VICTORY!!!

Ah yes my friends, that fragrance you smell is another small victory in the war against Statism, the people of the United States of America have reclaimed their right to keep and bear arms from the liberals.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Constitution's "right to keep and bear arms" applies nationwide as a restraint on the ability of the federal, state and local governments to substantially limit its reach. In doing so, the justices, by a narrow 5-4 margin, signaled that less severe restrictions could survive legal challenges. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court, said the Second Amendment right "applies equally to the federal government and the states." The court was split along familiar ideological lines, with five conservative-moderate justices in favor of gun rights and the four liberals, opposed.

Unfortunately this victory is rather small, all that has been done is to force federal and state legislators to admit that the Constitution means what it obviously says, that government does not have the power to infringe upon the people's right to keep and bear arms.
Still, every advance of personal freedom is welcome, so crack a cold one and toast the Supremes, five guys who can read and understand plain English.  Rare enough in this modern age.

The Phantom
 

Yes, that was an earthquake!

Well well.  We just had an EARTHQUAKE here in Southern Ontario at about 1:42pm.  I'm sitting here, and the house started shaking side to side in a north-south direction for a good minute.  D'oh!  Glad I don't live in a high-rise building, that would have been pretty frickin' scary.

Woo.  And people move -to- California?  Dang!

The Phantom

Government Policy vs. Reality

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department today demonstrates everything that is wrong, foolhardy and destructive about big government.

The federal government is shutting down the dredging that was being done to create protective sand berms in the Gulf of Mexico.The berms are meant to protect the Louisiana coastline from oil. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department has concerns about where the dredging is being done.Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, who was one of the most vocal advocates of the dredging plan, has sent a letter to President Barack Obama, pleading for the work to continue.Nungesser said the government has asked crews to move the dredging site two more miles farther off the coastline.

Not only are the O-Bots not really doing anything to suck up the oil, not only are they impeding Louisiana efforts to get out there and suck up the oil that the Feds are ignoring, now the feds are blocking berms?  Its more important to put it where Fish & Wildlife says than to get it the hell done and protect the coast?

One might almost think they were doing it on purpose.  If it were a private company, it would be safe to assume they were doing it on purpose. 

But with government, you just know this is simple stupidity.  Some Poindexter at Fish and Wildlife (who didn't make the cut to be a well paid private industry propeller head) has computed the OPTIMUM placing of the berm that makes it perfect for a wide variety of factors, most of which are political.  And it took him only three months!  The Louisiana guys started throwing a berm up in the EASIEST place as soon as the Governor got sick of waiting for the Feds and told them to go to it.  Poindexter is now throwing his weight around, insisting that his location is the one that by God shall be used, don't give a damn if a hundred tons of crude hit the shore while crews are moving and re-starting from zero what they already have half finished now.

Which is why, my friends, it is long past time to cut Poindexter's budget, remove most of that weight he's throwing around, and demote him to junior paper-pusher second class in charge of not much.

Or, time for Bobby Jindal to assert some state's rights Arizona style, and tell the Feds to piss off.  "Fire on us if you dare, monkey boy."

The Phantom

Somebody get these guys a backhoe.

Y'all may recall the first rule of politics:  When you are in a hole, stop digging

Christan Morales says her son just wanted to honor American troops when he made a hat decorated with an American flag and small plastic Army figures.

But the hat ran afoul of the district's no-weapons policy because the toy soldiers were carrying tiny weapons.

"His teacher called and said it wasn't appropriate because it had guns," Morales said.

Dear liberal educators, dig harder! 

The Phantom

Even more shut-uppery from the Obama regime.

The Federal Trade Commission is very concerned about media companies.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking ways to "reinvent" journalism, and that's a cause for concern. According to a May 28 draft proposal, the agency thinks government should be at the center of a media overhaul. The bureaucracy sees it as a problem that the Internet has introduced a wealth of information options to consumers, forcing media companies to adapt and experiment to meet changing market needs. FTC's policy staff fears this new reality.

Yas.  What they really fear is their media echo chamber is busted.  What they would like is a return to the 1970's, when the Big Three networks followed along with the DemocRat bouncing ball, everybody singing in harmony.  They'd like to tax Drudge Report out of existence, shut Rush Limbaugh the hell up, and quietly close all these random bloggers down.

We should arrange for them to be disappointed.

The Phantom

Hamilton Leftists win an "important victory"!

Yes friends, the Left in Hamilton has prevailed in an important battle with major implications for all our lives.

A controversial mouth-shaped urinal in the men's room of a downtown bar has been removed.

The sudden disappearance from The Honest Lawyer of the bathroom fixture in the shape of a wide- open mouth with glossy red lips ends a year-long campaign by community members to have it removed.

"I'm not sure what else to say except, 'Hooray,'" said Lenore Lukasik-Foss, director of the Sex Assault Centre, who spearheaded a campaign against the urinal.

Truly, I can add nothing except to say that this victory against private enterprise and private property was won with YOUR tax dollars.

[SACHA is] A member of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres & The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres - A United Way Member Agency
Supported by the Ministry of the Attorney General, Ontario Victim Services Secretariat, and the City of Hamilton

So my friends, The Phantom reminds you all to remember this great victory for the next election, next United Way fund drive, and the next time you write a letter to your alderman or MPP. 

The Phantom