Blog Baltimore

If you were wondering what might have caused some delays last night (11/19/2008) on the north bound toll booths on 95, it was these two idiots. I can only hope that one tried to cut the other off and instead of giving in to the idiot, they just jammed up in the toll booth. Also, all I can hope for is that karma will play it’s roll with which ever idiot was trying to cut the other one off.

I present to you:
Two Idiots - One Booth

Two Idiots - One Booth

Two Idiots - One Booth2

Please, please, PLEASE! When driving through the EZ Pass lanes and using your EZ Pass on on any road, DO NOT STOP AND WAIT FOR THE SIGN! I can’t emphasis this enough. The speed limit for the toll booths are 10mph. That means that you’re supposed to drive roughly 10mph through them. I don’t care if you go 20mph or even 50mph just don’t stop and wait for the sign to tell you to go through. They have cameras to check your license plate if they miss the tag. They won’t chase you down if your tag doesn’t register. However, if you do decide to stop for your EZ Pass to register, you screw up the entire idea behind the EZ Pass. This idea is to make it a more effective lane to pay and pass through without having to wait in line for people who need to STOP and pay. Thank you.

We went to trivia Night at the Gin Mill in Canton last night and it was quite a blast. The event started on time and ended on time which was much better than the last place we tried trivia at. The trivia was based off of Brain Freeze Trivia which was challenging and competative. This felt a bit more official and fun since the event was run through Brian Freeze. They offered gift certificates and DVD movies as prizes too. The questions ranged from multiple choice and matching to true/false and fill in the answer. The Gin Mill also has a nice clean atmosphere. The food there has been getting better since it’s been open. Initially it was standard fair with no flavor or spice but they’ve been improving. My only complaint about the Gin Mill is that they don’t have any exotic Gin’s. I had assumed that with the name Gin Mill, it would specialize in various different styles of Gin, but this is not the case.

We went to Fell’s Point this Halloween and it was insane this year. 98 Rock had a tent out and the bars were packed. I’ve seen Fell’s Point Halloween crazy but this year was nuts. The costumes were amazing and it was a blast. The one suggestion I’d make is open up the area to be able to drink and walk around. The bar’s were shoulder to shoulder and it was tough to get a drink, let alone find a bathroom. The Police had blocked off a major portion of the traffic areas so why not just open it up to walk and drink like they do with Canton and St. Patrick’s Day.

Here are some pictures from the night

Dutch Ruppersberger, in front of the United States House of Representatives, thanks them for providing a clear and concise bill to help fight terrorist communications from over seas. What he actually thanked them for, According to a lawsuit filing by the EFF/ACLU, is allowing the collection of the information of millions of Americans without us knowing.

In an attempt to explain it so that many of us can understand, The FISA Amendment Act, allows for phone companies to collect data on customers conversations for the government so the NSA can screen for keywords that might be terrorist related. Any conversations related to international calling can be tapped and recorded without a pre-authorized warrant if there’s belief it it being terrorist related. This doesn’t ultimately upset me, what gets me going is how the companies are going about doing this.

Companies can, if they wish, continue to collect your private information and conversations, store them indefinitely, and not have it be illegal. This isn’t considered illegal because it’s not being analyzed by NSA computers or analysts, so it’s not considered a tap. Isn’t that like saying you recorded someone for blackmail but couldn’t be held liable for blackmail because you never actually listened to it? Smells like bullshit to me. Companies, for the government, can hold this information indefinitely and NOT be sued, not only because it isn’t considered illegal, but also because the government is trying to grant these companies immunity in case of any lawsuit.

The ACLU and the EFF are challenging the legality of this and good for them. They’ve got the foresight to see where this is going, too bad Ruppersberger didn’t.

The FISA Act, pushed through by President Bush, and fully supported by Dutch Ruppersberger, has given our government full, unabridged access to conversations that they deem terrorist in nature. Having seen how our government has dealt with the financial issues as well as the Iraq war, I doubt this will lead to any good either.