August 27, 2012

SandBoxBlogs: Red State "The Fanciful Political Cross Dressing of Charlie Crist"

Erick Erickson:
"As the GOP head to Florida, the literal poster boy for trial lawyers in Florida is endorsing Obama. It is not a surprise. Charlie Crist was Barack Obama’s favorite Republican for the longest time.

They stood shoulder to shoulder in support of the stimulus.

RedState played a great role in helping beat Charlie Crist. Marco Rubio is such an improvement
But I do hope Charlie Crist gets a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention. They could use a refreshing voice such as Crist’s.

See, Charlie Crist has long maintained Todd Akin’s abortion position — no exceptions except life of the mother. Given the Democrats’ extremist “abortion on demand” position, Crist would be a refreshing recalibration for them.

Crist also has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. After a month of tragic shootings around the country, I’m sure the Democrats will do all they can to highlight their gun control agenda. Having someone on their platform who actually opposes further gun regulations would offer a more diverse opinion,

Crist has also been a long time opponent of same sex unions. As the Democrats move further and further out of the mainstream on that issue, Charlie Crist could be a great tool for grounding the convention in reality — a reality where no American state has seen its citizens support gay marriage.

Or, it could be that Charlie Crist really is a political cross dresser willing to say or do anything to advance his own agenda.

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "All roads lead to Rome"

Kathleen Parker:
"Whatever the case, the point has been made, the suggestion placed, the people have been distracted. And so it goes ... and so it went. And they conjured magic, and they took away their freedom, and the mob roared....."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."


SandBoxBlogs: Iowa Republican "Barack Obama: The Five Trillion Dollar Man"

Kevin Hall:
"He promised to cut our deficit in half. Instead, President Obama has doubled it. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the 2012 deficit will surpass $1.2 trillion. Obama has added almost as much debt as the previous 43 presidents combined.

“We’ve now had four years in a row with a president that’s built trillion dollar deficits. It’s bad economics,” GOP challenger Mitt Romney said during a rally in Bettendorf on Wednesday. “It’s the wrong course for America, and I believe it’s immoral for us to pass on our burdens to the next generation.”

Romney was speaking to a crowd of more than 1200 at LeClaire Industries. Behind him on the stage were factory employees wearing shirts that said, “Government didn’t build my business, I did.” The shirts were a swipe at Obama’s infamous “You didn’t build that” comments. LeClaire Industries owner Bob Zimmerman took exception with the president’s statement.

“Mr. President, it isn’t the government that creates jobs. It’s the people. It’s businessmen and businesswomen. And if you really want to help small business, stop the regulations and get out of our way and let us go to work,” Zimmerman said to a standing ovation from the crowd...."
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SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "God as an excuse"

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but in the presence of God no matter what the conflict.

Johnny Boyd:
"Wearing religion on your sleeve and using God’s name to perpetrate robbery on the dumb masses has been noticed. Using His name to debate social issues that were decided by wiser leaders than the yahoos we recruit today in order to divide the country doesn’t sit well.

God loves homosexuals, illegal immigrants and women just as much as your lily-white ass. God doesn’t play favorites, He doesn’t discriminate, and He will judge the self-appointed moralists. There is no “right” organized religion. God is love and unless you love all your neighbors, and do right by them, your religion is wrong.

God doesn’t want this country to refight all that crap we fought 40 years ago. It has been settled, let’s move forward. As much as God loves Mormons, He doesn’t care for hypocrites....."
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SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News: "Tipton balks at taking a position on Thompson Divide draft bill"

Dorothy Atkins:
".S. Rep. Scott Tipton is waiting to hear constituent feedback on legislation protecting the Thompson Divide before taking a position on a proposed draft bill, he said at the GOP headquarters in Aspen on Saturday.

The draft bill, introduced by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado over two weeks ago, could lead to enhanced conservation of the Thompson Divide area near Carbondale and retirement of gas-drilling leases there. The senator has posted the draft on his website and invited the public to comment in the hopes it can lead to common ground between drilling opponents and gas companies holding leases.

“As he gets public comment I’m hoping that he will be sharing some of that with us,” said Tipton, who represents Aspen and the rest of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District in Washington, adding that he isn’t familiar with the details of the draft bill. “But we’ll see what ultimately he’ll be looking at.”

The proposal would withdraw unleased minerals on public lands in the area from future lease sales, essentially protecting them from oil and gas development. It explicitly states it would preserve existing rights of gas leaseholders, but it also states the feds would, within 180 days of passage of the bill, provide “opportunity for donation, voluntary exchange, or other relinquishment of those rights for retirement.”...."
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SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Judge sets CMC-SourceGas trial for June 2013"

So good to hear that Source Gas remains remembering that the teeny tiny bit of real information, that was piled into ten million tons of disinformation by a single source that started the snowball panic attack against the much needed compressor station; is the sole source that began what has turned out to be a high loss to CMC credibility.

Bottom line is that no matter how CMC now tries to package up their retreat and attempt to market it to the public at large; they entered into a legal lease agreement that Source Gas had no reason not to trust.

At least not until the 'one ringie-dingie' campaign started up from the usual sources that sort of thing usually comes from in Glenwood Springs.

Who loses?

The land and money grabbers who started the ruckus and then threw the jet fuel of disinformation on to the flames of their creation?

Or the taxpayers who will be footing the bill for this very costly stance of CMC Trustees who caved to that pressure?

Actually, it is every student who enters the CMC campus for a number of years to come who ultimately is hurt by this incredible waste of monetary resources by the Trustees.  The taxpayers and general population of surrounding areas suffer the loss of credibility.  At least until the next election cycle when Trustees can be swept out.

Good luck to Source Gas on this and thank you to Judge James Boyd for erring on the side of fairness.  May Source prevail  in their quest for monetary damages.

John Colson:
"The judge did not dismiss the entire SourceGas suit outright, as requested by CMC, leaving open the company's ability to sue the school for monetary damages.

The company has claimed that it spent roughly $2.5 million on equipment, engineering and planning for the proposed CMC site, and that shifting to another site will entail more costs.

SourceGas attorney Timothy Knapp told the Post Independent on July 7, following Judge Boyd's previous ruling, that the company would be seeking monetary damages from the college...."
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SandBoxBlogs: Newsmax "Immigration Agents File Suit Over Obama 'Amnesty' Program"

Newsmax:
"Ten employees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are suing the Obama administration to block a new program to let many young illegal immigrants avoid deportation and get a work permit.

The suit also claims that directives from the Department of Homeland Security and its secretary, Janet Napolitano, force agents to break the law by not arresting certain illegal immigrants.
Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and an immigration adviser to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, is representing the employees. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Dallas.
The 22-page filing, which names Napolitano and ICE Director John Morton as defendants, contends that the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals plan violates federal law.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Napolitano has previously defended the plan.

The suit says the mandate "unconstitutionally usurps and encroaches upon the legislative powers of Congress."

Kobach equated the move to give thousands of illegal immigrants a reprieve to the failed Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.

"In both instances, the Obama administration ordered federal law enforcement agents to break the law, to ignore the laws that they're supposed to enforce, and, in the case of the ICE agents, to actually break federal laws that say you're supposed to deport certain people," he told Fox News."And in each case, the Obama administration seems to be doing so for political reasons."..."
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SandBoxBlogs: Denver Post "Colorado Springs sweep nets $5.6 million in drugs, 14 arrests"

Congratulations and a big thank you to all agencies who particpated in still yet another record setting drug bust.

Denver Post:
"Local, state and federal law investigators have netted 14 alleged members of an El Paso County drug-trafficking ring, seizing $5.6 million worth of marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as six vehicles and more than $150,000 in cash.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Department said the first of three drug Colorado investigations began last October. Information gathered in Colorado Springs then led to investigations in seven states and Mexico.

Those arrested were Juan Ramon Espinoza-Aldana, Javier Francisco-Jimenez, Maria Isabel Mendoza-Palacios, Guadalupe Marguez-Chavez, Ernesto Mata-Rotas, Angel Eduard Nunez-Rivera, Mario Alberto Dominguez-Orozco, Cesar Sotelo-Lopez, Jacinto Ponce-Amparo, Matias Aleman-Sanchez, Miguel Angel Gamboa-Tasso, Enrique Cuevas-Del Toro, Zakariya Angel Salazar and Leo Rios-Lucero.
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

August 26, 2012

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Inalienable Rights - Obama and his need for credit"

Charlie Leonard:
"An extraordinary “real-time e-book” was published this week.

According to the publishers, "Obama's Last Stand" follows the president's reelection campaign of President Barack Obama as it struggles to find the winning formula in a political landscape that has changed dramatically since his history-making victory in 2008.”

The book was written by a senior writer for Politico, an online news publication that's dedicated exclusively to politics and elections. It's also widely respected by Democrats and Republicans alike.

Like several insider campaign books that have been written before, the writers of “Obama's Last Stand” gained extraordinary access to the people running the president's re-election campaign. What makes this book so unique, however, is that it was published before, rather than after, Election Day.

What's more, the writers themselves seem genuinely surprised at how willing the president's men and women were to tell them, for publication, exactly what the president has said in private about his record, his opponent and the tenor of his campaign.

Most of the news coverage of the book in the last 48 hours has focused on a number of excerpts in the book where the president goes on rants with his aides about how much he personally dislikes Mitt Romney.

But the one passage that really got my attention was early on when the president was letting off steam with several of his aides about what troubles him most should he fail to be re-elected...."
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SandBoxBlogs: Denver Post "Glenwood Springs and Carbondale in search of economic development"

John Colson:
"GLENWOOD SPRINGS— —This city and the town of Carbondale are acting together but separately to come up with economic development ventures.

And the nonprofit Roaring Fork Business Resource Center is in the middle of it all.

"I've been preaching this whole regional thing forever," said Randi Lowenthal, CEO of the RFBRC, also known as the Center. She said she believes the only way towns can be successful is to work together to attract new business and tourists, and to encourage economic growth.

Her ideas have gotten a good reception from the officials in both towns.

"I think Randi's plans might offer us a chance for some tangible success," said Glenwood Springs Mayor Matt Steckler...."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Colorado Statesman "Attempts to get initiatives on ballot go by the wind"

Peter Marcus:
"Sponsors of at least five ballot proposals watched their titles expire on Monday, as they were unable to collect the necessary 86,105 signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot.

The initiatives included an effort to provide undocumented immigrants with a driver’s license, two efforts to protect the state’s water sources and two efforts to legalize recreational marijuana...."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."


SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Made to Order"

Dave Danforth:
"DA’s Wearhouse, where District Attorneys never wear out. I’m Jack,” the voice answers.

“You have a warranty department?” I ask, jumping right in. “We need a replacement.”

“What seems to be the problem?” Jack queries.

“We have a DA here named Truden, Colleen Truden,” I say. “She’s in trouble. Probably not a real scoundrel. Just Not Ready for Prime Time.”

“Truden, hmmm,” Jack notes, flipping through some pages. “Here she is. She’s almost new. You have a fresh new practicing DA and there are problems already?”

“Let’s just say we may have made a bad hire,” I say. “So, perhaps you and I could come to an understanding? Just an employment discussion. No hard feelings. You send us a new one?”...."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: SkyHi Daily "Oldham resigns post as 14th Judicial District attorney; governor appoints Barkey"

Drew Munro:
"Brett Barkey became the new district attorney for the 14th Judicial District on Monday when Gov. Jon Hickenlooper announced his appointment to be the chief prosecutor for Grand, Routt and Moffat counties.

Barkey replaces Elizabeth Oldham, whose last day was Friday, Aug. 10, according to Donna Zulian, administrator in the DA's Craig office.

Oldham announced in December that she would not run for re-election. Attempts to reach her for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.

She said in July during an informal conversation that she was resigning so she could return to the Front Range and spend less time as an administrator and more time in the courtroom.

“I gratefully accept Governor Hickenlooper's appointment as district attorney for the 14th Judicial District,” Barkey said. “It is a great honor and privilege to continue in public service in this role.

“I also want to express my profound appreciation for Elizabeth Oldham's eight years of public service to Moffat, Routt and Grand counties in the district attorney's office,” he added. “She will be greatly missed, and I wish her all the success in her new position.”

Oldham resigned to take a post in the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office, which serves Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties, according to Barkey...."
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SandBoxBlogs: Durango Herald "Bill Gates has a new loo for you"

Donna Gordon Blankenship:
"These aren’t your typical loos. One uses microwave energy to transform human waste into electricity.

Another captures urine and uses it for flushing. And still another turns excrement into charcoal.

They are part of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation competition to reinvent the toilet for the 2.5 billion people around the world who don’t have access to modern sanitation.

Scientists from around the world have taken up the challenge, and the foundation announced some projects Tuesday that will be getting more money to take their ideas from the lab to cities.

There, local entrepreneurs will use the new technology to turn pollution into cash.

“We couldn’t be happier with the response that we’ve gotten,” Bill Gates said...."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Welcome dopers"

Jeremy Madden:
"With the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in town I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all the dopers peddling through the city’s streets. While you may be scorned and scoffed at in other communities for your commitment to compete, please know that in the Aspen area you have plenty of kindred spirits.

In fact, I cannot think of a better pairing than long distance cycling and Aspen. Although you dopers might not know it, much like the sport of cycling, Aspen has quite a reputation for its drug use. Aspen and cycling go together like pot and coke, or steroids and human growth hormones....."
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SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Rainy days …"

All credit: Bob Berwyn


August 7, 2012

SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Gasland’s Josh Fox Can’t Be Bothered with Facts "

"Save a gas rig.  Vote Sonja Linman (D) for Garfield County Commissioner."

The only truly balanced voice running for John Martin's seat.

She may be blue....but she will listen to you reds out there in Garfield County.

Steve Maley:
"Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Josh Fox, he of the burning water tap, loves to scare people with the provocative word “fracking” and misleading images and claims of its potential to damage the environment, specifically groundwater.

To wit, this screenshot of a cute little animated .gif at Fox’s website gaslandthemovie.com.

It clearly depicts fractures from a horizontal gas well invading a freshwater aquifer. Scary! Now, consider the detail of that portion of the cartoon which depicts the fractures extending vertically up into the shallow water-bearing zone:....."
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SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Garfield County to pay off jail, sheriff's administration building"

Congrats to Garfield County Sheriff!  The citizens of GarCo can be proud of being debt free and accomplishing that by now owning the state-of-the-art Sheriff's annex in Rifle!

John Stroud:
"GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Garfield County commissioners will exercise the county's purchase option on the county jail and sheriff's administration building in Glenwood Springs, saving more than $2 million in future interest payments and retiring the county's long-term debt for the time being.

“It's an anomaly in government to be out of debt,” Commission Chairman John Martin said during the regular Board of County Commissioners meeting on Monday.

“Getting this done has been one of my biggest goals,” Martin added in a prepared statement issued by the county following the decision.

“We will be free of this commitment and own the jail and sheriff's office outright,” he said. “We also have addressed the concerns of any citizens who thought our fund balances were a little too high.....”
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SandBoxBlogs: CBS News "4 sophisticated drug tunnels found on border"

"(AP) TIJUANA, Mexico - Four drug smuggling tunnels equipped with lighting and ventilation — including one with a railcar system — have been discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in less than a week, the latest signs that cartels are building sophisticated passages to escape heightened detection above ground.

Three of the tunnels were incomplete, including one that the Mexican army found in a Tijuana warehouse Thursday with more than 40 tons of marijuana at the entry. The passage extended nearly 400 yards, including more than 100 yards into the United States....."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"