You are being attack! and you don't know it!

It's hunting season in America, and you know what that means! Your
sons and daughters will be asking why all the men in your family are
killing Santa's reindeer. (Have fun explaining that one!) But that's
not the worst of it; it's also that time of the year when more idiots
with guns injure and kill themselves and other people.

But this season really started out with a bang, as far as crazy gun
stories go. There were two big stories that didn't involve hunters
(well, the guys that owned the guns might have enjoyed hunting; we
just don't know). First there was the child who was killed while trick
or treating. He, his brother, and his father were all shot on the
doorstep of some psycho who "thought they might be robbers". His
father and brother survived, but he did not.

Then we have the story of the 8-year-old boy that shot and killed his
father and another man, likely out of anger. The boy obviously had
been taught how to use a gun, but didn't quite understand the
repercussions of doing so on another human being. The boy's fate is
still undecided.

And now for the hunting tales of woe. Last year there was a story of a
hunter whose dog shot him in the rear (the dog stepped on the trigger
of the gun). At least someone got what he deserved! Recently a hunter
killed a toddler. She was sitting in her grandparent's house when a
bullet ripped through the wall of the trailer and killed her. Another
man killed his 6-year-old daughter while cleaning his gun, and back in
July, a man killed his pregnant wife doing the same thing. In Idaho a
man was shot and killed by a member of his own hunting party who
mistook him for an elk, and another hunter in Michigan was killed in a
deer blind by a woman who was aiming at a deer. I could really go on
and on with these terrible stories, but the liberal media churns
plenty of them out for you to enjoy every day. (Charlton Heston is
rolling over in his grave.)

I know Americans enjoy their guns, but growing up with a father who
took sadistic pleasure in hunting down and killing the best of the
best bull elk around the country made me realize that many people
don't hunt because they enjoy the meat; they do it because they like
killing things- really big things, and I definitely cannot condone the
practice of trying to kill the biggest, strongest bull or buck with
the best genes, because these are the males that ensure that their
species will continue to be healthy and thrive. By killing them off,
we're weakening the gene pool and the entire population of wild game.
But that's just the half of it.

If people are going to continue to use guns in the irresponsible way
that they are, they shouldn't be allowed to have them. The whole
purpose of guns is to kill, after all, and people seem to be doing a
good job of using them for this purpose, often on the innocent and
their own family members. But I know Americans won't stop clinging to
their guns anytime soon.

As long as we live in a society where people enjoy killing, love
playing violent video games and watching violent movies, and treat
their guns as toys, the liberal media will continue to report stories
like these, and your second amendment right will continue to be under
attack.

New EPA CO2 Emissions

No industry succeeds for very long by sticking to old technologies and processes. Sure it's easier in the short term to use the old ways and to shun investment in new technologies, but in the long run, whether it's coal, cars, or computers, it is a sure-fire recipe for obsolescence. Although the new ruling puts a temporary halt to the construction of new coal-fired power plants, until the proper rules and carbon-sequestering technologies can be developed, it does not reduce the current demand for coal by a single lump. The executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, Marion Loomis, put it this way in a statement to the Associated Press, published by MSN's Moneycentral.com, "We're not selling to plants that aren't constructed, so the utilities that are taking Wyoming coal are... plants that are operating." The coal industry has nothing to fear from this ruling, and everything to gain.

What the New EPA CO2 Emissions Ruling Means

In order for a new coal-fired power plant to win approval, several things will need to happen. The EPA will need to develop specific rules about the acceptable limits for CO2 emissions, technology for reducing CO2 emissions to those levels must be identified or developed, and the proposed new plants will need to incorporate that best available technology to reduce CO2 emissions. It is thought that such a plan would involve the capture and storage of CO2, perhaps sequestering it underground where it would not contribute to global warming. With the current cost of alternative forms of energy, there is a strong incentive for power generators to solve these problems and develop the technologies that will restore coal, specifically clean coal, as the clear favorite energy source, not only of America, but of the world. In any case, it is now highly unlikely that any new permits could be issued before the incoming Obama administration takes control of the White House and environmental policy.

EPA CO2 Ruling is a Victory for American Business
Instead of ignoring the CO2 problem and helping power generators to ignore the pent up latent demand for clean coal technologies, the new ruling gives American entrepreneurs, be they big or small, a swift kick in the right direction. Since this country was founded, American ingenuity has been the strength and engine of our economy. We have never moved ahead by stonewalling innovation. The EPA CO2 ruling gives America the opportunity and incentive to become the world leader in the development of clean coal and carbon sequestration technologies. These are going to be huge growth industries over the next decades. America can and should be developing these technologies not only for our own next generation coal-fired power plants, but for the rest of the world as well.

Clearing the Road to America's Future

Coal-fired power plants are dramatically cheaper than nuclear power plants. By making these coal-fired power plants clean and removing the objection of unrestrained CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, the road can be cleared for the next step in reducing our dependence upon foreign oil. With abundant coal-fired power, we would have a cost-effective and American fuel source for our next generation of electric cars that will also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently coal-fired power plants are responsible for about 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions produced in the United States each year according to a report in Time magazine.

Disney Obama?

After his win in the United States presidential election, President-elect Barack Obama may not only be headed to the White House, but to Disneyland as well.

Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) wants to bring an Obama robot to the return of the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction at Disneyland, according to MiceAge.com.

If Tony Baxter, Senior Vice President of Creative Development at WDI, gets his way, a robotic Obama will move into the Main Street, U.S.A. Opera House of the Disney theme park in Anaheim, California. The robot, known as an Audio-Animatronic (AA), would join previous U.S. presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

"Piggybacking on the work now going on to eventually revamp Walt Disney World's (WDW) impressive Hall of Presidents animatronic attraction, WDI now wants to create a condensed version of that new show for Disneyland," Al Lutz of MiceAge.com explained. "But instead of going through the entire parade of silent nodding rubber presidents like WDW does, George Washington would then cut to the chase and introduce the current president, which would be Barack Obama when the attraction opens prior to [Disneyland's] 55th anniversary."

"President-elect Obama's animatronic would say a few well-scripted words, and the show would end with the requisite stirring music and gushing patriotic pride."

News of an Obama AA coming to Disneyland has generated mixed reactions.

"I would hold off any Obama AA until history can provide a better idea of what kind of president he actually becomes," one reader said. "As with postage stamps and currency, let's stick presidents that have passed away."

Another reader disagreed. "Main Street isn't really about 1910 small town America as it is really about the positive feelings in America at that time combined with good feelings of no worries. Obama represents that hope."