Yeah, this is the kind of mind we want sitting in the Senate.

With pleasure boaters returning from the Bahamas frustrated by having to spend hours clearing U.S. Customs in person, two South Florida lawmakers are seeking to make the process simpler.

Christopher Paulitz, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, said Friday that his office and that of U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, are working on a plan that may result in substituting a telephone call for the time-consuming check-ins.

Many boaters are complaining about the tightened federal regulations, in which those returning from the Bahamas and other foreign ports must travel to Customs offices at the Port of Palm Beach or Palm Beach International Airport with passports or other documents.

"We're trying to balance the concerns of boaters with the concerns of homeland security," Paulitz said. "The law says you have to present yourself before a customs officer, but we think there's room for interpretation."...


Homeland Security is for the little people, really.

Raise your hand if you think a band of terrorists can't overcome the fierce uncompromising resistance of the hearty yachtspersons of South Florida to hijack a ship.

Picture the brave battles, regardless of personal cost or danger, put up by a group of people who can't be asked to wait an hour for customs.

Now, keeping in mind that a hugely disproportionate share of the Homeland Security money for ports went to the state of Florida to comfort their tourists, absorb this staggering thought:

...A spokeswoman for Rybovich Spencer, a West Palm Beach boatyard, said numerous customers have problems reaching customs on the agency's 800 numbers, and the phone either rings without answer or they are put on hold for so long they give up.

"I have people sit in my office for 30 minutes and sometimes more than an hour," said Debbie Smith, Rybovich marina manager. "They're tired from their crossing, and it's very frustrating for them. They wonder what their tax dollars are doing."

Delray Beach boater Harvey Starin said he waited an hour and a half trying to reach customs on its 800 numbers after a recent trip to the Bahamas.

He said customs should hire more people to answer the phones to avoid having people break the law by giving up on the clearance procedure because of frustration...


You can sort of see how these people ended up gifting the rest of us with George Bush, right?

Well, silly you, then. There's evidence, dammit, evidence of the hardship, evidence of the lack of priorities by the men and women who are sworn to protect us, reason enough to give up the stranglehold they have unfairly placed on letting large uninspected boats full of who the hell knows who or what coming from foreign lands into the country unseen on the basis of a cell phone call:

...Customs and border protection spokesmen in Miami didn't return telephone calls Friday concerning the toll-free number complaints.

Who the hell do these people think they work for, anyway?


WADR, I imagine I can make up my mind about Rep. Foley without ever knowing one single thing about what he does with his penis when he's not making the world safer for democracy - er - republicanism.

but don't get me wrong, it's a damn important tool, even if we don't know how to use it.

In the final moments of this year's regular [Florida] legislative session, a bill died on the floor that would have allowed high school seniors who failed the FCAT to go to community college without a diploma.

But in a surprise move Friday afternoon, Gov. Jeb Bush put the bill back into play, asking the House and the Senate to vote on it Tuesday, the final day of a 16-day special session.

Bush's decision to add the bill came a day after thousands of protesters converged on his Miami office to demand that students be allowed to graduate with a diploma even if they failed the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Bush said that's not why he is adding the bill. Instead, he pointed to the cooperation he saw during budget negotiations between the House and the Senate this week.

The two sides finalized the state's $52.3 billion budget Thursday during strained negotiations.

"The legislature has worked diligently and effectively this session to address outstanding issues critical to our state," Bush said. "This bill will ensure that all Florida students have ample opportunity to succeed."

Bush's move could affect as many as 12,000 seniors -- the number the state estimates have not passed the FCAT and are unlikely to graduate with a diploma this spring.

That's a number that wasn't known when the legislature failed to pass the bill in the waning hours of its regular session.

It's also going to have a big effect on the state's community colleges.

"It will open the doors at PBCC at a time when there is a tremendous reduction in funding," Palm Beach Community College President Dennis Gallon said of the bill and the proposed budget cuts for colleges during the regular legislative session...


...and the trumpets blew for them on the other side.

Sort of a shame they don't have all that money they spent on the tests they're not using back. They could have maybe used it to educate somebody.