Just keep voting Liberal, we'll get there.

Sweden bans home schooling.

Before 2010, it was possible to home-school in Sweden. But new laws now ban the practice in almost all cases and forces private schools to teach the state curriculum.

Swedish human rights lawyer Ruby Harrold-Claesson calls what's happening in Sweden a "parental inquisition."

"Sweden's treatment of parents in the area of education is totalitarian, essentially. They want to take children from birth to graduation and control them," said Michael Donnelly, director of international relations at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association.

Donnelly claims Sweden's treatment of parents violates established standards of human rights.

"In fact, the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights signed in 1947 actually says … that parents have a 'prior right' to decide the kind of education their children should have," he explained.

But Sweden's ambassador to the United States said, "The [Swedish] government does not find that home schooling is necessary for religious or philosophical reasons."

Remember my friends:  "EVERYTHING NOT FORBIDDEN IS COMPULSORY." T.H. White.
Also: "Not turning up to riot is a failed Conservative policy." Kate McMillan

The MOLON LABE!!! Phantom.

Flip, flop and fly...

Barry blinks again.

Under pressure from farming advocates in rural communities, and following a report by The Daily Caller, the Obama administration withdrew a proposed rule Thursday that would have applied child labor laws to family farms.

Critics complained that the regulation would have drastically changed the extent to which children could work on farms owned by family members. The U.S. Department of Labor cited public outcry as the reason for withdrawing the rule.

"The decision to withdraw this rule — including provisions to define the 'parental exemption' — was made in response to thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms," the Department said in a press release Thursday evening. "To be clear, this regulation will not be pursued for the duration of the Obama administration."

The rule would have dramatically changed what types of chores children under the age of 16 could perform on and around American farms. It would have prohibited them from working with tobacco, operating almost all types of power-driven equipment and being employed to work with raw farm materials.

"Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions," read a press release from last August.

I think the "thousands of comments" is probably misdirection by way of understatement. When the news on this broke they most likely got hundreds of thousands of negative comments. Every farmer in the USA who heard about it was burning up the email I bet.

Kids under 16 can't work with "raw farm materials"? Like manure? And hay? As if.

The Phantom

Location of US drone sites released. Not where you'd think they'd be.

Some of the locations are very interesting. Mostly due to where they are not flying.

There are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S, federal authorities have been forced to reveal following a landmark Freedom of Information lawsuit.

The unmanned planes – some of which may have been designed to kill terror suspects – are being launched from locations in 20 states.

Most of the active drones are deployed from military installations, enforcement agencies and border patrol teams, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.

The map of site locations looks like the Red/Blue voting map, only in reverse. Expired licenses in Arizona and Southern California indicate no drones are currently being used there (legally, anyway) to monitor the southern border with Mexico. New Mexico and Texas have southern border sites listed as "active" but they are universities. Most of the sites are in the middle of the country or clustered around New York and Washington DC.

In fact, according to the Google Maps site, the only active Border Patrol drone site is in North Dakota, next to Winnipeg Manitoba. Apparently Canada needs watching more than the Mexican drug cartels. Which is interesting, to say the least.

The Phantom

NAACP supports "Stand Your Gound" Law in Florida. No, this is not satire.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supports the "Stand Your Ground" law in Florida, and without any overt signs of embarrassment too.

The NAACP's Jacksonville chapter has thrown its support behind a woman who will be sentenced Monday in a shooting where she claimed self-defense against an abusive husband under the state's Stand Your Ground law.

Marissa Danielle Alexander, 31, was charged with three counts of aggravated assault in August 2010 after she fired a single shot into the ceiling of her home during a dispute that somehow turned physical.

I love that "somehow turned physical" part, that's a nice touch eh?

Anyway, NAACP is kewl with black females "defending" themselves, even after a jury has found them guilty of aggravated assault with a firearm . Its only the "white Hispanics" in the process of being beaten to death they have a problem with, apparently.

Just thought y'all should know. ~:D

The Phantom

Zimmerman show trial pictures.

Another one of those "I hate being right" things, the 2nd degree murder charge against George Zimmerman is completely political, as proven by this picture. This thing is a sham, a circus act put on by the State of Florida to counteract the DemocRat party "Jus'ice fo' Traaaaayvon" propaganda campaign. Alan Dershowitz has some words.

The Phantom

PUT DOWN THE PORKCHOP AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!!!

You know how I keep saying that if a bureaucrat has access to a SWAT team he will find a way to use it?  I hate being right.

NaturalNews can now confirm that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has, in total violation of the Fourth Amendment, conducted two armed raids on pig farmers in that state, one in Kalkaska County at Fife Lake and another in Cheboygan County. Staging raids involving six vehicles and ten armed men, DNA conducted unconstitutional, illegal and arguably criminal armed raids on these two farms with the intent of shooting all the farmers' pigs under a bizarre new "Invasive Species Order" (ISO) that has suddenly declared traditional livestock to be an invasive species.

Natural News boy gets a little excited there, but it all boils down to an order by the Michigan State Dept. of Natural Resources.  They've basically told farmers in Michigan that if they have pigs with the wrong colored hair that the animals must be slaughtered immediately. No recourse, no compensation, no livestock insurance, tough shit you're out of business.

The Invasive Species Order is here: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/MDNR_DECLARATORY_RULING_2011-12-13_FINAL_371200_7.pdf
It really does no-shit come right out and say if your pig is XYZ colored, you can't have it. Period. Oh, your whole hog operation depends on this herd and they are all the wrong color? Oh to bad Farmer John! So sad!

I guess some farmers told them  "f- off this is America you can't take my stuff without due process I'll see you in court assholes", so the sons of bitches RAIDED them. Full up raids. One guy had to hurry up and kill all his pigs before they got there, or they'd have hauled him off to the slammer.  Now he's broke but at least not broke in the county jail.

Canadian gun owners who lived through the early 1990's will be familiar with the sensation. The stoke of a pen renders something you bought 100% legally into an illegal instrument of DOOOOM!, and it takes you from law abiding citizen to SUPER CRIMINAL in the blink of an eye.

If guns, why not pigs?

Here's the fun part my friends: if pigs, why not cars?

Oh wait, I know one! Why not skin color?! That's a great one, 'cause that shade you are, that don't wash off. Too white, too brown, oh well. Cattle car for you, unlucky dude.

Now if you're wondering "what the hell are the putting in the water in Michigan?" that is the WRONG QUESTION. This is not an accident, or a mistake. They are not insane, nor are they stupid.

This kind of ludicrous excess is the logical, inevitable outcome of ever increasing government power. If you give the Michigan Department of Natural Resources money for guns and training, THEY WILL USE THEM. If you give them Predator drones and wiretaps, they will use them. If you give them powers of search, seizure and incarceration, they will use them.

So the next time you hear some yahoo say "There oughta be a law..." I suggest you use your boots.

The Phantom

DROP THE TWINKIE AND WADDLE OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!!!

In Germany it is discovered that being morbidly obese is a fire hazard. And it pollutes the environment too!

Cremations in Germany are becoming more complicated owing to an increase in obesity. At the moment, around half of the country's deceased are cremated. Likewise, roughly 15 percent of Germans are obese, and the figures are climbing.

The funeral industry has adapted to these new conditions with plus-size coffins and crematorium furnaces outfitted with larger doors. But one problem remains: Due to their high fat content, obese bodies often burn so hot that they overtax crematorium facilities. The cause of the chimney fire in Hamelin appears to have been "extreme heat due to burning a high amount of fat," according to Carl Schmidt, the crematorium's manager.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: "Its a gas-fired oven. How can that go on fire?"  Well, its the chimney that actually goes on fire because of all the scrubbers and particle filters and cyclonic screening and blah blah blah that they have on there. You dump a four hundred pound fattie in there, that's a whole lot of high density fuel getting burnt. The fat boils, becomes an aerosol, sticks in all the sooper-dooper filtering gizmology and GOES ON FIRE. Now you've got an unsealed chimney with a couple tons of half molten scrap on your nice clean crematorium floor. Bummer!

"Unforeseen fires happen at many crematoriums," says Jochen Sembdner, who constructs such facilities and conducts safety checks on them in the state of Lower Saxony. In such emergency situations, flaps behind the furnace open and the system goes into what's known as bypass mode. The furnace releases smoke -- together with all its dioxins and furans, mercury from dental fillings and other heavy metals and particulate matter -- directly into the outside air, bypassing the facility's gauges and filters. Crematorium operators say that the bypass mode is only used once or twice a year at any given crematorium. But that's not something that authorities check on."

Yeah, so basically anytime they get another sea-mammal to burn they bypass the super expensive scrubbing crap and blow the stinky fumacious smoke straight out. AAAAIIIEEEE! The humanity!!! They're bypassing the regulations!!!  What to do, what to do?

Oh wait, I know! MORE regulations.

Engineer Hubert Kerber is spearheading the protest against a new crematorium in Sinsheim-Reihen, a town in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg. Kerber says facilities in bypass mode "spew pollutants." As an inspector with TÜV, a German safety-certification and technical inspection organization, Kerber has a chance to see many types of incinerators, including crematoriums. Having compared standards and maximum permissible limits, he believes that "every waste-incineration operation is more strictly regulated."

A protest. That's sure to work.

However, if I may be allowed a modest proposal, perhaps the best way to look at this is as an opportunity rather than a problem. It seems in these times of expensive fuel to be a shame to merely waste all that fat which deceased citizens spent so much time and money toward accumulating and carrying around. If bodies were processed before cremation to make them more amenable to combustion, say by rendering out the fats or perhaps liquification by the use of a giant blender, the discarded shells of our departed loved ones could contribute one last gift to society by generating electricity in a co-located crematorium/power plant. Also, as we know fat has a higher energy content by weight than fossil fuels, so perhaps that last donation could be to a biofuels plant, and used to drive the hearse carrying the next sea mammal to the funeral home/rendering plant.

As society gains mass over the years the answer to our energy woes may be sagging in the next booth over at McDonald's, or bear-walking down the food court at the mall.

Just sayin'.

The Phantom

Didn't I just say this yesterday?

Mainstream media weenies get their ideas from the web.

"If the judge were to rule in the pre-trial that Zimmerman has a legitimate claim in the 'Stand Your Ground' law defense and was as a result released, I think that could have national impact and as a result it could bleed into the political system," Dan Abrams, legal analyst and founder of Mediaite, told POLITICO. Or, he added, "If there is an acquittal … I think that it could have national political implications, because at that point I think both [Mitt] Romney and [President Barack] Obama could be asked to comment on it."

Ya think? Wow, these Politico guys are sharp, eh?
Personally I think its much more likely the President is going to shape his whole campaign around this thing (because otherwise he's got NOTHING) and Romney's going to be asked to comment on the riots.
Unless somebody waxes Zimmerman in the slammer, then 12 million Hispanics are going to switch to Republican AND they're going to riot. Barry will be asked to comment on that.

The Phantom

New record for dumbest Traaaayvon! comment.

Move over Bill Cosby, here comes Michael Bloomberg!

"The laws are not the kind of laws a civilized society should have and the [National Rifle Association] should be ashamed of themselves," Bloomberg, a leading gun-control advocate, said at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "This has nothing to do with gun-owners' rights. This has nothing to do with the Second Amendment." "Plain and simple, this is just trying to give people a license to murder," he added of the Stand Your Ground laws. "The fact is, all Americans already have a right to defend themselves with commensurate force," he said, "but these Shoot First laws have nothing to do with that or with the exercise of Second Amendment rights, instead they justify civilian gunplay and invite vigilante justice and retribution with disastrous results."

But, but, Mayor Bloomberg sir! What about the TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR BOUNTY that the New Black Panthers have offered for George Zimmerman's head?

"Anybody that puts a bounty on somebody else's life is acting totally inappropriately. I'm sure it's illegal, it must be illegal," he said in response to a reporter from the Daily Caller. "What an outrage to even ask the question. What do you think?!" Bloomberg snapped. "I didn't even know about it until you just told me. … Now I've said my peace, okay. It is an outrage and it's against the law."

Why was Mikey talking about all this?

Speaking at the National Press Club, Bloomberg was headlining an event launching a national "Second Chance on Shoot First" campaign, which aims to block or repeal Stand Your Ground laws around the country in the wake of the Martin shooting. He was joined by Democratic Florida state Sen. Chris Smith, the NAACP's Hilary Shelton and Urban League President Mark Moriel.

Ayn Rand at this point rises in my estimation from Really Smart Lady to Divinely Inspired Prophet. (bwaha!) Watching this apparatchik Bloomberg talk is like watching Atlas Shrugged on TV.

To the point, which is at the top of Bloomberg's conical head, "Stand Your Ground" laws were enacted in multiple states to address the existing requirement of law that a person under attack must flee their attacker, and can only lawfully defend themselves with a weapon if he doggedly pursues them. Meaning if a guy breaks in to your house, YOU have to run outside and he has to follow you with the -provable- intent to kill you before you use a weapon on him, otherwise you're guilty of attempted murder.

The Traaaaayvon Martin shooting DOES NOT INVOLVE the "Stand Your Ground" law, because Zimmerman shot the son of a bitch while lying on his back having his head beaten against the sidewalk. If that's the case, and if as reported there are witnesses who say its true, then its a righteous shoot and it doesn't matter if Zimmerman is the biggest racist since Robert W. Byrd. Having your head beat on a sidewalk is immanent danger of death, no way around it.

Tonight is was announced that a new Special Prosecutor in Florida has charged Zimmerman with Second Degree Murder, so the Powers That Be are running scared. Unless a lot of people lied, there's not a chance in hell of proving that charge. He's going to have a stage managed Soviet show trial, he's going to get "convicted", and his "conviction" is going to be quashed on appeal. And mocked at length in the Appeal's Court decision no doubt.

Or he's going to die in jail. Or possibly both. No matter how you slice it, George Zimmerman is royally fragged. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. Sure.

On the bright side, by doing it this way the State of Florida steals the wind from Al Sharpton and Obama's sails, and very likely avoids having the city of Miami burnt to the ground by the mob.

Jus'ice, Hope and Change style.

The Phantom

Update: Welcome Five Feet of Fury fans!

Dumbest Traaaayvon! comment yet.

From Bill Cosby no less.

"We've got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch," said Mr. Cosby, whose remarks were the first he has made publicly about the case.

"Without a gun, I don't see Mr. Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself," Mr. Cosby explained. "The power-of-the-gun mentality had him unafraid to confront someone. Even police call for backup in similar situations.

"When you carry a gun, you mean to harm somebody, kill somebody," he said.

Yeah! Because a guy who waits to fire until he's on his back getting his head beat on the pavement is clearly a stone-cold killah! 

And for Heaven's sake, let's all pretend its perfectly normal and acceptable for a teenager to respond with a full on shit-kicking to a perfect stranger asking him what he's doing out at night. Because that's the real problem isn't it? It IS considered normal and acceptable by far too many people that innocent little eight year old Traaaaayvon oops I mean big hulking 17 year old gangstah Trayvon would try to smash up George Zimmerman for dissing him.

Oh, look at that, "dissing" is treated as an actual proper word by Firefox spell check. See what I mean?

HEY BILL!!! Maybe carrying a gun on Neighborhood Watch means you're afraid the cops won't come when you call them, or maybe you're afraid the robbers and drug dealers who are plaguing your neighborhood will try to kill you OVER NOTHING if you even show up on the street after dark. Ever think of that, rich man?

Whadda maroon!

The Phantom

Nuclear powered drone aircraft. Relax, its just a study... for now.

Sandia labs fingered in this breathless OHMYGAWD! piece about nuclear propulsion in drone aircraft.

American scientists have drawn up plans for a new generation of nuclear-powered drones capable of flying over remote regions of the world for months on end without refuelling.

The blueprints for the new drones, which have been developed by Sandia National Laboratories – the US government's principal nuclear research and development agency – and defence contractor Northrop Grumman, were designed to increase flying time "from days to months" while making more power available for operating equipment, according to a project summary published by Sandia.

"It's pretty terrifying prospect," said Chris Coles of Drone Wars UK, which campaigns against the increasing use of drones for both military and civilian purposes. "Drones are much less safe than other aircraft and tend to crash a lot. There is a major push by this industry to increase the use of drones and both the public and government are struggling to keep up with the implications."

I've been wondering when somebody was going to dust off all that nuclear/electric tech to run these things. The Guardian's hyperventilating aside, there's lots of good reasons to put a nuclear/electric motor on one of these things and fly it really high. Lots of bad reasons too though, there's the rub.

The Phantom

Big Brother tracking you, and has been for a while now.

The New York Times finally yawns, stretches and smells the coffee.

Law enforcement tracking of cellphones, once the province mainly of federal agents, has become a powerful and widely used surveillance tool for local police officials, with hundreds of departments, large and small, often using it aggressively with little or no court oversight, documents show.

The practice has become big business for cellphone companies, too, with a handful of carriers marketing a catalog of "surveillance fees" to police departments to determine a suspect's location, trace phone calls and texts or provide other services. Some departments log dozens of traces a month for both emergencies and routine investigations.

With cellphones ubiquitous, the police call phone tracing a valuable weapon in emergencies like child abductions and suicide calls and investigations in drug cases and murders. One police training manual describes cellphones as "the virtual biographer of our daily activities," providing a hunting ground for learning contacts and travels.

Yes my friends, tracing cell location has gone from Super Spy FBI stuff to "bored local cop screwing around with your location data" stuff. Even better, a casual and meaningless contact with a "person of interest", such as sitting one seat over from Mr. Interesting on a bus, could easily lead to Constable Plod checking your phone data just to see who you are and where you've been the last few days.

Got any parking tickets? Unpaid fines? Done any speeding lately?  Constable Plod knows who's been naughty or nice.

What to do, what to do?

Brazen it out, I say. Constable Plod can blow it out his shorts, because for now at least cell phone data is proof of nothing in court. However when that changes, as we can be quite sure it will, your only defense will be to take the battery out of the phone and stick it in a Faraday cage. Along with your ID and credit cards, because they have RFID in them as well.

Might have to go over your vehicle and make sure it isn't radiating too. For all I know they could have stuck unique identifier tags on my truck any time its been parked, or when it was built for that matter.

Time to go build/buy an RF spectrum analyzer and an RFID antenna. Ain't nothing been built can survive a determined assault with a pair of side cutters and a soldering iron. All else fails there's always the cutting torch. Or plasma. I like that one, its hot. :)

The Side Cutting Phantom