SandBoxBlogs: Iowa Republican "Kevin’s Korner: My Last Election, Fisching for Delegates and Darth Cheney"

Kevin Hall:
"Greetings and welcome to Kevin’s Korner … Happy April Fool’s Day. No tricks or traps here … Just sitting back and enjoying some pink slime. We would be honored if you would join us.

The ObamaCare hearings at the Supreme Court seemed to go very well for those of us who don’t believe in the government taking over our lives … Just three words of sage advice, to quote a wise man: Don’t get cocky … We won’t know until June how the vote will go. And the justices can still change their minds before then.

Meanwhile, our wonderful awful president is caught telling a Russian dictator he can cut a better deal after November since this will be his “last election” … Translation: “Once I’m no longer held accountable by voters, I can dictate whatever I want.” … The U.S. has an insurmountable lead in missile defense technology over the Russians, but Barack would gladly abandon that. After all, Vladimir Putin is so trustworthy...."

(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: LA Times "Democrats give special interests a role at convention"

Matea Gold:
"Organizers have found ways to skirt their own rules and give corporations and lobbyists a presence at the national event in September. The situation reflects President Obama's difficulties in delivering on a vow to limit the influence of money in politics...." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Town Hall "And They Wonder Why Voters Are Angry"

We couldn't agree more that the 2012 Presidential election is shaping up to be a choice between the lesser of two evils.

Which is the last thing America needs right now.  What we needed was true leadership.

Vote anyone  but Barack Obama.  At least get us that far.

Scott Rasmussen:
"As Mitt Romney assumes the role of presumptive Republican nominee, polls suggest a competitive general election matchup between the former Massachusetts governor and President Obama. Typically, both candidates poll in the mid-40s, while 10 to 12 percent remain uncommitted to either side.

Among these uncommitted voters, Rasmussen Reports polling shows that just 22 percent approve of the way the president is handling his job. Seventy-two percent (72 percent) disapprove. As for intensity, just 2 percent strongly approve, and 40 percent strongly disapprove.

At first glance, this seems like good news for Romney. These uncommitted voters will be difficult for the president to win over. But it raises another question: If these uncommitted voters are so unhappy with the president, why aren't they already Romney supporters?

The data suggest that voters are less than thrilled with the choices they'll have in November. The lack of enthusiasm for Romney among GOP voters has been well documented. Among Democrats, enthusiasm for their candidate is noticeably down, as well. Among young voters, for example, just 20 percent strongly approve of the job the president is doing.

Most young voters, of course, will still end up voting for the president just as most disgruntled Republicans will end up voting for Romney. But neither candidate connects well with white working-class voters. Romney has struggled to win over these voters in his primary contests, and Obama lost them to Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries. For many, Election 2012 is shaping up to be another choice between the lesser of two evils...." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Sister Toldjah "De Tocqueville foresaw Obama and the Progressive State"

'Phineas':
"My friend Michael Ledeen has a great essay at PJMedia arguing that Obama’s shocking remarks about the Supreme Court and his apparent questioning of judicial review the other day had nothing really to do with the Constitution, since it was all just politics to him, as his walk-back the next day and Eric Holder’s essay for 5th Circuit Court of Appeals showed.

What it was really about, Michael says, was power...." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Accuracy in Media "Obama Gives Coal Miners the Shaft "

Cliff Kincaid:
"The notion that President Obama is trying to fire up his “base,” as he prepares for a re-election campaign, raises the question of what constitutes his base. It is becoming increasingly clear that the “workers” he is supposedly concerned about are going to be dismissed or ignored so that wealthy environmental groups can be accommodated.

Consider the words of Cecil Roberts, president of the powerful United Mine Workers, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, after EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson made a ruling against coal plants. “The Navy SEALs shot Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and Lisa Jackson shot us in Washington,” Roberts said. Those who missed the news about Jackson shutting down coal plants through executive branch rules and regulations may have been unprepared for the Roberts assault. It was a big story for the media but framed in a way that played down the significance of what is taking place....." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: The Daily Pamphlet "The President of Non-Specifics"

David Pring-Mill:
"...Obama characterizes other politicians as having “three-point plans for two-dollar gas: drill, drill, and drill some more.” And in an ideal situation crafted to Obama’s political preferences, we could immediately switch to alternative energy and he wouldn’t have to worry about disappointing the environmentalists whose votes he needs for reelection. But in the necessitated interim, perhaps it’s better to make temporary environmental compromises than it is to remain in business with Middle Eastern dictators whose beliefs and regimes are antithetical to American values. Instead of contorting our foreign policy and watching gas prices rise, let’s tell dictators to take a hike. Let’s expand U.S. drilling significantly enough to independently enable a realistic transition to alternative energy. Obama has expanded drilling, but not to the required extent. If the history of human progress is any indicator, energy research will plod forward, and out of that process, the next Tesla will emerge with an invention that will eclipse the methods detailed in Obama’s all-of-the-above strategy – but until then, our nation must be prepared and self-reliant.

President Obama’s argument is intellectually dishonest in that it dually misrepresents our national oil resources – (there are 1,442 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil) – and misrepresents the readiness and viability of so-called alternative energy. A half-billion dollar loan from the federal government to Solyndra certainly didn’t produce results.[3] There is a very pernicious edge to government’s eagerness to find and facilitate an alternative energy solution. For instance, government policies of industrialized nations promoted and subsidized bio-fuels. This caused the deaths of nearly two hundred thousand people.[4] Expanded demand for grain harvest increased food prices globally, which resulted in mass starvation amongst the poor.[5] And the U.S. alone spent more than $20 billion on ethanol subsidies.[6]

Barack Obama’s willingness to ignore factual realities and over promise a swift, idealistic solution is reminiscent of past behavior. When he was running for President, Obama said that he would immediately shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, even though doing so struck others as logistically infeasible. It’s now 2012, and Gitmo is still there. “President Obama is still trying to shut down Gitmo as soon as possible, it’s just turning out that it’s not possible,” said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi.[7] This statement is an inadvertent riddle – if someone is trying to do something as soon as possible but they know that it is impossible, what is their ETA on completion?

This is a president who relies upon ambiguity to ingratiate himself with the electorate, routinely offering the semblance of solutions to worsening and very real problems. Barack Obama won election in 2008 after his campaign relentlessly emphasized the non-specifics of “hope” and “change.” After his 2011 State of the Union, Obama was criticized for failing to offer a specific and comprehensive plan for debt reduction.[8] In his 2012 State of the Union address, he utilized more nonspecific rhetoric while seemingly courting centrist and independent voters who have been drawn towards the libertarian ideals being espoused in the GOP primary. The President said, “I’ve ordered federal agencies to get rid of regulations that don’t make sense.” I’ll give the President some credit here – not literal financial credit, of course, given the economic precedent – and assume that this statement was a rhetorical oversimplification of his actual directives. The President’s rhetoric deliberately averts the mention of concrete objectives that, if specified, may have to be pursued...."
(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Great Plains Examiner "Mining the ‘inexhaustible’ source of lignite coal"

Steve Hoffbeck:
"Keeping a home toasty warm brings hefty mid-winter heating bills to the residents of Bismarck-Mandan. But there was a time in our state’s history when people thought there would be enough lignite coal underfoot to provide cheap fuel for hundreds of years.

For pioneers, the heating salvation first came from the forests of trees along the waterways. Enterprising people in Bismarck cut and sold firewood for use in steamboats and for heating homes in the earliest days of the settlement...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Colorado Springs Independent "Stranger than fiction "

Orthographic outrage:

"When some parents objected to a school menu in Methuen, Mass., that offered "KKK Chicken Tenders," the Methuen Public School's Nutrition Department said "KKK" stood for "Crispy, Crunchy Chicken," with the C's swapped for K's. Informed that "KKK" was offensive, a department official said the menu wouldn't be reprinted, but the entry was changed on the school's website to "Krispy, Krunchy Chicken." A parent who'd complained, complained again, saying, "If they're teaching our kids to spell correctly, it should be 'CCC.'" (Boston's WCVB-TV)"

(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "Why shouldn’t Mexico compensate us for illegal aliens?"

John Hawkins:
"One of the dirty little secrets on our southern border is that Mexico actually encourages its citizens to come here illegally. Not only does Mexico refuse to work with us to secure its side of the border, it’s actually put out comic books explaining to its citizens how to cross into our country illegally. To a barely functional, exploitive nation like Mexico, this is a win/win situation. The illegals who come to the United States send billions back home every year, plus Mexico uses them and their families in the States as a political wedge to try to manipulate our political process in its favor.

That may be all well and good for Mexico, but it’s an expensive proposition for the American taxpayers. So, why not ask Mexico to pay the bills for its own citizens?..."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Eagle County Times "Cordillera Litigation Update – April 6th 2012"

Clayton Moore:
"What’s going on with the (now) Class Action Lawsuit involving the Wilhelm Family Partnership and the members of the Cordillera Golf Club?

Well…it was NOT a good day, yesterday, in Federal Court – for the cause of the Wilhelm Family Partnership.

The WFP filed just weeks earlier to move the case to Federal Court (after the lawsuit attained Class Action Status) – that status achieved by a previous ruling from District Court Judge Fred Gannett.  The Plaintiff’s in this case (Golf Course Members, et al) filed with District Court – to get Class Action status.  (Click Here)

Yesterday the ruling from Federal Court was handed down.  The WFP’s attempt to move their Case to Federal Court was rejected by the Ruling of Judge William J. Martinez – a U.S. District Judge.  (Click Here)  This case is now back in the hands of District Court and Judge Fred Gannett...."

(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Steamboat brothers appear in court on heroin charges"

Matt Stensland:
"Steamboat Springs — A preliminary hearing Wednesday and Thursday and recently unsealed documents reveal what police say led to the arrests of two Steamboat Springs brothers accused of dealing heroin. Both men now face a combined 17 felony charges.

Police began their six-week investigation into Jordan Persons, 19, and Elijah Persons, 21, using a confidential source previously arrested on drug-related charges by the Steamboat Springs Police Department. The source then began working with the All Crimes Enforcement Team drug task force...."

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: CBS Denver 4 "Officials Adjust Policy After Man Tries To Pay $160 Ticket In Change"

"Newcomer says city officials thought it over once they found out about the situation and said they now plan to ditch the coin policy. They are working on a plan to borrow the coin counting machine used by the parking services department.

“Although it’s rare that people come in and want to pay with a large amount of loose coins, we want to find a way for people to do that,” Newcomer said.

Ted was finally able to pay his ticket online using his financial aid reimbursement card. He says he’s happy to hear of the change the city plans to make.

“Hopefully more people that are broke like me can pay with their pocket change,” he said...."

(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Pueblo Chieftain "Adult charges against juvies put in judges' hands "

Patrick Malone:
"DENVER — Juveniles will get court hearings in most cases before being charged with crimes as adults, if Gov. John Hickenlooper is on board.
On Thursday, the Colorado Senate gave final approval to a Pueblo lawmaker’s bill that limits prosecutors’ authority to directly file adult charges against juveniles.
A 22-13 vote passing the measure followed hours of debate and failed attempts to amend HB1271, sponsored by Sens. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, and Tim Neville, R-Littleton.

Giron characterized the bill as a step to assure that decisions that can set the course for the rest of a young person’s life are appropriate..."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Half truths and whole lies"

A special thank you goes out to Ken Neubecker of Carbondale for once again his voice of reason alongside his courage to speak in a manner that the apparent deaf just might hear.  The folks think that's called "effective communication".

Ken Neubecker:
"I would like to dispel another mean-spirited rumor. Neither I, nor anyone I know, is on the payroll of any particular wealthy individual. There is no imaginary puppet master pulling the strings of hydro plant opponents.

Most of the people opposing the project are long-term, even lifelong, full-time, hard working residents of Aspen who simply care deeply about these two streams. Many of us initially thought if anyone could do hydro right it would be Aspen. When we started looking more deeply and asking questions we ran into a wall of deceptions. It was very disheartening, and still is. There is nothing new or precedent setting in this ill-conceived project. It’s just another costly and destructive 19th century hydroelectric project. Aspen is hardly being a leader; in fact it is doing the opposite.

Let’s return to an open, civil discussion of the whole and real facts, in a true context of the situation. Deliberate distortions, paranoia and baseless fear mongering do nothing to further the goals of truly green renewable energy that we all share...."  (Read the rest of the letter?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Lottery conservation funds being eyed by veterans’ advocates"

Of course they are.

Open space, parks and rec has been hooked up to the cash cow of lottery and gaming proceeds with zero competition for those funds.

Sinking millions of dollars into one special interest, Colorado would be much better served to follow the lead of other states in the union.

Consolidate all gaming proceeds into one kitty and then divide that up between Parks-Rec-Open Space, K-12 public education, law enforcement and public safety, road and bridge and human services.

It's called fairness and equal sharing  amongst public need entities  rather than the current greed-mongering from Parks, Rec and Open Space.

Interesting to watch again the crossover power between boards and local interests in some of the names that are speaking out against the measure.

Andrew Travers:
"...An effort by state legislators to redistribute lottery funds for conservation grants, and put them toward veterans’ programs, has drawn concern from local open space officials.

The Pitkin County open space department will ask the county commissioners to pass a resolution opposing the veterans initiative next week.

“I don’t believe it’s the solution to the problem, to take funds away from something that is working,” said Barb D’Autrechy, county open space acquisition manager.

State Sen. Suzanne Williams of Aurora and others are gathering support in the legislature to create a new scratch-off lottery ticket to fund additional aid for Colorado veterans and amend allocations of lottery funds. Changing the distribution of lottery proceeds would mean changing the Colorado Constitution, which requires a statewide vote.

Supporters are hoping to place the issue on the statewide November ballot.

Voters have previously supported the parks- and conservation-centric funding model, which supports grants for open space purchases, trail projects and wildlife protection.

Conservationists do not wish to be pitted against veterans in competition for state funds, said Martha Cochran, director of the Aspen Valley Land Trust (AVLT)...." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Coloradoan "New Belgium selects Asheville, N.C. for new brewery"

David Young:
"New Belgium Brewing Co. announced Thursday afternoon it will open a new $175 million brewery in Asheville N.C. over the next seven years.

The decision by the Fort Collins craft brewery, known for such beers as Fat Tire and Sunshine Wheat, follows a nearly year long search for a second brewery location to expand its production along the East Coast.

The new brewery is projected to start production of beer in the first quarter of 2015 and be completed by 2020. The brewery reportedly will produce 400,000 barrels a year. It will create an additional 154 jobs to the Fort Collins-based company..." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Basalt trailer park redevelopment outlined"

Scott Condon:
"The redevelopment plans hinge on finding a place to build replacement housing for those being displaced from the 37 trailers and one manufactured home on the property.

“Although the (Roaring Fork Community Development Corp.) is open to the possibility of affordable housing units on the campus site, the logistics of relocating the current residents, what we know about their housing preferences and the costs involved in creating affordable housing units makes it very likely that the required housing will be located on a secondary parcel,” the application said..."
(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "City looks to the web for feedback"

AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!


(Cue sounds of rioting in the streets, chaos and mayhem everywhere...sobbing women and children....outraged husbands and fathers....)


Again:


Anonymity is a personal choice.

'Tito the Carpenter' and 'John and  Jane Doe' do not want recognition for their ideas and tips to officials and authorities. It's not safe to have recognition. 

It's not feasible in the world of 24/7 publications and media that buys ink by the barrel that are hell-bent on public exposure of anyone they can exploit in a heartbeat. 

They have lives, loved ones, jobs and personal needs that they are protecting. 

They also are voters who 'hire' those officials and authorities with their votes and pay their salaries with their taxes.  Frankly....they are so damn sick and tired of the mess so many of those officials and authorities make of the system, rules, laws and financial resources we have...they have to find a way to speak up.

If they do not, all is lost.  'Paradise' really will be doomed.

If they wanted to be a city councilman, they would be.  If they wanted to work for government, they would.  If they feel they can trust a cop they will go to that cop.  If they don't, then they will not.

Why is it that the simplicity of the 'anonymity concept' is so deliberately ignored in this valley?  Nobody in their right mind goes out and willingly paints a bullseye in center of forehead and opens themselves up to 'Conversations with Mick'.  Not in an environment where power out of control paints those bullseyes at will.

The common folks out here are right.  This isn't about the information or idea itself.  This is about wanting to know who these people out here are.  That is really what every city and county agency in this valley wants.  Is to know who you are before they will act on the public behalf.

What a sad, sad state of affairs that people cannot even give away their information to officials and authorities to use for public good because those same officials and authorities are the ones that have so violated public trust they have an entire sub-culture out here that lives in the shadows.  It really is not worth it in any way to sign up, give DNA and contact information simply so the little guys can show Mick, Rachel, Michael, Mitzi, Joe and Richard where everything from building code problems to tourism problems to crime lie within their own communities.  Here's a news flash:  The folks are giving you information that is great info and you can use that to glorify yourself in your political careers.  The folks want you to have all the credit for the tips or idea.  Run with it!  Knock yourselves out!  If the people wish to join you...they will become a community leader or politician.

Good luck with this new tell-all system, City of Aspen.  Chances are it will be as successful as the Aspen Times  forcing sign up to login, password, ability to post on walls app that "allows" public comments.

See related story here.


To read up on the brilliant new idea the City of Aspen has to 'encourage' citizens to come forward and speak up; click title.


BTW, here's a very interesting tidbit hidden deep by ACRA in this same news story off the Daily:


"It was also announced that Donnie Lee, general manager of The Gant condominium hotel, will succeed Warren Klug as chairman of the ACRA board. Klug, general manager of the Aspen Square condominium hotel, is stepping down after three years at the helm of the ACRA board...."

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "FBI probe is unwarranted"

The Aspen Times is either pumping out blatant 'propaganda' (information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.,the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc., the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.)  (or) they are so absorbed (entrenched, blinded, deaf-mute-blind) in the daily pursuit of community power they have no idea at all what's going on in their city and county.


Hmmmmm.......which could it be??

Hey, it's Spring and off (really off) season!  We've got the Aspen Daily (the only locally owned and operated newspaper in the Roaring Fork Valley....'ZG' is the most famous 'anonymous' avatar around...they're on it!) where we know we can find out the truth.  So take the Times with the usual grain of salt.

As 'jbend' would say:  "Riddle me this...."

1.  Are the Feds really doing a probe??  Lordy, we hope so.

2.  Is that a probe just on the geriatric drug culture of Aspen that is corrupting our youth and inviting violent Mexican Drug Cartels into the area?  Uh...hellllooo Aspen Times....it's a "public corruption and power abuse" probe if there is a probe at all.  Sheesh....

3.  Will the Aspen Times fall under the discerning eye of DEA Special Agent "James Bond" Schrant simply because they are doing such obvious brown-nose style editorial pieces to Big Money, a certain social class in Aspen and the "workers" that fuel that vicious cycle of Aspen culture?

Riddle me this....

To read the editorial on the alleged FBI probe up on the Aspen Times today, click title.

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Craig Daily Press "Quicksilver ‘motivated’ by Moffat County prospects"

Joe Moylan:
"The Niobrara Formation has long been a resource of interest for some of the country’s largest oil and natural gas producers.

After years of research and land plays, companies like Shell, Axia Energy and Gulfport began exploratory operations in Moffat County last spring to determine whether the Niobrara could be the site of the next major domestic oil and natural gas boom.

Quicksilver Resources, a company based in Fort Worth, Texas, also staked its claim in the region, and on Tuesday Danny Mondragon, Colorado project manager for Quicksilver, laid out for the Moffat County Commission one of the most ambitious exploration plans to date.

“Quicksilver is the company to keep an eye on,” Moffat County Commissioner Tom Mathers said after the lunch meeting. “They’re more motivated and hungrier to grow their business.

“Unlike Shell, which seems to move at a snail’s pace because they’re so big.”...."
(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "County to fire off oil shale study critique"

John Stroud:
"...Garfield Commission Chairman John Martin said the resolution came out of a meeting in Vernal, Utah, last week between officials from the affected counties, including Garfield County.

“This is being put forward as part of the tri-state comment period provided in the EIS process,” Martin said. “It is the consensus of the affected counties in the three states.”

Officials from Mesa, Moffat and Rio Blanco counties were also involved in the Vernal meeting, he said. The Wyoming counties of Carbon, Sweetwater and Uinta, as well as Uintah County in Utah were also represented.

The meeting reportedly included former BLM Director Kathleen Clarke, who now heads efforts to encourage energy development on federal lands in Utah.

The joint resolution also asks that the BLM's deadline for comments on the oil shale leasing plan be extended at least another 30 days until the middle of June...."  (Read more?  Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "Colo. Basin snowpack drops 26 percent"

Janice Kurbjun:
"Snowpack percentages plummeted during March.

Warm, dry weather counteracted Colorado's wet February, dropping snowpack in the Colorado River Basin from 75 percent of average at the end of February to 49 percent at the end of March.

“The boost in snowpack totals across the state was short-lived,” officials with the National Resource Conservation Service said in a press release. Statewide levels are now down to a “paltry” 52 percent of average, a decrease of 29 percent from the 81 percent of average measured March 1. The snowpack drop was the result of well-below average snowfall and precipitation and warmer-than-average temperatures, officials said...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Arctic science probe looking more like witch hunt"

SandBoxBlogs genre is spin.  That is what we do.  We round up the news stories that feel to us as though they pattern into what we hear avatars in commentary all over the nation saying in their posts.  Yes, we focus on our regional demographic quite strongly but here is something you may not yet be aware of.

SandBoxBlogs, a little over a year ago, launched out into other demographics.  The experiment was to see if just by listening to the folks...say....out in the heartland; whether or not we could hear the same or similar patterns within the news they pay attention to.

(whisper...whisper...news flash...news flash...breaking news...news flash....the answer to that curiousity appears to be affirmative...news flash...the folks are pretty much the same everywhere and dealing with similar issues just in different ways....breaking news...news flash...whisper...whisper...gosh, wonder what would happen if our elected leaders and law enforcement authorities were listening fully to what folks are just sayin.....whisper...whisper....) 

Yes, we lean strong to the right on a number of issues but if you really pay attention you will find that 'SandBox Nanny' is an Independent conservative as are many of our local followers.  Walking a very solid center line once we all come to the table.

There is a great deal of injustice when either the left or the right takes an extreme political view and goes off on a rant.  Oh, how interesting it is to watch the self-righteous cerebral wanderings of the left moonbat extremists up against the dogma of the steady and sure-footed right wingnut!  Lordy, lordy how they can go at it.

Global warming and 'Climategate' can rise to the level of throwing jet fuel onto smoldering embers within the reading of just one article penned by an 'eco-terror pen journalist'.

Which is why so many in our demographic are grateful to have Bob Berwyn, up and over on the Summit County Citizens Voice.  A highly respected environmental journalist who we feel really needs to do more op-ed pieces alongside his great and well balanced reports.

Here's a link from the conservative blow-hards over on the Hot Air Blog on this same story today. 

The nod on the subject goes to Berwyn.

Bob Berwyn: 
"According to PEER, the IG involvement has made scientists leery of criminalizing the peer review process in publishing research.  It has also made scientists who are overseeing research contracts uneasy, as well.  One side-street of the IG investigation looked at a polar bear study by the University of Alberta.  The IG raised issues about how the scientific merits of contracts were reviewed and approved.

Colleagues defended Dr. Monnett’s actions in the Alberta study and in overseeing a sizeable portfolio of Arctic research.  They confronted then-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management & Enforcement (BOEM) Michael Bromwich in asking him to provide some clarity.  Bromwich asked for a review which came back to him in late October 2011.  That review found “inconsistent guidance”, unclear delegation of authority, fear of signing invoices and a host of other impediments to a robust science program unresolved. Bromwich, who just opened a “crisis management” firm, left without addressing any of the requested reforms, leaving problems to fester from continued inattention.

“This seemingly endless review has needlessly disrupted the lives of the affected scientists and their work,” said Ruch, explaining that the IG has consistently refused to lay out specific charges for the scientists to rebut.  “If the Office of Inspector General cannot come to a point after more than two years, how many more years will it take to wrap this up?” Ruch concluded..."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Signs of spring"

Credits:  Bob Berwyn and Kim Fenske

SandBoxBlogs: Note from Nanny "Spring Cleaning on the Blog"

Time for a little spring cleaning on SandBox.

By now, followers have noticed the revised version of bringing back the summary page feature.    This is a much easier and faster format of consolidating links to favorite posts and I think we'll let it stick around, at least for now.

With that said, access to the feature will need to be done by you bookmarking the pages on your end beginning Sunday, the 8th of April.  The page links on Home page will revert back to just Contact, Morning Photo and 'Rules, Regs and Worth' .  There are a couple of reasons easy access won't be listed on Home page and the one I will share with you,  is that the summary pages are target specific and those who use them likely have them bookmarked already. Since they are not used by the majority of followers and daily readers; I will use the home page real estate for other items.  Thank you for getting your summary page bookmarks in place prior to the 8th.

The screen format has also been widened again which gives post text a little more room to spread out.  I think you will find the posts are easier to read.

Our affiliate marketing vendors have not changed; we still have the same ones you've grown accustomed to seeing and using.  Thank you for your continued support by purchasing through our affiliates here on SandBox.  The reason some banners are not live on site is because I'm trying a new approach of switching them out through rotation.

Happy Easter weekend, everyone.