Supreme Court Gun Ruling Knocks Down DC Handgun Law

Supreme Court Gun Ruling Not
As Wide Sweeping As Many Claim

Today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court which overturned Washington D.C.‘s near total ban on hand gun possession is being hailed by many and excoriated by others.
Many are overstating the effects of this decision.
The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre and others opposed to gun regulations were ecstatic, and promised many new gun cases across the country.
Now I am no legal scholar but it seems to me the case decided against a specific law and was not a wide ranging opinion. Today’s decision comes down on the side of individual gun ownership but regardless of how it is interpreted, the amendment still allows for regulation and this decision does not change that.

The language in the second amendment has always been troublesome. It says;

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Past court rulings have recognized that there no longer is a militia and that fact cast some doubt on the interpretation of the amendment. Some claimed gun ownership would be allowed only in the context of maintaining a militia and thus was invalid. Others claimed the amendment allowed for individual gun ownership.
I would agree that the D.C. law seemed unconstitutional, it was too broad of a reach. I do not think this decision should have any effect on whether or not guns may be subject to regulation.

McCain Wants "Psychological Benefit" Of Offshore Drilling

Are John McCain’s staff people as dumb as he is? One must wonder…
Recently McCain attended a fundraiser for high rollers at the ranch of Republican Clayton Williams, the Texas oil man who ran for governor against Ann Richards. This at a time when McCain is attempting to make inroads with the disgruntled women still miffed about Hillary’s defeat.
Apparently neither McCain, his staffers, or his Texas supporters, thought it worth remembering that Williams’ losing campaign traded heavily on sexism, most notably with his now famous remark “If rape is inevitable, you might as well lay back and enjoy it!”
Now he has been calling for increased offshore drilling in U.S. coastal areas. He made this pitch in Santa Barbara, California, among other places. Apparently neither he or his staffers recalled Santa Barbara's history with oil spills.
Santa Barbara is a place that has long vehemently opposed drilling off their coast ever since the disastrous oil spill of 1969 which coated miles of pristine beaches and killed thousands of birds and other marine life.
Speaking later in Fresno, McCain said that even though the nation might take years to benefit from offshore drilling, “exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial.”
Yeah, right. Slogging through gobs of oil on the beach is a great “psychological benefit.”
I suppose if you don't live on the coast you don't care about beaches and marine life.

George Carlin; RIP

Cosmetic Surgery Foreclosure?

Bush Repeats Warnings To Iran

Bush says nothing is off the table in his opposition to Iran's Nuclear Policies. "You better watch it. I'll hit you with this ear of corn!"

GW Bush Cries "Wolf" Again!

SUV, Truck, Nameplates Loaded With Irony

It is interesting to note the nameplates on many of the SUV's and big pickup trucks that have been popular the last several years. These names invoke images of wilderness areas and places with great natural beauty. Some represent a spirit of adventure and a sense of conquering unknown territory far off the beaten track.
Of course in reality more than 80% of these behemoths never leave the pavement and do daily duties as a family car or transportation to and from work.
The irony is, of course, that the insatiable thirst for oil these vehicles help generate will have profound negative effects on the very wilderness they are named for.
Check some of them out;
Dodge Durango, Chevrolet Tracker, Ford Expedition, Mercury Mountaineer, Toyota Highlander, Land Rover Discoverey, Toyota Sequoia, Lincoln Navigator, Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, GMC Denali
...just to name a few.
When will we see an SUV named "The ANWR?"
There is one beneficial aspect of the gas price crisis, these things may soon become as extinct as the plants and creatures whose fossilized remains created most of the carbon which we now burn at such an incredible rate.

Oil On Mars?

McCain-ClintonTicket?

The speculation today has been turning to Vice Presidential picks and what will Hillary Do next?
Many seem to think the "dream ticket" of Obama-Clinton is a good idea, others do not.
How about a shocker of an idea? McCain needs to reach out to women, maybe disgruntled women? Hillary made a less than gracious speech the night Obama clinched the delegate number required for the nomination.
Could the two of them be devious enough, ambitious enough or maybe smart enough to join in a really different ticket?
...Naw!

Obama Wins!

Senator Barack Obama has made history and has clinched the Democratic nomination for the 2008 Presidential race. He breaks the mold of rich, white men which have heretofore run and heretofore served.

Dems Rules Committee Makes 'Solomonic' Decision

Hillary Clinton and her supporters continue to grasp at straws and cling to flawed logic to keep her campaign afloat at this late date in the primary season.
They are flat wrong and they are distorting the facts. This is more of the “Clintonesque” behavior that has brought us dissertations on “what the definition of ‘is’ is!”
Clinton claimed today, Sunday, June 1, 2008, that she has the lead in popular votes with 17 million votes cast thus far in the Democratic primaries. She also says she has “The highest voter total in history” in a Democratic or any other primary. She is counting Michigan and Florida’s vote. By her math Obama gets no votes in Michigan, where his name was not on the ballot and where he did not campaign, and he gets no votes from Florida where he was on the ballot but did not campaign.
She is wrong. Obama actually has 17 plus million votes from the votes that really have been cast, in the primaries that do count. Her argument is dishonest.
The Clinton camp also says she can carry the states such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania where she had overwhelming primary wins. That is also flawed logic. A Democratic primary win does not automatically translate into a win in the general election. Now this is a fact for each candidate. The fact is that strategy in the general election is a very different animal.
Because Hillary won the most votes by white, working class men overwhelmingly in the primaries by no means is an indicator that the working class as a whole will go for Hillary.
Hilllary Clinton has become, unjustifiably so, an object of scorn, ridicule and mockery in the far right media and among their followers at a level equal to, if not exceeding, the same type of strong feeling and invective aimed at husband Bill.
A letter to the editor in the local daily newspaper expressed these people’s feelings succinctly. The letter, purportedly from a terminally ill woman in her last weeks, read “Thank God I wont live long enough to see Hillary Clinton become the next President of the United States!”