MALL SHOOTING

Robert Hawkins, the 19-year-old shooter who killed eight people at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska - and then (thankfully) killed himself - is being described this morning as mentally unstable. His landlord says he was recently fired from his job at McDonalds. He left a suicide note saying that he was going to be famous.

The anti-gun people are almost certainly going to jump on this as an example of why we need more gun control. What these anti-Second Amendment types will never be able to explain to you is how they propose to get the guns out of the hands of criminals and people like Robert Hawkins.

The truth is that there was really no way to keep a gun out of the hands of this nut job. The only real hope those people had when Hawkins walked into the mall was that there would be someone else there with a gun capable of stopping him. That would have been a security guard or a private citizen with a concealed weapons permit and his gun.

I'm wondering today if the Westroads Mall had a policy of prohibiting people with carry permits from carrying their weapons into the mall, or if there was something in Nebraska's laws that prohibited same. We'll try to find out today.

SNOW IN NORTH DAKOTA

Where's OwlGore now? Mysteriously absent to answer any questions about record snowfall. The National Weather Service reports that Grand Forks airport received 8.1 inches of snow the other day. That set a record for that date. And Fargo also set a record with 5.9 inches. The previous record was set back in 1926 ... less than ten year before the hottest year on record, 1934. And it's only going to get colder for folks in North Dakota with temperatures dropping into the teens, and in some regions it is going to drop below zero.

All of this global warming is getting on my nerves.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS SUE

Environmentalists just can't seem to make up their minds. First they cry "global warming" and want to use the government to force businesses to come up with alternative energy measures. And then when a company comes along to offer a solution - in this case it is wind farms - the environmentalists are still complaining ... the wind farms can't be built because it might endanger some icky salamanders on that land; you can't destroy it you greedy capitalist!

Well in this case, the King Ranch and a coalition of environmental groups are suing Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. Why?? Because the environmentalists want to require an "extensive environmental review and public comment" on two wind power projects that are being planned along the Gulf Coast.

The lawsuits will most assuredly delay, and maybe even stop, the two wind projects, which would place 600 turbines on 60,000 acres of land.

Remember ... for many of the most vocal environmentalists .. it isn't about the environment. It's about attacking capitalism.

POLICE CHAPLAINS

In Spokane, Washington crosses will be removed from badges worn by chaplains. They will be removed after a former Lutheran pastor sued the government because of its use of the insignias and Christian prayers. Lawyers for Pastor Ray Ideus, who brought the suit, will also receive $1,000. One last note about Ray Ideus ... he is now an atheist.

The chaplains' badges used to have the city of Spokane seal and a Christian/Latin cross. Ideus says that they have to take the cross off because "it's not a Christian police department." Chaplains will be able to wear lapel wins with whatever symbols they wish.

LATEST CONTRIBUTOR TO GLOBAL WARMING

Your computer may be targeted as the next evil pollutant that is contributing to climate change. Every time you look at your computer screen, a child in some poor country is swallowed by the rising sea level.

According to the English environmental organization called Global Action Plan, the Information and Computer Technology industry is about to surpass the aviation industry in annual carbon dioxide emissions. Apparently a medium-sized server has the same annual carbon footprint of an SUV with 15 miles to the gallon.

Just gag me.

MUSLIM TERRORISTS ON BBC

In Britain, a news report shows that the BBC funded a paintballing trip for Islamic terrorists and also failed to pass on information about their paintballing buddies to the police after the attacks.

The BBC paid a man by the name of Mohammed Hamid $600 to appear in a BBC program called "Don't Panic, I'm Islamic." It aired in June of 2005. Less than one month later, Hamid and his buddies were involved in a failed attack on London's subway system. Hamid, an Islamic preacher, has been charged with overseeing a two-year radicalization program to prepared British Muslim youth for jihad ... clearly the BBC failed to do a very necessary background check.

So not only did they pay for this man to do a documentary, but they took him and his fellow defendants, Muhammad al-Figari and Mousa Brown, on a paintballing trip back in February of 2005 while filming. The producer of "Don't Panic, I'm Islamic" is Phil Rees. He says he was impressed with Mr. Hamid's sense of humor and calls Hamid a "Cockney comic." Not surprisingly, Rees now works for al Jazeera TV and gave Mr. Hamid a copy of his book "Dining with Terrorists."

But it gets worse, folks. Not only did these characters make a documentary about how innocent Islam is, using Islamic terrorists. Not only did the British taxpayers not only paid for Mr. Hamid to appear in the documentary, but they also paid for him and his cronies to go paintballing. But after the July 2005 attack, a researcher on the program was contacted by Mr. Hamid. He proceeded to tell the researcher of his association with the bombers. So what did this woman do? Call the police? No. She said she felt no obligation to contact the police with this information. She simply passed it on to her BBC managers who did absolutely nothing with the information.

IMMIGRANT UNITS

New York City is flaunting its status as the ultimate sanctuary city. Illegal immigrants in Manhattan now have a place to turn if they are the victims of a crime. A new Immigrant Unit, created by District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, was created to address issues that confront immigrants, without fear of being arrested and deported. Morgenthau says he handles 110,000 cases a year and one-third of them involve people who do not speak English. No telling how much of legal taxpayer money will go towards staffing the unit and representing illegal aliens.

FIRST SANTA VICTIM

A few weeks ago I told you about Santas in Australia who are being forced to say "ha ha ha" instead of "ho ho ho" because it is offensive to women. Well John Oakes is 70 years old. He has been a Santa for 10 years. On Monday he was fired for saying "ho ho ho" and singing Jingle Bells. He worked at Cairns department store in Northern Australia. He was asked to speak to the manager at the end of his shift where he was told that his services will no longer be required because he said "ho ho ho" and "that's not appropriate."

Sigh.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Nothing says class like tattooing your "requirements" on your inner thigh. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Iran's Ahmadinejad is declaring "victory" in light of the latest reports on his nuclear program. Something tells me we are going to really come to regret this so-called National Intelligence Estimate in the not-too-distant future.

Today President Bush is expected to outline a plan to freeze mortgage rates for five years for many U.S. homeowners. I wonder what this is going to cost the taxpayers.

Apparently the U.N. is refusing press badges to news agencies that express skepticism of global warming.

This character didn't "quit." He was FIRED. Told to go away because he got caught.

One Italian politician sure found a way to turn some heads. He suggested that immigrants be treated with the same severity that the Nazis used when they occupied Italy.

The LATimes is seriously entertaining the idea of making sure our presidents have healthy brains.

More good news from Iraq. Students are now holding bike races in Fallujah, which would have been unimaginable before the "non-effective" troop surge.

The hospital in Great Britain is defending its decision to turn Muslim patients' beds towards Mecca five times a day so they can pray. And I was right about another thing ... the nurses also have to provide bathing water for pre-prayer ablutions.

Another sad story about a blind woman who was refused cab service in Canada because she had a seeing-eye dog. A bystander at the airport eventually took the woman and her dog to town. Muslim cab driver? Read it and find out.

The Oregon AFL-CIO has developed a new method to keep lawmakers on a tighter leash ... as if they weren't on one already.

Brian Williams has nominated "Mother Earth" for Times' title of Person of the Year.

Do you remember the story a few months ago where a police officer (a woman) in Florida went to save a one-year-old boy from drowning in the family pool ... and then the officer sued the family because she slipped and fell. Well she has now been fired.

Hey Atlanta Listeners - Win Five Free Tanks of Gas??? Clark Howard has THOUSANDS of free gallons of gas left to giveaway! How to register & win 100 Gallons (or more!) of gas

Don't cops in New York City have anything better to do than to go around planting fake wallets and shopping bags and then arresting people if they pick them up or touch them?

Greenpeace is upset because someone has crashed their whale naming competition ... and put the name "Mr. Splashy Pants" way in the lead.

A porn star/politician is auctioning off her autographed, recently removed breast implants for charity. Her implants, you'll be happy to know, have been replaced with BIGGER implants ... you'll have to read the article to find out the size of her new fun bags.

And now for some liberal monkeying around ... they are just "dieing" to save the trees.

Subject:Somebody's Gotta Say it
Name:Carl Campbell

Message:
Just wanted to say that your latest book is the best book I have read in a long time. I don't always agree with you, but have to really examine my position on things when our opinions differ after you lay out your reasoning. Thanks for making me stretch my brain, and keep up the good work.

By the way, I don't blame you for not wanting to run for president but this country needs someone who is not afraid to do what is best regardless of the offenses that it would cause so long is it made America better. You could be the shot in the arm that this country so desperately needs.

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