SandBoxBlogs: LA Times "From a Mexican kingpin to an FBI informant"

Update:  Sunday April 22, 2012:

A mass reply to emails, IM's, etc:

It is a really well done story.  I think it's hitting home to Coloradans in our area because of the past couple years of increasing problems here in our own front yards.  A place where we never thought we would ever see such activity.  Colorado, as we all know, is a dream place to live and has so much to offer in natural beauty, major commerce and the kind of lifestyle you wish to raise family in.  I've always wondered why people seem so surprised that people with ill-intent are also drawn to Colorado.  Are Aspenites, Basaltines and BoneDale natives,  really so naive that they have talked themselves into an alternate reality where bangers, traffickers and dopers don't go on Sunday sightseeing drives to see the fall colors and stop for a burger at a world famous diner like Boogies?  Of course they do.  Is it really so far-fetched to think that they won't conduct their own brand of business while doing so and if they see the way paved to?

This kind of reporting from the LA Times is not a rarity, folks.  The rush of links you all have sent me since posting it and earlier with some other posts have been encouraging.  It tells me that you are thinking on your own and checking out information that impacts you and your nucleus within the world.  Thanks for sending in some I had not yet seen.  Here are two of them.  I especially recommend surfing through all links on the NY Times piece.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/mexico/drug_trafficking/index.html

http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Mexican-crook-Gangsters-arrange-fights-to-death-1692716.php
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This is a must read.

A fascinating look at the inside operations of one of the most powerful and deadly Mexican Drug Cartels there is.

I'm not sure how anyone, can read something like this piece and still have any thoughts whatsoever that legalizing drugs has validity or as an officer of law look the other way to illegal drug use.

Thank you to all of our Customs and Border Protection officers including K-9.  All of our DEA, ICE, FBI, every drug task force, every agent, officer and deputy that keeps to the best of their ability and power, these cartels on the outsides of our borders.

Richard A. Serrano:
"WASHINGTON — Police and federal agents pulled the car over in a suburb north of Denver. An FBI agent showed his badge. The driver appeared not startled at all. "My friend," he said, "I have been waiting for you."

And with that, Jesus Audel Miramontes-Varela stepped out of his white 2002 BMW X5 and into the arms of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Over the next several days at his ranch in Colorado and an FBI safe house in Albuquerque, the Mexican cartel chieftain — who had reputedly fed one of his victims to lions in Mexico — was transformed into one of the FBI's top informants on the Southwest border.

Around a dining room table in August 2010, an FBI camera whirring above, the 34-year-old Miramontes-Varela confessed his leadership in the Juarez cartel, according to 75 pages of confidential FBI interview reports obtained by The Times/Tribune Washington Bureau.

He told about marijuana and cocaine routes to California, New York and the Great Lakes. He described the shooting deaths of 30 people at a horse track in Mexico, and a hidden mass grave with 20 bodies, including two U.S. residents....."  (Read more?  You should.  Click title)

(Photo credit: Maggie Ybarra, El Paso Times / November 30, 2010)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Fox News "Republicans say new study belies Obama claim US has 2 percent of world oil"

"Republican senators are accusing President Obama of pushing a "less-than-honest" claim about the scarcity of domestic oil, after a U.S. Geological Survey study showed the United States might actually hold a quarter of the world's untapped, undiscovered supply.

The president often uses a much different statistic in speeches.

He said Tuesday, as he has before, that "the problem is we use more than 20 percent of the world's oil and we only have 2 percent of the world's proven oil reserves."

"Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we'd still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil," Obama said, while pitching a plan to crack down on oil market speculators.

But a U.S. Geological Survey released Wednesday paints a seemingly different picture. The analysis showed the world outside of the U.S. holds 565 billion barrels of undiscovered conventional oil -- it was the first such study in 12 years. The study did not address U.S. resources, but a prior analysis by the Energy Information Administration pegged the country's supply at 198 billion barrels. That works out to 26 percent of the world supply.

Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, suggested Thursday that the 2 percent stat is becoming obsolete.

"Well, there goes President Obama's favorite talking point," Inhofe said in a statement....."
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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Intellectual Conservative "The Decline of Greenism"

Bruce Walker:
"An April 9^th Gallup Poll shows that since 2006 radical environmentalism has been losing influence  in America. Gallup results are even  more dramatic when viewed over the last couple of decades: worry about water pollution has dropped from 72% of Americans in 1989 to 46% in March 2011; worry about air pollution since 1989 has dropped from 63% to 36% in 2011. When Gallup asks Americans to prioritize environmental concerns or economic concerns, the same pattern emerges. In the latest poll on the subject, 54% favor economic growth and 36% favor the environment. 

 

Pew Research polls on global warming show a similar loss of trust in radical environmentalism. In 2006, the percentage of Americans who believe that there is “solid evidence” of global warming was 77% in 2006, but in 2011 only 63% believed that. Pew also shows that the percentage of Americans who do not believe in global warming or feel that there is not enough evidence rose in those five years from 33% to 43%. Pew shows that even among Americans who believe in global warming, fewer and fewer Americans attribute that rise in temperature to man. In 2006 47% of Americans believed that we were experiencing manmade global warming, but by 2006 only 38% of Americans believed in manmade global warming, a distinct minority of America. 

 

Rasmussen last August published a poll which indicates a serious credibility gap that the scientific establishment has with America: 69% of Americans believe scientists have falsified global warming research. Gallup two years ago published a 12 year trend which showed that the percentage of Americans who believe that the seriousness of global warming has been exaggerated has grown steadily to an all time high of 48% in 2010

 

What has happened to environmentalism?...."  (Read more?  Click title)

 

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

 

SandBoxBlogs: Washington Times "Battlegrounds established for Hispanic votes"

Stephan Dinan:
"Dream Act students rallied outside Mitt Romney’s campaign speech in North Carolina on Wednesday, accusing him of forsaking Hispanic immigrants and vowing to make him pay in the November election — even as President Obama’s campaign announced its own outreach efforts to try to shore up his support among Hispanic voters.

The Obama campaign also launched its first set of Spanish-language ads, airing in Colorado, Nevada and Florida, that tout his expansion of federal funding for education.

The moves are designed to try to hold on to Hispanic voters, who backed Mr. Obama 67 percent to 31 percent over John McCain in 2008, and whom the president’s campaign deems critical to a repeat win this year. The campaign laid out a plan to get to that point by attacking Mr. Romney on his immigration stances, while highlighting the federal spending the president has directed at programs important to Hispanics.

“President Obama believes that when we prosper, that all of us must prosper and that we recognize all of us are in this together,” said San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, a national co-chairman of Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign. “Mitt Romney doesn’t believe that. His words and his actions make that clear.”

At stake is the fastest-growing bloc in American politics...." (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: CNS News "Still the Land of Dreams: 150 Million Want to Immigrate to U.S."

Terence P. Jeffrey:
"CNSNews.com) - It has become a cliché for politicians who want to provide some sort of pathway to U.S. citizenship to the estimated 11.2 million illegal aliens living in the United States to say that these illegal aliens will need to “go to the back of the line” first.

However, there are already about 150 million adults living in countries around the world who would migrate to the United States if they could, according to a Gallup survey released on Friday.

That does not count any children these 150 million would-be immigrants might want to bring with them to the United States.

To arrive at this figure, Gallup interviewed 452,199 people at least 15 years or older in 151 countries around the world from 2009 and 2011. Gallup asked: “Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move permanently to another country, or would you prefer to continue living in this country? To which country would you like to move?”

The 150 million people whom Gallup estimated would like to come to the United States includes 22 million Chinese, 15 million Nigerians, 10 million Indians, 8 million Bangladeshis, 7 million Brazilians, 5 million Filipinos, 5 million Japanese, 5 million Mexicans, and 3 million each from Vietnam, Kenya and the United Kingdom.

In Liberia, 37 percent of all adults want to leave their homeland and move permanently to the United States of America. In Sierra Leone, it’s 30 percent. In Dominican Republic, it’s 26 percent. In Haiti, it’s 24 percent. And in Cambodia, it’s 22 percent.

By far, according to Gallup's survey, America is still the No. 1 land of dreams for would be immigrants...."
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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "ZG: Big Brother and, um, modern-historical art "

"Because ZG likes a good party, he was at Aspen Highlands’ closing fête on Sunday.

Taking a short break from tippling and glancing up-slope, he was a bit startled to see three local cops on the hillside above the party, one with a video camera.

Were they taping to find scallywags? Letting their presence be known to prevent a riot? Or was it a major step in the direction of Big Brother-esque surveillance?

None of the above, said Blair Weyer, the always-pleasant public information officer for the Aspen Police Department.

She said Chief Richard Pryor “requested that an officer record video footage from the Highlands closing party to help determine the scale of the event for future consideration in the [city’s] special events permitting process.”

Police were not looking to record any specific criminal activity (like freeloaders trying to muscle in on the Daily News’ tab, for instance).

“This is a practice that we have also used during other special events — X Games and the Pro Cycling Challenge, for example — so we can better understand the type of crowd that attends these events and how we can best maintain a safe environment for them,” Weyer said.

ZG approves, because if there’s something you need when you’ve rearranged your mental chemistry with John Barleycorn and god knows what else, it’s safety....." (Read more?  See what else ZG sees? Click title.)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Teen in alleged murder plot arrested"

It is true that the Basalt Police Dept. is not the 'same' as Aspen and Pitkin County law enforcement.  There is an aura of community and some similar beliefs.  But Basalt is more pro-active and not as 'blinders on' tolerant.

There is also the need, the same as there is for any of our community forces, for more bodies and more training to look deeper into some areas.  But overall, SandBox has to agree with Curry on the point that gang activity is not out of control and that Basalt PD is on top.

Where he falls short in his perception is that there is just a 'beginning' of gang related activity in the Basalt jurisdiction that includes so closely El Jebel and Blue Lake which are partially in Eagle County.

Since 1995, which is as far back as my own memory can take me where kids and gang activity are concerned, there have been a majority of parents who realized how closely the gang problems in Carbondale relate to Basalt kids.   

For at least the past 17 years it has not been fully safe to let your kids out at night past a certain hour anywhere between Basalt and Carbondale.  But especially Carbondale.

For at least the past 12 years, there has been gang activity at Basalt High School, Arbaney Park, the middle school and certain pocket points downtown and on the Pan.

What a mistake it is, for Basalt law enforcement to be so casual in reporting this to the public.  You see, the parents out here will see right through the press release for the falsity it is.

What a tough wake up call this is for the Town of Basalt to have the second/third warning bell be one of such severity.  Now, the question is.  What, exactly, is the Basalt P.D. and Eagle S.O. going to do to step up their game? 

Chad Abraham:
"...Curry said authorities were taken aback by the amount of detail in the alleged scheme, which he said also involved the use of walkie-talkies.

“I’ve never seen this level of planning for any crime, whether it’s an adult or a juvenile,” he said Friday. “This is very unique to our valley.”

The bad blood between the main suspect and the potential victim allegedly involved drug dealing and a relationship with a girl, the release says....

....Much credit for disrupting the plot, Curry said, should go to Brian Lemke, the Basalt Police Department’s school resource officer.

Lemke “spoke with a juvenile who told him that the event at Arbaney Park was actually a planned assault and abduction, and not a drug deal,” the release says. “The juvenile informed officer Lemke that the map and description was for a plan by local gang members to beat, kidnap and potentially murder a rival gang member by luring him to that location.”

The juvenile who spoke to Lemke might have been approached to take part, Curry said.

Basalt police are not releasing the name of the purported gangs to protect against potential future violence. The possible victim is in police custody for an unrelated case.

Besides the diagrams, police recovered a BB gun pistol that Curry said was spray-painted black to look like a real handgun.

“It looked exactly like one of our guns,” he said.

Multiple messages left with 5th Judicial District prosecutors were not returned Friday. But Curry said the boy could be charged with conspiracy to commit assault, kidnapping and, possibly, homicide....."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Highway Commissioner Kathy Connell decries revenue crisis"

Tom Ross:
"Steamboat Springs — State Highway Commissioner Kathy Connell, of Steamboat Springs, said Thursday that she’s feisty enough to press home on Front Range officials an important point about Western Slope highways. However, dwindling state funds for road maintenance and capital highway projects will make it difficult to steer a path to the future until new funding sources materialize.

Connell, a former Steamboat Springs City Council member, said Front Range government officials and her colleagues on the highway commission need to be reminded that the highways on the west side of the Continental Divide play a vital role in generating Colorado sales tax receipts.

“The Front Range needs numbers from us to help them understand the economic hit” the area will take if mountain road networks branching off the Interstate 70 west mountain corridor are allowed to decline, she said.

“About 30 percent of tourism and visitor spending in Colorado occurs in the mountain resort region,”

Connell told an audience attending a Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association economic forum this week. “If tourists find it difficult to travel through the mountains, it will cost a lot of money in state sales taxes.”

Connell was appointed in June 2011 to represent Colorado Department of Transportation District 6 comprising Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt counties...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Council inclined to let bridge process play out"

Set aside the press coverage from one newspaper.

Set aside the awareness of the shill.

Set aside the good 'ol boys club from downtown and the power brokers from town.

Set aside the background manipulations playing all sides against the middle for self-interests gain.

Set aside the political needs of current council to try to hang on to their seats. 

All everyone needs to do, is recall that not too long ago, the Grand Avenue Bridge Project came to a decade or more head.  At that time, everyone broke open the festering wound, rattled all their sabres and stood either opining or bloviating at the podium in front of council.

The decision (and resulting public support) was that it was time.  Time to fix the problems of the bridge.  

Since that time, all the highly proficient at pushing marketing points guru's started manuevering the chess pieces.  With the predictable outcome  of everyone being back at each other's throats wanting their own special interest to alter the course.

Been here. Done this.  That is all everyone has to recall.  Carry on, CDOT.  Stay the course.  

John Stroud:
"“This is not some great conspiracy against the city,” Mayor Matt Steckler said in response to recent criticism suggesting the bridge planning effort pits CDOT's interests against those of city residents and businesses....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Just one Pitkin County commissioner race"

Say YES to Grob.

"ASPEN — No new candidates for any of the three Pitkin County commissioner seats up for election in November stepped forward by Friday's deadline to file nomination petitions.

That means incumbents George Newman and Michael Owsley will run unopposed on the general-election ballot.

In District 4, where Commissioner Jack Hatfield cannot seek re-election because of term limits, four candidates who had previously announced their plans to seek the seat will face off in a June 26 primary. The two top vote-getters will advance to the November ballot.

The contenders in District 4 are: former Aspen Fire Chief Darryl Grob, Snowmass Village Town Councilman John Wilkinson, Capitol Creek rancher Steve Child and former Snowmass Village Town Manager John Young....."

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Garfield County coalition pushing for an open space program and tax"

Update May 26, 2012:

Read the unfortunate turn this proposal has taken and what they general public now has to say by clicking this link:

http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/05/sandboxblogs-glenwood-springs-post_16.html 
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On a couple of points, what wonderful news this is!

First, with regard to the sage wisdom and keen perception of  Mary Noone. For the debut  on the new venture via the Aspen Daily News.  The only way to give true credibility first to press coverage in our area.  Well done.

Second, for the content of that news.  Hooah!  If Noone is part of the effort, this shift in focus for the coalition just might be the role model that finally sets a tone between 'right and left' political beliefs.  Open Space really can be achieved with a happy everybody.  Maybe this new group will accomplish that.

On a final commentary note, Noone has been chatted up out in avatar land, on multiple hubs for a long time as one of those Garfield County residents that folks feel they could trust.  Yakked at, chatted up, jostled and sometimes near shoved, Mary Noone has been urged to dip more than a toe into local and regional politics. By taking on the topic of raising taxes in GarCo, she has just jumped right in.

Could this be the start of her political career?  Stay tuned to the Aspen Daily. 

(whisper...whisper...maybe she'll use the daily and danforth first in everything she does....whisper...whisper.... Mary Noone for President!....whisper...whisper...do you think she can pull along some of the other wise women?... whisper...whisper...wonder what the PI thinks about getting scooped on this one....whisper...whisper...)

Andrew Travers:
"A coalition of Garfield County residents wants to create an open space program funded by a new countywide sales tax.

The group, the Garfield Legacy Project, is aiming to place the new tax on the November ballot.

Formed in 2009 with funding from a state conservation grant, they have been gauging support for the idea and attempting to spread the word about potential benefits of an open space program.

“Our hope is to get the program put together, get it voted on, and get it passed in November,” said Mary Noone, co-chair of the Legacy Project.

They are eying an additional quarter-penny sales tax, which they estimate would produce $2.5 million in annual revenue. A sales tax may be more popular with voters than a property tax, Noone said, citing statistics that show non-Garfield County residents pay a majority of the county sales tax when they visit or are passing through.

The county commissioners would have to clear the question to go on the ballot. The Legacy Project is now polling residents on their support of the idea. They’re hoping poll results will be strong enough to sway the commissioners to put a tax question to voters.

Commissioners have expressed interest in seeing polling data on the sales tax. Noone said they plan to present results from the poll to the board this summer....." (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Jankovsky elected to Colorado Ski Hall of Fame"

  'ab22' says:
"I would like to first say congratulations to Tom.  The path of Sunlight and all it has represented to him personally over the years, is a journey that I believe will someday bring him the balance he privately seeks.

It does not matter, for the purposes of the award and what it means to Tom Jankovsky, who nominated him for it. 

In the end of that journey of his, the gain will still be his alone and at his hand.  No one else, no matter who they are and how they use methods to further their own desires has the power to control that.

Sunlight Ski Resort is one of our crown jewels in the Valley.  Tom Jankovsky is directly responsible for that and deserves the honor of public acclaim.

My comment moves on to the real problem that exists in this article. One that unfortunately will now do exactly what the intent behind it likely wants it to.  It will splatter out into public view through association by content and sources. 

It is both sad and troubling to watch John Stroud turn acclaim for Tom Jankovsky, into a canned press release spotlighting Marianne and using Tom's acclaim to do so.  Tom Jankovsky's worth and achievements are enough to fill many pages of the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.  There can be no excuse for filling over 50% of this piece with spotlight press on another when the honoree is Tom.

One only has to look at all other award organizations and celebrations in the region and see that no one else touts the one doing the nominating.  Rarely are they mentioned by more than just name, possibly that is something known as the virtue of humility.  

This is a pattern of news reporting that is blatantly transparent as being self-serving to the publication and an individual.  In this case of Jankovsky, as likely to spark similar outrage as other recent press and awards have recently done. 

All human life has vulnerability.  We each find the answer within ourselves on how to deal when those vulnerabilities are preyed on by another.

Maybe this one more straw of a comment, spoken in defense of a very deserving man who had a long, long personal journey of self to get to this point in his life; will be the straw that reminds John Stroud that the focus is on the subject of the story and verified, proven, substantiated facts. 

That is a standard in journalism that he and his employer have forgotten.

It doesn't matter if one has metaphysical beliefs or orthodox beliefs.  Again and as I have publicly stated once before where Tom is concerned; epiphany can come in as easily on a solitary ride, in the dark of night on a chair lift in Telluride (or) in a seemingly coincidental event in daily life.  It is what we do when forced to make a choice on the next stage that is what ultimately matters.

Congratulations to Tom and Nancy.  The honor is richly deserved." 

Comment ability on this post will be closely monitored as to keeping with the spirit and tone of this post.

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

SandBoxBlogs: Vail Daily "Teva Mountain Games free Vail concerts announced"

"VAIL — While some of the world's foremost adventure athletes tackle the mountains and rivers of Vail during the 11th annual Teva Mountain Games, some equally prominent musical artists will take to the main stage for a pair of free concerts when the Mountains of Music series rocks Vail Village May 31 and June 2.

Both free shows will be on the main Teva Mountain Games stage at Checkpoint Charlie in Vail Village and both will get underway at 7 p.m. The May 31 performance with Williams will be held in conjunction with the event's opening ceremonies....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Who we are in Aspen"

Beautifully done by Vagneur.  Up on the Aspen Times.

Tony Vagneur:
"“You must have seen a lot of changes,” comes the almost-guaranteed remark after people realize I'm an Aspen native, and I guess that's true to a certain degree. My birth happened to coincide with the opening of “The World's Longest Chairlift” in 1946, and I suppose I've been most fortunate, through luck of the draw, to witness the metamorphosis of Aspen from a quiet mountain town into a world-class powerhouse of skiing and culture.

I don't know how it goes out at the music tent, but I do know that every winter some young hotshot comes along, thinking his turns are the best anyone's ever seen on Aspen Mountain. Fantasy is probably good in any venue, for it gives us all the impetus to stay in the game and make something stick.

We are continually given a reliable thread of “boiler plate” history, vignettes of people such as Jerome B. Wheeler, B. Clark Wheeler, Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke, D.R.C. Brown, Friedl Pfeifer and other looming icons. The “Quiet Years” (to which many of us refer as the “Golden Years”) has become a convenient term for describing a large chunk of Aspen's history.

Most of this is correct and interesting, but it is a superficial rendition devoid of the passion, tragedy and brilliance that make up our antiquity......

.......Point well taken, sir, but there have been other businessmen with as much hubris who didn't fare as well. Unfairly, Guido (one-time justice of the peace) likely is best-remembered for the sign in his window, “No Beatniks Allowed,” a reference to the influx of “hippies” in the '60s. Always a sign man, he put up a marker on Highway 82 near his downvalley ranch, trying to encourage motorists to slow down, which read merely “Nudist Crossing.”...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Cash cow"

Lorenzo Semple:
"Our town heritage is deeply rooted in blowing things up, particularly from the mining days of yore. The sound of explosions has an oddly soothing effect on me — among other things it reminds me that it’s a powder day. The sound of a loud explosion also reminds me of my troubled youth, blowing up just about anything imaginable.

Boys are fascinated with explosives. It’s an almost primordial instinct to blow things up. My oldest sister had this incredibly annoying collection of plastic horses that were among her most prized possessions. I was always tempted to blow them up. If I found one now I still might. If you’re a guy and you don’t like to blow things up, check your pulse.

Growing up here, the wild West End was a testing ground for our various explosives: M-80s, Molotov cocktails, bottle rockets, match-head bombs, spice jars filled with black powder with a sparkler rammed into them, and French quarter-sticks of dynamite. It’s a miracle I still have all my fingers. Some local kids made a deadly pipe bomb that almost killed an innocent bystander — a half-mile away.

I’ve been real tempted to skin up to Conundrum (not so) Hot Springs and take a look at the cow situation up there — it’s what all the locals are talking about lately. Even the national media has gotten a hold of this story.

As far as we can tell from news reports, there are several dead cows stuck inside the old cabin up at Conundrum. The quandary is what to do with them. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if someone trapped them in the cabin intentionally with the sole intent and purpose of blowing them up.

Some want to dig a hole and bury the cows, with dignity. I heard there’s someone on the local force that digs a mean hole, maybe they could help? An environmentalist recommended sprinkling pheromones on them and letting the pine beetles devour the carcasses. Someone suggested a predator drone strike, raining hellfire missiles onto the already grotesque cabin scene.

Another freak suggested hiring a few Colombian coke dealers — as in the movie “Scarface” — and sending them up there with chainsaws to get the job done. No can do, I say. Way too macabre, and it clearly violates the stringent USFS Wilderness Area rules — Section 7, Article 12: No Colombian coke dealers with chainsaws allowed in the backcountry..."  (Read more?  Click title)
 
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: KKCO 11 News "Congress begins uphill battle to pass farm bill "

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate will begin laying the groundwork on a $1 trillion farm and food bill that would end direct payments and redesign safety nets that help farmers weather hard times. But with the bad political climate now gripping Washington, not many are predicting they’ll see a bill produced this year...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Oceans: Feds start recovery plan for right & blue whales"

'SandBox Nanny' is stunned almost speechless!

It's like environmental journalist Bob Berwyn has a hidden cache of tantalizing headlines that exist just for her perusal.

Today, we discover the politics of whales.  They have 'right' leanings and they have 'blue' leanings!

Amazing. 

In his stunningly brilliant expose',  Berwyn also reveals that the 'right' leaning whales are an "endangered species".

Who knew?

"Back from the brink?"
By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The National Marine Fisheries Service last week announced it will prepare a recovery plan for endangered North Pacific right whales, one of the most endangered animals on Earth.

Bringing the cetacean back from the brink of extinction won’t be easy (lol on the word play..says, 'Nanny')— by most estimates, there are only about 30 right whales in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska and perhaps several hundred in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Right whales are so named because during the whaling era, they were a prime target, considered the “right” whale to hunt. Unlike other cetaceans, they haven’t been able to bounce back yet from the whaling slaughter. Collisions with ships is one of the biggest threats facing the whales.

The decision to develop a recovery plan came after the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue. At the same time, the federal agency said it will update an outdated recovery plan for endangered blue whales, the largest animals on Earth....." (Read more?  Click title)

To prove 'right' whales do exist, here is a photo from NOAA:

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Sunrise … sunset"

All credit:  Bob Berwyn
"SUMMIT COUNTY — Bookending the day with some sunrise and sunset shots around Dillon reservoir. And yes, I am slightly obsessed with the iPhone, though I regretted I didn’t have my DSLR with me when the Pine Cove sunset turned fiery....." (See more?  Click title)