Archive for the ‘Editorial, Opinion’ Category

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Accountability in Government?

July 28, 2008

Jon Caldara opens up a can of worms yet again over at Colorado’s Independence Institute. It seems that we will be re-visiting the idea of government accountability. It is to bad that the organizations below are so late in getting onto the band wagon. Jon has been at it for years!

Early this week, the Denver Post made an issue out of accountability in government.   This is the kind of thing that gets me excited!  The editorial is one part in a series called Open Government 2008 by the Colorado Press Association. At the end of the article there are links to the other pieces, all discussing open and transparent government. A few of the articles state that Colorado is ahead of the curve with our Sunshine Laws and Open Records Act. (Sidenote: Take a look at Colorado’s page on the Sunshine Review website). Pioneer or not, Colorado still has a ways to go in terms of accountability and transparency. As Justin Longo points out, yeah it’s great that we don’t have a huge and intrusive NJ style state government. Instead we’ve got over 3,000 local governments here in Colorado running around doing what they want, and it’s difficult to keep our eyes on each and every one of them. I’m thrilled that this is an issue to both the Denver Post and the Colorado Press Association, and I hope it continues to stay a hot topic as we continue to work on it here at the Institute.

source

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Pinwheel Cars

July 28, 2008

Mark Udall has decided that all of us need to follow him down his yellow brick road. I just have to wonder what he does when the wind does not blow?

Boulder, CO — Today U.S. Senate Candidate Mark Udall announced his solution to high gas prices: the WindCar 3000, an electric car powered by a giant windmill atop the roof that can also serve to catch favorable winds.

“The WindCar 3000 offers a practical alternative to Colorado’s addiction to oil,” Udall said.”With gas prices around $4 per gallon, now is not the time drill or produce more oil in the U.S. Now is the time for forward-thinking individuals to adopt exciting new technologies and free us from oil.”

Source and story cont.

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“The Axis of Idiots”

July 27, 2008

Some people! For the love of God, no matter how hard I try, I can never express myself in quite this way…

Proudly Stolen from Earl 1911: I beat ya to it Fred! LOL!

“The Axis of Idiots”


Jimmy Carter, you are the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You’re the runner-in-chief.
Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us You got us into a fight with them in Somalia and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses to the U.S.S. Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our Embassy Bombings emboldened the killers. Each time you failed to respond adequately, they grew bolder, until 9/11/2001.
John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam. Your military service, like your life, is more fiction than fact. You’ve accused our military of terrorizing women and children in Iraq You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, the same words you used to describe Vietnam. You’re a fake. You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it.
John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can’t win militarily in Iraq You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should re-deploy to Okinawa. Okinawa, John? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn’t suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You’re a sad, pitiable, corrupt and washed up politician. You’re not a Marine. You wouldn’t amount to a good pimple on a real Marine’s ass. You’re a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.
Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanamo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot, who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned Southeast Asia to the Communists. Now you want to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? Lord help us! See Dick run.
Ted Kennedy, for days on end you held poster-sized pictures from Abu Ghraib in front of any available television camera. Al Jazeera quoted you saying that Iraqi’s torture chambers were open under new management. Did you see the news, Teddy? The Islamic Nazis demonstrated another beheading for you. If you truly supported our troops, you’d show the world poster-sized pictures of that atrocity and demand the annihilation of it. Your legislation stripping support from the South Vietnamese led to a communist victory there. You’re a bloated, drunken fool bent on repeating t he same historical blunder tha t turned freedom-seeking people over to homicidal, genocidal maniacs. To paraphrase John Murtha, all while sitting on your wide, gin-soaked rear-end in Washington.
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton, Pat Leahy, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, the Hollywood Leftist morons, et al, ad nauseam: Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our President lied, that the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers, that we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers – the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers – cause to think that we’ll run away again, and all they have to do is hang on a little longer. It is inevitable that we, the infidels, will have to defeat the Islamic jihadists. Better to do it now on their turf, than later on ours after they have gained both strength and momentum.
American news media, the New York Times particularly: Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one united with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can’t strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer..
You are America’s “AXIS OF IDIOTS.” Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist-abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don’t ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam. If you want our Soldiers home as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies.
Yes, I’m questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I’m also questioning why you’re stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don’t deserve the protection of our men in uniform. You need to run away from this war, this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it.
No, Mr. President, you don’t get off the hook, either. Our country has two enemies: Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within. Your Soldiers are dealing with the outside force. It’s your obligation to support them by confronting the AXIS OF IDIOTS.
America must hear it from you that these self-centered people are harming our country, abetting the enemy and endangering our safety. Well up a little anger, please, and channel it toward the appropriate target. You must prosecute those who leak national security secrets to the media. You must prosecute those in the media who knowingly publish those secrets.
Our Soldiers need you to confront the enemy that they cannot. They need you to do it now.

Semper Fi,        J. D. Pendry – Sergeant Major, USMC, Retired

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Local Politics Colorado, News, Politics, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Same old arguments …

July 26, 2008

Mayor Daley of Chicago keeps the old anti-gun rhetoric alive with the same old worn out, and for the most part baseless arguments.In the name of safety he decides that freedom can be taken away.

He wonders about Firefighters and Police Officers responding to crime sceanes. Hate to tell you this mister mayor, but responding to a DV as they are called in Public Safety are, and always will be one of the most dangerous calls to go on. I know, I have been there and done that, and even have a T-shirt!

Bad things do happen in life Mister Mayor. Get used to it. I spent more than twenty two years in Public Safety and have seen those bad things countless times. I also saw what the result was when people were allowed to properly and effectivly defend themselves, their families, and neighbors. Guns save far more innocent lives when in proper hands, that is citizans hands, than they ever harm innocents.The comparativly few times that the things you talk about happen are outweighed by the good things by far.

If what I say is not true, then why are “gun friendly” cities and states so much safer than Chicago, D.C., and so on?

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Gun Control, Men's Issues, News, Politics, Uncategorized, Wordpress Political Blogs | 1 Comment »

Colorado Civil Rights Initiative

July 24, 2008

This November, Colorado voters will decide if the state can discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any group or individual on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public contracting, or public education. Jessica Corry, executive director of the Colorado Civil Right Initiative, the force behind Amendment 46, and Brad Jones managing editor of Face the State join me on Independent Thinking to discuss the ballot measure and why it enjoys huge support in Colorado. Opponents of Amendment 46 either declined to participate or didn’t respond to repeated invitations. Tune in tonight at 8:30 p.m. to KBDI Channel 12; repeated the following Tuesday evening at 5 p.m.

Discrimination based upon color, creed, or orientation is immoral. Let’s end all of it in a single swoop. No preferences at all, of any kind, for anyone, anywhere.

source

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National Park Service Gun Ban Expanding

July 23, 2008

National Park Service Gun Ban Expanding
— 600-mile Trail to be added to NPS

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

ACTION: Urge your two senators to support S. 2619 — a bill introduced by
Sen. Tom Coburn — to repeal the gun ban on National Park Service lands.
Also, please urge them to stand with Sen. Coburn against the strong-arm
tactics of Majority Leader Reid, who is trying to silence Coburn and thwart
his pro-gun agenda.

You can skip to the bottom and use the pre-written letter below to contact
your two senators right away. Or, you can first read the following alert to
better understand the battle Sen. Coburn is embroiled in and how Sen. Reid
is trying to use his position as Majority Leader to trample Coburn (and the
Second Amendment).

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

On July 10, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to designate the
Washington-Rochambeau Trail, which stretches 600 miles from Rhode Island to
Yorktown, Virginia, as a National Historic Trail. Such a designation would
place the trail under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior and the
National Park Service, thus subjecting the Washington-Rochambeau to the
current NPS gun ban.

Carrying firearms on land controlled by the NPS is prohibited, even if the
state in which the land is located allows firearms. The only way you can
legally have a firearm anywhere on National Park land currently is by having
it unloaded and inaccessible, such as locked up in your trunk.

While the Interior Department recently (after seven years of foot-dragging)
proposed new rules to partially reverse the gun ban, they have not yet taken
effect. If and when they do go into effect, most gun owners would still not
be allowed to possess firearms on these lands because, among other problems
with the rule, open carry would remain prohibited. Congress still needs to
take action to make the gun ban repeal complete and permanent.

Before the bill passed the House, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) filed an amendment
with the Rules Committee to protect the Second Amendment on the trail. His
amendment would have required that state and local laws govern firearms
possession and carrying on the trail. The Rules Committee changed that
language and made it apply only to hunting.

Rep. Bishop denounced the Committee during debate on the measure, pointing
out that the committee “did not defend all of the Second
Amendment, only the
so-called hunting rights, which is not, not the purpose of the Second
Amendment.”

Rep. Bishop made a motion to send the bill back to committee with
instructions to restore the pro-gun language. His motion narrowly failed,
211-202.

The bill (H.R. 1286) now heads to the Senate where the situation is much
more complex. Dr. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has been a leader on repealing the NPS
gun ban. Sen. Coburn previously introduced a bill (S. 2619) to rescind the
ban, but it remains bottled up by senate leadership. Earlier this year,
Sen. Coburn entered into a so-called unanimous consent agreement with Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid to get a vote on his repeal language, but Sen.
Reid reneged on his promise and blocked the vote.

Sen. Coburn remains committed to forcing a vote on killing the NPS gun ban,
and Sen. Reid seems equally committed to blocking that vote. Reid’s most
recent maneuver to silence Coburn is to introduce (as one measure) a package
of bills that Coburn has held up on constitutional grounds. Rolling many
bills into one, loaded with pork and pet projects to dole out to a variety
of senators, is a transparent attempt to erode the widespread support Sen.
Coburn has among his colleagues.

If Reid is successful in passing so many bills at one time without debate,
the ability of individual senators to force deliberate consideration and
roll call votes on important legislation will be threatened.

The reason each state has two senators is stop large population centers
(such as an unholy alliance of NYC, Chicago and Los Angeles) from dictating
their will upon the rest of the country. Historically, the rules of the
Senate have always allowed any individual senator to keep the full body from
acting in an unconstitutional manner.

If other senators allow Reid to act as the dictator of the senate, Coburn’s
ability to stop the expansion of the NPS gun ban will be severely
threatened.

Unless Sen. Coburn’s effort is successful in repealing the gun ban, the 600
mile Washington-Rochambeau — which encompasses parts of major thoroughfares
such as I-95 — will become yet another Second Amendment infringement zone
effecting hundreds of thousands of gun owners up and down the East Coast.

CONTACT INFORMATION: You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center
at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the
pre-written e-mail message below. And, you can call your Senators at
202-224-3121 or toll-free at 1-877-762-8762.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator,

Senator Tom Coburn is leading the fight against the National Park Service
gun ban.

While the Interior Department recently (after seven years of foot-dragging)
proposed new rules to partially reverse the gun ban, they have not yet taken
effect. If and when they do go into effect, most gun owners would still not
be allowed to possess firearms on these lands because, among other problems
with the rule, open carry would remain prohibited.

Senator Coburn is the sponsor of a bill, S. 2619, to make the gun ban repeal
complete and permanent. I urge you to become a cosponsor of this
legislation.

In addition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has used unprecedented
procedural maneuvers to silence Dr. Coburn and to keep this bill or a
similar amendment from coming to the floor of the Senate. Please stand with
Sen. Coburn against the strong-arm tactics of Sen. Reid and support the
repeal of the NPS gun ban.

Sincerely,

****************************

Olofson Relief Fund

David Olofson has been subjected to a gross miscarriage of justice.
What happened to Olofson could happen to any American who owns a
semi-automatic firearm.

He was convicted of knowingly transferring an unregistered machine gun
— a standard semi-auto rifle which fired two three-round bursts and
then jammed. Gun owners call that a malfunction. The federal government
calls it an easy way to get a felony conviction. Olofson was sentenced
to 30 months in federal prison.

David Olofson is an information technology professional with a wife,
three children and a mortgage. Until his conviction, he was also in the
National Guard.

The Olofson Relief Fund has been set up to allow concerned Americans to
help the Olfoson’s make their mortgage and (their one) car payments
while Dave is unable to work.

If you decide to contribute to the Olofson Relief Fund, your credit
card will be charged monthly for the amount you have indicated. This
will continue until Olofson is out of prison — or you notify us to
discontinue the charges.

Gun Owners of America is acting as the agent for the fund. All moneys
collected will be transferred regularly to the mortgage and car loan
holders.

To make a monthly contribution, go to:
http://www.gunowners.org/olofson.htm

To read about this case in greater detail, see:
http://www.gunowners.org/op0850.htm

That recall was pretty well publicized. If anyone has a copy of it in an old magazine please contact Gun Owners of America. Similar things have happened over the years with 1911 model pistols when the sear became worn, as well as Marlin Rifles and just about every semi-Auto that has ever been produced.

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The Bakken Formation and energy independence

July 23, 2008

The Bakken Formation like the Pieance Basin Oil Shale holds great promise for development. Price and technology have been the big considerations in the past when exploitation of these resource’s have been discussed. Now, it seems that the price of oil is such that cost effectiveness may well be past the point of profitability. The opportunity costs involved take on many faces though. Mostly hunters and fishermen, but also ranchers, farmers, and those that care for the environment.

My Fiance who is a Geological Engineer and Geo-chemist has told me that the technology is now available that would allow extraction with minimal environmental impact. That, however does not include the refinery, or some portions of necessary pipelines. Those two issues are pretty troublesome to someone like me.

Then we get to the big money rumor mills that say there are impending finds in the north of Russia and in Indonesia. If true, the American Dollar will be in some rather serious trouble. Those folks in other places that are in fact propping up America through purchasing T-Bonds and such will in all probability stop doing so. Making a switch to alternative energy sources will be expensive enough without having to deal with a near worthless currency. This is where International and Political Economics come into play with a vengeance.

The flip side is that if we can rapidly build alternative energy sources as well as use the oil that we have available we should be able to weather the storm, so to speak. We also need to have a President that has the inner courage to reverse President Nixion’s policy that took the United States off the gold standard.

I believe that we are indeed heading into a rather rough row to hoe.

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Best State Agency

July 23, 2008

Granted, this is only my opinion, but I think that over all the best state agency in Colorado is the Division of Wildlife. True, they have their problems from time to time, but compared to other agencies that I have had contact with? The DOW wins hands down.

The new course that is offered on Mountain Lions, sorry; I absolutely hate the chosen name “Puma” and will continue to call them Cougars or mountain Lions is the only one of it’s kind that I am aware of. There are also many educational opportunities for children and women. program is by far the most important one. (Available through the link above.) During my career I saw roughly twelve hunting / shooting sports “accidents.” Perhaps it is my background in Emergency Medical Services that influences me, but I truly believe that the Hunter Safety Course is by far the most important program offered. Said “accidents” just do not happen if the things taught in Hunter Safety, or the National Rifle Associations basic safety course are followed.

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Fast Tracks

July 23, 2008

Once again the light rail plan foisted upon the voters via a bit of expansive liberty with the truth about what it will cost, as well as the impact on the people that are living along the corridor it is being constructed through is going bust.

Ari Armstrong lays it all to bear here.

From day one this project has been one big boondoggle. Jon Caldara of The Independence Institute has led the charge against this monstrosity that will certainly bankrupt the cities and citizens of metroploitian Denver.

From issues of heavy handed emmenient domain to what I am now believeing were pre-planned statements that were less than truthful this entire project is beggining to have the appearance, if not the smell of outright corruption.

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The Sky Is Falling On Gore Again

July 22, 2008

I found this piece, and love it!

By Henry Lamb
July 22, 2008

Al Gore has certainly secured his place in history. His Academy-Award-Pulitzer-Prize-winning prediction that climate change will raise sea levels by 20 feet will be studied by future history students, along with the predictions of Malthus and Paul Ehrlich.

With Gore-like zeal, in the 19th century, Malthus predicted that the world’s population would soon outstrip the world’s food supply. In the 20th century, Paul Ehrlich predicted that, “By 1985 enough millions will have died to reduce the earth’s population to some acceptable level, like 1.5 billion people.”

He also predicted that by 1980, life expectancy in the United States would drop to 42, and that the U.S. population would drop to 22.6 million by 1999.

The grand prize for idiotic predictions in the 21st century has already been claimed by Al Gore. His insistence that the earth will fry, that the seas will rise, and that life as we know it must undergo a “wrenching transformation” will be studied by his grandchildren with the same appreciation that his, and Ehrlich’s ridiculous predictions deserve.

Is it possible that Ehrlich and Gore really think their predictions are valid? Or, are they just following the instructions of Dr. Steven Schneider, who tells fellow scientists:

“We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we may have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest.” (Discover magazine, Oct. 1989)

Students of Malthus generally agree that he was sincere in his predictions, actively engaging his detractors in debate, and revising his conclusions accordingly. Malthus was sincerely wrong. The same cannot be said about Ehrlich, or Gore. Ehrlich jumped on the environmental band wagon early. His book “Population Bomb” was published in 1968, and was an instant best-seller. He rode the wave of book sales and popularity for a decade, making speeches and writing articles offering excuses for failed predictions and promising even worse consequences for what he called environmental abuse.

Al Gore saw an opportunity to re-claim the political spotlight when he chaired the June 28, 1988 Senate hearing that called Jim Hansen to testify that the current heat wave was caused by global warming. Gore, having been defeated in the 1988 presidential primary by Jesse Jackson in the South, and by Michael Dukakis in the North, turned his attention to the environment, and to global warming in particular.

It was Hansen’s testimony at Al Gore’s hearings that propelled the United Nations’ efforts to get into the global warming business. Before the end of 1988, the U.N. Environment Program, and the World Meteorological Organization established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to take charge of global research and action.

Gore’s selection as Vice President in 1992 provided the perfect stage for what was until then, his most influential performance. He publicly ridiculed then-President George H.W. Bush into attending the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro where the U.N. Convention on Climate Change was adopted.

Throughout the Clinton administration, Gore was “Mr. Environment.” He directed negotiations at virtually every U.N. Climate Change meeting during the 1990s working toward the Kyoto Protocol. When the negotiations stalled in Kyoto in 1997 because the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution directing the President to not accept the Protocol unless it applied to China and India and other developing nations, Gore flew in to save the day. Despite the Senate’s resolution, Al stood before thousands of U.N. delegates in Kyoto and announced that he had instructed the U.S. delegation to be “more flexible” in their negotiations. At the last moment, the Protocol was adopted, without participation by developing nations.

Al’s crushing defeat in 2000 left him rudderless for a few years, but he re-emerged with his “An Inconvenient Truth.” This spectacular movie won an Academy Award. Gore received the Pulitzer Prize. Once again, Prince Albert ascended to the global warming throne, despite the fact that the film’s assertions were not supported by science, according to more than 31,000 scientists.

Ignoring his critics, and refusing to confront and debate the scientists who clearly refute his hyperbolic hallucinations, Al is now seeking to reclaim the global spotlight. He denigrates those who reject his unfounded predictions, and calls instead for massive national commitment to abandon fossil fuel, and launch a “go-to-the-moon” type campaign to convert all electricity generation to wind, solar, other “alternative” sources in the next ten years.

Gore has been spouting his predictions of climate disaster for more than a decade, while in reality, the global climate has actually been cooling.

The media, and uninformed politicians, gobble up Gore’s gloomy forecasts, just as they embraced Paul Ehrlich’s forecasts of people dying in the streets. History has proven Malthus to be sincerely wrong. History has proven Paul Ehrlich to be ridiculously wrong. History is proving Al Gore to be wrong as well.

But Gore must continue to peddle his predictions. His financial future is tied to his salesmanship. The more he cries “the sky is falling,” when the science says it is not, the more Al looks like a midway barker making whatever claims he thinks will separate the public from its money.

—

Henry Lamb is the Chairman of Sovereignty International , and founder of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO).

source:

I have been listening to world disaster pundits since I was a child. It really is getting old in my not so humble opinion.

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