Foretaste of the future

Campaigns are supposed to give us an idea how a candidate might govern.

In the sane way, a convention might give us a foretaste of how a dominant political party would run the nation.

I’ll be generous and assume the Democrats will fix their little civil rights/voting rights problem and find a way to let Florida and Michigan participate. I’ll also assume they will deal with the popular vote problem - you know the argument about Gore. They said he won the popular vote so he should be president. Will the Dems still feel that way when Hillary wins the primary popular vote?

So, if the Dems are in charge, what’s next?

Welcome to the Nanny State Convention

Fried foods are forbidden at the committee's 22 or so events, as is liquid served in individual plastic containers. Plates must be reusable, like china, recyclable or compostable. The food should be local, organic or both.

And caterers must provide foods in "at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white," garnishes not included, according to a Request for Proposals, or RFP, distributed last week.

Caterers praise the committee and the city for their green ambitions, but some say they're baffled by parts of the RFP.

"I think it's a great idea for our community and our environment. The question is, how practical is it?" asks Nick Agro, the owner of Whirled Peas Catering in Commerce City. "We all want to source locally, but we're in Colorado. The growing season is short. It's dry here. And I question the feasibility of that."

I can hardly wait for my mandatory, government-approved, organic, all-natural, blue, hot dish. I’m sure it will be attractively served on a soggy, but compostable, plate. No doubt, the wholly recyclable pressed starch flatware sporks will be almost useable.

Agro's biggest worry is price. Using organic and local products hikes the costs.
"There is going to be sticker shock when those bids start coming in…"

The Dems never think about money, it's so easy to spend other peoples money.

Organizers are hoping that everything they do for greening of the convention has some lasting effect. They are determined to transform Denver into a green city. Who's next?

Secret Knowledge

I think you will like this from Dave Johnston.

EXCLUSIVE: Secret Common Sense Knowledge Revealed

Praying the atheists go away

Here we go again.

Atheists want council to end its invocations

Several members of the Western Colorado Atheists have asked the council to eliminate the invocation, arguing the prayers violate the First Amendment and make residents who don’t subscribe to any religious belief feel unwelcome.

“We do feel excluded and marginalized. We wonder who else out there is feeling excluded and marginalized,” said Anne Landman...

If it were only true - that a short prayer would make these pests feel marginalized and excluded - I would give the invocation myself.

Aren’t we all tired of these easily offended bozos? Don’t they realize they offend the rest of us?

Realize this: All systems of knowledge are belief systems. Scientists believe that the world can be understood through empirical data collection. Science is useful, it works pretty well, but there is no guarantee that absolute truth is discovered.

Some systems use empirical evidence. Some systems depend on revealed knowledge. Some systems depend on intuition. I think all three have a place.

Atheists cannot prove there is no God. They only believe there is no God. They are trapped in their own whine - they are believers too.

Note that a Councilmember does not give the invocation. Note that the top of the agenda always includes a time for citizen comments.

Would these easily-offended atheists try and prevent a private citizen from making a religious statement at a public forum? That is what they are doing. And a citizen's right to speak on public property (even if he is a minister, and even if the topic is religious) is constitutionally protected.

If the issue is that important to them, they have the perfectly legal option of making an "atheist statement" at the beginning of each meeting. Of course, they would have to attend every meeting to do that, and I doubt if the issue is really that important to them.

Ken Salazar - Reckless spending and proud of it.

Ken Salazar, the freshman senator from Colorado, continues to be a major disappointment. He sent out a letter touting his role in the monstrously bad farm bill.

He talks the big tough independent game. He votes like a lapdog of the Democratic leadership. Is there is even one instance of Salazar standing up to his Democratic Overlords and voting for the people of Colorado instead of voting to further Washington’s liberal agenda?

It’s true that the Republicans wasted money like drunken crack-heads. When the Democrats said they could “do it better” did you think they meant waste money even better than the Republicans?

Sen Salazar - Proud of wasting tax money on a grand new scale:

Strong, Smart Farm Bill Benefits Us All
After several years of work and months of negotiations, I am pleased to announce that Congress has passed – by overwhelming bipartisan and veto-proof margins – the 2008 Farm Bill, which opens a new chapter of opportunity for rural America.

More opinion

Sentinel

The $300 billion boondoggle will result in more — a lot more — taxpayer money going to very wealthy farmers, those same farmers who are benefitting from record high commodity prices. All this while consumers are watching grocery prices skyrocket.

Examiner Editorial: Pigs in the trough on Capitol Hill

Pathetic. Craven. Irresponsible. Unprincipled. Those and similar adjectives apply to every member of Congress who voted for the bloated, anti-consumer piece of legislative corruption known as the Food and Energy Conservative Act of 2008 a k a as “the farm bill.” President Bush has promised to veto the bill. To put it plainly, everybody in Congress who votes to override the coming Bush veto should be retired come November because they will have voted for a measure that is nothing more -- or less -- than a $300 billion giveaway of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. This is especially true for conservative Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who brag about their fiscal rectitude.

Big landowners, farmers and ranchers benefit from this boondoggle. Shouldn't the Salazars brothers be upfront with just how they will benefit from this bill?

Like, I mean - You know?

County Commissioner Candidates

There were a couple items in the news recently that prompted questions of the commissioners candidates. That’s a good thing. We need to know a lot about the candidates before the next election.

Sentinel web story:Should Mesa County tell property owners to clean up their act?

"County Commissioners Janet Rowland and Steve Acquafresca say yes. County
Commissioner Craig Meis says no."

The print edition of the newspaper also included answers from other candidates. Robinson was a strong "yes".

Dave Kearsley hadn't thought about the issue and declined to answer the question. Doody seemed to be against it.

I like the fact that there are some clear cut differences shaping up between Meis and Robinson.

I also think the community should be very wary of being too proactive with the idea of code enforcement. What starts out as good ideas soon ends with nanny-like enforcers hassling about everything. It has happened in other communities.

The awful secret, the hard truth, is that virtually everyone is out of compliance somewhere. Some shed, some fence, some minor addition, has violated the rules. The planning and zoning rules are so long, and so involved that they are inevitably contradictory.


In a second story titled Drilling good for wildlife? , the topic of drill pads and wildlife habitat came up. Two quotes stood out for me.

“In essence that is what these well pads are doing is creating wildlife habitat,” Meis said, referring to actively producing wells. “I have been on many well pads, many times, and there are deer and elk all over them.”

“I would positively say that is the most ridiculous perspective that I have ever heard,” said Democrat Dan Robinson, who is challenging Meis for his District 1 seat on the commission. “Why would anyone think that the presence of a drilling rig is attractive to a herd of elk or deer? It tells me that someone has their perspectives skewed by other interests.”

Robinson is a former member of the school board that gave a million dollars to Mesa State College so I really doubt that's "the most ridiculous perspective that he ever heard”. Mr. Robinson is a lawyer who has attended many Democrat Party functions so I'll bet he's heard some doozies when it comes to fanciful propositions.

I don't know who is right here. I do know that some human activities do create habitat and increase biodiversity. We get to thinking that all human activities are bad, but both beaver ponds and Blue Mesa increased habitat.

In fact, people build bass habitat out of old trees and and tires placed into ponds. I know it runs counter to holy ecological thought, but the little bass like a bit of made-made junk in the pond. It provides breeding space. Reefbuilders use old concrete and derelict ships to build artificial coral reefs.

Strange reaction

Democrats are flapping around hyperventilating like a maiden aunt who just heard the word “hell“. President Bush spoke some strong words. Kind of makes you wonder just how the Obamamessiah will actually have the fortitude to be able to talk to the bad guys.

I wonder why the strong language of our enemies doesn’t upset them so much. Read these three statements made on the occasion of Israel's anniversary, and guess which one would upset the Democrats the most.

“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Mr. Bush said, in a speech otherwise devoted to spotlighting Israel’s friendship with the United States.
“We have an obligation,” he continued, “to call this what it is: the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.” President Bush

"We will continue, God permitting, the fight against the Israelis and their
allies and will not give up a single inch of Palestine as long as there is one
true Muslim on earth.
The Palestinian cause is the major issue for my [Islamic] nation. It was an important element in fueling me from the beginning and the 19 others with a great motive to fight for those subjected to injustice and the oppressed,” Osama bin Laden

“The Zionist (Israeli) regime is dying, the criminals assume that by holding celebrations ... they can save the sinister Zionist regime from death and annihilation. Nations of the region hate this criminal fabricated regime (Israel) and will uproot this fabricated regime if the smallest and shortest opportunity is given to them," Ahmadinejad