In easier to grasp terms, that works out to at least $13.00 per hour. Low and mid-tier Skico employees make less per hour than that. In fact, low tier make under $11.00 per hour. In fact, one has to be in a management position at Aspen Ski Corp. to make that bare minimum. And that bare minimum? Is for a single person. If you are single with one child you need to be making between $28 and $29 per hour.
Remember now, Aspen's largest employer is seasonal. So double or triple what you need to earn in order to get that made in 6 months or less.
Remember now, your 'perks' like health insurance, free ski pass and bus pass lower your expenses which translates out to a great point that Tracey Stewart makes in this article. 'You make too much' to qualify for most all subsidies to help out. Now there is a very interesting thought considering Aspen's blue blood runs liberal. Good 'ol fashioned capitalism is sounding better by the day, isn't it?
Still think Lee Mulcahy's voice should have been quashed by $Big Money$? Or that he should still be enduring the wrath of $Big Money$ for exposing them?
Before personally judging Mulcahy and supporters, please read up on all of the facts and get familiar with all of the story.
While you're at it, please read the entire article by Dorothy Atkins today. Up on the Aspen Daily News.
Dorothy Atkins:
"In order to be self sufficient and live in Pitkin County, an individual needs to make at least $27,000 a year, according to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP), while a single parent with three young children needs to make $103,607 annually to get by on their own.
The nonprofit agency presented the statistics and others related to self-sufficiency standards to the Board of County Commissioners in a work session on Tuesday.
The study is an income measurement tool that determines how much money families of various sizes and compositions living in specific geographic locations need to earn in order to make ends meet without public or private assistance. The nonprofit produces the study every three years.
A singe parent with one child needs to earn at least $59,400 a year to be self sufficient in Pitkin County, while a two-parent, two-child household needs to make over $87,500 a year here, according to the study.
Those statistics include federal tax credits that families would theoretically receive like the child care credit and the earned income tax credit.
The study also addresses the increase in costs of basic needs since 2004. Of the six categories, all costs have gone up in Pitkin County except transportation. The costs of housing, child care, food, health care and taxes have all increased. The cost of health care showed the largest jump, increasing by 121 percent, which is consistent with the rest of the state, said Tracey Stewart, self-sufficiency project coordinator with CCLP.
Of a sampling of various common working and middle class lines of work, only two occupations in Pitkin County pay enough for a single parent with one preschooler and one school-age child to be self sufficient, according to the study. Those are registered nurses and operations managers, the latter of which theoretically includes people in management positions at Aspen Skiing Co., Stewart said.
Commissioner Rob Ittner questioned Stewart on whether or not the study took into account benefits that residents receive — like affordable housing and food stamps — which can do a lot to offset the high cost of living in Pitkin County.
Stewart countered that there is often a gap between the amount of money individuals would have to earn on the lower end to qualify for receiving benefits from the government and the amount one would have to make to be self-sufficient...." (Read more? You should. Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
March 14, 2012
March 13, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "New Record Monthly Deficit 37 Months into Obama’s Presidency "
Daniel Horowitz Diary:
"Here’s a headline you won’t see in the media this week: we incurred the largest monthly deficit on record in February.
Seven months into a government “reined in” by the Budget Control Act, we are supposed to be reaping the benefits of budget reduction. Yet, according to CBO, we incurred a gargantuan
Think for a moment about what it means to spend $335 billion in 29 days. It comes out to $11.5 billion per day; $480 million per hour. So the next time Congress deliberates over a few billion in spending cuts over the course of a month, remember that we will add several hundred billion more in debt during the course of the debate.
What is so astounding about the record monthly deficit is that it comes amidst a recovery in the job market and an overall increase in revenues. Due to quirks in the scheduling of government payments, February is always a bad month; nevertheless, even during the worst months of the recession, we never suffered such a large budget deficit. In February 2009, the monthly deficit checked in at $193.8 trillion. At a time when tax receipts are increasing again (corporate tax receipts are up 56%), we should not be racking up such high deficits. Hence, it is incontrovertibly clear that we don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem, most prominently, an entitlement and welfare problem...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
$229 billion
"Here’s a headline you won’t see in the media this week: we incurred the largest monthly deficit on record in February.
Seven months into a government “reined in” by the Budget Control Act, we are supposed to be reaping the benefits of budget reduction. Yet, according to CBO, we incurred a gargantuan
Think for a moment about what it means to spend $335 billion in 29 days. It comes out to $11.5 billion per day; $480 million per hour. So the next time Congress deliberates over a few billion in spending cuts over the course of a month, remember that we will add several hundred billion more in debt during the course of the debate.
What is so astounding about the record monthly deficit is that it comes amidst a recovery in the job market and an overall increase in revenues. Due to quirks in the scheduling of government payments, February is always a bad month; nevertheless, even during the worst months of the recession, we never suffered such a large budget deficit. In February 2009, the monthly deficit checked in at $193.8 trillion. At a time when tax receipts are increasing again (corporate tax receipts are up 56%), we should not be racking up such high deficits. Hence, it is incontrovertibly clear that we don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem, most prominently, an entitlement and welfare problem...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
$229 billion
SandBoxBlogs: Keith Hennessey "A good Jobs Day"
Keith Hennessey, March 9, 2012:
"The fewest numbers you need to know
This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in February the U.S. economy created 227,000 net new jobs and the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3%.
We are still 5.3 million jobs shy of peak employment in December 2007 and 864,000 shy of January 2009 when President Obama took office.
Same data, different views
Different audiences look at employment data in different ways:
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"The fewest numbers you need to know
This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in February the U.S. economy created 227,000 net new jobs and the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3%.
We are still 5.3 million jobs shy of peak employment in December 2007 and 864,000 shy of January 2009 when President Obama took office.
Same data, different views
Different audiences look at employment data in different ways:
- People’s lives are most affected by the level of employment: how many people are working and what is the unemployment rate? At 8.3 percent this number is still bad.
- As both a policy and political matter, Washington, DC cares about the level, but even more about the direction and rate of change: are we adding or subtracting jobs, is unemployment rising or falling, are we “headed in the right direction?” From this view today’s report offers good news, at least on the jobs created front. I assume the Administration will cite 17 months of continuous job growth. Possibly more significant is that we have had four months of job growth > 150,000/month, which is roughly what you need to keep up with population growth. The trend continues to be positive, although you should want even bigger numbers since the unemployment rate is still high.
- Markets and market commentators care even more about how the change compares with expectations before the data was released. Today’s numbers slightly exceeded expectations of about 200,000 net new jobs so the reaction from this perspective should also be positive...."
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "Oh my: Obama’s approval rating hits new low in CBS poll"
AllahPundit:
"Second look at the “war on women”?
Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, according to the poll, conducted from March 7 to 11. Another 47 percent disapprove of his performance, up from 41 percent last month.
Mr. Obama’s approval rating was 50 percent last month.
The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 12 cents over the past two weeks. The poll found that most Americans, 54 percent, believe gas prices are something a president can do a lot about…
Mr. Obama’s job rating on the economy remains about the same as it was last month – 39 percent approve, while 54 percent disapprove...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Second look at the “war on women”?
Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, according to the poll, conducted from March 7 to 11. Another 47 percent disapprove of his performance, up from 41 percent last month.
Mr. Obama’s approval rating was 50 percent last month.
The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 12 cents over the past two weeks. The poll found that most Americans, 54 percent, believe gas prices are something a president can do a lot about…
Mr. Obama’s job rating on the economy remains about the same as it was last month – 39 percent approve, while 54 percent disapprove...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Colorado Statesman "Political odd fellows score major legal win"
Peter Marcus:
"So-called “527 political organizations” in Colorado scored a major victory on Feb. 21 when the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the organizations can spend unlimited money in support of state candidates and operate free of some state campaign governance laws so long as the organizations steer clear of “magic [electioneering] words” that would trigger those laws.
The ruling in Colorado Ethics Watch v. Senate Majority Fund, LLC offers a comfort level to political organizations in Colorado raising funds for “issue ads,” and clarifies so-called “bright-line” rules defining state campaign finance regulations, specifically around the 2002 voter-approved campaign finance laws enacted by Amendment 27. While the ruling essentially preserves the status quo in Colorado, it is significant in that it clearly defines campaign governance rules of political organizations.
“It’s really about having bright lines that separate states that might fall within the ambit of campaign regulations from speech that clearly is outside of those regulations, and the brighter that line is the more robust and uninhibited political debate can be,” said Steven A. Klenda, an attorney with Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s former law firm Hackstaff Law Group, which represented the Senate Majority Fund, a Senate Republicans leadership advocacy group...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"So-called “527 political organizations” in Colorado scored a major victory on Feb. 21 when the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the organizations can spend unlimited money in support of state candidates and operate free of some state campaign governance laws so long as the organizations steer clear of “magic [electioneering] words” that would trigger those laws.
The ruling in Colorado Ethics Watch v. Senate Majority Fund, LLC offers a comfort level to political organizations in Colorado raising funds for “issue ads,” and clarifies so-called “bright-line” rules defining state campaign finance regulations, specifically around the 2002 voter-approved campaign finance laws enacted by Amendment 27. While the ruling essentially preserves the status quo in Colorado, it is significant in that it clearly defines campaign governance rules of political organizations.
“It’s really about having bright lines that separate states that might fall within the ambit of campaign regulations from speech that clearly is outside of those regulations, and the brighter that line is the more robust and uninhibited political debate can be,” said Steven A. Klenda, an attorney with Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s former law firm Hackstaff Law Group, which represented the Senate Majority Fund, a Senate Republicans leadership advocacy group...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Durango Herald "In love letters to Pat, the Nixon we never knew"
Gillian Flaccus:
"ORBA LINDA, Calif. – Long before Richard Nixon rose to power and fell from grace, he was just another man in love.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"ORBA LINDA, Calif. – Long before Richard Nixon rose to power and fell from grace, he was just another man in love.
Decades before he became known as “Tricky Dick,” Nixon was penning nicknames (sweet ones) to his future bride in love notes that reveal a surprisingly soft and romantic side of the man taken down by Watergate. Nixon shared the stage with Patricia Ryan in a community theater production and six of the dozens of letters they exchanged during their two-year courtship will be unveiled Friday at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum as part of an exhibit celebrating the 100th birthday of the woman Nixon playfully called his “Irish gypsy.”
In Nixon’s letters, he recalls their first meeting in flowery prose, daydreams about their future together and waxes poetic about the first time his “dearest heart” agreed to take a drive with him.
“Every day and every night I want to see you and be with you. Yet I have no feeling of selfish ownership or jealousy,” he writes in one undated letter. “Let’s go for a long ride Sunday; let’s go to the mountains weekends; let’s read books in front of fires; most of all, let’s really grow together and find the happiness we know is ours.”
Eighteen years after his death, the correspondence offers a tiny window into a fiercely private side of Nixon that almost no one ever saw and represents a love letter of sorts to fans of the 37th president, who were infuriated when the National Archives took over the museum and overhauled it to include a detailed chronicle of Watergate...." (Read more? Click title)
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Drug case leads to Aspen man being arrested again"
"An Aspen man facing eight felony drug charges was arrested again Friday at a large party at the Aspen Recreation Center for allegedly violating the terms of earlier sentences in separate cases.
Thomas Simmons, 22, was taken into custody around 11 p.m. on two warrants out of Garfield County.
Simmons was arrested Feb. 4 and originally charged with tampering with evidence in a case that was later dropped because police misidentified him on surveillance video. But an officer allegedly found cocaine and ecstasy packaged for sale on his person when he was arrested at the Belly Up during a concert.
Police then obtained a search warrant for his Park Circle apartment. There, police say they uncovered 4.6 ounces of MDMA and 1.6 ounces of cocaine, along with 27 doses of LSD and nearly an ounce of psilocybin mushrooms. Aspen authorities said it was one of their largest drug seizures in recent memory.
The arrest apparently violated the sentencing terms of two cases Simmons had in Garfield County. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor theft and also admitted culpability in a 2009 felony drug-distribution case...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Thomas Simmons, 22, was taken into custody around 11 p.m. on two warrants out of Garfield County.
Simmons was arrested Feb. 4 and originally charged with tampering with evidence in a case that was later dropped because police misidentified him on surveillance video. But an officer allegedly found cocaine and ecstasy packaged for sale on his person when he was arrested at the Belly Up during a concert.
Police then obtained a search warrant for his Park Circle apartment. There, police say they uncovered 4.6 ounces of MDMA and 1.6 ounces of cocaine, along with 27 doses of LSD and nearly an ounce of psilocybin mushrooms. Aspen authorities said it was one of their largest drug seizures in recent memory.
The arrest apparently violated the sentencing terms of two cases Simmons had in Garfield County. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor theft and also admitted culpability in a 2009 felony drug-distribution case...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Heroin investigation in Steamboat yields arrests"
Matt Stensland:
"Steamboat Springs — Three Steamboat Springs men have been arrested on suspicion of their involvement in heroin distribution.
The All Crimes Enforcement Team drug task force arrested the men Friday night after a six-week investigation, ACET Commander Marvin Cameron said. Cameron said three search warrants and two arrest warrants were served Friday starting at about 5:30 p.m.
“I can definitely tell you that Steamboat Springs is a safer place and a better place today,” Cameron said.
Elijah Joseph Persons, 21, was arrested on suspicion of organized crime, distribution of Schedule 1 narcotics and money laundering. He was arrested Friday evening while working at his job in downtown Steamboat. Steamboat Springs Police Department Chief Joel Rae said a search of Persons’ car yielded 40 grams of heroin.
Persons’ brother, Jordan Thomas Persons, 19, was arrested when a search warrant was served on the car he was driving on Rabbit Ears Pass. Rae said he was arrested on suspicion of organized crime, possession of Schedule 1 narcotics and money laundering.
Rae said Samuel Lawrence Andrew, 21, was a passenger in the car and was arrested on suspicion of possession of Schedule 2 and Schedule 4 narcotics and drug paraphernalia.
In a separate case, Rae said officers on Friday also arrested Nicholas Stephen Power while serving a search warrant at his home on Spruce Street.
All four appeared in Routt County District Court on Monday and were scheduled to appear next for status conferences at 1 p.m. Wednesday (March 14)...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Steamboat Springs — Three Steamboat Springs men have been arrested on suspicion of their involvement in heroin distribution.
The All Crimes Enforcement Team drug task force arrested the men Friday night after a six-week investigation, ACET Commander Marvin Cameron said. Cameron said three search warrants and two arrest warrants were served Friday starting at about 5:30 p.m.
“I can definitely tell you that Steamboat Springs is a safer place and a better place today,” Cameron said.
Elijah Joseph Persons, 21, was arrested on suspicion of organized crime, distribution of Schedule 1 narcotics and money laundering. He was arrested Friday evening while working at his job in downtown Steamboat. Steamboat Springs Police Department Chief Joel Rae said a search of Persons’ car yielded 40 grams of heroin.
Persons’ brother, Jordan Thomas Persons, 19, was arrested when a search warrant was served on the car he was driving on Rabbit Ears Pass. Rae said he was arrested on suspicion of organized crime, possession of Schedule 1 narcotics and money laundering.
Rae said Samuel Lawrence Andrew, 21, was a passenger in the car and was arrested on suspicion of possession of Schedule 2 and Schedule 4 narcotics and drug paraphernalia.
In a separate case, Rae said officers on Friday also arrested Nicholas Stephen Power while serving a search warrant at his home on Spruce Street.
All four appeared in Routt County District Court on Monday and were scheduled to appear next for status conferences at 1 p.m. Wednesday (March 14)...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: The Hill/Hillcon Valley "Yahoo files massive lawsuit against Facebook over patent infringement "
Brendan Sasso:
"Yahoo sued Facebook on Monday, accusing the social media giant of infringing 10 patents.
According to the lawsuit, Facebook copied Yahoo's products, including in advertising, privacy controls, social networking and messaging...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Yahoo sued Facebook on Monday, accusing the social media giant of infringing 10 patents.
According to the lawsuit, Facebook copied Yahoo's products, including in advertising, privacy controls, social networking and messaging...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Vail Daily "Next year's Vail Resorts Epic Pass on sale"
This is just such a great marketing idea. We're impressed with it every Spring.
To give a super deal on their signature Epic Pass for the upcoming season, before the current season is even over; not only gives locals a huge financial break it helps tourism dollars and the overall financial health of the Vail community.
Small businesses can see into the future a little bit easier so that they can plan ahead and in the off-chance the upcoming season turns out to be a dry one; skier visits being down takes less of a toll.
And the best part? For only a $49 down payment you have until September to pay the balance. Such a deal!
Vail Daily:
"BROOMFIELD, Colorado — Vail Resorts begins selling its popular ski and snowboard season passes Monday for the 2012-2013 winter season.
All passes are available for purchase at http://www.epicpass.com/.
• The Epic Local Pass, for $509, offers unlimited and unrestricted skiing or riding at Breckenridge, Keystone andArapahoeBasin with limited holiday restrictions at Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood. It also includes a total of 10 days at Vail or Beaver Creek with holiday restrictions.
• Summit Value Pass is available for $419 and provides unlimited and unrestricted lift access to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, as well as access to Breckenridge with limited holiday restrictions. Pass holders can purchase access to Breckenridge on restricted days for $50 per day.
• The Epic Pass, offering unlimited, unrestricted skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Arapahoe Basin, is available for $659.
• Epic 7-Day gives skiers and snowboarders a total of seven unrestricted days of skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Northstar, plus Arapahoe Basin anytime during the season for a price of $509.
Prices and spring benefits are only guaranteed through April 15. Vail Resorts is giving guests the option to lock in these prices with a $49 down payment now with the remainder of the balance due in mid-September..." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
To give a super deal on their signature Epic Pass for the upcoming season, before the current season is even over; not only gives locals a huge financial break it helps tourism dollars and the overall financial health of the Vail community.
Small businesses can see into the future a little bit easier so that they can plan ahead and in the off-chance the upcoming season turns out to be a dry one; skier visits being down takes less of a toll.
And the best part? For only a $49 down payment you have until September to pay the balance. Such a deal!
Vail Daily:
"BROOMFIELD, Colorado — Vail Resorts begins selling its popular ski and snowboard season passes Monday for the 2012-2013 winter season.
All passes are available for purchase at http://www.epicpass.com/.
• The Epic Local Pass, for $509, offers unlimited and unrestricted skiing or riding at Breckenridge, Keystone andArapahoeBasin with limited holiday restrictions at Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood. It also includes a total of 10 days at Vail or Beaver Creek with holiday restrictions.
• Summit Value Pass is available for $419 and provides unlimited and unrestricted lift access to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, as well as access to Breckenridge with limited holiday restrictions. Pass holders can purchase access to Breckenridge on restricted days for $50 per day.
• The Epic Pass, offering unlimited, unrestricted skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Arapahoe Basin, is available for $659.
• Epic 7-Day gives skiers and snowboarders a total of seven unrestricted days of skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Northstar, plus Arapahoe Basin anytime during the season for a price of $509.
Prices and spring benefits are only guaranteed through April 15. Vail Resorts is giving guests the option to lock in these prices with a $49 down payment now with the remainder of the balance due in mid-September..." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today/Jimmy Westlake "My Favorite Stars: La Superba"
Jimmy Westlake:
"Note: Throughout the next year, I will share with you in this column some of my favorite stars — stars that you, too, can observe and perhaps add to your list of favorites. They are presented in no particular order other than when they are best observed.
Have you ever seen a red star? No, I mean a really red star. Tucked in under the handle of the Big Dipper is one of the reddest stars in the sky, named La Superba.
With a name like that, it had better be pretty impressive, and it is. La Superba is the brightest carbon star in the sky. With a surface temperature of only 3,500 degrees F, it also is one of the “coolest” naked eye stars and, for a star, cool means red...." (Read more? Click title.)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Note: Throughout the next year, I will share with you in this column some of my favorite stars — stars that you, too, can observe and perhaps add to your list of favorites. They are presented in no particular order other than when they are best observed.
Have you ever seen a red star? No, I mean a really red star. Tucked in under the handle of the Big Dipper is one of the reddest stars in the sky, named La Superba.
With a name like that, it had better be pretty impressive, and it is. La Superba is the brightest carbon star in the sky. With a surface temperature of only 3,500 degrees F, it also is one of the “coolest” naked eye stars and, for a star, cool means red...." (Read more? Click title.)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
March 12, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: National Review "The Truth about Fracking"
Kevin D. Williamson:
"In the middle-of-frackin’-nowhere Pennsylvania, Boy Genius is showing off his giant robot: It’s about 150 feet tall, God and the almighty engineers alone know how many hundreds of tons of steel, and four big, flat duck feet on bright orange legs. “Yeah, this is kind of cool,” he says of his supersized Erector Set project.
“You can set those feet at 45 degrees, and it will walk around in circles all day,” a colleague adds.
But Boy Genius is not letting himself get too excited about all this — it’s pretty clearly not his first giant robot, and he’s a lot more excited about his seismic-imaging system: “It’s kind of like a GPS, but it’s underground and it works with the Earth’s magnetic characteristics.” Nods all around — that is cool.
Everybody here has a three-day beard and a hardhat and steel-toed work boots, but there’s a strong whiff of chess club and Science Olympiad in the air, young men who are no strangers to the pocket protector, who in adolescence discovered an unusual facility for fluid dynamics and now are beavering away at mind-clutchingly complex technical problems, one of which is how to get a 150-foot-tall tower of machinery from A to B without taking it apart and trucking it (solution: add feet). That giant robot may walk, but it isn’t too fast: It can take half a day to move 20 feet, because this isn’t a Transformers movie, this is The Play, and Boy Genius is a member of the startlingly youthful and bespectacled tribe of engineers swarming out of the University of Pittsburgh and the Colorado School of Mines and Penn State and into the booming gas fields of Pennsylvania, where the math weenies are running the show in the Marcellus shale, figuring out how to relentlessly suck a Saudi Arabia’s worth of natural gas out of a vein of hot and impermeable rock thousands of feet beneath the green valleys of Penn’s woods. Forget about your wildcatters, your roughnecks, your swaggering Texans in big hats: The nerds have taken over...." (Read more? Click title)
"In the middle-of-frackin’-nowhere Pennsylvania, Boy Genius is showing off his giant robot: It’s about 150 feet tall, God and the almighty engineers alone know how many hundreds of tons of steel, and four big, flat duck feet on bright orange legs. “Yeah, this is kind of cool,” he says of his supersized Erector Set project.
“You can set those feet at 45 degrees, and it will walk around in circles all day,” a colleague adds.
But Boy Genius is not letting himself get too excited about all this — it’s pretty clearly not his first giant robot, and he’s a lot more excited about his seismic-imaging system: “It’s kind of like a GPS, but it’s underground and it works with the Earth’s magnetic characteristics.” Nods all around — that is cool.
Everybody here has a three-day beard and a hardhat and steel-toed work boots, but there’s a strong whiff of chess club and Science Olympiad in the air, young men who are no strangers to the pocket protector, who in adolescence discovered an unusual facility for fluid dynamics and now are beavering away at mind-clutchingly complex technical problems, one of which is how to get a 150-foot-tall tower of machinery from A to B without taking it apart and trucking it (solution: add feet). That giant robot may walk, but it isn’t too fast: It can take half a day to move 20 feet, because this isn’t a Transformers movie, this is The Play, and Boy Genius is a member of the startlingly youthful and bespectacled tribe of engineers swarming out of the University of Pittsburgh and the Colorado School of Mines and Penn State and into the booming gas fields of Pennsylvania, where the math weenies are running the show in the Marcellus shale, figuring out how to relentlessly suck a Saudi Arabia’s worth of natural gas out of a vein of hot and impermeable rock thousands of feet beneath the green valleys of Penn’s woods. Forget about your wildcatters, your roughnecks, your swaggering Texans in big hats: The nerds have taken over...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "GJ welcomes home navy seal"
We do think our returning military are special "E-6 Navy Seal Karl “Gus” Gustavson". Regardless of what heroics you take in stride every day.
Thank you for your service. Welcome home.
Richie Ann Ashcraft:
"E-6 Navy Seal Karl “Gus” Gustavson received a much deserved hero’s welcome Thursday morning after returning home for the second time from Afghanistan to his home town of Grand Junction.
Gustavson declined to speak about his service and said “there’s not much about work that I can really talk about.”
But, whatever it is he does do, it’s something important, dangerous and worthy of an immense amount of respect from his fellow veterans who turned out at Grand Junction Regional Airport to welcome him home.
“This is the second time we’ve welcomed him home. You’ll have to ask him what he does but I can tell you he really deserves it,” said Art Edwards, one of more than 20 Colorado Patriot Guard Riders and Legion Guard Riders who came to say thank you.
“Just think about all that’s happened in the last six months and that should tell you,” said Jim McNeill, a friend of Gus’ father. “I can tell you, he’s really, really special.” McNeill was looking forward to finally meeting Gus, after sending numerous care packages throughout the past year filled with food and candy as a showing of support.
Gustavson doesn’t know what all the fuss is about. “Not that I’m not special,” he said with a laugh...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Thank you for your service. Welcome home.
Richie Ann Ashcraft:
"E-6 Navy Seal Karl “Gus” Gustavson received a much deserved hero’s welcome Thursday morning after returning home for the second time from Afghanistan to his home town of Grand Junction.
Gustavson declined to speak about his service and said “there’s not much about work that I can really talk about.”
But, whatever it is he does do, it’s something important, dangerous and worthy of an immense amount of respect from his fellow veterans who turned out at Grand Junction Regional Airport to welcome him home.
“This is the second time we’ve welcomed him home. You’ll have to ask him what he does but I can tell you he really deserves it,” said Art Edwards, one of more than 20 Colorado Patriot Guard Riders and Legion Guard Riders who came to say thank you.
“Just think about all that’s happened in the last six months and that should tell you,” said Jim McNeill, a friend of Gus’ father. “I can tell you, he’s really, really special.” McNeill was looking forward to finally meeting Gus, after sending numerous care packages throughout the past year filled with food and candy as a showing of support.
Gustavson doesn’t know what all the fuss is about. “Not that I’m not special,” he said with a laugh...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Iowa Republican/Kevin Hall "Democrat Operative Reverses Plea; Guilty of Stealing Secretary of State’s Identity"
See related stories and commentary:
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/01/sandbox-comments-breaking-news-iowa.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/01/sandbox-comments-iowa-republican-kevins.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/01/sandbox-comments-iowa-republican-dem.html
http://www.dailyiowan.com/2012/03/07/Opinions/27358.html
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/2857180/posts?page=1
Kevin Hall:
"Democrat operative Zach Edwards changed his initial not guilty plea to guilty and received a light sentence for stealing Secretary of State Matt Schultz’s identity. The plea was officially filed by Iowa Courts on Thursday. He pled guilty to identity theft, a simple misdemeanor.
Edwards received a deferred sentence of one year probation, 20 hours of community service within 120 days and a $65 fine. If he completes probation successfully, the simple misdemeanor charge is dismissed without a conviction being entered on his record. Edwards was originally charged with an aggravated misdemeanor and faced a maximum of two years in prison and a $6,250 fine. He was represented by prominent Republican attorney Matt Whitaker.
Zach Edwards was the Iowa Director of New Media for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. At the time of his arrest, he served in a similar capacity for Link Strategies, a Democrat consultant group closely aligned with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and several prominent Democrats around the country.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/01/sandbox-comments-breaking-news-iowa.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/01/sandbox-comments-iowa-republican-kevins.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/01/sandbox-comments-iowa-republican-dem.html
http://www.dailyiowan.com/2012/03/07/Opinions/27358.html
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/2857180/posts?page=1
Kevin Hall:
"Democrat operative Zach Edwards changed his initial not guilty plea to guilty and received a light sentence for stealing Secretary of State Matt Schultz’s identity. The plea was officially filed by Iowa Courts on Thursday. He pled guilty to identity theft, a simple misdemeanor.
Edwards received a deferred sentence of one year probation, 20 hours of community service within 120 days and a $65 fine. If he completes probation successfully, the simple misdemeanor charge is dismissed without a conviction being entered on his record. Edwards was originally charged with an aggravated misdemeanor and faced a maximum of two years in prison and a $6,250 fine. He was represented by prominent Republican attorney Matt Whitaker.
Zach Edwards was the Iowa Director of New Media for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. At the time of his arrest, he served in a similar capacity for Link Strategies, a Democrat consultant group closely aligned with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and several prominent Democrats around the country.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Edwards tried to use the identities of Secretary of State Matt Schultz, and/or his brother Thomas, with the intent to falsely implicate Secretary Schultz in illegal or unethical behavior. The Secretary of State’s office discovered the crime and reported it to authorities. Edwards was fired from his position at Link Strategies following the arrest...." (Read more? Click title)
SandBoxBlogs: KREX News 5 "Mountain Biker Hospitalized After Falling Off 20-Foot Cliff"
Every person who hikes, bikes, fishes, hunts, skis, snowboards, snowmobiles, etc. etc. should purchase a CORSAR card every year.
Colorado's search and rescue teams and all of our first responders are some of the best in the world. You never know when you or a loved one may need them. For less cost than a latte' you can financially support their work on your behalf.
Courtney Griffin:
"Loma- Rescue crews rushed to the aid of a mountain biker who fell 20 feet off a cliff Sunday afternoon. The biker, whose identity remains unknown, was riding along a cliff on Mary's Loop near the Loma boat ramps when he lost control and fell. Officials said that area is dangerous; they've seen many riders have problems on the same trail...."
(Read more? See the trail? Click title. Buy a CORSAR? Click link above)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Colorado's search and rescue teams and all of our first responders are some of the best in the world. You never know when you or a loved one may need them. For less cost than a latte' you can financially support their work on your behalf.
Courtney Griffin:
"Loma- Rescue crews rushed to the aid of a mountain biker who fell 20 feet off a cliff Sunday afternoon. The biker, whose identity remains unknown, was riding along a cliff on Mary's Loop near the Loma boat ramps when he lost control and fell. Officials said that area is dangerous; they've seen many riders have problems on the same trail...."
(Read more? See the trail? Click title. Buy a CORSAR? Click link above)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent/Your Letters "Make marijuana a true prescription drug"
Out of the mouths of the kids:
Kayla Kline:
"On my way to Glenwood Springs High School, I pass two dispensaries. I see two ads for medical cannabis while reading the local paper in the morning. I pass one dispensary before I cross the Grand Avenue bridge, and another just down the road.
In the paper I can always count on finding an article or an ad about medical marijuana. “Valley teen: Marijuana is ‘widely available.'” That article sure grabbed my attention. The article talked about a student in Carbondale and his dance with the medical marijuana epidemic. When asked where he would get his supply, he stated, “[My provider] would go down to the dispensary once or twice a week and get his marijuana, then he'd give it to me.”
In the local news briefs on March 8, another headline nabbed my attention: “Teen arrested for Carbondale dispensary break-in.” If you ask me, these dispensaries are nothing but trouble.
A group of us students at GSHS have been studying public policy. We are not out to say that marijuana should be legal or illegal. That's a lost argument.
We are looking into ways that medical marijuana could be better distributed. The main thing we have found when we asked our peers, “Do you think, upon seeing medical marijuana dispensaries, that marijuana is becoming socially acceptable?” is that 80 percent of the time, the answer was yes.
We have come up with a policy idea in which medical marijuana would be distributed through a pharmacy, like every other prescription medication. It would be given in a regulated dose with the information on usage as well as the patient's name on the prescription bottle. It would be handled by licensed pharmacists, and could only be obtained by prescription from a licensed doctor local to the patient's area of residence.
There would be less chance of abuse going unnoticed, it would follow the same guidelines as any other prescription drug, and be viewed, as it should be, strictly as a prescription drug...."
(Read orig. letter? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Kayla Kline:
"On my way to Glenwood Springs High School, I pass two dispensaries. I see two ads for medical cannabis while reading the local paper in the morning. I pass one dispensary before I cross the Grand Avenue bridge, and another just down the road.
In the paper I can always count on finding an article or an ad about medical marijuana. “Valley teen: Marijuana is ‘widely available.'” That article sure grabbed my attention. The article talked about a student in Carbondale and his dance with the medical marijuana epidemic. When asked where he would get his supply, he stated, “[My provider] would go down to the dispensary once or twice a week and get his marijuana, then he'd give it to me.”
In the local news briefs on March 8, another headline nabbed my attention: “Teen arrested for Carbondale dispensary break-in.” If you ask me, these dispensaries are nothing but trouble.
A group of us students at GSHS have been studying public policy. We are not out to say that marijuana should be legal or illegal. That's a lost argument.
We are looking into ways that medical marijuana could be better distributed. The main thing we have found when we asked our peers, “Do you think, upon seeing medical marijuana dispensaries, that marijuana is becoming socially acceptable?” is that 80 percent of the time, the answer was yes.
We have come up with a policy idea in which medical marijuana would be distributed through a pharmacy, like every other prescription medication. It would be given in a regulated dose with the information on usage as well as the patient's name on the prescription bottle. It would be handled by licensed pharmacists, and could only be obtained by prescription from a licensed doctor local to the patient's area of residence.
There would be less chance of abuse going unnoticed, it would follow the same guidelines as any other prescription drug, and be viewed, as it should be, strictly as a prescription drug...."
(Read orig. letter? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News/Letter to the Editor "Keep the land public"
'SandBox Nanny' has been a 'news junkie' since her late teens. And that...is a long time...
Throughout the years she has noticed that the sheer volume of vitriol output does come from liberals. The vast majority of the time one can find conservatives in defense mode. Rather than get into finger-pointing, smart defenders have developed what 'Nanny' calls the 'mirror defense'.
From the position of taking the higher road one can very effectively shine a reflective mirror on to those who antagonize.
Jennifer Isenhart shows beautiful execution of the 'mirror defense' today. Up on the Aspen Daily News.
Jennifer Isenhart, New Castle:
"Editor:
I recently had the pleasure of partaking in one of our freedoms: The right to speak at a town hall meeting. I took my two minutes to speak then sat quietly listening to others who had the right to do the same. I am writing at this moment in regards to the “heckler” leaving the meeting, speaking against my belief instead of taking the time to share theirs with me. I will not stoop down to a level below the beliefs I am so passionate about.
People might be quick to judge me just because I have a “No Hidden Gems” sticker displayed on my vehicle or for what I may speak about publicly. But no one has ever stopped to take a minute to ask me about my passions and beliefs on public lands, or to share theirs.
Hidden Gems supporters might be surprised that I see things very similarly to them. I care about our public lands, and even more this great planet we live on. I wish to protect it, and just like you I want the younger generation and those beyond to enjoy it just as I have. Yes, that may be by a motorized route to a special destination where we believe in teaching the younger generation to be good stewards of the land and to work hard to keep the land just the way it is — public.
I don’t believe wilderness is the answer for every piece of land. You can bet I won’t give up on the possibility of there being a better way. Maybe I could be a part of some new legislation, and I would invite you to be also, because deep down we all walk on the same path, just in different shoes. So as I proudly display my sticker I do so with an open heart and mind, and you will continue to see me out there on the trails working hard to keep them clean, promoting responsible use and standing strong for the belief that everyone should have that right to use it as well...." (Read original letter? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."\
Throughout the years she has noticed that the sheer volume of vitriol output does come from liberals. The vast majority of the time one can find conservatives in defense mode. Rather than get into finger-pointing, smart defenders have developed what 'Nanny' calls the 'mirror defense'.
From the position of taking the higher road one can very effectively shine a reflective mirror on to those who antagonize.
Jennifer Isenhart shows beautiful execution of the 'mirror defense' today. Up on the Aspen Daily News.
Jennifer Isenhart, New Castle:
"Editor:
I recently had the pleasure of partaking in one of our freedoms: The right to speak at a town hall meeting. I took my two minutes to speak then sat quietly listening to others who had the right to do the same. I am writing at this moment in regards to the “heckler” leaving the meeting, speaking against my belief instead of taking the time to share theirs with me. I will not stoop down to a level below the beliefs I am so passionate about.
People might be quick to judge me just because I have a “No Hidden Gems” sticker displayed on my vehicle or for what I may speak about publicly. But no one has ever stopped to take a minute to ask me about my passions and beliefs on public lands, or to share theirs.
Hidden Gems supporters might be surprised that I see things very similarly to them. I care about our public lands, and even more this great planet we live on. I wish to protect it, and just like you I want the younger generation and those beyond to enjoy it just as I have. Yes, that may be by a motorized route to a special destination where we believe in teaching the younger generation to be good stewards of the land and to work hard to keep the land just the way it is — public.
I don’t believe wilderness is the answer for every piece of land. You can bet I won’t give up on the possibility of there being a better way. Maybe I could be a part of some new legislation, and I would invite you to be also, because deep down we all walk on the same path, just in different shoes. So as I proudly display my sticker I do so with an open heart and mind, and you will continue to see me out there on the trails working hard to keep them clean, promoting responsible use and standing strong for the belief that everyone should have that right to use it as well...." (Read original letter? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."\
SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice " Morning photo: The winter that wasn’t?"
All credit Bob Berwyn:
"SUMMIT COUNTY — Lots of grumbling from tourists and old-timers alike on this winter, or the lack thereof, but was it really as bad as all that? You’ve seen all the stats on snowfall and temperature, now have a look at some of the photos showing that, yes, there was a winter in Summit County, with snow, cold, fog, ice … and it’s not over yet. My money is on a snowy and cold late March and early April.
"SUMMIT COUNTY — Lots of grumbling from tourists and old-timers alike on this winter, or the lack thereof, but was it really as bad as all that? You’ve seen all the stats on snowfall and temperature, now have a look at some of the photos showing that, yes, there was a winter in Summit County, with snow, cold, fog, ice … and it’s not over yet. My money is on a snowy and cold late March and early April.
And just as food for thought, I’d like to throw out there that a cycle of big wet winters (like last year), followed by a relatively short and mild winter (like this year so far), is probably beneficial to some plants and perhaps even animals in ways that we don’t even begin to understand. We just have to let go of the idea that we humans are at the center of the universe. All these pictures were taken before winter even formally began on the calendar...." (See more? Order photos? Click title)
March 11, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent/Your Letters "Udall's wilderness proposal ‘the right thing to do' "
One of the things 'SandBoxBlogs" did not set out to become was a media critic. Yes, it's true.
Unfortunately, there was such a huge problem with two of our local papers at the time it became impossible not to be critical. Think back to 2009, 2010 and the early part of 2011 at 'the way things used to be on the PI and Times'. The Times cleaned up very quickly and capped that with standing up to corporate and begging off having a publisher in-house. From that point forward, they've been the Times we all recognize under the ownership of Swift Communications. Much better read every morning than the direction they had been going down.
The PI is 1000% better with another 75% or so left to go. Consumer complaints are more about content, writers and power abuses than they are accusations of being a 'tabloid trash media'.
The balancing act for local commentators is to figure out what to lend energy to and what to ignore.
SandBox has just ignored all the gushing coverage on the virtues of Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) and his latest attempt to recreate Hidden Gems under a new name. Any land grab bill is likely to fail in the end and we'll put our energy into the real politics of it all when those politics are called upon.
With that said, it is hard to watch the short memory span of local letter to the editor writers. All this gushing and heaping of praise onto Udall's 'sainted' head is pretty tough to ignore when the reality of Sen. Mark Udall's politics are such that he will pander to either side of the coin when it comes to environmnental issues.
Fortunately, Colorado conservatives have fairly long memories and that is not good news for either Udall or Bennet.
Here are some reminders that balance out these praise filled letters to editors lately. Wonder why these stories are pushed away to the back archives by the PI? Hmmmmm......
http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_18657546
http://coloradoindependent.com/104256/the-wizards-of-oil-how-the-koch-brothers-influence-environmental-politics
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2011/10/sandbox-comments-glenwood-springs-post_9213.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2011/12/sandbox-comments-colorado-peak-politics.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2011/11/sandbox-comments-summit-county-citizens_2194.html
(Read today's letter praising Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado)? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Unfortunately, there was such a huge problem with two of our local papers at the time it became impossible not to be critical. Think back to 2009, 2010 and the early part of 2011 at 'the way things used to be on the PI and Times'. The Times cleaned up very quickly and capped that with standing up to corporate and begging off having a publisher in-house. From that point forward, they've been the Times we all recognize under the ownership of Swift Communications. Much better read every morning than the direction they had been going down.
The PI is 1000% better with another 75% or so left to go. Consumer complaints are more about content, writers and power abuses than they are accusations of being a 'tabloid trash media'.
The balancing act for local commentators is to figure out what to lend energy to and what to ignore.
SandBox has just ignored all the gushing coverage on the virtues of Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) and his latest attempt to recreate Hidden Gems under a new name. Any land grab bill is likely to fail in the end and we'll put our energy into the real politics of it all when those politics are called upon.
With that said, it is hard to watch the short memory span of local letter to the editor writers. All this gushing and heaping of praise onto Udall's 'sainted' head is pretty tough to ignore when the reality of Sen. Mark Udall's politics are such that he will pander to either side of the coin when it comes to environmnental issues.
Fortunately, Colorado conservatives have fairly long memories and that is not good news for either Udall or Bennet.
Here are some reminders that balance out these praise filled letters to editors lately. Wonder why these stories are pushed away to the back archives by the PI? Hmmmmm......
http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_18657546
http://coloradoindependent.com/104256/the-wizards-of-oil-how-the-koch-brothers-influence-environmental-politics
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2011/10/sandbox-comments-glenwood-springs-post_9213.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2011/12/sandbox-comments-colorado-peak-politics.html
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2011/11/sandbox-comments-summit-county-citizens_2194.html
(Read today's letter praising Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado)? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News/Letter to the Editor " Aspen boycott"
Mark Thomas, Hood River, Oregon:
"Editor:
Presumably, ACRA’s job is to help the business community in Aspen thrive. But by paying dues to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is does just the opposite, because the U.S. Chamber actively works to prevent a fix on climate, which the city’s own research says threatens the economy. There’s another problem though; people don’t want to visit a town that’s unethical and hypocritical. I used to live in the valley and love Aspen, but I can and will plan my next ski vacation in Steamboat Springs, which is not a member of the U.S. Chamber and seems to be doing just fine. Would a boycott be good for Aspen’s businesses? Does Steamboat’s chamber know something Aspen doesn’t?..." (Read the original? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Editor:
Presumably, ACRA’s job is to help the business community in Aspen thrive. But by paying dues to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is does just the opposite, because the U.S. Chamber actively works to prevent a fix on climate, which the city’s own research says threatens the economy. There’s another problem though; people don’t want to visit a town that’s unethical and hypocritical. I used to live in the valley and love Aspen, but I can and will plan my next ski vacation in Steamboat Springs, which is not a member of the U.S. Chamber and seems to be doing just fine. Would a boycott be good for Aspen’s businesses? Does Steamboat’s chamber know something Aspen doesn’t?..." (Read the original? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Daily Star "Poker champ Brit is facing murder rap"
Update May 1, 2012:
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/05/sandboxblogs-kidderminster-shuttle-son.html
________________________________
Update March 13, 2012: Viral links growing from origin of the interview Sunday, March 11, 2012 on the UK's Daily Star:
http://www.gambling911.com/poker/british-poker-player-faces-murder-charges-us-allegedly-killed-wife-030512.html
http://alphasportsblog.com/?p=239
http://unpromisedone.blogspot.com/2012/03/british-man-facing-murder-charges-for.html
http://www.recentpoker.com/news/Marcus-Bebb-Jones-5246.html
http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/Daily-Rewind:-Pro-in-Murder-Trial,-EPL-Analysis-Mickey-Petersen-Speaks_57472/
http://www.facebook.com/denverpost/posts/179113225537593?comment_id=492584
http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?54021-British-Poker-Champ-Marcus-Bebb-Jones-In-Court-Over-Wife-s-97-Murder
_________________________________________________
Update March 12, 2012: Viral link originating from the Daily Star: http://luxuryhotelinvietnam.com/poker-champ-brit-is-facing-murder-rap/
_________________________________________________________
Original Post March 11, 2012:
Disclaimer #1: Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. )
http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/05/sandboxblogs-kidderminster-shuttle-son.html
________________________________
Update March 13, 2012: Viral links growing from origin of the interview Sunday, March 11, 2012 on the UK's Daily Star:
http://www.gambling911.com/poker/british-poker-player-faces-murder-charges-us-allegedly-killed-wife-030512.html
http://alphasportsblog.com/?p=239
http://unpromisedone.blogspot.com/2012/03/british-man-facing-murder-charges-for.html
http://www.recentpoker.com/news/Marcus-Bebb-Jones-5246.html
http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/Daily-Rewind:-Pro-in-Murder-Trial,-EPL-Analysis-Mickey-Petersen-Speaks_57472/
http://www.facebook.com/denverpost/posts/179113225537593?comment_id=492584
http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?54021-British-Poker-Champ-Marcus-Bebb-Jones-In-Court-Over-Wife-s-97-Murder
_________________________________________________
Update March 12, 2012: Viral link originating from the Daily Star: http://luxuryhotelinvietnam.com/poker-champ-brit-is-facing-murder-rap/
_________________________________________________________
Original Post March 11, 2012:
Disclaimer #1: Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. )
Disclaimer #2: During the London visits of GarCo Sheriff and 9th Judicial in 2010 and 2011, this blog was the target of malicious attacks on us, GarCo Sheriff, Marcus Bebb-Jones. A few of those attackers are known as individuals who had an agenda to attempt to sway local judicial cases and were turned to authorities. Please note that this post and all posts on Bebb-Jones are heavily moderated by SandBox with the end result being that if any of those individuals show up again on one of our sites, you will be turned over to the same authorities as you were in the past.
Lee Sorrell:
“Assuming the judge binds the case over for trial it must be held within 180 days of the defendant entering his plea.
“He has not yet been required to enter a plea but will probably be required to do so soon after the prelim is completed.”
According to court documents, on September 16, 1997, Bebb-Jones and wife Sabrina rowed about his flirting with guests staying at their Melrose Hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Bebb-Jones is then alleged to have told investigators the couple went off to the nearby Dinosaur National Monument but had another argument and she fled.
She was reported missing by a hotel worker two days later.
By then Bebb-Jones had headed to Las Vegas with his three-year- old son.
Prosecutors claim he lived the high life in the party city, booking into various hotels, borrowing money at casinos and putting more than £3,500 on his credit card in a matter of days.
He is alleged to have told a friend he had rented a Ferrari and hired prostitutes as he wanted to “go out in style”.
The prosecution claim that at the end of his bender he booked himself another hotel, put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger but survived...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Town Hall/John Ransom "The Mental Illness Behind Anonymous"
The common man sat back during the 2000 election cycle and watched Al Gore and John Kerry begin the distortion of main stream media into a very one-sided liberal stream of political propaganda.
In the 2004 election cycle, conservative media began to fight back and soon got the hang of how the game works. As Joe Hyde said of the media in general during the 2012 Rick Perry campaign: "..it's an ego driven profession..".
The folks responded in 2000 by trying out (what was then a rather covert type of communication) the fairly new 'blogosphere' in order to get their voices heard. The result was that George W. Bush was elected and the debacle that was Florida was exposed to the world at large.
By the time the 2004 election cycle came around, major news outlets were monitoring the voices in that blogosphere. There was an air of excitement from lead anchors who seemed to relish calling out avatar names as if they were some kind of spies living in hidden lairs that conveniently had internet access. No one really stopped to think that just maybe those voices in the blogosphere might be the common man voter.
In 2008 it all became a free-for-all of voices clamoring for attention. The Tea Party was born and Ron Paul commandeered the radicals in cyber politics out of which he empowered a small army of powerful voices. The blogosphere became a legitimately recognized power that no politician can control.
In the 2012 presidential cycle the blogosphere has settled into the single most powerful media tool in the world. One that smart politicians recognize they have no hope of ever controlling. A true wild card that can now micro-blog as well.
How long will it take this time to get rid of the attempts by the establishments of both parties, ruling kings and presidents to try to discredit the voices of the people they serve by bullying them, censoring them and manipulating their credibility with disinformation? Another four years? Less?
Please do not flood the mailbox with ranges of hate mail or disinformation that 'SandBox' condones what the 'Anonymous'/LulzSec' group(s) have done with their time and effort. We do not condone illegal acts or the spreading of viral information that has been distorted.
One of the things we do support with any 'anonymous' commentary is the freedom to speak and to do so under the protection of privacy.
Since the 'takedown' of 'Anonymous/LulzSec' this past week, 'SandBoxBlogs' finds the mainstream media push to try to discredit those voices by labeling them as 'mentally unstable', 'terrorists', etc. etc. unconscionable. Go after ferreting out whether or not illegal acts were committed by anyone, such as true hacking, and administer justice. But if to get that done, you have to resort to outright lies through distortion of facts, that is not only unnecessary it is wrong.
A thank you goes out to John Ransom, somewhere out there on Town Hall, for showing the quoted voices of 'Anonymous' so that you can decide for yourself.
John Ransom:
"Ca7 wrote: It's cute that you would try to paint this as "democrats don't think of unemployment insurance fraud as a crime" when your only specific example of unemployment insurance fraud is one where all the parties involved were actually arrested on fraud charges.- in response to How Stimulating: Unemployment Benefits for Murderers
Dear Comrade 7,
Actually the specific examples (plural) that I included did include one example where someone was arrested on fraud charges- because he was unlucky enough to be incarcerated for murder. Local authorities got involved where the feds likely wouldn’t have. And like the typical progressive, you point to the exception and ignore the rule.
The rule is that $16.5 billion was paid out in fraudulent claims, with less than 5 percent of that money recovered. And under Democrats, unemployment fraud has jumped another 11 percent year-over-year. One would think perhaps someone in the federal government who has the responsibility to administer the program might actually do something about it.
But nope.
“We don’t think this is mostly about fraud—we think it’s a lack of clarity of understanding what eligibility is,” Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Administration at the Department of Labor, told the Times.
Tortured words and tortured reasoning for not enforcing the law just leads to more crime and encourages people to steal.
Dear Comrade Rob,
Why yes I do get paid to write this stuff. I’m guessing that you are wondering how to tax it. The Stamp Act has already been tried. But hey: Maybe Democrats can bring it back and just call it a fee? Three cheers for King Obama!
Pelosi doesn’t have to advocate for convicted murders to get unemployment. They already collect the benefit according to the example cited above. And why wouldn’t they? The “Clarity of Understanding” training that they’ll make these gang-bangers go through as punishment probably won’t be much of a deterrent to people who make a living breaking the law.
If Pelosi advocated policies that forced us all to live with our doors and windows wide open, I’m guessing crime would go up. And when it did, you wouldn’t just blame the criminals, but rather you’d blame the people who made our property and families unsafe to begin with ala Fancy Nancy...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
In the 2004 election cycle, conservative media began to fight back and soon got the hang of how the game works. As Joe Hyde said of the media in general during the 2012 Rick Perry campaign: "..it's an ego driven profession..".
The folks responded in 2000 by trying out (what was then a rather covert type of communication) the fairly new 'blogosphere' in order to get their voices heard. The result was that George W. Bush was elected and the debacle that was Florida was exposed to the world at large.
By the time the 2004 election cycle came around, major news outlets were monitoring the voices in that blogosphere. There was an air of excitement from lead anchors who seemed to relish calling out avatar names as if they were some kind of spies living in hidden lairs that conveniently had internet access. No one really stopped to think that just maybe those voices in the blogosphere might be the common man voter.
In 2008 it all became a free-for-all of voices clamoring for attention. The Tea Party was born and Ron Paul commandeered the radicals in cyber politics out of which he empowered a small army of powerful voices. The blogosphere became a legitimately recognized power that no politician can control.
In the 2012 presidential cycle the blogosphere has settled into the single most powerful media tool in the world. One that smart politicians recognize they have no hope of ever controlling. A true wild card that can now micro-blog as well.
How long will it take this time to get rid of the attempts by the establishments of both parties, ruling kings and presidents to try to discredit the voices of the people they serve by bullying them, censoring them and manipulating their credibility with disinformation? Another four years? Less?
Please do not flood the mailbox with ranges of hate mail or disinformation that 'SandBox' condones what the 'Anonymous'/LulzSec' group(s) have done with their time and effort. We do not condone illegal acts or the spreading of viral information that has been distorted.
One of the things we do support with any 'anonymous' commentary is the freedom to speak and to do so under the protection of privacy.
Since the 'takedown' of 'Anonymous/LulzSec' this past week, 'SandBoxBlogs' finds the mainstream media push to try to discredit those voices by labeling them as 'mentally unstable', 'terrorists', etc. etc. unconscionable. Go after ferreting out whether or not illegal acts were committed by anyone, such as true hacking, and administer justice. But if to get that done, you have to resort to outright lies through distortion of facts, that is not only unnecessary it is wrong.
A thank you goes out to John Ransom, somewhere out there on Town Hall, for showing the quoted voices of 'Anonymous' so that you can decide for yourself.
John Ransom:
"Ca7 wrote: It's cute that you would try to paint this as "democrats don't think of unemployment insurance fraud as a crime" when your only specific example of unemployment insurance fraud is one where all the parties involved were actually arrested on fraud charges.- in response to How Stimulating: Unemployment Benefits for Murderers
Dear Comrade 7,
Actually the specific examples (plural) that I included did include one example where someone was arrested on fraud charges- because he was unlucky enough to be incarcerated for murder. Local authorities got involved where the feds likely wouldn’t have. And like the typical progressive, you point to the exception and ignore the rule.
The rule is that $16.5 billion was paid out in fraudulent claims, with less than 5 percent of that money recovered. And under Democrats, unemployment fraud has jumped another 11 percent year-over-year. One would think perhaps someone in the federal government who has the responsibility to administer the program might actually do something about it.
But nope.
“We don’t think this is mostly about fraud—we think it’s a lack of clarity of understanding what eligibility is,” Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Administration at the Department of Labor, told the Times.
Tortured words and tortured reasoning for not enforcing the law just leads to more crime and encourages people to steal.
Rob Mitchell wrote: Perfect example of conservative truth distortion. Nowhere in fact is Pelosi advocating for benefits for convicted murderers. I hope they do not pay you to write this stuff.- in response to How Stimulating: Unemployment Benefits for Murderers
Dear Comrade Rob,
Why yes I do get paid to write this stuff. I’m guessing that you are wondering how to tax it. The Stamp Act has already been tried. But hey: Maybe Democrats can bring it back and just call it a fee? Three cheers for King Obama!
Pelosi doesn’t have to advocate for convicted murders to get unemployment. They already collect the benefit according to the example cited above. And why wouldn’t they? The “Clarity of Understanding” training that they’ll make these gang-bangers go through as punishment probably won’t be much of a deterrent to people who make a living breaking the law.
If Pelosi advocated policies that forced us all to live with our doors and windows wide open, I’m guessing crime would go up. And when it did, you wouldn’t just blame the criminals, but rather you’d blame the people who made our property and families unsafe to begin with ala Fancy Nancy...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times/Chris King "Enough of the political pandering"
There were a number of factors that brought 'SandBox Nanny' to her final decision on whether to take up the idea regional avatars came up with of creating a hub for uncensored yet moderated commentary on local, regional, national and world news.
It has been a long trek trying to get someone (anyone) to ask the question of what the final deciding factor was. Who knows, maybe eventually someone will get around to asking instead of speculating. Imagine a world where direct-to-source information truly exists. Why, it is safe to speculate we would have a world with far fewer issues, eh?
One of the reasons for agreeing to the experiment of 'SandBoxBlogs' was to grow the ability to tie various patterns of what 'community knowledge' (talk, gossip, group debates, forums, etc. etc.) holds in information that is needed in the public eye into what the news media actually prints and projects to the public.
One of the more interesting results of that effort has been the sound of seldom raised in public voices.
As said many times before, local gossip mongers would be stunned at 'who' and 'what' is brought forward in 'anonymous' commentary. Proof that it is not the method of delivery but the information itself that is relevant. Imagine a world where we had authorities such as cops, prosecutors, lawmakers, judges, presidents and kings that listened to the information direct from source itself and then just simply did their own job and no one else's scope of work.
Just maybe, we might end up with systems of balance and justice instead of high-tech media lynchings, wars and politics that sway all things within the lives of the common folk.
One of the strongest statements that is also repeated continually in avatar commentary, claims that 'if I want to be publicly known, I will be. If I want to be a politician, I will become one.' Simplistically stated, what 'SandBox Nanny' hears these commentators 'just sayin' is that they are in charge of where their vote goes. That they are doing the electing or hiring of cops, prosecutors, lawmakers, judges, presidents and sometimes kings to do the job that office holds. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Today's local news patterns reveal a thread that crosses the ocean to the UK, bounces off the hallowed halls of the United States Senate and involve the politics of a president, a local prosecutor, a senator, one of the most powerful (and undeniably softly corrupt if you really get into the world of so-called non-profit organizations) lobbyist groups in the world and a number of issues such as women's rights and energy development.
To start off the posting of that pattern, 'SandBox Nanny' is going to toss up the guest opinion of Chris King. Up on the Aspen Times. Then follow that up with a thought provoking column by John Ransom, somewhere out there on Town Hall.
Happy Sunday, everybody. Make it a good week out there.
Chris King:
"When politicians ask us to “leave politics out” of any government activity, we must suspect that we are being hosed. For wherever legislation and tax money are involved, so is politics. It is already in. And it should be. Good government requires constant citizen input and oversight, which is, in effect, “politics.”
Thus in the recent Aspen Times guest opinion by two Democratic senators, the title, “Take politics out of women's health care,” promises a double hosing (Feb. 29). Being superb politicians, these twain do not disappoint.
The title itself misstates the issue, which they only pretend to address. It's not really “health care.” More specifically they aim to defend Obama's new mandate, which rewards political supporters at the expense of the Bill of Rights. Specifically, it requires all employers, including church groups, to cover health plans that include birth control and abortifacients, thus forbidding employers' free exercise of religion, the very first freedom specified in the First Amendment.
Such a power grab might once have bothered the American Left, but not today. After all, when you run the government, why care about a few dissenters? Benefits trump fundamental rights. So stuff their freedom of conscience. They're a minority anyway. What's the big deal? What constitution? Benefits, man! They should shut up and get in line...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
It has been a long trek trying to get someone (anyone) to ask the question of what the final deciding factor was. Who knows, maybe eventually someone will get around to asking instead of speculating. Imagine a world where direct-to-source information truly exists. Why, it is safe to speculate we would have a world with far fewer issues, eh?
One of the reasons for agreeing to the experiment of 'SandBoxBlogs' was to grow the ability to tie various patterns of what 'community knowledge' (talk, gossip, group debates, forums, etc. etc.) holds in information that is needed in the public eye into what the news media actually prints and projects to the public.
One of the more interesting results of that effort has been the sound of seldom raised in public voices.
As said many times before, local gossip mongers would be stunned at 'who' and 'what' is brought forward in 'anonymous' commentary. Proof that it is not the method of delivery but the information itself that is relevant. Imagine a world where we had authorities such as cops, prosecutors, lawmakers, judges, presidents and kings that listened to the information direct from source itself and then just simply did their own job and no one else's scope of work.
Just maybe, we might end up with systems of balance and justice instead of high-tech media lynchings, wars and politics that sway all things within the lives of the common folk.
One of the strongest statements that is also repeated continually in avatar commentary, claims that 'if I want to be publicly known, I will be. If I want to be a politician, I will become one.' Simplistically stated, what 'SandBox Nanny' hears these commentators 'just sayin' is that they are in charge of where their vote goes. That they are doing the electing or hiring of cops, prosecutors, lawmakers, judges, presidents and sometimes kings to do the job that office holds. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Today's local news patterns reveal a thread that crosses the ocean to the UK, bounces off the hallowed halls of the United States Senate and involve the politics of a president, a local prosecutor, a senator, one of the most powerful (and undeniably softly corrupt if you really get into the world of so-called non-profit organizations) lobbyist groups in the world and a number of issues such as women's rights and energy development.
To start off the posting of that pattern, 'SandBox Nanny' is going to toss up the guest opinion of Chris King. Up on the Aspen Times. Then follow that up with a thought provoking column by John Ransom, somewhere out there on Town Hall.
Happy Sunday, everybody. Make it a good week out there.
Chris King:
"When politicians ask us to “leave politics out” of any government activity, we must suspect that we are being hosed. For wherever legislation and tax money are involved, so is politics. It is already in. And it should be. Good government requires constant citizen input and oversight, which is, in effect, “politics.”
Thus in the recent Aspen Times guest opinion by two Democratic senators, the title, “Take politics out of women's health care,” promises a double hosing (Feb. 29). Being superb politicians, these twain do not disappoint.
The title itself misstates the issue, which they only pretend to address. It's not really “health care.” More specifically they aim to defend Obama's new mandate, which rewards political supporters at the expense of the Bill of Rights. Specifically, it requires all employers, including church groups, to cover health plans that include birth control and abortifacients, thus forbidding employers' free exercise of religion, the very first freedom specified in the First Amendment.
Such a power grab might once have bothered the American Left, but not today. After all, when you run the government, why care about a few dissenters? Benefits trump fundamental rights. So stuff their freedom of conscience. They're a minority anyway. What's the big deal? What constitution? Benefits, man! They should shut up and get in line...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Planet Earth"
All photo credit: NASA (via Bob Berwyn and Summit County Citizens Voice)
Bob Berwyn:
"SUMMIT COUNTY — I’m constantly amazed by the stream of visual information coming from the many satellites orbiting the Earth, and every time I see a particularly cool image, I think to myself that it adds just another tiny piece to the puzzle of understanding how we as humans fit into the greater cosmic scheme. Even for me, as a non-scientist, the exposure to the images helps be “get” how atmospheric systems work and how land, water and the sky are really all part of the same system. That’s why I’m breaking tradition today, by running a short set of satellite images instead of Summit Voice shots. Visit the NASA Earth Observatory online or follow on Twitter to get a feed of images...." (See all images? Read more? Click title)
Bob Berwyn:
"SUMMIT COUNTY — I’m constantly amazed by the stream of visual information coming from the many satellites orbiting the Earth, and every time I see a particularly cool image, I think to myself that it adds just another tiny piece to the puzzle of understanding how we as humans fit into the greater cosmic scheme. Even for me, as a non-scientist, the exposure to the images helps be “get” how atmospheric systems work and how land, water and the sky are really all part of the same system. That’s why I’m breaking tradition today, by running a short set of satellite images instead of Summit Voice shots. Visit the NASA Earth Observatory online or follow on Twitter to get a feed of images...." (See all images? Read more? Click title)
March 10, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Commentary Magazine "In Defense of Compassionate Conservatism"
Peter Wehner:
"The term “compassionate conservatism” is still invoked by some on the right. But for many commentators, compassionate conservatism has become a synonym for Big Government. In fact, it is distinct from — and in important respects the opposite of – the collectivist/statist impulse.
The idea was based on the writings of Richard John Neuhaus and Peter Berger, who argued in their 1977 book To Empower People that “mediating structures” such as family, neighborhood, church, and voluntary and civil associations are crucial institutions that needed to be fortified. One of the more elegant summaries of compassionate conservatism can be found in George Will’s book Statecraft as Soulcraft, where Will wrote:
What Will wrote tracks quite closely with what George W. Bush said in his first presidential campaign speech on July 22, 1999. How well this concept works in practice is a legitimate issue to debate. But to use government to strengthen mediating structures is quite a different approach than taking over their duties...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"The term “compassionate conservatism” is still invoked by some on the right. But for many commentators, compassionate conservatism has become a synonym for Big Government. In fact, it is distinct from — and in important respects the opposite of – the collectivist/statist impulse.
The idea was based on the writings of Richard John Neuhaus and Peter Berger, who argued in their 1977 book To Empower People that “mediating structures” such as family, neighborhood, church, and voluntary and civil associations are crucial institutions that needed to be fortified. One of the more elegant summaries of compassionate conservatism can be found in George Will’s book Statecraft as Soulcraft, where Will wrote:
The institutions that once were most directly responsible for tempering individualism — family , church, voluntary associations, town governments — with collective concerns have come to seem peripheral. Using government discriminatingly but energetically to strengthen these institutions is part of the natural program of conservatives. Far from being a rationale for statism, the political orientation … involves the use of government to prevent statism by enhancing the social competence of citizens. In the best and most mature polities, what government does is encourage society to do things through its organic working. Government can do this by enhancing, in many ways, the vigor of those intermediary institutions which shape, support and inspire individuals, drawing persons out of the orbits of individualism and into social relationships. One way that government strengthens such institutions is by not usurping their functions. But that is not the only way. Government can plan positive inducements to vigor.
What Will wrote tracks quite closely with what George W. Bush said in his first presidential campaign speech on July 22, 1999. How well this concept works in practice is a legitimate issue to debate. But to use government to strengthen mediating structures is quite a different approach than taking over their duties...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Gonzo exhibit looks at history of Pitkin County sheriff"
One cannot help but wonder if this culture so boasted of and so proudly aspired to really cares.
Really cares that dope literally runs through the streets of Aspen to the extent that it takes outside agencies coming in in order to enforce the law.
Our guess is that this exhibit will only serve to strengthen the resolve of the citizens who do care, the FBI and the DEA.
Andre Salvail:
"“The important part of the show is really the display panels (sandwiched between Benton's campaign posters) with writings by Dick Keinast,” Watkins said. “They sort of outline how Aspen and Pitkin County came to be a more compassionate law enforcement community, without collaborating with the DEA and FBI.”
The exhibit is especially relevant today, Watkins said, given the DEA's newfound presence in the Roaring Fork Valley and the recent arrests of suspected cocaine traffickers and their subsequent plea bargains.
“With everything that's going on now, with the drug investigations and the DEA in town and all of that, we thought this would be an appropriate statement about the history of the sheriff's department and how it came to be the way it is,” he said....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Really cares that dope literally runs through the streets of Aspen to the extent that it takes outside agencies coming in in order to enforce the law.
Our guess is that this exhibit will only serve to strengthen the resolve of the citizens who do care, the FBI and the DEA.
Andre Salvail:
"“The important part of the show is really the display panels (sandwiched between Benton's campaign posters) with writings by Dick Keinast,” Watkins said. “They sort of outline how Aspen and Pitkin County came to be a more compassionate law enforcement community, without collaborating with the DEA and FBI.”
The exhibit is especially relevant today, Watkins said, given the DEA's newfound presence in the Roaring Fork Valley and the recent arrests of suspected cocaine traffickers and their subsequent plea bargains.
“With everything that's going on now, with the drug investigations and the DEA in town and all of that, we thought this would be an appropriate statement about the history of the sheriff's department and how it came to be the way it is,” he said....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "In sanctions appeal, DA accuses public defender of ‘gotcha’ tactic"
Update to this post on March 13, 2012 from the Aspen Daily News:
"An article in Saturday’s edition about the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office appealing a judge’s sanction contained incorrect information. The trial court’s order dismissing the case is a final order for purposes of appeal. But if the office wins the appeal, the defendant can be brought back to trial..."
(Read original correction? Click title)
__________________________________________________
Note from SandBox:
Chad Abraham:
"Even though Aguilera-Pimentel cannot be prosecuted again, Beeson decided to appeal.
The “issue of the sanctions imposed by the district court in our case is one of high importance statewide as it basically sets a standard of absolute perfection when dealing with discovery issues,” Beeson said in an email. “We believe this to be an issue of policy statewide, and we are confident that once the merits of the appeal are actually considered, we will prevail.”...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"An article in Saturday’s edition about the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office appealing a judge’s sanction contained incorrect information. The trial court’s order dismissing the case is a final order for purposes of appeal. But if the office wins the appeal, the defendant can be brought back to trial..."
(Read original correction? Click title)
__________________________________________________
Note from SandBox:
(Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. We are the only news media that provides the courtesty of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. )
Chad Abraham:
"Even though Aguilera-Pimentel cannot be prosecuted again, Beeson decided to appeal.
The “issue of the sanctions imposed by the district court in our case is one of high importance statewide as it basically sets a standard of absolute perfection when dealing with discovery issues,” Beeson said in an email. “We believe this to be an issue of policy statewide, and we are confident that once the merits of the appeal are actually considered, we will prevail.”...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Colorado: Private investment sought for I-70"
Bob Berwyn:
"SUMMIT COUNTY — A semi-secret and unsolicited proposal for I-70 improvements from a private company is garnering more attention these days, as state, local and federal officials come to grips with the fact that there just isn’t going to be much public money available for critical infrastructure investment.
At a meeting Friday (March 9) in Summit County, a collaborative I-70 planning group heard a few more details on a possible public-private partnership, and Colorado Department of Transportation officials said they will pursue the approach in a two-phase process, first by issuing a request for statements of interest, then following up with a more formal request for proposals.
At this point, the state transportation agency already has one such proposal in hand, which includes “a list of improvements that could generate enough revenue to the point that you could bond against it,” CDOT region 1 director Tony DeVito said after the meeting....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"SUMMIT COUNTY — A semi-secret and unsolicited proposal for I-70 improvements from a private company is garnering more attention these days, as state, local and federal officials come to grips with the fact that there just isn’t going to be much public money available for critical infrastructure investment.
At a meeting Friday (March 9) in Summit County, a collaborative I-70 planning group heard a few more details on a possible public-private partnership, and Colorado Department of Transportation officials said they will pursue the approach in a two-phase process, first by issuing a request for statements of interest, then following up with a more formal request for proposals.
At this point, the state transportation agency already has one such proposal in hand, which includes “a list of improvements that could generate enough revenue to the point that you could bond against it,” CDOT region 1 director Tony DeVito said after the meeting....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "The four cast calls for pain"
Lorenzo Semple:
"Last weekend the Aspen Skiing Co. successfully held the second Power of Four ski mountaineering race. My partner, Roger Marolt, and I completed it in just less than nine hours. It was nothing short of brutal. If you’re at all interested in doing the race next year, which I would highly recommend, go buy the super light gear now and get used to it. Without it you’re dead. Oh yeah, and bring your wallet.
The race itself is actually more like the power of three. There are basically three different geological features: Snowmass/Burnt Mountain/Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands and Ajax. We budgeted three hours for each leg and finished roughly just under that.
The pack started extremely fast for a 22-mile race with 10,000 feet of climbing. Within one minute of the start, there were a total of five people behind me. In retrospect, if I had started any faster I probably wouldn’t have finished. I was struggling just to keep up with my partner all day.
The fun parts of the course are the leg from the top of Burnt Mountain to the top of West Buttermilk, and the mysterious Congo trail. By the time we got there, approximately 100 people on lightweight mountaineering skis had passed over the terrain and it was absolutely butchered. There were huge deformed moguls and skinny trench ruts leading to narrow high-speed double tracks into thick wooded sections. When you entered the timber, there were pine needles all over the ground telling a harrowing tale of racers passing dangerously close...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Last weekend the Aspen Skiing Co. successfully held the second Power of Four ski mountaineering race. My partner, Roger Marolt, and I completed it in just less than nine hours. It was nothing short of brutal. If you’re at all interested in doing the race next year, which I would highly recommend, go buy the super light gear now and get used to it. Without it you’re dead. Oh yeah, and bring your wallet.
The race itself is actually more like the power of three. There are basically three different geological features: Snowmass/Burnt Mountain/Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands and Ajax. We budgeted three hours for each leg and finished roughly just under that.
The pack started extremely fast for a 22-mile race with 10,000 feet of climbing. Within one minute of the start, there were a total of five people behind me. In retrospect, if I had started any faster I probably wouldn’t have finished. I was struggling just to keep up with my partner all day.
The fun parts of the course are the leg from the top of Burnt Mountain to the top of West Buttermilk, and the mysterious Congo trail. By the time we got there, approximately 100 people on lightweight mountaineering skis had passed over the terrain and it was absolutely butchered. There were huge deformed moguls and skinny trench ruts leading to narrow high-speed double tracks into thick wooded sections. When you entered the timber, there were pine needles all over the ground telling a harrowing tale of racers passing dangerously close...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Patterns in nature"
All credit Bob and Dylan Berwyn:
March 9, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Right Scoop "ShePAC’s brutal takedown of Obama and Bill Maher"
Scoop:
"ShePAC put together a fantastic mash-up exposing the horrible things Maher has said and Obama’s willingness to look the other way:...."
"ShePAC put together a fantastic mash-up exposing the horrible things Maher has said and Obama’s willingness to look the other way:...."
SandBoxBlogs: Town Hall/Michelle Malkin "Colorado's Own Green Loan Sinkhole"
Come to think of it, have there been any success stories at all with Obama's Green Jobs initiative?
Michelle Malkin:
"There's no escaping Solyndra Syndrome. Here in my home state of Colorado, citizen journalists have uncovered our own gaping government green loan sinkhole. The stench of Chicago-on-the-Potomac is fouling the fresh Rocky Mountain air.
Meet Loveland-based Abound Solar, the lucky winner of a $400 million federal loan guarantee from the Obama administration. Earlier this month, the thin-film cadmium telluride solar module-maker announced layoffs of nearly 300 employees (70 percent of its workforce). In addition, the firm froze plans to build a new factory in Indiana. Abound says it will ride out bad market conditions and "hopefully" survive until the market recovers.
But White House hope-a-nomics is what got Abound and taxpayers into trouble in the first place.
Back in 2010, President Obama promised America in his weekly radio address that Abound would "manufacture advanced solar panels at two new plants, creating more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs." Energy Secretary Steven Chu waves his green pom-poms, too. "Not only is this investment creating thousands of jobs, but it is also increasing our renewable energy manufacturing capacity and putting us on the path for our future prosperity."
Like the rosy projections Obama and Chu used to justify pouring half-a-billion dollars in eco-subsidies down the now-bankrupt Solyndra solar drain, Abound's financial outlook was based on mathematical make-believe. Hope plus change equals fail. Turns out Abound raked in green government funds despite big red flags from Fitch Ratings...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Michelle Malkin:
"There's no escaping Solyndra Syndrome. Here in my home state of Colorado, citizen journalists have uncovered our own gaping government green loan sinkhole. The stench of Chicago-on-the-Potomac is fouling the fresh Rocky Mountain air.
Meet Loveland-based Abound Solar, the lucky winner of a $400 million federal loan guarantee from the Obama administration. Earlier this month, the thin-film cadmium telluride solar module-maker announced layoffs of nearly 300 employees (70 percent of its workforce). In addition, the firm froze plans to build a new factory in Indiana. Abound says it will ride out bad market conditions and "hopefully" survive until the market recovers.
But White House hope-a-nomics is what got Abound and taxpayers into trouble in the first place.
Back in 2010, President Obama promised America in his weekly radio address that Abound would "manufacture advanced solar panels at two new plants, creating more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs." Energy Secretary Steven Chu waves his green pom-poms, too. "Not only is this investment creating thousands of jobs, but it is also increasing our renewable energy manufacturing capacity and putting us on the path for our future prosperity."
Like the rosy projections Obama and Chu used to justify pouring half-a-billion dollars in eco-subsidies down the now-bankrupt Solyndra solar drain, Abound's financial outlook was based on mathematical make-believe. Hope plus change equals fail. Turns out Abound raked in green government funds despite big red flags from Fitch Ratings...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Pueblo Chieftain "K-9 units seldom off clock "
Dennis Darrow:
"Advances in training make police dogs increasingly valuable to police departments, Mangel told chamber members during a break from the drills.
"They are a great, great tool," she said.
K-9 units also are among the most dedicated professionals in the workforce, she said.
Police dogs live with their K-9 officers and, when the pairs aren't on the job, they train for a couple of hours a day on their days off, she said. The highly trained dogs like to stay busy, she said.
The Pueblo police department maintains two K-9 units.
Mangel, who led a community fundraising campaign to bring Onkai to Pueblo, urged businesses to keep showing support for the K-9 program in hopes that additional dogs can be added..."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Advances in training make police dogs increasingly valuable to police departments, Mangel told chamber members during a break from the drills.
"They are a great, great tool," she said.
K-9 units also are among the most dedicated professionals in the workforce, she said.
Police dogs live with their K-9 officers and, when the pairs aren't on the job, they train for a couple of hours a day on their days off, she said. The highly trained dogs like to stay busy, she said.
The Pueblo police department maintains two K-9 units.
Mangel, who led a community fundraising campaign to bring Onkai to Pueblo, urged businesses to keep showing support for the K-9 program in hopes that additional dogs can be added..."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Durango Herald "Rope rescue saves dangling climber near Stoner"
Please remember to support your local search and rescue organizations. One of the easiest ways to do that is to buy your annual CORSAR card.
Reid Wright:
"Eventually, rescue workers were able to lower additional lines over the cliff, rappel down to Pauley, and clip the man’s harness into another rope.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Reid Wright:
"Eventually, rescue workers were able to lower additional lines over the cliff, rappel down to Pauley, and clip the man’s harness into another rope.
Rico Fire/Rescue member Mike White held on to Pauley, and the two men were lowered slowly to the ground just as wind gusts began to pick up..." (Read more? Click title)
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Discussion to focus on Pitkin County poverty"
Wonder if Lee Mulcahy's 'People4alivingwage' quest will be further vindicated when this new report comes out?
What do you think?
Will the new standard still show higher need than what the Aspen Ski Corp. pays?
"ASPEN — How much must an Aspen worker earn to pay for the basic necessities of life?
The figure might be open to debate, but it and other data related to the cost of living in Pitkin County will be unveiled at a free community presentation at the Pitkin County Library from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Tracey Stewart, family economic security program manager for the Denver-based Colorado Center on Law and Policy, will give the presentation. The organization is a legal-advocacy group that works on behalf of low-income residents across Colorado.
She'll reveal the latest “self-sufficiency standard” for Pitkin County based on a study that is done every three years. The latest data, from 2011, were released recently.
The figures reveal the cost of living in the county and the kind of jobs and wages that are necessary to keep people above the poverty level locally, she said. Identifying the obstacles and opportunities that exist in creating a more self-sufficient community is the greater goal.
Her ultimate purpose is engaging communities around the state in the Take Action Challenge — finding innovative solutions to cut poverty in Colorado in half by 2019...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
What do you think?
Will the new standard still show higher need than what the Aspen Ski Corp. pays?
"ASPEN — How much must an Aspen worker earn to pay for the basic necessities of life?
The figure might be open to debate, but it and other data related to the cost of living in Pitkin County will be unveiled at a free community presentation at the Pitkin County Library from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Tracey Stewart, family economic security program manager for the Denver-based Colorado Center on Law and Policy, will give the presentation. The organization is a legal-advocacy group that works on behalf of low-income residents across Colorado.
She'll reveal the latest “self-sufficiency standard” for Pitkin County based on a study that is done every three years. The latest data, from 2011, were released recently.
The figures reveal the cost of living in the county and the kind of jobs and wages that are necessary to keep people above the poverty level locally, she said. Identifying the obstacles and opportunities that exist in creating a more self-sufficient community is the greater goal.
Her ultimate purpose is engaging communities around the state in the Take Action Challenge — finding innovative solutions to cut poverty in Colorado in half by 2019...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Glenwood Springs, RFTA must work to make sure local transit goals are met"
"As such, though, we believe RFTA and the city both have some more work to do to make sure the new BRT system will be convenient and therefore successful on this end of the line in its effort to encourage more upvalley commuters to get out of their cars and onto the Glenwood-Aspen express bus.
Glenwood Springs is an important member of RFTA, which has made much progress in addressing the transit needs of the Roaring Fork Valley and western Garfield County.
But Glenwood Springs' single-biggest transportation issue is traffic congestion on Grand Avenue — Highway 82 — as it passes through the middle of town...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Glenwood Springs is an important member of RFTA, which has made much progress in addressing the transit needs of the Roaring Fork Valley and western Garfield County.
But Glenwood Springs' single-biggest transportation issue is traffic congestion on Grand Avenue — Highway 82 — as it passes through the middle of town...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Plan for EL Jebel bus stop hits speed bump"
Again, will there ever come a time when we do not have elected officials so blinded by the spin of RFTA's sales pitches that they actually look at the facts before they sign on millions of dollars in bailouts over the years? Or lend their support to soliciting federal funds without checking to make sure RFTA had all the promises for that grant lined up first?
Good luck to the residents of Sopris Village in stopping an eminent domain takeover.
Scott Condon:
"That proposal has failed so far to earn the support of the Basalt Town Council or the Pitkin County commissioners. And on Thursday, Sopris Village residents teed off on the road plan at a Roaring Fork Regional Planning Commission meeting.
“I care that they're going to pave over our park at Sopris Village and pave over Crown Mountain Park,” said Janine Gunning, a resident of the subdivision. Sopris Village, the neighborhood behind the El Jebel City Market, is home to 130 families.
Angela Kincade, assistant project manager of bus rapid transit, stressed to the audience that RFTA didn't propose the road realignment. The bus agency is trying to be a “team player” with Eagle County and Crown Mountain to work on a plan, she said.
But Sopris Village residents had plenty of other complaints about RFTA's plan.
Good luck to the residents of Sopris Village in stopping an eminent domain takeover.
Scott Condon:
"That proposal has failed so far to earn the support of the Basalt Town Council or the Pitkin County commissioners. And on Thursday, Sopris Village residents teed off on the road plan at a Roaring Fork Regional Planning Commission meeting.
“I care that they're going to pave over our park at Sopris Village and pave over Crown Mountain Park,” said Janine Gunning, a resident of the subdivision. Sopris Village, the neighborhood behind the El Jebel City Market, is home to 130 families.
Angela Kincade, assistant project manager of bus rapid transit, stressed to the audience that RFTA didn't propose the road realignment. The bus agency is trying to be a “team player” with Eagle County and Crown Mountain to work on a plan, she said.
But Sopris Village residents had plenty of other complaints about RFTA's plan.
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times/Letters to the Editor "Who needs meetings?"
Maurice Emmer, Aspen:
"Dear Editor:
Aspen is a progressive city. Now it has discovered the most progressive approach yet to city government.
It appears that our councilmen have already made a decision on an upcoming item for the March 12 meeting (overturning Ordnance 30 or bringing it to a public vote) one week early! And without the messy distractions of a meeting, public discussion and a public vote (see Aspen Daily News, March 5).
I applaud the council for expediting the process and would like to suggest that they do this from now on for every agenda item. In fact, who needs agendas? Gone are the four- to five-hour council meetings with tiresome presentations and endless musings by the mayor about threats to his idyllic vision of Aspen from all manner of selfish capitalists. With this new, expedited approach, council meetings could be done and over with in a matter of minutes.
Better yet, just cancel the meetings altogether and have Grassroots televise our great leader every other Monday at 5 announcing the new rules, guidelines and public projects that have already been passed and implemented...." (Read original letter? Click title)
"Dear Editor:
Aspen is a progressive city. Now it has discovered the most progressive approach yet to city government.
It appears that our councilmen have already made a decision on an upcoming item for the March 12 meeting (overturning Ordnance 30 or bringing it to a public vote) one week early! And without the messy distractions of a meeting, public discussion and a public vote (see Aspen Daily News, March 5).
I applaud the council for expediting the process and would like to suggest that they do this from now on for every agenda item. In fact, who needs agendas? Gone are the four- to five-hour council meetings with tiresome presentations and endless musings by the mayor about threats to his idyllic vision of Aspen from all manner of selfish capitalists. With this new, expedited approach, council meetings could be done and over with in a matter of minutes.
Better yet, just cancel the meetings altogether and have Grassroots televise our great leader every other Monday at 5 announcing the new rules, guidelines and public projects that have already been passed and implemented...." (Read original letter? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
March 8, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Accuracy in Media "Scandal at The Washington Post: Fraud, Lobbying & Insider Trading "
Rusty Weiss:
"In the summer of 2010, business columnist for The Washington Post Steven Pearlstein lifted the veil on the little-known company operating procedure that involves an incestuous relationship between his own employer, and the scandal-plagued, for-profit university known as Kaplan.1 In his column, Pearlstein made the argument that while personnel in the newsroom may have nothing to do with Kaplan, they most certainly have “benefited from its financial success.”...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"In the summer of 2010, business columnist for The Washington Post Steven Pearlstein lifted the veil on the little-known company operating procedure that involves an incestuous relationship between his own employer, and the scandal-plagued, for-profit university known as Kaplan.1 In his column, Pearlstein made the argument that while personnel in the newsroom may have nothing to do with Kaplan, they most certainly have “benefited from its financial success.”...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "$82 Million Cocaine Bust"
$15 million in marijuana over the past few days, in one bust. Now $82 million in cocaine in one bust.
Since posting alerts from CBP (Customs and Border Protection) over $2 billion dollars has been reported as confiscated from drug traffickers trying to bring the dope up from Mexico and into the United States.
SandBox began posting these alerts aprx. 3 months ago.
Sort of makes you wonder how opinion columnists like Johnny Boyd and lawmakers like Jared Polis (D-Colorado) can justify their rhetoric to legalize all drugs.
Can you imagine an unencumbered pipeline of dope flowing across all of our borders and into the US. You betcha. That's really going to lower the addiction rates and kill the market.
Since discovering "Nannygate", Johnny has learned all about google alerts. Here's a tip.
You can sign up for alerts from just about everywhere of interest to you. DOJ, CBP, ICE, DEA, every kind of sport there is, every search engine with specific keywords to tell them what to send to your email box.
'Nanny' challenges Rep. Polis and Johnny Boyd to do some homework over an extended period of time in all things dope and trafficking.
You might just think again and change your mind.
"Washington — On February 27, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine (OAM) P-3 operating out of National Air Security Operations Center-Jacksonville, detected a go-fast vessel carrying 1,100 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $82 million.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Since posting alerts from CBP (Customs and Border Protection) over $2 billion dollars has been reported as confiscated from drug traffickers trying to bring the dope up from Mexico and into the United States.
SandBox began posting these alerts aprx. 3 months ago.
Sort of makes you wonder how opinion columnists like Johnny Boyd and lawmakers like Jared Polis (D-Colorado) can justify their rhetoric to legalize all drugs.
Can you imagine an unencumbered pipeline of dope flowing across all of our borders and into the US. You betcha. That's really going to lower the addiction rates and kill the market.
Since discovering "Nannygate", Johnny has learned all about google alerts. Here's a tip.
You can sign up for alerts from just about everywhere of interest to you. DOJ, CBP, ICE, DEA, every kind of sport there is, every search engine with specific keywords to tell them what to send to your email box.
'Nanny' challenges Rep. Polis and Johnny Boyd to do some homework over an extended period of time in all things dope and trafficking.
You might just think again and change your mind.
"Washington — On February 27, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine (OAM) P-3 operating out of National Air Security Operations Center-Jacksonville, detected a go-fast vessel carrying 1,100 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $82 million.
The 35’ twin-engine vessel was spotted speeding north off the coast of Panama and appeared to be loaded with numerous packages when the Florida-based CBP P-3 began tracking the vessel. Local foreign law enforcement assets were called in to board the vessel and after inspection, several dozen bales of cocaine were recovered.
During FY 2011, the CBP P-3 fleet continued its anti-smuggling success by seizing or disrupting more than 148 thousand pounds of cocaine valued at more than $11.1 billion; 20.6 pounds seized for every flight hour, valued at $1.5 million for every hour flown.
CBP OAM P-3s have been an integral part of the successful counter-narcotic missions operating in coordination with the Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATFS). The P-3s patrol in a 42-million square-mile area of the Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific in search of drugs that are in transit towards U.S. shores. The P-3s’ distinctive detection capabilities allow highly-trained crews to identify emerging threats well beyond the land borders of the U.S. By providing surveillance of known air, land, and maritime smuggling routes in an area that is twice the size on the Continental U.S., the P-3s detect and monitor illegal air, land, and maritime smuggling activities before they reach the shores.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
SandBoxBlogs: Power Line "The Party of Hate"
John Hinderaker:
"Millions of Americans voted for Barack Obama in the hope that he would be a trailblazer who would conduct the presidency in a new way. Well, he has: Obama has been the most divisive president in our modern history, unabashedly stirring up hate against not only his political enemies, but against private citizens who exercise their right to participate in our democracy. The most recent hatefest has been directed against Rush Limbaugh, and Obama has personally stirred the pot.
Of course, Obama has had nothing to say about the far worse invective that his own supporters have directed against Republican women. As I noted yesterday, he was asked a question about the double standard in his press conference yesterday, and ducked it. Bill Maher, who has contributed $1 million to re-elect Obama, called Sarah Palin a “c***” and a “dumb t***.” (Hey, when Rush rips a Democratic Party activist, at least you can print what he said on a family web site.) Obama has never criticized Maher or any of his many other supporters and minions who have kept up a steady drumbeat of hate for years...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Millions of Americans voted for Barack Obama in the hope that he would be a trailblazer who would conduct the presidency in a new way. Well, he has: Obama has been the most divisive president in our modern history, unabashedly stirring up hate against not only his political enemies, but against private citizens who exercise their right to participate in our democracy. The most recent hatefest has been directed against Rush Limbaugh, and Obama has personally stirred the pot.
Of course, Obama has had nothing to say about the far worse invective that his own supporters have directed against Republican women. As I noted yesterday, he was asked a question about the double standard in his press conference yesterday, and ducked it. Bill Maher, who has contributed $1 million to re-elect Obama, called Sarah Palin a “c***” and a “dumb t***.” (Hey, when Rush rips a Democratic Party activist, at least you can print what he said on a family web site.) Obama has never criticized Maher or any of his many other supporters and minions who have kept up a steady drumbeat of hate for years...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Washington Post "Govt. sets record deficit in February"
Stephen Dinan:
"The federal government recorded its worst monthly deficit in history in February, according to a preliminary report Wednesday from the Congressional Budget Office that said the deficit in fiscal year 2012 is already more than half a trillion dollars...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"The federal government recorded its worst monthly deficit in history in February, according to a preliminary report Wednesday from the Congressional Budget Office that said the deficit in fiscal year 2012 is already more than half a trillion dollars...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Legislature delves into ballot transparency"
'SandBox Nanny' has to say how nice it is to have Janet Urquhart's reporting on Citizen Center and Marilyn Marks updates.
Balance, facts and details. What a novel approach. A thank you goes out to Urquhart from bringing us the news rather than opinion.
Janet Urquhart:
"ASPEN — Legislation that would regulate the inspection of ballots through an open-records request — an issue that first came to a head in Aspen — was introduced in the Colorado Statehouse last week.
The bill was spawned in large part by Aspen election activist Marilyn Marks' requests to view ballots or other election-related data in counties around the state, including Jefferson County, where a resulting District Court hearing is scheduled Thursday and Friday. Pitkin County elections manager Dwight Shellman III has been subpoenaed as a potential witness for Marks.
Public access to ballots and whether ballots can be traced back to the voters who cast them are issues that have snowballed out of Marks' request to view ballot images from the city of Aspen's 2009 election, in which she lost the race for mayor. Marks filed suit after her request was denied and prevailed at the Appellate Court level. The city has appealed for review of the case by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Subsequently, Marks has become involved in litigation with several counties and in a federal lawsuit that challenges election practices in six Colorado counties..." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Balance, facts and details. What a novel approach. A thank you goes out to Urquhart from bringing us the news rather than opinion.
Janet Urquhart:
"ASPEN — Legislation that would regulate the inspection of ballots through an open-records request — an issue that first came to a head in Aspen — was introduced in the Colorado Statehouse last week.
The bill was spawned in large part by Aspen election activist Marilyn Marks' requests to view ballots or other election-related data in counties around the state, including Jefferson County, where a resulting District Court hearing is scheduled Thursday and Friday. Pitkin County elections manager Dwight Shellman III has been subpoenaed as a potential witness for Marks.
Public access to ballots and whether ballots can be traced back to the voters who cast them are issues that have snowballed out of Marks' request to view ballot images from the city of Aspen's 2009 election, in which she lost the race for mayor. Marks filed suit after her request was denied and prevailed at the Appellate Court level. The city has appealed for review of the case by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Subsequently, Marks has become involved in litigation with several counties and in a federal lawsuit that challenges election practices in six Colorado counties..." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Pot registry in decline in Routt County, state"
Jack Weinstein:
"Steamboat Springs — The number of registered medical marijuana patients has decreased 35 percent in Routt County since June 2011, a trend that mirrors statewide numbers.
As of Dec. 31, 2011, the state Department of Public Health and Environment reported 82,089 registered medical marijuana cardholders across Colorado. That’s down from a high of 128,698 on June 30, 2011. In Routt County, the number of cardholders dropped from 1,190 to 778 during the same time frame...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Steamboat Springs — The number of registered medical marijuana patients has decreased 35 percent in Routt County since June 2011, a trend that mirrors statewide numbers.
As of Dec. 31, 2011, the state Department of Public Health and Environment reported 82,089 registered medical marijuana cardholders across Colorado. That’s down from a high of 128,698 on June 30, 2011. In Routt County, the number of cardholders dropped from 1,190 to 778 during the same time frame...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "Summit County Dems back Barson for DA"
Caddie Nath:
"FRISCO — Local district attorney hopeful Todd Barson won overwhelming support from Democrats in Summit County in a straw poll conducted during the party's sparsely attended, but enthusiastic caucus Tuesday night...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"FRISCO — Local district attorney hopeful Todd Barson won overwhelming support from Democrats in Summit County in a straw poll conducted during the party's sparsely attended, but enthusiastic caucus Tuesday night...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Not ready to rule, judge leans in Aspen officer's favor in stolen shades case"
Rick Carroll:
"...Around midnight, Fain texted Mulcahy to call him back, and the officer eventually arrested him after a basketball game at the Skier Dome at Aspen High School. Mulcahy said Fain was accompanied by three other officers, who acted like a “SWAT team” when they positioned themselves by the gymnasium's exit doors with about two minutes remaining in the game.
Fain also testified that he did not believe he had probable cause to arrest Mulcahy at Kenichi, but more evidence surfaced that legitimized his warrantless arrest after the game. Fain also said he could have arrested Mulcahy in the middle of the game but elected not to out of respect for the players and those in attendance.
“I thought it would be disrespectful to walk out on the court and arrest him,” said Fain, who detained Mulcahy outside of the gym after the game.
Wills, however, had difficulty accepting that, saying that Fain deliberately tried to embarrass and harass Mulcahy.
“I believe that law enforcement can do their job and still be honest with people and fair,” Wills said. “My problem here is that (Fain) was forcing a bargain by threatening an arrest warrant to get people to waive their statutory and constitutional right to silence. ... Why is Fain in such a huff to get this guy prosecuted? Why is it OK for him to lie?”
If anything, Fain was patient with Mulcahy and gave him ample opportunity to turn himself in or, at the very least, explain himself, Nedlin said. And the judge noted that it's not unusual — and in many instances not illegal — for police to try to coerce a suspect into a confession.
Nedlin also said that Fain rightfully set a $500 bond on Mulcahy after he was arrested. The reason, Nedlin said, was that Mulcahy had three prior failure-to-appear violations, though Wills said those infractions actually stemmed from his nonpayment of traffic fines and court costs, which he later paid...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"...Around midnight, Fain texted Mulcahy to call him back, and the officer eventually arrested him after a basketball game at the Skier Dome at Aspen High School. Mulcahy said Fain was accompanied by three other officers, who acted like a “SWAT team” when they positioned themselves by the gymnasium's exit doors with about two minutes remaining in the game.
Fain also testified that he did not believe he had probable cause to arrest Mulcahy at Kenichi, but more evidence surfaced that legitimized his warrantless arrest after the game. Fain also said he could have arrested Mulcahy in the middle of the game but elected not to out of respect for the players and those in attendance.
“I thought it would be disrespectful to walk out on the court and arrest him,” said Fain, who detained Mulcahy outside of the gym after the game.
Wills, however, had difficulty accepting that, saying that Fain deliberately tried to embarrass and harass Mulcahy.
“I believe that law enforcement can do their job and still be honest with people and fair,” Wills said. “My problem here is that (Fain) was forcing a bargain by threatening an arrest warrant to get people to waive their statutory and constitutional right to silence. ... Why is Fain in such a huff to get this guy prosecuted? Why is it OK for him to lie?”
If anything, Fain was patient with Mulcahy and gave him ample opportunity to turn himself in or, at the very least, explain himself, Nedlin said. And the judge noted that it's not unusual — and in many instances not illegal — for police to try to coerce a suspect into a confession.
Nedlin also said that Fain rightfully set a $500 bond on Mulcahy after he was arrested. The reason, Nedlin said, was that Mulcahy had three prior failure-to-appear violations, though Wills said those infractions actually stemmed from his nonpayment of traffic fines and court costs, which he later paid...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
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