I see all of these people making disparaging remarks about the intelligence of the people in Florida and the state legislature over the 2013 changes that were made by House Bill 155 to § 849.16 [PDF link], for Chapter 849 (Gambling) of Title XLVI (Crimes) of the Florida statutes.

First off, this wasn’t a mistake, the changes accomplish exactly what they wanted to accomplish, and that includes seizing your computer or smartphone if you use them for ‘gambling’ as defined by the state of Florida. They are addressing what they perceive to be a serious loophole in the previous version of the law that came to light when the Feds raided several ‘Internet cafes’ in Florida as part of an interstate gambling investigation. That investigation led to the resignation of the state’s Lieutenant Governor, as she had worked as a public relations spokesperson for one of the groups involved in the Federal sweep.

There are plenty of legal ways to gamble in the state of Florida, and each of those ways has an industry lobbyist in Tallahassee to prevent any intrusions on their ‘turf’.

You should understand that the people who brought the lawsuit about these changes are part of the same group that created the problem – owners of ‘internet cafes’.

Update: I saw an example of one of the so-called problems with the law was someone using a smartphone to read a code for a manufacturer’s contest. That isn’t ‘gambling’ under Florida law, as explained in § 849.094 (Game promotion in connection with sale of consumer products or services.), so it isn’t applicable. As I seem to remember that this claim was made by the attorney for the plaintiff, maybe he should read the entire law – just a suggestion.

Note on the PDF file: The relevant changes are on the bottom of page 4 and top of page 5. The strike-throughs indicate text deleted from the previous law, and underlining indicate text that was inserted.

Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel

Distance: 33 kilometers.

The first of the two individual time trials, this 33 kilometer run over the rolling landscape of Normandy can get rather interesting if the wind is blowing when the riders are on the causeway out to the island for the finish.

Tony Martin took the stage, Michal Kwiatkowsski is back in the White Jersey, and Christopher Froome extended his lead by two minutes.

Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 ) [Yellow] 42h 29′ 24″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – CAN – 011 ) [Green] 269 points
Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) [Polka Dot] 49 points
Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) 7 [White]

Team: Movistar ( MOV – 121-129 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Tony Martin ( Ger – OPQ – 154 )
[Red Numbers are not awarded for time trials.]

Top Ten:

1 Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 )
2 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 121 ) + 03′ 25″
3 Bauke Mollema ( Ned – BEL – 164 ) + 03′ 37″
4 Alberto Contador ( Esp – TST – 091 ) + 03′ 54″
5 Roman Kreuziger ( Cze – TST – 094 ) + 03′ 57″
6 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – BEL – 167 ) + 04′ 10″
7 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) + 04′ 44″
8 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas ( Col – MOV – 128 ) + 05′ 18″
9 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 124 ) + 05′ 37″
10 Jean-Christophe Péraud ( Fra – ALM – 081 ) + 05′ 39″

The Rest of the Top 30:
[Read more →]

Position: 16.5N 73.7W [ 4PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 23 mph [37 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1012 mb.

Currently about 230 miles [ 370 km] East-Southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.

An aircraft is on the way to find out what is going on with Chantal because current readings indicate that it devolved into a tropical wave overnight.

Update 10AM: It is still a tropical storm, but another strange one, and it has missed the turn to the Northwest, so now it is headed towards Jamaica or Cuba.

Update 4 PM: Chantal has devolved into a tropical wave, and all watches and warnings have been discontinued. This is the final advisory.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]