozens and dozens of things, kept federal direct stafford loans at 3.4%, stopping them from doubling July 1st. Of course, it is only a one year extension, and there are many cuts to the loan program buried in the bill.

Problem is, no one has been able to read the 599 page document! Like most if not all legislation, there are paragraphs that refer to specific sections of the bill itself, as well as to current law as described in the Federal Register. Imagine trying to figure out what the hell this paragraph actually means?

‘(2) ACCRUAL OF INTEREST ON FEDERAL DIRECT STAFFORD

LOANS.—Notwithstanding subsection (f)(1)(A) or any other provision

of this title and beginning on the date upon which a borrower

who is enrolled in a program of education or training (including

a course of study or program described in paragraph

(3)(B) or (4)(B) of section 484(b)) for which borrowers are otherwise

eligible to receive Federal Direct Stafford Loans, becomes

ineligible for such loan as a result of paragraph (1), interest on

all Federal Direct Stafford Loans that were disbursed to such

borrower on or after July 1, 2013, shall accrue. Such interest

shall be paid or capitalized in the same manner as interest on

a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan is paid or capitalized

under section 428H(e)(2).

This one small paragraph on one page of the 599 page document refers the reader to seven other places. No one can correctly say what this one paragraph means without first checking out those seven references. And the entire bill is written this way, as is normal. 

How the hell did anyone who voted on this bill have a freaking clue what they were voting on???

Which is probably why the Senate has a rule that gives everyone at least 48 hours to read a bill before voting on it. You have to assume a senator’s staff would divide up the bill and each read parts of it and then prepare a recap for the senator. Even that would be difficult in 48 hours. In thirty minutes? Impossible.

This is not a Democrat issue, or a Republican issue. Both parties are to blame for this. It is dishonest. It is unprofessional. It is unethical. And, it is against the rules of the senate!  Yet, these scumbag politicians, from the right and left, do it almost every day. Forget Occupy Wall Street. We need a Occupy DC campaign, where citizens occupy the senate and house until they agree to follow their own rules!

Some Blogging Guy

Sen. Paul Introduces Bill to Protect Americans Against

Unwarranted Drone Surveillance

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Sen. Rand Paul introduced legislation into the Senate that protects individual privacy against unwarranted governmental intrusion through the use of the unmanned aerial vehicles commonly known as drones. The Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act of 2012 will protect Americans’ personal privacy.

“Like other tools used to collect information in law enforcement, in order to use drones a warrant needs to be issued. Americans going about their everyday lives should not be treated like criminals or terrorists and have their rights infringed upon by military tactics,” Sen. Paul said.

The Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act of 2012 also:

1.       Prohibits the use of drones by the government except when a warrant is issued for its use in accordance with the requirements of the Fourth Amendment.

2.       Includes the following exceptions:

1)       patrol of national borders;

2)       when law enforcement possesses reasonable suspicion that under particular circumstances, swift drone action is necessary to prevent “imminent danger to life;”

3)       high risk of a terrorist attack

3.       Allows any person to sue the government for violating this Act.

4.       Specifies that no evidence obtained or collected in violation of this Act can be used/admissible as evidence in a criminal, civil, or regulatory action.

Source

Military already flying drones over America

Well, some of the excitement about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday has died down. At least for me. reading the entire document it appears as if John Roberts planted several hidden mines within their ruling. (For Obama to step on, which he already has.) It may not be quite as bad as I first thought. And the non-leftists are really stepping forward with money, time and effort to truly bring real hope and change in November, myself included. 

For those of you who just can’t stand to call yourself anything but a liberal, let’s see if we can agree to disagree.

Meanwhile, how about something that has no politics associated with it at all? A humming bee seeking nectar this morning.

Peace.

Some Blogging Guy

Orbitz, the horrible travel site that I and others stopped using years ago, is now sorting your hotel selections in different order depending on your operating system. PC users will get hotels at the top of their list that are $20 to $30 higher in price than those of you sing a MAC computer. Why? Because their research indicates MAC users will usually spend that much more on hotels. So, as public service to you, they will order your hotel options in price order based on your computer. I have no idea what they will be doing with Linux users, or Android users.

You can still choose to sort your options in pure low price to high price order. But this is obviously an attempt to trick MAC users into spending more money.

This is the problem with capitalism. At every opportunity they will find some way to sneak more money out of your pocket.

That is the problem of greedy capitalism.

Some Blogging Guy

As fees for driving on public freeways increase in South Florida, the PR people are out in force explaining to us ignorant drivers how fantastic the concept is. I was listening to NPR on the way to work yesterday morning when the PR lady was spewing one lie after another. I drive I-95 north every work day, and have for almost 20 years. I and everyone else on the road with me, know she is lying. She actually had the nerve and guts to say that prior to them squeezing all the regular traffic into just a few extremely narrow lanes, that the average speed was 15 miles per hour. Now, it is 45. The truth is, and by that I mean the true reality is she had it reversed.

I know, because I am in my vehicle experiencing it first hand. I am sure they have merged their statistics somehow and created a nice pie chart that demonstrates their “facts”. But they are wrong. Not just wrong, they are misleading the population.

Prior to I-95 Express, I could speed west on NW 125st, make a quick right onto the ramp to I-95, and sail onto the road, merging easily all the way to the left so that I could then pick up the turnpike.

Now?

First, there is the traffic jam on NW 125st. You see, the stupid red light on the I-95 ramp backs traffic down the ramp and sometimes three blocks or more down 125th street. Sometimes it takes several lights before I can even make the turn.

Then I have to sit and idle my way up the ramp to the stoplight. This entire process takes ten extra minutes most days.So, that is ten extra minutes of gas I am using, ten extra minutes of pushing pollution into the air. Good job guys!

When I manage to get onto I-95, it is one solid block of cars. It takes time and effort to slowly, one lane at a time, push my way left until I am in the correct lane, right next to the Lexus Lanes. My average speed is 9 miles per hour on many days, if I am lucky, 15 or 20, with numerous stops along the way.

The time for me to travel from the on-ramp to the Florida Turnpike is at least ten to twenty minutes longer than previously. Again, more gas used, more pollution. Again, good job you Express Lanes Ass Wipes.

Meanwhile, I-95 is falling apart, literally. There are gashes, uneven edges and just plain holes in the highway. And they have been there for years. Where the hell is the money they are making from this going to?

If I could get into the pay lanes, I would. Although at least two days a week they are going slower than the free lanes! But no one can, unless they enter at the beginning, in Downtown Miami. Everyone else is screwed.

I know I have written about this numerous times. I am beating a dead horse for sure. But this tells you a little bit about me, about why I dislike big government. This is a prime example. They screw up a free public interstate, start charging anywhere from 25 cents to $7 whole dollars for the honor of driving in the express lane, while everyone else suffers. More congestion, more gasoline used, more pollution into the air. And they go on the radio and lie to people, total bald face lies. Meanwhile, the roadway itself is falling apart.

Did any citizens vote on this? No. Did we get options? No. What are our options now? None. We are screwed and some fancy sounding woman is in WLRN public radio lying to everyone about it.

That is government.

Some Blogging Guy

Some Blogging Guy

It was raining like a monsoon, the skies dark and the morning dreary, so I decided to go to the  Hollywood Broadwalk. I tossed on equally dreary clothing, stuffed my pockets with plastic Ziploc bags, spare batteries, extra film cards  and picked two cameras off of my shelf. The Canon 50D with a 50mm lens and a PanasonicDMC-Zs10.

As my luck would have it, by the time I arrived it had cease raining. It was very warm and humid.

I love architecture that possess character. These old buildings showing their face to the rising sun every day for decades still have it.

I think I dated her sister once….

Gal has been out in the sun a bit too much…

Some Blogging Guy

What I do is not quite Street Photography. Street Photography is catching people in candid environments along an interesting urban street. I catch them in their cars, and yeah, that is pretty candid too. I think we all feel 100% alone while inside our cars. Even though we are clearly seen and driving along a public street exposed to dozens of traffic and other government cameras, not to mention one crazy dude who snaps pics along the way to work just to keep from being bored to death.

I captured the following photos during the last week, when the sun was available. Obviously, this first pic was this evening as I drove home in a blinding rainstorm. As usual, click on the photography for an enlarged version.

Did I say blinding storm? It certainly was.

The Starbucks drive through is an excellent place for candid street/car photos.

Construction along Hollywood Boulevard. The guy on the left looks like he is going to rob a cowboy bank and the one on the right looks like he is going off to dance lessons.Man, I would not want to trade my office job for the sort of work these guys do. In all seriousness, hats off to them.

I like wild hair on women. Or is it wild women with hair? One of them….

This guy never rides alone!

Some Blogging Guy