May 2006 Archives

Expected topics for Jay Marvin's show on AM 760.
Thursday, June 1st

Thursday, June 1st from 6--10AM on AM 760

7:00AM: David Sirota, author of "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government - and How We Take It Back", joins Jay to talk about new Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. What do we know about the former Goldman Sachs Chairman?

8:00AM: The Colorado treasurer's office is warning that a proposed ballot measure to return some Referendum C money to taxpayers could blast a multimillion-dollar hole in the state budget. The ballot measure, called the "Home Energy Adjustment Tax - Rebate," calls for a limit on how much Referendum C money the state could keep. The proponents of HEAT say the state would still keep $3.7 billion more than it could have collected without Referendum C. Anything above that amount would be returned to taxpayers. The treasurer's problem: The HEAT proposal calls for returning money that the state already will have spent on roads, schools and other programs. Joining Jay to talk about this issue is Colorado's Speaker of the House and Representative from House District 6 Andrew Romanoff.

8:30AM: Jay is joined by special guest Barry Steinhardt from the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has filed complaints in more than 20 states over allegations that phone companies shared customer records with the government's biggest spy agency. They filed complaints with state utility commissions and attorneys general, and demanded the Federal Communications Commission look into the matter. The group also placed full-page ads in eight large-city newspapers asking the public to join the complaints, saying in bold type: "AT&T, Verizon and Other Phone Companies May Have Illegally Sent Your Phone Records to the National Security Agency." Readers were urged to add their names to complaints on the ACLU Web site.

9:30AM: President Bush said on Wednesday that he was "troubled" by allegations that US Marines killed unarmed civilians in Haditha, Iraq and he said that if crimes were committed, the guilty would be punished. The Bush administration has promised full public disclosure of the findings of military probes into the alleged killing of at least 24 civilians by US Marines in Iraq. Jay's special guest on the Haditha Massacre and whether or not there has been a cover up is Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Paul Rieckhoff. Rieckhoff was an infantry officer in Iraq from 2003-2004, and one of the first Iraq veterans to publicly criticize the war and demand accountability from elected officials. He is now a nationally recognized authority on the war in Iraq and issues affecting troops, military families and veterans. He has also authored the brand new book "Chasing Ghosts"

AM 760 Website

Colorado Top Stories

'08 vote to have a third ticket
Denver Post
Fed up with the current state of national politics, a bipartisan, independent political organization named Unity08 launched nationwide Tuesday, vowing to offer voters an alternative ticket in the next presidential race. The group said it intends to offer a split ticket, with one Democrat and one Republican or an independent. Unity08 named Denver as its headquarters, citing the number of moderate voters in Colorado and the fact that many political observers consider it a "purple," or swing, state. The formation of what is essentially a third party comes in response to the increasing polarization between Democrats and Republicans and their focus on special interests and issues that often cater more to the extreme elements of their parties, said founders of Unity08.
RELATED: From the Internet to the White House
Washington Post

Lawsuit over electronic voting threatened
Denver Post
A local law firm announced Tuesday it is planning a lawsuit to block nine counties and the state from using electronic voting machines. Counties across the state have spent the past year scrambling to purchase new voting machines in order to comply with state and federal laws. The federal Help America Vote Act requires every polling place to be accessible for people with disabilities. But lawyers with Wheeler Trigg Kennedy LLP said the new machines are unreliable and violate the state Constitution.
RELATED: Computer voting on hold
Greeley Tribune

Black gold brings senators to state
Denver Post
In a scramble reminiscent of the oil-shale boom a quarter century ago, would-be shale developers are promoting plans to bake, microwave, gasify and dig up the rock-locked oil under western Colorado and parts of Utah and Wyoming. Members of the Senate Energy Committee are coming west today and Thursday to look at some of those efforts. A hearing Thursday in Grand Junction will examine the potential impacts of development of a resource that has stymied energy experts for a century and devastated western Colorado once before. "Go slow" is the shared message that civic leaders and conservation groups are preparing to deliver at the Senate field hearing.
RELATED: Proceed with caution, officials urge on oil shale development
GJ Sentinel

Today's complete daily news digest

NOTE: some news sites require free registration in order to read their stories.

To subscribe to the daily news digest, click here.

Today's Denver Post reveals that James Dobson is running attack ads against moderate senators who refuse to support codifying discrimination into the Constitution. One target of these ads is Senator Ken Salazar.

Dobson's spokesperson says "marriage is not a conservative or a right-wing issue. It's a common-sense position to support marriage." I could easily haver said the same thing to support my position--same-sex couples deserve the benefits and responsibilities of marriage.

But these are the tactics of the extremist theocons. They twist their rhetoric so that uninformed people believe they are supporting equal rights rather than discrimination. They hornswoggled Colorado voters in 1992 by billing Amendment 2 as an equal rights protection amendment.

Make no mistake. These people don't want to support anybody's rights. They want to take your rights away. They are angling for complete control over your life, both private and public. When it comes to James Dobson, heed Max von Sydow's warning from The Exorcist: "He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psycological, and powerful. So don't listen to him. Remember that - do not listen."

Details of the group...
and who started it...

To begin busting up the dumb system we have for selecting presidents, a bipartisan group will open shop this week at Unity08.com. This Internet-based third party is spearheaded by three veterans of the antique 1976 campaign: Democrats Hamilton Jordan and Gerald Rafshoon helped get Jimmy Carter elected; Republican Doug Bailey did media for Gerald Ford before launching the political TIP SHEET Hotline. They are joined by the independent former governor of Maine, Angus King, and a collection of idealistic young people who are also tired of a nominating process that pulls the major party candidates to the extremes. Their hope: to get even a fraction of the 50 million who voted for the next American Idol to nominate a third-party candidate for president online and use this new army to get him or her on the ballot in all 50 states. The idea is to go viral--or die. "The worst thing that could happen would be for a bunch of old white guys like us to run this," Jordan says.

Shorter version...

Newsweek

Next action for:
The Question Alliance
Saturday, June 17, 2006
10-11:30 AM
Corner of University & Highlands Ranch Parkway

Topic: Terrorism and Iraq

Question: Does U.S. occupation of Iraq incite more terrorism?

According to Warren Strobel of Knight Ridder Newpapers: The number of terrorist attacks documented by the U.S. intelligence agencies jumped sharply in 2005- crossing the 10,000 mark for the first time. Do you think that our presence in Iraq has anything to do with this increased number of terrorist attacks around the world? Does our occupation of Iraq breed hate? Please join us in asking people to think about this issue. You can Google-- Iraq increase terrorism, etc-- for more information.

Please remember that it is important to have the same exact wording on your sign. The exact wording for the question on June 17th is:

Does U.S. occupation of Iraq incite more terrorism?

Please bring family and friends to join The Question Alliance. All are welcome!!

We encourage others to participate in this action in your own neighborhood if you'd like. Just let us know your plans, make sure the question is worded exactly the same as above, and let us know how it goes. Remember we are a peaceful, respectful group that abides by local requirements. We'd like to expand The Question Alliance by having drivers read the same important question at multiple locations the same day!

Children need to be supervised.

This action will be postponed if the weather is too nasty.
You might want to make sturdy signs. It can get windy!

Please contact us with any questions, etc.
TheQuestionAlliance@gmail.com

Thank you,
Jim and Diane Schrack

Hey all, check out this site... just popped up in the last day or so. It says that it came up as of Today (30th).

Unity08 is a group of citizens deeply concerned that the wheels have come off our political system, that the American Dream is slipping away, and that time is short to get things back on track.

We are of all ages, backgrounds, colors and beliefs and from both parties:

Some of us have been involved in political campaigns at the state and national levels and served in high government positions.
Others of our leadership group have never been active in political life but have been highly successful in the private sector, active in the non-profit world and in other walks of American life.
Still others of our leadership group are students, who are concerned that the agenda of special interests is coming before the national interest.

It should be interesting to see how the reds and blues respond to this?

Unity08 believes that neither of today's major parties reflects the aspirations, fears or will of the majority of Americans. Both have polarized and alienated the people. Both are unduly influenced by single-issue groups. Both are excessively dominated by money.

For most of the 20th Century, the contest for the U.S. presidency was waged over those "in the middle." Recent Presidential elections, however, have not been focused on the middle but on the turnout of each party's special interest groups - with each party's "base" representing barely ten percent of the American people.

We believe that, while the leaders of both major parties are well intentioned people, they are trapped in a flawed system - and that the two major parties are today simply neither relevant to the issues and challenges of the 21st Century nor effective in addressing them.

As a result, most Americans have not been enthusiastic about the choices for President in recent elections, the key issues they ran on, or the manner in which the campaigns were conducted.

Therefore Unity08 will act to assure that an alternative ticket is presented to the American voters in 2008.

I say, it is about time... this has been what many like Trippi have been saying will happen... of course the question is, will we the people embrace it? Or will we scorn them like many have done in the past as "election spoilers."

The goals they layout are quite significant...

Expected topics for Jay Marvin's show on AM 760.
Wednesday May 31st

Wednesday May 31st from 6--10AM on AM 760

Special Guest: All show long Jay is joined by very special guest Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Todd will be Jay's co-host and musical guest. He'll bring his guitar and amp and will play in and out of breaks and he'll also exchange his thoughts about the topics of the day. Enjoy the music but also enjoy Todd's take on Bush , Iraq , and other topics in the news. It all starts at 6-AM tomorrow morning. There is sure to be a jam session or two! It will be a can't miss show on Wednesday with Big Head Todd.

9:00AM: It's our guest of the week from The Nation Magazine Robert Scheer who writes about how desperate to report progress in Iraq, Bush boasts that the newest Iraqi leader has taken his phone call twice. Wow. And it only cost $200 billion and thousands of dead and maimed Americans.

AM 760 Website

Top Colorado Stories

State a popular spot for '527s'
AP
Citizens for a Better Colorado. Trailhead. Coloradans for Civil Justice. They have warm and fuzzy names, but few voters know what they stand for or who is behind them. With election battles looming for control of the Legislature, an open governor's seat and a host of hot-button ballot issues, Colorado is becoming a hotbed for mysterious political organizations known as 527s, their IRS tax code.

Marine's hometown wrestles with news
Denver Post
National attention is a stranger in these parts, so word that a hometown soldier was relieved of duty amid an investigation into an Iraqi massacre raced through town over the weekend. "I can't make myself believe he had anything to do with it," Martha Wayne said Sunday morning. "Stuff like this makes the war seem a lot closer to here." Indeed, Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, 42, a career Marine officer who graduated from Rangely High School in 1982, was a main topic of conversation Sunday in this desert town of some 1,600 near the Colorado-Utah border.

Record number of vetoes for governor
Denver Post
Republican Gov. Bill Owens on Friday vetoed 18 bills - angering Democratic lawmakers who had proposed legislation intended to make health care more affordable, education more accessible and workplaces safer. Owens rejected bills that would have boosted ethanol sales in the state and created committees to study the state's education system from preschool through college. The sweeping range of the vetoes shows that the governor is still in the driver's seat when setting key policies for the state despite a Democratic takeover of the legislature two years ago. That is the largest number of vetoes Owens has ever issued in a single day and raises the total number of bills vetoed this session to 32. He also has used his line-item veto power on three budget bills. Last year, Owens vetoed 47 bills.

Today's complete daily news digest

NOTE: some news sites require free registration in order to read their stories.

To subscribe to the daily news digest, click here.

Even the neocons are disgusted. This report from culled from the Financial Times:
"Neo-conservative commentators at the American Enterprise Institute wrote last week what amounted to an obituary of the Bush freedom doctrine.

"Bush killed his own doctrine," they said, describing the final blow as the resumption of diplomatic relations with Libya. This betrayal of Libyan democracy activists, they said, came after the US watched Egypt abrogate elections, ignored the collapse of the "Cedar Revolution" in Lebanon, abandoned imprisoned Chinese dissidents and started considering a peace treaty with Stalinist North Korea.

In Der Speigel, Joshka Fischer, former Foreign Minister of Germany, offers a penetrating analysis of the consequences of US policy in Iraq. It is a view that you will not hear on Fox News, and probably not get reported in American MSM, but it is cogent and thoughtful and depressing. Find it at Link.

Some quotes:
-since the administration of George W. Bush decided to remove Saddam Hussein from power by war, just about everything went wrong that possibly could have. What is more, the reality in Iraq and the surrounding region far surpassed all negative expectations and fears, and it continues to do so today.
-there is reason to fear that there will indeed be a realignment of this dangerous region, but one entirely different and even diametrically opposed to the one intended by Washington and the neo-conservative strategists.
-The occupation of Iraq and the toppling of the dictator Saddam Hussein had to lead either to a great realignment of the entire Middle East or create a vacuum that would threaten to endanger the cohesion of Iraq, trigger a civil war and draw the most important regional powers into this war.
-democracy means the rule of the majority determined by free elections, and the Shiites make up the majority in Iraq. That also made it clear from the start that Tehran's influence on the fate of Iraq would rise disproportionately, and that Iran threatened to become the genuine regional winner of the war
-For international jihad terrorism, Iraq has historically taken on the same mobilizing function that the Islamic and national resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan had in the 1980s.
-nothing is left of the US strategy of regional realignment.
- all gloomy predictions have been surpassed by reality.

Its time we stopped just commenting on the *Swiftboating* of Gore & "An Inconvienent Truth" and started calling on the idiots to put up or shutup. My thoughts run the gamut from boycotting the major oil companies (Exxon, Texaco, etc.) while buying from smaller companies not involved in the misinformation campaign to airing counter commercials. IMHO, we should also consider starting a letter-to-the-editor & blogging campaign to get the word out.

Any other ideas out there?

If we can find a way to stop this tactic, then we can remove a major weapon in the Repug's arsenal.

They got it a little better this time, but not by much. Regarding the Fred Phelps klan and the counter-protesters from freerepublic.com, AP states:

As throngs came to the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery to honor the fallen on Memorial Day, a handful of protesters from an anti-gay group stood across a four-lane highway from a conservative group supporting the troops.

The two groups, separated by a line of police cars, were faced off about 300 feet from the entrance to the cemetery. They held signs making competing arguments. But because of noise from approaching motorcycles and cars, they could not hear one another.

I love it when the press picks up stories about the diversity within the LGBT community. This weekend hundreds of gay rugby players from around the world came to New York for their international tournament and Reuters got some video.

Mark Ames, an event organizer, told the reporter that there is a divide between masculine gay rugby players and the wider gay community. "What this is try[ing] to do is combine those two communities, make [them] sort of join up as one and make people aware that actually being gay doesn't mean you have to be sort of camp."

After Ames says this in the video it cuts immediately to what must be the only feminine rugby player at the event as he flames out. I can't exactly say bravo to the video editing (which Reuters labels a 'rough cut,') but I love that the story was covered.

* Video + article: International Gay Rugby meet Reuters, May 29, 2006
* A list of gay sports groups in Colorado can be found under "S & C Links" at the Team Colorado website
* Question: Does anyone know if there's a Colorado gay rugy team?

This weekend, I was in Midland, Texas for my niece's graduation from high school. I drove down Friday, with a "Had Enough? croneys, incompetance, corruption, & lies" bumper sticker (thanks to the Bill Winter campaign) pasted on the back of my car.

When I reached Dalhart, a white-haired guy in his 1960's era Ford pick-up was pulling up next to me at a light. He stopped at the back of my car and read the sticker, then pulled up next to me - glaring. All I could do was just chuckle. I bet he hadn't been subjected to an alternate opinion in quite a while. I'm guessing that his thoughts went elsewhere pretty soon tho, as it was 100 degrees from Raton Pass on and in the ninties until early the next morning. While 100 degree temperatures are not unusual for Texas, they are in unusual this early in the year, a fact that my dad & brother both commented upon.

When I reached the outskirts of Midland, I was "welcomed" by a huge oversized billboard "Welcome to Midland, Texas, hometown of President George W. & Laura Bush!". The letters were eight feet high. That sign is where my bumper sticker REALLY needed to be pasted. :-)

The graduation was thankfully in an enclosed arena, instead of the football stadium where mine had been 30 years earlier. There were 558 graduates from MHS and with a last name of Wolf we had to wait through all but 13 of them. While we were waiting, a guy with the last name of Bush walked across the stage and someone yelled "You ACTUALLY made it!". It was the only *negative* comment that I heard throughout the graduation. Again I found myself chuckling at the expense of a Bush.

The panhandle of Texas has been hit with the brush fires and the high cost of gas. I believe that there would be some receptive ears to alternate views, if they were presented in a friendly manner. From comments by various family members, (who have been diehard Bush supporters) cracks are beginning to show in Bush's support even in his *hometown*.

I believe Howard Dean is on the right track in establishing infrastructure in all 50 states. The people in West & North Texas have only heard Republican BS propaganda for the past 20 years or more. Those people need to hear other voices.

Pat Robertson said last week that he can leg press 2000 lbs.

From the AP/MSNBC article: Clay Travis of CBS SportsLine.com called the 2,000-pound assertion impossible in a column this week, writing that the leg-press record for football players at Florida State University is 665 pounds less.

At least we can trust Robertson to tell us the truth about scripture, right? Anyway, only a true "brunch lover" would lie about what they could press. Maybe Robertson thought that spending a lot of time in the steam room with his brunch buddies would give him superpower legs. In any case, he's always predicting that cities with pro-gay policies will trigger the wrath of God through natural disasters. I wonder what Robertson would say God would do to a liar.

* Video: Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake, CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK
* Robertson's 2,000-pound lift raises eyebrows, Skeptics question whether septuagenarian televangelist leg-pressed a ton, AP via MSNBC, May 29, 2006
* The Lamest Exercise in the World, Why Pat Robertson should stop bragging about the leg press. By Mike DeBonis, SLATE, Saturday, May 27, 2006

In November Colorado voters could face up to 18 ballot initiatives, including four on marriage equality. But in today's Denver Post Fred Brown expects that most won't make it onto the ballot. Just two surrounding marriage equality look likely to make it.

Expected marriage equality referendums:
• The pro-equality domestic partnership initiative (already made it onto the ballot)
• The anti-equality definition of marriage between one man and one woman is likely to make it, too

Brown doesn't expect antigay activist Will Perkins' ban on domestic partnerships to show up on the ballot. And the pro-gay countermove sounds like it's already dead: it was an amendment to the state constitution saying that domestic partnerships are not "similar to marriage."

• Denver Post Perspective: Colorado's crowded ballot, 18 issues could face November voters, By Fred Brown, 5/28/06
• Learn more: Coloradoans for Fairness & Equality

What a great weekend for overworked IT people like me to put down the mouse and get some sun.

Every state makes grandiose claims like "this is the most beautiful state in the country." Even Kansas. It's a privilege to live in a state that can really vie for that title. Why go out of state this weekend? Remind yourself why you or your great-grandparents moved here. Remind yourself why Colorado's wild places deserve to be protected. Spend some money in mountain towns off the beaten path that really need it. Take some pictures:


Mt. Evans from the southwest.

Here's another argument for a strong health care system in Colorado:



Teenagers jumping into St. Mary's Lake yesterday. Possibly a good argument for a strong mental health care system in Colorado.



This is the bottom of Colorado's most accessible global warming coal-mine canary -- St. Mary's Glacier, base elevation ~10,700 feet. Looks very healthy in this picture, but of course the spring melt isn't complete yet. It's the minimum size measured year over year in late summer that matters, and by that measurement glaciers are receding quickly all over North America.


Near timberline at St. Mary's Glacier.

Anyway, it's a beautiful state. If it wasn't for this gorgeous backcountry off its back porch, Denver would be just another smelly cow town. It's a lot easier to understand once you're up there why people get upset when Texas energy companies want to fracture-drill it, or tear down whole ranges for oil shale, or turn it into a national dumping ground for toxic waste, or when the smog threatens to turn Rocky Mountain National Park into another LA suburb. You get up there and the look on your kid's face convicts you: this is worth defending.

I'm getting off this computer now and going back...see you Tuesday.

Editor's note: this poem contains some objectionable language. We have moved it for discretionary purposes.

David Sirota talks about his book with ProgressNow's Jen Caltrider and our audience Thursday.

David Sirota is the author of Hostile Takeover, an easy-to-read guidebook for the rest of us who are tired of government selling us out - and who want answers about how we can take our country back.

Newsweek described David as "intense, driven, even obsessive as he fills the gap left by a timid Democratic establishment."

David joined us and our studio audience for a discussion about his book and the state of progressive politics in the US.

To listen to our discussion, just click below.

Live studio recording of our discussion with David Sirota:

mp3, 43:30 minutes, 15.7MB

As I wait for news about state efforts to clean up our democracy, I got this from Public Campaign Action Fund

Our political system is broken. The officials we elect to represent us spend their time chasing big campaign checks and using their votes to do political favors for big-money special interests and lobbyists instead.

It's time to do something about it -- and we can.

By enacting a system of public financing for elections we can cut the ties between politicians and the big-money special interests and lobbyists who currently fund their campaigns. It's called Clean Elections, and it's already working in seven states and two cities across the country.

Click here now to tell Congress to enact real campaign reform by passing the Clean Money, Clean Elections Act.

Under Clean Elections, qualified candidates who agree to forgo all private contributions and follow strict spending limits receive public financing for their campaigns, freeing them from having to chase campaign donations from big money special interests and lobbyists.

It's a system that's proven to work. Clean Elections has been in place in Arizona since 2000 and has already reshaped the state's politics. Ten out of 11 statewide officials in Arizona - including Gov. Janet Napolitano - ran and won "clean" by accepting public financing.

Under a Clean Elections program, voters can go to the polls knowing that candidates will answer to them, not big-money, special-interest contributors.

It's time to expand Clean Elections nationwide! Click here to tell Congress to pass Clean Elections today!

Once you've taken action, will you please forward this message to five of your friends and ask them to join you in standing up for Clean Elections?

Thank you for helping empower voters to elect officials who are NOT bought and paid for by big-money special interests.

I suppose they have a long way to go on this, but I think raising representatives' awareness that this is an issue people care about is a necessary first step.

With Memorial Day approaching, let's all remember to take a moment and express our gratitude to veterans for their service to our country.

Special thanks as well to the Veterans for Progress. Their continued fight to reclaim our country from right-wing extremism makes them all heroes in my book.

Progress Radio Update
Click to hear Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon respond to Gov. Owen's vetoes.

mp3: 00:40, 497 KB

UPDATE: Let's start the Hit Parade:

SB 138: 10% ethanol requirement. VETOED: Texas oilmen win over Colorado farmers, thanks to Texas import Bill Owens.

SB 198: Regulation of contracts between health care providers and employers to protect employees from bogus coverages. VETOED.

SB 239: Mortician licensure. Don't need that? Hope your grandma's really in that jar.

SB 081: Ending discrimination based on sexual orientation. As fast as he could...

SB 111: Cultural competency instruction for health care providers. What is that, like, multi-culturalism? Jim Welker says that's a bunch of hooey.

SB 064: Monitoring of state contractors. After Colorado lost millions on Owens' various IT boondoggles, this veto is a straight-up insult.

HB 1314: Employers get to intimidate their workers into brow-beating sessions on unions or Jesus or whatever -- and that's just the way Bill Owens likes it.

HB 046: The "P-16" comprehensive education study. Because if he'd let it become law, it might have revealed what a disaster his precious College Opportunity Fund really is.

SB 209: Colorado Higher Ed task force. Again, it would make COF vouchers look bad.

SB 065: Public School Capital Construction Advisory Committee. A no-brainer if you want to starve public education anyway.

SB 069: Teachers apparently don't need school accountability reports that help them, parents need reports that help them criticize teachers like Jay Bennish and let them know if the school requires a uniform. Buh-bye.

HB 1336: Athletic agents.

SB 001: "Enjoy those high prescription costs."

HB 1346: He's right, those kids didn't need health care.

SB 047: Only rural folks have health care needs requiring better intermunicipal organization, it seems. Go figure.

SB 105: "Elevator and Escalator Safety Act." Have you ever used the one at the Capitol?

HB 1331: Landscapers don't need a license -- remember that after that new pond you just built floods your basement.

HB 1127: Feel the burn, athletic trainers. No license necessary, so go ahead and twist your students like pretzels.

We're saying hello to Bill Owens' Little Friend today. That's a reference to Scarface and the veto pen: get your mind out of the gutter.

It's a rough day for progress in Colorado, but there's good news just (looks at calendar) a few months away.

Governor Owens just vetoed SB 1. This bill would have placed Colorado into a multi-state purchasing pool for Medicaid recipients and would have saved the state a helluva lot of money.

Governor Owens vetoed SB 1 for one reason: Republicans get obscene amounts of money from pharmaceutical companies.

Call the Governor and ask him why he would sacrifice cheaper prescriptions for medicaid recipients in favor of pharmaceutical corporate fat cats.

303-866-2471

Progress Radio Update
Click to hear Senator Bob Hagedorn respond to the veto of SB 1

mp3: 3 minutes, 1.7MB

HB 1336 would have regulated athlete agents by requiring them to register. It would have allowed our state universities to use a multi-state pool to run background checks. Most importantly, it would prevent our universities from running afowl of NCAA rules with an athlete signs a contract improperly. It would have required notice to the universities of any contract being signed, and would have allowed the universities a cause of action against athlete agents who violate the law.

34 other states have passed this exact same law. And Governor Owens just vetoed it.

So all you CU and CSU football fans should give the Guv a friendly little call and let him know what you think about his willingness to leave our universities and our student athletes exposed to slimeball agents.

Call him at 303-866-2471.

Governor Owens just vetoed HB1346 (Healthcare coverage for additional minor children). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Anne McGihon, would have allowed grandchildren who live with their grandparents to go on their grandparents' health coverage.

HB 1346 would have addressed the scenario where a teenage girl living at home has a baby. The bill would have allowed the girl to get coverage for her baby under her parents' plan. Kaiser already offers this, but they're the only health insurance company that does.

The only alternative now for getting coverage right now, if you don't have Kaiser, is for the teenager and the baby to move out of the grandparents' home and go on medicaid. Then who pays for it? WE do.

This bill was about keeping families together. It was about promoting healthy babies by making sure they have healthcare. And it was about personal responsibility.

Someone please explain to me how the hell the supposed family values party gets away with having that image.

Call Governor Owens and ask him why he wants teenage mothers to have to leave home and go on medicaid. His office number is 303-866-2471.

When Bill Owens ran for governor in 1998, one of the many things he promised was that the waste handling facility operated by the Clean Harbors Corp. at Last Chance, Colorado wouldn't be expanded or "repermitted" to accept low-level radioactive materials from out of state.

Over the last eight years, that promised slowly eroded into Owen's approving exactly that, while Congressman Bob Beauprez "sat in silence."

The whole business is pretty much procedural now, but there's one "Last Chance" to hold these guys accountable before the it's all over. From the AP:

After some Front Range cities raised concerns about costs, a regional panel postponed a decision Tuesday on whether to allow low-level radioactive waste at a hazardous-waste site about 70 miles east of Denver.

The Rocky Mountain Low-Level Radioactive Waste Board said it would decide on May 30 whether to allow the site in eastern Adams County to accept naturally occurring radioactive material in its normal state and after it has gone through processing, which might include byproducts from oil and gas production and radium processing.

Adams County is suing to repeal the state license and permit approved last year for the Clean Harbors Deer Trail Facility. Area residents fear that allowing in low-level radioactive waste eventually will lead to the dumping of high-level radioactive waste there...

The Rural Populist summed this one up as eloquently as anybody could.

In some cases these rural communities have suffered repeated economic setbacks. Out of desperation they court landfills, radio active waste, jails and other generally undesirable industries. This brings jobs to otherwise desolate communities and allows residents to pay the bills. The situation presents a double edged sword to say the least.

In other cases politicians from urban/affluent areas push these industries into low income and rural areas. Neither scenario is acceptable, but the latter seems worse.

A little more on the specifics of what could be coming to the facility and why, from the Commerce City Beacon:

Corporate interests are at it again, and this time it is Adams County that may pay the price. A proposal by Clean Harbors Deer Trail LLC, a company operating a low-level waste facility in Adams County, would allow out of state interests to send their waste to our state.

Our state government has already approved this application, despite opposition from all sides. We have one last chance to influence this process. On May 30th, the Rocky Mountain Low-Level Radioactive Waste Board is holding a meeting in Aurora to hear concerns and rule on this issue.

While many officials have stood up in opposition to turning Adams County into a national dumping ground, there has been a notable lack of opposition from former CCHE Chairman Rick O'Donnell.

Click below -- call on Rick O'Donnell to join with other Colorado leaders in opposing any attempt to import toxic and radioactive waste into Colorado:

Link

Thanks for doing your part for Colorado's public health.

Colorado Top Stories

Groups push minimum-wage increase
Rocky Mountain News
Backers of a proposed ballot initiative that would boost the minimum wage in Colorado from $5.15 an hour to $6.85 will begin collecting signatures next week. One of the organizers, Steve Adams, president of the Colorado AFL-CIO, said the purpose of the initiative is to "help the citizens of Colorado who need the help the most." Other "progressive" groups also are behind the measure, including Nine to Five, he said. "It's been years since they've raised the minimum wage," Adams said. "Have you ever tried living on $5.15 an hour, or even $6.85 an hour at that?" But one political consultant said the real intent of the initiative - like so many proposed this year - seems to be to turn out a certain voter base, in this case Democrats.

Border bill headed for duel
Denver Post
The Senate voted 62-36 to rewrite the nation's immigration laws Thursday, bolstering border security, creating a guest-worker program and providing a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., voted no. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., who supported the bill, did not vote, leaving to speak at his daughter's graduation Thursday night in Denver. The changes are the most significant overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in two decades. But they are not yet law and are far from guaranteed to become so.
RELATED: Allard says 'no,' Salazar misses vote
Link

Calls to rip GOP over gas prices
Denver Post
Summer unofficially starts this weekend, and with it will come a new round of political attacks that tie statehouse Republicans to rising gas prices. Clear Peak Colorado, a committee that backs Democratic candidates for the state legislature, plans to launch a series of automated phone calls to voters this weekend. "As you pay record prices for gas this holiday weekend, remember that some of your hard-earned money is paying for partisan politics," the caller says. The calls claim that Republicans are using oil-and-gas industry money to pay for attacks on Democrats. "The Republicans have let big oil off the hook for cleaner air and tougher drilling standards. The high gas prices go from your pocket to the Republicans and back to the pump again," the call says.

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A progressive/true patriot would never stand on ceremony, much less remain silent, when a president or his party ransacked the treasury, destroyed the military, displayed pathetic leadership in the face of national tragedy (Katrina) or showed flagrant disregard for the Constitution, the rule of law, human rights, etc. It is one thing to wave the bloody flag of nationalism in the wake of 9/11, it is quite another to demonstrate repeatedly the incompetence and lack of responsibility that allowed it to happen in the first place. The problem with the Democratic Party lies not in the people that vote Democratic, but the candidates that talk the talk and don't walk the walk. It may take a few years to infuse the party with people of integrity, ideals and the selfless passion for furthering the dream that used to be our birthright. Robert F. Kennedy said it best in 1966:
"Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe."

Listen LIVE at 6PM (Windows Media)

David is the author of Hostile Takeover, which is an easy-to-read guidebook for the rest of us who are tired of government selling us out - and who want answers about how we can take our country back.

Newsweek described David as "intense, driven, even obsessive as he fills the gap left by a timid Democratic establishment."

We have a studio audience for tonight's interview, and we'll have the recorded program available in the morning. Welcome.

HB-1149, Rep. Morgan Carroll's bill to require Colorado lobbyists to disclose information about their clients and the bills they're involved with is awaiting the Governor's signature.

We had hundreds of members write their Representatives and Senators in support of this bill, which was vital in getting it over the finish line. Send him a message right now that clean government in Colorado matters.

Link

I attended the Drinking Liberally event in Denver last night. The event featured Representative Morgan Carroll and author/campaign strategist David Sirota. Carroll spoke about the power of lobbyists in shaping -- in fact writing -- legislation. Sirota spoke about his new book Hostile Takeover, which details how corporate special interests have basically taken over the country. This issue is really at the core of everything that is wrong with government in our time. Urge the Governor to sign Representative Carroll's HB-1149 Lobby Reform bill. His number is 303-866-2471 and email is governorowens@state.co.us.

After the drubbing Joan Fitz-Gerald took trying to hold a few predatory clergymen accountable, this is some serious arrogance.

Church ready to deal

The Denver Roman Catholic Archdiocese has hired a prominent mediator to broker financial settlements with 30 people who have filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually abused by priests and revictimized by church officials intent on a coverup.

"We deeply regret the suffering of any victim of childhood sexual abuse," Archbishop Charles Chaput said Wednesday at a news conference at the downtown Denver offices of the Judicial Arbiter Group, headed by former Boulder District Court Judge Richard Dana...

The archdiocese declined to say how much money is available to alleged clergy-abuse victims, but in letters delivered Wednesday to plaintiffs' attorneys, Dana referred to it as a "substantial sum."

Yeah, they're ready to deal...on their protective terms. A cold gambit that seeks to trade guilt for dollars. Well worth the money spent fighting off this year's abuse-liability bills in the Colorado legislature.

This is not what Jesus would do.

Gasoline prices are near an all time record high.

Earlier this month the Colorado Legislature passed House Bill 1251, an anti-gouging bill that will apply to retail gasoline sales. This bill makes it illegal to raise prices at retail gasoline outlets more than 10% above their costs following declared emergencies. Colorado is one of only 22 states that does not have an anti-gouging law.

We understand that Governor Owens may cave to the conservative oil executives who want him to veto this bill as early as this Friday as they know many voters may not read the newspapers this holiday weekend.

Click on this link now to call on Governor Owens to sign the anti-gouging bill into law:

Link

We will deliver the petition to Governor Owens before the weekend.

Colorado Top Stories

Peña, Lamm seen as sparks in fiery debate
Link
Federico Peña's decision to lead opponents of a proposal to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving state services ensures a more public and expensive debate over the issue, experts say. Peña, chairman of Keep Colorado Safe, has stepped out this week as the voice countering former Gov. Dick Lamm, the public face of Defend Colorado Now, the group leading the ballot initiative. Most agree the star power of Lamm and Peña, a former Denver mayor, will heighten the intensity, scrutiny, spending and profile of an already contentious and heated campaign.
RELATED: Peña to fight initiative
Link

Coloradans paying more bills late; state ranks eighth
Link
Colorado is eighth in the country when it comes to delinquent bill payments, according to a report released Wednesday by Experian, one of the three big credit-rating agencies. The average number of late debt payments made by Coloradans jumped by nearly a third over the past year. Colorado consumers averaged 0.83 late payments on the debt they owed in February 2005, not counting their first mortgages. By this February, that average had risen to 1.09.

Sen. Salazar remains skeptical of oil shale
Link
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said he will approach next week's field hearing on oil shale "without having prejudged a technology" intended to exploit it. Salazar remains, however, skeptical about the importance of oil shale, he said Wednesday. Oil shale is "no panacea to the energy crisis that we face in America," he said.

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The Rockridge institute just released a new framing article on immigration. Rockridge was founded by George Lakoff. This is quite an interesting article.

Indeed, if the reform needed is "lobbying reform," these are reasonable solutions. But, the term "Congressional ethics reform" would have framed a problem of a much different nature, a problem with Congressmen. And it would allow very different reforms to count as solutions. After all, lobbyists are powerless if there's nobody to accept a free meal, fly on a private plane, play a round of golf in the Bahamas and, most importantly, accept the political contributions lobbyists raise on their behalf from special-interests with billions of dollars in business before the federal Government.

Perhaps most pointedly, the "immigration problem" frame blocks an understanding of this issue as a cheap labor issue. The undocumented immigrants allow employers to pay low wages, which in turn provide the cheap consumer goods we find at WalMart and McDonalds. They are part of a move towards the cheap lifestyle, where employers and consumers find any way they can to save a dollar, regardless of the human cost.

Lakoff also has a new book coming out… you can pre-order at: Link

What does "The Da Vinci Code" have to do with the controversy over the new Vaccine to prevent cervical cancer? Once one gets past the humanizing of Jesus, which is really just a side issue and one that Jesus himself would not have any issue with, one sees that the more pronounced and disturbing issue which is brought to light in the Da Vince Code" is the repression of women by the Christian Religion.

Where some repression of woman is rampant with most Christian Sects no one is more blatant about it than the Christian right, i.e. the Republicans. No issue is more blatantly anti-female than the Republicans ban on a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. The vaccine issue screams in the loudest and most obvious voice, "We would rather see women die of cervical cancer than take the chance that they will have sex without punishment." The same is true for the abortion issue. If they were truly interested in unborn babies they would be out on the street corners giving out condoms to everyone they saw, but they are not, they even ban contraception. There is zero doubt that the Republican stand on vaccines and abortion are a ruses to try and hide the Republican belief that women should be second-class citizens controlled by males.

Where a number of TV networks have investigated the "Priory of Sion" documents found in a French Library, which are used in the Da Vinci Code, and found them to be a hoax. The anti-female history talked about in the Da Vinci Code is right on. The council of Nicene in 300 AD did in fact set up an official anti-female policy that led to the mutilation, torture, and burning of woman in the crusades, and the Salem witch trials. The policy is still very much alive and well in the Roman church and most conservative Christian groups. It is quite obvious that this anti-female policy has no other purpose than to control women, and nothing to do with Jesus teachings. Jesus showed nothing but respect and kindness for women and even stopped the stoning of a known adulteress.

progressnowcolorado.org is pleased to announce a live audio session and discussion with progressive activist and author David Sirota, at the ProgressNow offices in Downtown Denver, tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.

David is the author of Hostile Takeover which is an easy-to-read guidebook for the rest of us who are tired of government selling us out – and who want answers about how we can take our country back.

Newsweek described David as “intense, driven, even obsessive as he fills the gap left by a timid Democratic establishment.”

Click here if you would like to join us with David this Thursday May 25, from 6:00-6:30 p.m. at ProgressNow, 1536 Wynkoop Street #200:

Link

We look forward to seeing you Thursday evening. After our audio event, Mr. Sirota will appear at a book signing for Hostile Takeover at the Tattered Cover Bookstore (located next to ProgressNow at 16th and Wynkoop). If you are unable to attend or listen, but would like to be apart of our ongoing book presentations and reviews, click below to join the Book and Article Review Club at ProgressNow:

Link

I'm pretty sure this is, in fact, a retort. What do you think?

Democrats attacked Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) for failing to distance herself from the Ku Klux Klan's endorsement of legislation she sponsored that would benefit home-schooled children and a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages...

"This disturbing online approval for Marilyn Musgrave's legislative priorities is a frightening reminder of just how far out of the mainstream some of Musgrave's ideas really are," said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield.

A Musgrave spokesman called the attack "desperate."

"Al Gore may have fathered the Internet, but he obviously didn't teach his liberal cohorts a valuable lesson, so take note political bloggers: not every website is legitimate, especially those created by psycho-backwoods racists," said Aaron Johnson, Musgrave's spokesman.

Not "legitimate?" Do you suppose they called the "legitimate" KKK and checked that?

It's always funny to note that haters don't like the haters who throw their hatred into uncomfortably sharp relief...

ProgressNow in the news

Windsource hike at issue
Link
[Boulder County] also opposes Xcel's plan to start billing customers for the construction of its 750-megawatt Comanche 3 coal-fired power plant in Pueblo for more than two years before it begins delivering electricity. Boulder-based Ratepayers United of Colorado also will formally oppose Xcel's rate increases. That organization says it represents 4,500 Xcel customers who signed up via the Web site Exposexcel.com. Michael Huttner, of Boulder, executive director of ExposExcel.com, said the organization is concerned with higher rates, the introduction of late fees and the financing of the coal plant. "That Xcel Energy would propose a $209 million rate increase at the same time they're reporting record profits and huge bonuses to their executives is nothing more than highway robbery," Huttner said. Work on the $1.4 billion coal plant broke ground in December. The plant faced vocal opposition from an array of environmental, community and consumer groups prior to a December 2004 settlement agreement that traded the coal plant for significant energy-efficiency and renewable-energy measures.

Colorado Top Stories

Peña adds voice to migrants
Link
Former Denver Mayor Federico Peña will lead the effort to defeat a November ballot initiative that would prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving state services. "The proposed constitutional amendment is mean-spirited and will hurt innocent children and create a health care crisis by denying things like immunizations for thousands of Colorado residents," Peña said Tuesday. "I was so troubled about it that I decided I wanted to get involved and help fight this." Peña is now the chairman of Keep Colorado Safe, formed to challenge the proposed amendment.

Medicaid rules hit oldest, youngest
Link
New state rules are requiring all Medicaid recipients - including newborns and nursing home residents - to show photo identification to get health care. The federally mandated rule could create barriers to health care for children, the elderly and disabled, advocates for the groups say. The requirements, adopted May 12, require anyone applying for Medicaid to provide either a passport or a birth certificate and driver's license or state-issued photo identification card. "We're going to see a big problem in Colorado" as people go without medication and those who care for the indigent go without payment, said Deb DeBoutez of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
RELATED: Medicaid ID rules could snare more than illegals
Link

Salazar wants funding to aid drought relief
Link
U.S. Rep. John Salazar is pushing for full funding of wildfire and agricultural disaster relief this year as a conference committee negotiates House and Senate recommendations. The Colorado Democrat represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes much of Southeastern Colorado, the San Luis Valley and the Western Slope. Much of the district remains under drought conditions. Approximately 70 percent of the district is federal lands, making the availability of federal disaster relief critical, Salazar said.

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I always liked them, a lot; listening to the new CD Taking the Long Way on their MSN website right now. All I can say, the red necks that don't want to hear it on the radio stations have no idea what they are missing. I have been begging Democrats to reach out, defend them passionately; they are the crown jewel of country music. BTW, they are coming to the Pepsi Center in September. You can purchase the album on Amazon for $9.98; this one reminds me of a Beatles album, not a bad song on it.

MSN Website
Link

Makes you wonder what they would have found in Tom DeLay's office if they'd violated the Separation of Powers to find out?

You know this "as if" is totally deserved...

FBI Raid on Lawmaker's Office Is Questioned

The Saturday raid of [Rep. William] Jefferson's [D-Louisiana] quarters in the Rayburn House Office Building posed a new political dilemma for the leaders of both parties, who felt compelled to protest his treatment while condemning any wrongdoing by the lawmaker. The dilemma was complicated by new details contained in an 83-page affidavit unsealed on Sunday, including allegations that the FBI had videotaped Jefferson taking $100,000 in bribe money and then found $90,000 of that cash stuffed inside his apartment freezer.

Republican leaders, who previously sought to focus attention on the Jefferson case as a counterpoint to their party's own ethical scandals, said they are disturbed by the raid. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said that he is "very concerned" about the incident and that Senate and House counsels will review it.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) expressed alarm at the raid. "The actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case," he said in a lengthy statement released last night.

"Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our Republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this Separation of Powers line, in order to successfully prosecute corruption by Members of Congress," he said. "Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years."

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), in an e-mail to colleagues with the subject line "on the edge of a constitutional confrontation," called the Saturday night raid "the most blatant violation of the Constitutional Separation of Powers in my lifetime." He urged President Bush to discipline or fire "whoever exhibited this extraordinary violation."

Two issues here:

1) Highly suspect Democratic lawmaker.
2) The most partisan "Justice Department" in history.

Mix in that trademark Bush administration disregard for the Constitution, with a dash of desperate GOP scandal deflection, and there's plenty of shame to go around on this one. The lesson is that although preponderance tells its own story right now, people on both sides get fat and corrupt on the power you give them every two years. What was it News Gingrich said? Throw all the bums out. The outcome of that doesn't worry me, if you know what I mean.

And isn't it cool how miffed Dennis Hastert gets about his precious office building, while telling you how great it is that the NSA wiretapping your phone without a warrant? But that's for another blog.

Of course I mean this survey.

And you know that I know what that survey numbers are, just like you know I can't tell you what they are until Memorial Day. And I don't care what campaign you work for. But the survey numbers are interesting -- especially the initiative surveys.

I know you didn't come here to read about the initiatives, and probably filled them out today as an afterthought after you pretended for a moment that you live in CD-7. You know who you are.

Just kidding. People have actually been honest about the survey (we can tell), and the numbers form up pretty well with what we already know about our users.

And the initiatives! Did you know that thousands of Coloradans are strongly opposed to demonizing immigrants, rolling back women's rights, and discriminating against gay people? Who also believe that workers deserve a living wage, and that lobbyists shouldn't buy off your government?

I agree, that's the stuff that matters. And don't worry, we'll have your horse race results along with it.

By Ernie Luck

On January 27, 2006, my soulmate departed from this world, He was my Friend, my Lover, my Partner.
Saint St. Paul was a writer and a poet. Our dream was to publish his book of short stories and poems under the title Rocky Mountain Oysters, with all proceeds going to HIV-related issues, I plan on carrying out that dream.
He was on the mayor's council in Denver and was active in finding a natural cure. He believed that a holistic lifestyle was the way to fight the virus.
The last piece he wrote was for Poz magazine titled "Positively Poz." He lived with the virus for over 20 years and was a voice for young people who felt there was no hope, and for the long term survivors, he was an example on how to live and love life in the positive, not the negative.
The saddest part of this story is that he did not pass from HIV, but from Western medicine, which missed what months of antibiotics can do to the insides of someone's body. He passed from internal bleeding in my arms, not in a nursing home, which doctors wanted, but in his home, and I was blessed to be the man who loved him unconditionally, to be there at that moment and let my Possum go.
I am sending this to you in the hope that his piece will be seen and his story told, so that other humans with this virus will have hope and believe they, too, can be survivors.
I am now "Celebrating the Positive" of my Possum, my' Friend, my Lover, my Partner.

Positively POZ

By Saint St. Paul

I recall the day, over 20 years ago, that I was informed that I had been exposed to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It was the era before its famous acronym became known worldwide. A healthcare worker at the STD Clinic at Denver Health (then Denver General) bore the shaky news. I was on my way to my bartending job, and while riding my bike along Cherry Creek, I had a moment to get results of my bi-annual practice of STD testing.
The uneasy healthcare provider, obviously the bearer of bad news, introduced me to my new uninvited guest. Having studied microbiology in school, I was quite familiar with viruses and bacteria, along with their: unrelenting purpose of reproducing to survive as a species, mutating toward that outcome.
I knew that the strong members of any species grew stronger by strengthening immunities from exposure to the tiny invaders, resulting in the survivors. Educated to be a survivor, I was determined to immediately make peace with my new lifelong "roommate." I formed a mental agreement to not wreak havoc on the scheming bug, in return for the same. That set the stage for many of my controversial thoughts on the subject.
Armed with toe knowledge of how immune systems function and how species survive, I was relieved the test revealed I had antibodies to the daunting virus, a natural function of any living thing combating any virus. I found comfort in the knowledge that my immune system was performing as it should.
Attitude has always been one of my most useful tools at keeping the microbial critter at bay. My plentiful tool chest is neatly packed with a treasure trove of gizmos used to strengthen my defenses against the minute intruder. After all, buffalo endured more than one arrow thrown at them and have survived. I've always had a positively P_Z attitude, respecting nature and appreciating its countless secrets of survival. Powerfully, Mother Nature never loses her magical creativity with defenses of species. I was fascinated to learn more about her tropism.
I relish learning about her many defenses involving mind, body and soul, all defending in tandem with anomalous power. For me, attitude (mind) is closely followed by the mastery of food (body) and understanding its endless nutrients and even cures. Just as importantly, alternative treatments entail the body. Moreover, the war of determination to survive (soul) is innate in all organisms. I have always felt that the true enemy is not each other, but microorganisms.
The first 20 years with my lifelong hitchhiker, I never thought about it or mentioned it to anyone. A doctor's visit, due to an outbreak of another vexatious cootie (herpes), led to further education about another annoying virus. His friendship with my best friend led to the evaporation of any further privacy. My concealment protected me from unrelenting concern, constant reminders and peer pressures of such exposure that I knew would follow. However, after 20 years I had established the confidence, along with my continued existence, which allows me a wealth of experience worth propagating. That barrier soon became less important than the value of sharing my experiences, which range from an altered functioning immune system to being involved in treatment to the social stigmas.
Now to the point of why I was asked to write this article: "Why did you go public about your HIV status?" I had never been asked that question before or thought about! it as "going public." Without hesitation, I immediately knew the answer. I wanted to dispel the stigmas associated with HIV, especially any shame, since I steadfastly feel no one should ever be ashamed of any virus or how it was transmitted (any health condition, for that matter). I chose in the last few years to freely discuss it with anyone, to both learn and share my experiences with the minute intruder; dealing with HIVIAIDS agencies; the pharmaceutical vacuum; swimming upstream against traditional Western treatment, all important in the overall encounter with the pesky critter. After talking to so many people also infected, including young people, it stunned me how much fear is still out there. It further made me realize what a vital weapon education is in ultimate victory.
My mind still churns with thoughts of knowing more about the unsolicited guest. That introduction to the pariah of a virus took place in an era of fear, shame, uncertainty and fatality. Finally, as I slip through the upcoming decades, the next question that I intend to be asked in 20 years is "How have you survived this long?" Just as in the beginning, I will always remain positively POZ.

OUT FRONT COLORADO

Launch of the first 2006 online Colorado Election Survey:
Largest online election survey in State History

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Contact: Michael Huttner
303-931-4547

Denver: ProgressNowAction, the state's largest online organization, launched the first 2006 online election survey to over 25,000 people in Colorado earlier today.

Colorado citizens can take the survey by going to progressnowcolorado.org and selecting who they want as their next Governor, representing them in Congress and where they stand on the likely ballot initiatives.

"The size of this online election survey is unprecedented in Colorado," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNowAction. "We call on the public to visit ProgressNowAction and let us know who they want as their next Governor and where they stand on the likely ballot initiatives."

The link Link

The survey will conclude on Memorial Day and will be shared with the media and public.

# # #

Colorado Top Stories

GOP urges aspirant to quit
Link
Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman came out swinging Monday at the state GOP after the party chairman called upon him to drop out of the race and throw his support behind opponent Bob Beauprez. In a move most political watchers said is unprecedented in recent Colorado politics, party chairman Bob Martinez asked Holtzman on Monday to "live with the results" of Saturday's state assembly vote and step aside. Otherwise, he said, the race could "turn into character assassinations" that might hurt the party in the general election against Democrat Bill Ritter. Holtzman, who failed to win the 30 percent necessary to make the Republican primary ballot, called Martinez "very partisan" and accused the GOP of trying to intentionally keep him off the ballot.
RELATED: Holtzman stays in race
Link
RELATED: Holtzman will stay in the race
Link
RELATED: Beauprez, Holtzman regroup for primary battle
Link

Provisions in proposed Xcel deal draw praise
Link
Environmentalists and activists for the poor Monday praised a proposed pact between the city of Denver and Xcel Energy. Residents got a chance to weigh in during a public hearing before the Denver City Council. The council will vote June 5 on whether to put the 20-year deal on the Aug. 8 ballot. The franchise agreement would give Xcel permission to use the city's right of way to deliver power to Denver residents.
RELATED: No public opposition to Xcel deal
Link

Term limits for judges?
Link
Colorado would become the first state to limit the number of terms served by state appellate judges and Supreme Court justices under a ballot initiative proposed by former state Senate President John Andrews. "We have seen outrageous instances of judicial lawmaking, not only at the federal level but at the state level - really an increasing problem for decades now," Andrews said Monday. The state Supreme Court signed off Monday on the language of the ballot measure - language that had been contested by opponents who claimed "term limits" is a catchphrase that has been improperly used in political messages and therefore has no place on a ballot initiative.

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Must see TV. Not much big media coverage, but probably the most important anti-war documentary of my lifetime. Stars and Stripes did an article, stating plans to use the film as a training aid for the Army Medical Corps.

Link

I think this was Napoleon's problem, too.

Franks says Iraq deaths price for security

Those who count the increasing number of American soldiers killed in Iraq are missing the bigger picture, retired Gen. Tommy Franks said Saturday night.

"What we're talking about is neither 2,400, 24,000 or 240,000 lives," Franks said at the National Rifle Association's annual banquet. "Terrorism is a thing that threatens our way of life..."

You mean the terrorism in Iraq? The terrorism of 9/11? They're NOT THE SAME, you know. What about the new terrorism because of Iraq? Now we're getting to the heart of Tommy Franks' matter --

More than 2,400 soldiers have died since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, the plan for which Franks developed and executed.

He's just trying to shore up the spin before the judgement of history vilifies him for all time like George Custer. You'd do the same thing in his position.

Though maybe you wouldn't sleep as well.

Sent to thousands of subscribers on the Western Slope today.

An editorial from the Denver Post last week identified serious conflicts in decisions made by the Bush administration to allow harmful natural gas drilling on the summit of the Roan Plateau.

[Williams Petroleum] has asked government agencies to let it drill...injecting chemicals underground, which critics fear could contaminate groundwater. Williams...now wants the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to let it drill on the plateau's highly visible top.

The Roan Plateau is one of Colorado's last and best-preserved wilderness areas. The kind of energy development Williams is asking for -- and could be improperly influencing government officials to get -- is likely to do irreparable damage to this pristine area.

Click below to sign a petition demanding a full inquiry to determine what the effect of their controversial drilling methods would be on the Roan Plateau summit:
Link

Thank you for standing up for Colorado's environment.

Sent to thousands of our subscribers in CD-4 today.

As reported in the media this morning (Roll Call 5/22/06), Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave is featured prominently on a website that appears to be that of the Knights Party, self-described as America's "Largest, Oldest and Most Professional White Rights Organization."

Roll Call reports that Musgrave has refused to respond to their phone calls and emails about this issue.

This article demands an immediate response. Join in calling on Musgrave to publicly disclaim any assocation with the Knights Party or any other hate group:

Link

Sincerely,

Michael Huttner
Executive Director
progressnowcolorado.org

Colorado Top Stories

Beauprez's next move: to center
Denver Post
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez decisively captured his party's backing Saturday but he still has a tough road ahead, political analysts say. First, he has to change political gears, edging himself toward the center - but not quite reaching it - in order to appeal to the more moderate Republicans who vote in the Aug. 8 primary. "It's a careful calculation. How much can he go towards the middle without losing the primary but not alienating more mainstream voters?" said Bob Loevy, political science professor at Colorado College. Beauprez also has to continue battling GOP rival Marc Holtzman, who did not automatically make the primary ballot but says he has enough signatures to secure a spot through petitions.

Rally recalls "incendiary" days of anti-gay measure
Denver Post
Saturday's rally marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Colorado's Amendment 2, an anti-gay rights measure approved by voters in 1992, was as conspicuous for what was missing as it was for its kaleidoscopic celebrants. There were no anti-gay demonstrators. There were no police officers ready to quell signs of trouble. There were no thickets of TV and radio microphones recording live broadcasts. "Ten years ago, the whole environment was incendiary," recalled Pat Steadman, one of the attorneys who represented the six plaintiffs in Romer vs. Evans, the lawsuit challenging Amendment 2.

Salazars' bills promote use of renewable fuels
Denver Post
Sen. Ken Salazar and his brother, Rep. John Salazar, both introduced legislation this week to boost the use of ethanol and other biofuels in cars and trucks. The Colorado Democrats have been advocates for increasing the use of biofuels, and Ken Salazar's legislation would offer gas stations reimbursement for the costs of installing tanks for holding ethanol, natural gas or other alternative fuels.

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I love the Dixie Chicks and Natalie Maines most of all. CNN has a story how their honesty and opinions of Bush are hurting their current album promotion. From the CNN article, discussing Natalie...

Now that she's truly notorious, having told a London audience in 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas," Maines has one regret: the apology she offered George W. Bush at the onset of her infamy. "I apologized for disrespecting the office of the president," says Maines. "But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."

They have a new album coming out - "Taking the Long Way" (May 23rd). The first single is "Not Ready to Make Nice" and fits with the sentiment from her quote above.

You can pre-order the album on iTunes for $9.99. Let's show Natalie support for really speaking truth to power or put your money where her mouth is! :-)

The words "slippery slope" lose their meaning when you're halfway down the mountain.

Attorney Gen.: Reporters Can Be Prosecuted

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Sunday he believes journalists can be prosecuted for publishing classified information, citing an obligation to national security.

''There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility,'' Gonzales said, referring to prosecutions...

''It can't be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity,'' Gonzales told ABC's ''This Week.''

Today's Orwellian definition of "criminal activity" is telling you that Bush lied about the threat posed by Iraq, that the NSA is spying on you in violation of the law, or that the CIA is sending detainees to secret prisons all over the world to be tortured. Not doing those things, you understand -- telling you about them is the real crime.

It's the finest Pinochet/Lukashenko/Suharto/Mubarak/Saddam Hussein tradition...which means we know where this path ends...

What's it like, trying to participate in small-d democracy over in Red America?

Instructive answers were on display at the 2004 Colorado GOP Assembly, where the Colorado Springs Gazette helpfully reminds us this morning that

...there were 400 more votes cast than there were delegates, leading to charges of ballot-box stuffing.

Yesterday they tried again; and though the number of votes at the 2006 Colorado GOP Assembly didn't exceed the number of voters, looks like there were plenty of shenanigans to go around. The Gazette continues:

...scores of delegates left without voting -- including 46 from El Paso County, said County Commissioner Wayne Williams, the assembly rules chairman.

Holtzman press secretary Jesse Mallory said during the process that he was happy with the changes because they guarded against voter fraud. Immediately after that interview, a campaign worker said to Mallory: "I don't think there's any question that the delay worked to our advantage. Our people stayed in place."

But after results were announced, Holtzman campaign consultant Boyd Marcus accused the party of working against his candidate. He complained about the lengthy process of credentialing and of 24 El Paso County delegates being allowed to vote after ballot boxes had been closed.

All this after weeks of haggling over how they were going to protect this election from the people in charge of it. In the end, my understanding is the World Arena was crawling with state police keeping an eye on the ballot boxes...

Disgruntled righties immediately attacked at Colorado Pols yesterday evening.

BM (Bob Martinez, or bowel movement) did a wonderful job of unifying the party…the Republicans left early in unison, so as to avoid the "Superdome" fiasco. The whole convention was ridiculous, and very disappointing. This was my first (and probably last) state convention...

It was a pathetic day for Colorado Republicans. There are way too many problems in this party. From Martinez interrupting Marc to the blatant lack of planning of the vote. These folks have got to go...

I've been a life-long Republican, but "flight" is what I'm doing this year. When you get the real party back, give me a call -- this is NOT the Republican party of my grandfather. I do wish you well, but I'm sick of what's happened and I have little doubt the inmates won't be occupying the asylum long after someone's turned off the lights and shut off the gas.

The World Arena was starting to remind me of the Super Dome in New Orleans. Older participants needing medical care (there were paremedics, thank God), lack of food vendors, and food running out. Everyone was well dressed though.

When El Paso and Teller Counties were announced many delegates had left the arena. that's when the BB camp began trolling for delegates and calling people at home to come and vote. They also were busy calling alternates to come to the arena to vopte [sic] some 4 hours later...

The entire process was a fiasco. The party would be better served by dismissing those in charge of their duties and having a vacancy.

Do you know what I see when I read this? I see Bill Owens and Donetta Davidson in 2004, issuing "emergency orders" targeting "Democrat vote fraud" that never materialized. I see Republican "GOTV" operatives throwing away thousands of Democratic voter registrations in 2004. I see hundreds of thugs in ties converging on the Miami-Dade Clerk and Recorder's office in December of 2000 screaming "Stop this count!"

In a way, this is worse: this is how they treat their own. This is what they mean by "culture of corruption," isn't it? From the bush leagues to the hallowed halls of Washington...

Headline:
Leonardo scholars remain faithful to the scientist

I love mystery adventures.

I discovered Dan Brown a few years back and have never been unhappy. His books could also fall into the category of suspense, thriller. Whatever genre you wish to place his novels into, the point here is that they are just that.

Novels. Fictions created to entertain. Fictions. I really enjoy historical novels too. New places, and eras I would not have otherwise visited are a great distraction from my addiction to politics.

So much for curing my addiction though, since this novel which I so enjoyed just a couple of years ago, has ended up being one of the most politically charged points of discussion I have heard in a long time. Or, at least since the release of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ.

Is Dan Brown as good as Tom Clancy? No. But, he is on his way to being so.

His style is more similar to the breathless suspense of Jeffrey Deaver (The Bone Collector), but his his sense of place and time can be compared to Michael Crichton, and his addictions to conspiracy can be compared to Robin Cook. The uproar over The Da Vince Code just boggles my mind.

*Note to self: try to be an iconoclast, write a book that includes religious and historical icons. Then, give them the Douglas Adams treatment.

If the brewha-ha by the Religious Right wasn't enough to make your skin crawl, the latest rants from scientists and historical scholars should make you realize that orthodoxy of any ilk must be questioned and challenged at every possible opportunity!

I return to the '70's Counter Culture Mantra: "Think for yourself and question authority"- Timothy Leary.

Brown has done both a favor and huge disservice to hundreds of Leonardo da Vinci scholars, researchers and aficionados by casting the artist as the nucleus of a vast, religious conspiracy that spans the centuries -- a kind of Oliver Stone of the Renaissance. The Da Vinci Code certainly has helped fuel the popular interest in all things da Vinci, from lectures to exhibits to documentaries. But scholars now have the task of explaining to the general public that Leonardo was a thoughtful, meticulous and inspired scientist, not a stealth artist who loaded his paintings with cryptic hints.

Science & Theology News - Leonardo scholars remain faithful to the scientist

crossposted on my blog

Just after Great Britain surrendered and the young America was free to form a new government, a large number of people begin calling for George Washington to become the new King. Obviously a number of people just didn't get it. The leaders of the war for independence had not sacrificed just to have a new King. A person who may become a tyrant, doing what he wished with his subjects. Their sacrifice was done to begin a new form of government where all people were morally equal and where all, not just the privileged, would have True Freedom.

Here we are 230 years later and some people still don't get it, especially many republicans. They just love King Bush. They don't understand the horrors that can be unleashed by a monarch who believes himself the "moral authority." To protect our moral equality system of government requires that all citizens understand and hold our principles of moral equality above all. Some say that no one was harmed when Bush ordered the collection of phone numbers of law-abiding citizens, and from a practical point of view they maybe right. But the principle is always superior to the practical, and the principle says that the president is not above the law, he is morally equal to all. Every time we allow a principle to be violated we take one more step towards the day when a monarch takes control of our lives and does with us as he pleases.

Let's take another quick example of the republican belief of being morally superior and inability to understand another fundamental principle, Freedom of Speech. There is a country and western group call the Dixie Chicks. In 2003 lead singer Natalie Maines made the statement that she was ashamed of our president for taking us into this war. Then the republican radio stations all blocked any of her music from being played. This is clearly un-American and the republican radio stations that went along with this ban do not understand our most cherished principles and therefore are not true Americans. A true American does not punish another American for their opinion, a true American does not hold him or her self morally superior to another which is just what the radio stations are doing. I don't know about you but I hold our principles in such high regard that even though I do not like county and western music I am going to buy the Dixie Chicks latest album called "Taking the Long Way" as soon as it is released, and would encourage you to do the same; a true act of patriotism.

March of 1968:

On the eve of the attack, Charlie Company was advised by US military command that any genuine civilians at My Lai would have left their homes to go to market by 7 a.m. the following day. They were told that they could assume that all who remained behind were either VC or active VC sympathizers. They were instructed to destroy the village. At the briefing, Captain Ernest Medina was asked whether the order included the killing of women and children; those present at the briefing later gave different accounts of Medina's response.

The soldiers found no insurgents in the village on the morning of March 16, 1968. The soldiers, one platoon of which was led by Lt. William Calley, killed hundreds of civilians - primarily old men, women, children, and babies. Some were tortured or raped. Dozens were herded into a ditch and executed with automatic weapons.

November of 2005:

An official military investigation into allegations that American marines killed innocent Iraqis last November has uncovered evidence that the number of dead civilians is higher than the 15 originally reported, Congressional and Defense Department officials said...

On Wednesday, Representative John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, talked about the investigation at a news conference on Capitol Hill. "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," he said. "And that's what the report is going to tell."

A leading Congressional critic of the Iraq war, Mr. Murtha served in Vietnam in the Marine Corps and was known as a hawk on military issues before becoming a leader of Democratic Party efforts to withdraw American troops from Iraq.

"Now, you can imagine the impact this is going to have on those troops for the rest of their lives and for the United States in our war and our effort in trying to win the hearts and minds," Mr. Murtha said. "We can't sustain this operation."

Why war is not to be undertaken lightly.

Makes 'em look kind of stupid. Note this.

Courtesy Sioux City-based Bret Hayworth:

During the weekly reporters conference call this morning with U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the questions got very pointed from Art Cullen of the Storm Lake Times. Cullen asked Harkin if he thought U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R - New Mexico) should have his citizenship revoked.

There was a long pause, then Harkin asked for the question again, having missed the point. Cullen again repeated, since Domenici's mother reportedly came to the U.S. from Europe in 1943 without following immigration procedures, should her son lose his citizenship. Cullen went on to explain that under the immigration reform bill passed by the U.S. House in December, that would be a possibility, that the child born to a person illegally in the country would not automatically gain U.S. citizenship. "That's what (Iowa 5th District Congressman) Steve King would do," Cullen stated.

Cullen, from a community with many Latinos working in a packing plant -- some legal, some illegal -- then followed up with, "should the hundreds of children born here in Storm Lake be kicked out? What is the difference between a Mexican kid born in Storm Lake and Pete Domenici's mom?"

Harkin answered the question, "Nothing..."

Nothing but an upcoming election and a boat-load of hypocrisy. That's some pretty sharp relief to throw the issue in (guessing Pete Domenici won't like this), but it's exactly the kind of tough love the country needs to snap us out of Tom Tancredo's xenophobic stupor...

Via Soapblox Colorado:

Fawcett shut off

Colorado Springs police are investigating who cut the Internet line running into Democratic congressional candidate Jay Fawcett's campaign office.

Staffers could not get online Thursday, when they had planned on e-mailing delegates to tonight's congressional district assembly.

An Adelphia repairman discovered that the outside Internet connection had been snapped by wire cutters, campaign manager Wanda James said.

Police have not determined who did it, and James said that only party leaders and campaign staff have been in the Old Colorado City office. The line was fixed, and the e-mail was sent.

"It's just a strange thing to happen the day before the assembly," James said.

Where have I heard about this before? That's right...

Ex-GOP Official Sentenced for Election Tactic
GOP Official Faces Sentence in Phone-Jamming
...

Last week, it was the documentary Baghdad ER that the Army couldn't handle. This week, the MPAA decides that Real World Gitmo might upset the children.

Poster rejected for Guantanamo film

The Motion Picture Association of America has censored a poster advertising a film about the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The image that ran afoul of the MPAA is tame by the standards set by the amateur photographers of Abu Ghraib. It shows a man hanging by his handcuffed wrists, with a burlap sack over his head and a blindfold tied around the hood.

It appeared in advertisements for the new film "The Road to Guantanamo," a documentary with some re-enacted scenes, that follows the fate of three British men imprisoned at Guantanamo for more than two years before being released with no charges ever filed against them.

The distributors of the film, directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross, submitted the poster to the MPAA, which must approve publicity materials for the films it rates, on April 24. It was rejected the next day...

...

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Gay-marriage ban revived
Denver Post
A dormant attempt to ban gay marriage through a constitutional amendment sprang back to life Thursday in the Senate. By a 10-8 party-line vote, the Senate's Judiciary Committee approved a resolution from Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., that would limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman. A vote on the bill by the full Senate is planned for early June. Allard and groups for and against the amendment concede there's almost no chance it will garner the two-thirds vote needed to pass the Senate. The same measure in 2004 failed to overcome a procedural hurdle and move to a full Senate vote. But Allard and Colorado Springs- based Focus on the Family Action, which lobbies for social conservatives, said they want to keep the issue in front of Congress.

War of wording in language debate
Rocky Mountain News
The U.S. Senate couldn't make up its mind Thursday, passing competing measures declaring English either the "national language" or the "common and unifying language" of the United States. The votes came after several hours of emotionally charged debate over immigration reform and a warning by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Denver, that the Senate could be ushering in "a new era of language discrimination in America."

Pete Coors gives big bucks to organization targeting Dems
Rocky Mountain News
Republican Pete Coors, who lost his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in 2004, has chipped in another $100,000 to a GOP political group targeting Democrats for defeat in November. So far, Coors has donated $200,000 to The Trailhead Group, an organization under fire by Democrats for its tactics and its contributor list. Trailhead collected $552,500 in the first three months of this year, with $290,000 coming from the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national group aimed at getting GOP members elected to legislatures and constitutional offices. Since it was formed last year, Trailhead has raised more than $900,000, according to federal tax records. Gov. Bill Owens, oilman Bruce Benson and Coors, the beer baron who was a casualty of Democratic victories in '04, helped form the group. Democrats, including former state party chairman Tim Knaus, blasted Trailhead's donors, noting the group is funded by a large number of oil-and-gas contributors.

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What's next? Beauprez Makes Joke About Holtzman's Mom? Holtzman Gets Girlfriend to Slap-Box Mrs. Beauprez? Holtzman Staffer Steals Website Logs to Identify Anonymous Commenters?

You're right, the last one already happened. But it's getting downright grade-school at the Grand Old Party:

Gubernatorial campaign gets physical

The surprising dustup came at the beginning of a forum at Plum Creek Golf and Country Club in Douglas County that featured Holtzman and Democrat Bill Ritter. Beauprez was in Washington, but was represented by state Sen. Shawn Mitchell.

An intern for the Holtzman campaign, Laura Mendenhall, tried to block a Beauprez staffer, Jory Taylor, from videotaping the event. That outraged the Beauprez campaign, which says it routinely tapes such forums...

But Marshall said it was Holtzman political director Laura Teal who first grabbed Taylor's arm and told the intern to block his camera.

"I nudged his arm and said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' " said Teal. "If I'd shoved him and smacked him, I think people would have noticed."

Mallory said the Holtzman campaign apologized for the incident.

"We're sorry the girls in our campaign beat up the boys in their campaign," he said.

I don't know about you, but this sure inspires confidence from where I'm sitting.

After all, Arlen Specter's the one presiding over this bigoted farce.

Specter to Feingold: 'I don't need to be lectured by you'

A Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage Thursday, after a shouting match that ended when one Democrat strode out and the Republican chairman bid him "good riddance."

"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment, his affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.

"If you want to leave, good riddance," Specter finished.

"I've enjoyed your lecture, too, Mr. Chairman," replied Feingold, D-Wisconsin, who is considering a run for president in 2008. "See ya."

Amid increasing partisan tension over President Bush's judicial nominees and domestic wiretapping, the panel voted along party lines to send the constitutional amendment -- which would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages -- to the full Senate, where it stands little chance of passing...

Specter says he doesn't support it either, though he does think that enshrining discrimination in the Constitution "deserves a debate in the Senate." Focus on the Family has got an email to get out to its three million pious voters, after all, who are starting to wonder if these Republican clowns really have their best interests at heart. And since that's all this is about anyway, why hold up the wheels of progress?

I would have walked, too...

The difference between an administration that defends the Constitution and an administration that defends itself from the Constitution, in today's Chicago Tribune.

NSA tested privacy-friendly system

The National Security Agency developed a pilot program in the late 1990s that would have enabled it to gather and analyze massive amounts of communications data without running afoul of privacy laws. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, it shelved the project--not because it failed to work--but because of bureaucratic infighting and a sudden expansion in the agency's surveillance powers that was granted by the White House, according to several intelligence officials.

The program the NSA rejected, called ThinThread, was developed to handle greater volumes of information, partly in expectation of threats surrounding the millennium celebrations...

In what intelligence experts describe as rigorous testing of ThinThread in 1998, the project succeeded at each task with high marks. It also was able to rapidly separate and encrypt U.S.-related communications to ensure privacy.

But the NSA, then headed by Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, opted against both of those tools, as well as the feature that monitored potential abuse of the records. Only the data analysis facet of the program survived and became the basis for the warrantless surveillance program.

The White House insists that the domestic surveillance program is "both legal and necessary." A clear reading of FISA takes care of "legal."

The revelation demonstrates that "necessary" is also a lie.

PROGRESSNOW IN THE NEWS

Xcel touts; protesters shout
Denver Post
Outside Xcel Energy's annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, protesters offered stark statements against the utility's proposed electric rate hike. "Please consider the customers who must choose between food and warmth. I am living the pain you are creating. Your product is not about profit, but instead, is a public service," said a written statement from Julie Driscoll of Longmont. The message was one of more than 3,800 customer complaints unfurled on a 35-foot red paper banner outside the meeting at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The complaints are part of a campaign organized by a coalition of local consumer groups using the website exposeXcel.com.

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Still a duel a decade after ruling
Denver Post
Ten years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Colorado's controversial Amendment 2, the case that signaled a dramatic change in the high court's approach to gay rights still reverberates. From the start of the challenge to the anti-gay-rights initiative that passed by a comfortable margin in 1992, the legal duel prompted wide-ranging discussion of homosexuality. The argument raged all the way to Washington, where the decision in Romer vs. Evans became a legal landmark while also galvanizing forces on both sides of the debate. The measure would have blocked local governments from extending certain legal protections, such as the right to claim discrimination, on the basis of sexual orientation. Gay-rights advocates will mark Saturday's anniversary with a gathering on on the steps of the state Capitol.

Udall urges Churchill to leave CU
Rocky Mountain News
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., on Wednesday called on University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill to resign. Udall, whose district includes CU's Boulder campus, released a statement echoing what others, including Republican Gov. Bill Owens, have said: that it's time for Churchill to step aside. Churchill has faced a barrage of controversy since he wrote an essay in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks calling some of the victims "little Eichmanns." After his scholarship came under scrutiny, CU formed a five-member committee to investigate allegations of research misconduct, and in a report released Tuesday, the committee accused Churchill of plagiarism and fabrication of material.

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I was fortunate, coming right off the nasty battles over "Academic Freedom" on Colorado colleges campuses in early 2004, that I knew Dr. Oneida Meranto.

Dr. Meranto, a (genuine) Native American professor of political science at Metro State, knows all about Ward Churchill. The day the Churchill "little Eichmanns" scandal exploded across the right wing AM dial, I was in her "Politics of Higher Education" class. And you can imagine how we felt, just a few months after barely saving her job from a particularly vicious David Horowitz-masterminded College Republican smear campaign. More than one of us were scrapping for a fight over Ward Churchill's free speech.

Dr. Meranto knew better, of course. Knew that Ward Churchill, quite apart from the lynch-mob political motives underlying the time and place of his deconstruction, was guilty of

'Deliberate misconduct'

Churchill attracted national criticism after an online essay he wrote likened some victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks to an infamous Nazi bureaucrat. Panel members in the report said the controversial 2001 essay played no role in their deliberation and said they were skeptical about the circumstances that prompted the academic misconduct allegation.

"Nevertheless, serious claims of academic misconduct have been lodged, and they require full investigation and responsible and fair treatment," the report said...

The investigative panel found that Churchill plagiarized passages from a pamphlet published by a Canadian environmental group and the writings of a Canadian professor on fishing rights. The report also says Churchill fabricated evidence regarding the spread of smallpox and government-mandated blood standards requiring American Indians to prove their ancestry.

Committee members raised concern about attribution in Churchill's written work, saying that they found a pattern where he would cite his own work and attribute it to other scholars in the field. They rejected Churchill's argument that the practice is common.

"Some scholars may experience vicarious negative effects from Professor Churchill's conduct, ranging from increased public skepticism about the integrity and value of their work to outright hostility to the academy as a whole," the report said.

Meaning that he discredits legitimate research within his field. It seems clear in retrospect that these academic dishonesty allegations should have been policed and dealt with by the University well before Ward Churchill became the poster child of the public education-bashing fringe right. That's how Dr. Meranto explained it, and by gum...

It's too bad, too. Because the world needs professors who are brutally candid and credible under scrutiny. Churchill only managed a shabby try at the former.

Watch the local news tonight for more...


Xcel Accountability Project "Red Carpet of Complaints"


Rolling out the red carpet for the cameras


ProgressNowAction executive director Mike Huttner, with representatives from Clean Air Action, Communities United and the Colorado Progressive Coalition

Consumer groups roll out red carpet of complaints as Xcel Executives arrive for annual shareholder meeting

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, May 16, 2006
Contact: Michael Huttner
303-991-1900

Denver: The largest consumer protection organizations in Colorado rolled out a red carpet of over 3,800 complaints against a proposed $209 million dollar rate increase for Xcel’s top executives as they arrived for their annual shareholder meeting this morning in Denver.

"The red carpet contains thousands of personal accounts of how Xcel Energy’s top executives are hurting Colorado’s children, seniors and small businesses owners,” stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNowAction. 

A sample of the 3,800 complaints below shows how proposed rate increase could hurt Colorado’s children and families, scare its seniors and ruin small businesses at the same time that Xcel’s executives are reporting record profits and massive bonuses.  Xcel Energy reported a 25% increase in profits in its first quarter profits and its former CEO Wayne Brunetti received over 13 Million in 2005 and the current CEO, Richard Kelly, received 3.67 million in compensation in 2005.

“We call on all Colorado consumers to go to www.ExposeXcel.com by this Friday and file their objections to Xcel's proposed $209 million increase in electric rates." 

This Friday, May 19th is the intervention deadline with the Public Utilities Commission.
ExposeXcel.com plans to submit all the complaints received to the proposed rate increase as well as to object to Xcel’s executives attempt to add late fees, increase their rate of profitability, and change their accounting methods to hurt consumers.

“On behalf of thousands of families all over Colorado that are already struggling with rising costs of energy and fuel, we reject Xcel Energy’s proposed rate increase,” stated Lionel Washington, an organizer with the Colorado Progressive Coalition.

One volunteer with an emergency assistance center that helps families with food, clothing, rent and utilities reported that he assist with utility bills one day per month:

“This year, people began lining up at 7 am. We open at 9 am and all the money is distributed in the first hour...the largest age group among our clients is children 12 and under,” Mr. Tyler of Denver reported.

Instead of building more power plants, Xcel should strive to conserve more energy. “For every dollar Xcel spends on its energy efficiency programs in Minnesota, customers save over $5,” noted Rex Wilmouth, Director of COPIRG, the public interest advocate.

# # #

Sample of over 3,800 complaints already received at www.ExposeXcel.com

Rate Increase Impact on Families and Children

I was paying $250 am month throughout the winter to heat my 2 bedroom home.  I took out of my grocery money and money i set aside to buy my kids' jackets and warm clothes just to pay this extreme amount.  It is such a shame that my children had to suffer so that the Xcel people coould flourish and not worry about their kids' and how they were going to keep warm.  I am still trying to pay off my winter heating bill and have done everything possible to keep my bil at a minimum. 
Rayna Aragon, Denver

URGENT!   PLease we can not afford another hike up in anything. I am a single parent and my PAY CHECK isn't getting bigger, and if you raise the heat any more we could have to move to a shelter and who wants that for themselves and two kids.  Please I'm asking with all my heart don't throw us out of our home.  Thank You Extermely concerned Mom of two! 
Sherry Martinez, Aurora

On Lack of Assistance from Xcel

I volunteer at an emergency assistance center that helps families with food, clothing, rent and utilities. We assist with utility bills one day each month. This year, people began lining up at 7 am. We open at 9 am and all the money is distributed in the first hour. The money comes from donors and grants. The largest age group among our clients is children 12 and under.
Steve Tyler, Denver

You guys keep raising the cost for electricity but yet you have all those commercials about you helping the needy with there bills (LEAP).  The rate increase is just absurd!  I am a single mother of two and don't qualify for any assistance but yet my children have to wear a sweat shirt and pants inside my own house!!  How can you all justify this?  I can't ask for a pay raise to pay this bill.  I hope you all are happy when you have to hire more staff to help keep up with all the disconnections that will be happening and all the children who will go without electricity.
Sandra Hays, Aurora

On Impact on Seniors

Please keep prices affordable for us Seniors who just can't keep paying higher prices.  Our incomes don't go up any more.  I will have to stop heating or cooling my home if this keeps going.  It is pretty scary for me.  I will be 70 in July and don't know what will happen to me if your prices keep going up.  Your executives will get raises at the price of my life.  I'm sorry if that sounds awful but it is becoming the truth. 
Thank you,
Samantha Dixion, Denver

We are seniors on the fixed income and while a $6.40 monthly increase may seem meaningless to you its $76.80 a year that we don't have and have no way of getting it. With the increases in everything we buy we are just making do now so another expense is beyond our means.
Bob Rucker, Aurora

On Late Fees

I heard a report that in March there was a record number of Xcel customers who were late on their payments. I am one of those customers. I am in a repayment plan, but if they raise their rates again I will be in the same position...once again. Unfortunately, Xcel is my only choice. Since they have no competition they feel they can do what they want to their customers and that's not right. Xcel has said that they want to be able to help low income customers, however they want to add an addition 75 cents to their custormers bills, so who is really helping the low income customers?
Thank you,
Gwendolyn Donalson, Aurora

On Xcel Shareholders

Another increase when rates doubled last winter is unconscionable.  Please no more increases just so the board and shareholders can realize greater profits. This is an essential service which is monopolized. We have no other choice but to use Xcel. Lower and middle income people are being over-burdened by immoral rate increases by energy corporations. It needs to stop now.
Pamela Ross, Littleton

On Small Businesses

I have a small retail business that has been operating for 9 years now. We work very hard, pay our taxes, try to keep our employees happy, and live a normal productive life. The entire energy industry is making this less and less feasible. These future increases may drive one of Colorados best retailers out of business.
Aaron Blake, Greeley

As a small business owner, I don't begrudge anyone making a profit. I do, however, resent the usury that is being shown by energy companies. I would ask that the PUC do its duty and regulate  in behalf of and protect the interests of both business and home consumers. Thank you in advance.
Stephanie Reinike, Steamboat Springs

PROGRESSNOW IN THE NEWS

Rally to target Xcel rate hike
Denver Post
Consumer groups opposed to Xcel Energy's electric-rate hike plan to protest in front of the utility's annual meeting today in Denver. "We've got a ton of complaints, and we'll be sharing them in a big way," said Michael Huttner of progressnowcolorado.org, one of the consumer groups. The annual meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

COLORADO TOP STORIES

At forefront of foreclosures again
Denver Post
Colorado has reported the nation's highest foreclosure rate for the second month in a row. Even so, the number of Colorado homes at some stage of foreclosure fell to 3,706 in April from 5,392 in March, a 31 percent decline, according to Realty Trac, an online provider of foreclosure listings. Nationally, foreclosures fell to 91,168 in April from 101,597 in March, a 10 percent decline. Colorado has one foreclosure filing for every 494 households, the highest rate of any state, according to RealtyTrac. Nationally, the foreclosure rate is one of every 1,268 households.

Wolf Creek probe sought
Denver Post
Sen. Ken Salazar Tuesday asked for an investigation into whether political influence was used to get federal approval for a $1 billion ski-village development in southwest Colorado, and he wants federal officials to halt work on the project during the probe. Salazar said he's concerned about the allegations of retired U.S. Forest Service manager Ed Ryberg regarding his agency's approval of the mountaintop Village at Wolf Creek on U.S. 160. "He believes there was improper political influence brought to bear on the decisionmakers. If that is so, that is wrong," Salazar, D-Colo., said of Ryberg. "The only way you get to the bottom of the allegations is to have an investigation."

Candidates call for termination of embattled professor
GJ Sentinel
Mesa County Republicans in the Legislature -- and those who aspire to it -- are unanimous: They would like to see University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill fired. Churchill plagiarized and falsified research, according to the findings of a five-member committee looking into allegations of academic misconduct against Churchill. One Grand Junction Democrat running for House District 54, Rich Alward, said he couldn't say what the penalty should be for Churchill, but said he "deserves what's coming to him." Churchill tarnished all of academia, said Alward, who holds a doctorate from Colorado State University. "That gives everybody a black eye, regardless of your political views," he said. Churchill's political views brought him to public attention last year when an essay he wrote compared victims of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to a Nazi official. The university and Churchill's peers should decide his punishment, Alward said, noting all possible penalties, including dismissal, appeared to be supportable. Republicans were more insistent.

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I've been a fundraiser since the day I could reach the doorbell. It started with selling Girl Scout cookies door to door so I could earn my way to camp each summer. By the time I graduated from High School I was a pro - cookies for camp, candy bars for band, magazines for sports, and flower sales for prom. Then just when I thought my fundraising days were over my "professional" life took over. Just like high school football is nothing like the "Pro's" - the "professional fundraising biz" is a whole different game than selling a few trinkets. Over the last 29 years I have raised millions of dollars for charities throughout the Country through benefits, grants and government contracts and I can tell you it takes a lot more than a good cause to raise real money these days.

Today in my role as President of the River of Light Enterprise, one of my charges is to support our Partner Members (an emerging network of community and faith based entities) gain the resources they need to operate their programs. Needless to say - fundraising still takes up a good portion of my day! Yet in today's environment it's not just that "getting money" is tough - it's what the money could cost you that is the real threat to the Independent Sector (nonprofits).

Money's Tight

In the fall of 2005, while the Country watched the unfolding horror of the Hurricane Katrina States on the evening news, the US Census Bureau quietly released its annual report entitled "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States." Not surprisingly, the report revealed that poverty increased last year. There were 37 million (12.7 percent) people living in poverty, an increase of 1.1 million people since 2003. This was the fourth consecutive year in which poverty has increased. Since President Bush took office, 5.4 million more people, including 1.4 million children, have found themselves living in poverty. Link

Yet as the US Census was reporting that more people needed help, America's legislative bodies were at the same time passing a budget resolution that will slash nearly $35 billion dollars from programs like Medicaid, Food Stamps, Head Start, Housing, and even Veterans Benefits. http://www.ombwatch.org. Unfortunately, those Americans who find themselves "cut-off" from public programs will most likely seek services from community and faith-based organizations only to find what the "trickle down" economic theory really means.

Given it is estimated that the majority of non-health related charitable programs report 20% or more of their budgets are derived from government funds, and the figure for direct human service providers closer to 33%, without some "hardcore fundraising" a lot of programs serving America's most vulnerable will be radically reduced if not closed altogether Link

When money is tight, very few nonprofit Board's charged with ensuring their nonprofit has the resources to serve people will risk a major portion of the resources they have left by taking a strong vocal voice against an Administration that has demonstrated itself to be swiftly vindictive when opposed. http://www.theocracywatch.org

Golden Handcuffs

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition 2000 defines "golden handcuffs" as "a lucrative incentive to an executive intended to discourage resignation or ensure long-term cooperation after departure." The phrase however has been used to describe a variety of situations where the "cost of comfort or benefit" is paid through the loss of freedom and control over one's own life. It's a phrase that could be used in conjunction with women who are economically bound in abusive relationships, or a small company that must constantly appease their largest customer, or in this case to describe the situation many community and faith based organizations are increasingly finding themselves in with funding sources - whether they are public, private or corporate in nature.

The Independent Sector has historically provided the voice for the forgotten and abused in our communities. And throughout this history, there has been a continuing tension between advocacy and service. Often a "movement" is born out of a passion to "right a wrong" through a change in laws and/or a redirection of resources to solve a specific social need. And the expected outcome of these Movements, have most often been an outpouring of public resources to establish programs to make amends.

Over the last 30 years I have had the privilege and opportunity to have been involved either directly in the legislative action or by operating services that were a result of the Women's Movement, the Peace Movement, the Gay Rights Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the United Farm Worker Movement, the Labor Movement, the Homeless Movement, the American Indian Movement, the Immigration Amnesty Movement, and the Veterans Movement. I would stand shouting on the steps of the capital to gain attention to an abuse of the "system" in the morning and sit submissively in the offices of public funding bureaucrats in the afternoon trying to eek out a few more dollars in the latest service contract to keep my little agency alive.

When I was in college, I remember some professor saying that Saul Alinsky - the noted "father of community organizing" - was quoted as saying "the quickest way to kill a movement is to throw money at it". At the time, I remember thinking "yea, easy for you to say, I've got 150 people waiting at the office looking for food, I'll take a little less Movement and a lot more money right now myself." But age brings wisdom and I hate to admit it - but Saul was right!

In retrospect, the more successful the "movement" (no matter which one it was) has become at raising the level of public funding for programs, the less time we spend on the steps of capitals and the more time we spend in the offices of a myriad of bureaucrats. Our time now is spent almost exclusively on appeasing "our biggest funder" to retain the limited dollars we've gained as opposed to standing on the "steps" calling for the civil and basic human rights of our constituents - regardless of "which movement" we are.

Our argument is generally "better to keep what we have and serve than risk being without funds or services". Or "we can't push to hard - or they'll cut our funding and then what?" We've determined we needed to be more "business-like" - more like them - and now the "golden handcuffs" account for increasing portions of our budgets and we've almost forgotten who we really work for - the community!

Getting Real

Robert Egger, founder of the DC Central Kitchen one of the most successful 21st Century nonprofits in the Country, is noted as saying "Whether it's employing felons, paying a living wage, being eco-friendly or giving ownership to staff, if we can show that it's possible to do the above and STILL make a profit, then we will be leading by example which is the best form of advocacy. More importantly, we'll be demonstrating that, in the future, philanthropy will be linked with how you spend your money everyday, not how much you give away at the end of the year."

Egger has just written Begging for Change (with Howard Yoon) (Harper Business, 240 pages), which delivers this basic message: Non-profits must stop chasing money and start focusing on the true work at hand and is deeply critical of those in the non-profit sector who are more interested in the status quo than in "tearing down walls, break(ing) routines and look(ing) for more efficient ways of running service organizations." But "tearing down walls" is not easy work and the first step - like they say in 12-step programs - is to admit we are powerless over "self serving" funding we've become "addicted" to! Continuing in that theme, I propose a NPO 12-Step Program for "breaking the golden handcuffs" -

Step 1 We admitted our silence has been purchased with "self-serving funding" that has weakened our ability to realize justice, equality, and opportunity for all Americans

Step 2 We have come to believe that breaking the "golden handcuffs" of public and self-serving philanthropic funding sources can restore our independence and return us to our place as the "authentic" voice for the most vulnerable in our Nation

Step 3 We have made a conscious pledge to "stop chasing" the money and focus our attention on strategies that addresses the core systemic barriers to meeting the vital mission we were established to address

Step 4 We have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our programs, policies and budgets to find areas of inefficiency, ineffectiveness and compromise that prevent us from realizing our vital missions

Step 5 We pledged to our Boards, Staff, Volunteers, Consumers and Communities that we will work to "be the change" by standing as an authentic, independent and accountable advocate for those we serve

Step 6 We are entirely ready to take affirmative steps to eliminate our dependence on "self-serving" funding sources that diminish our capacity to speak for the voiceless or protect the most vulnerable among us

Step 7 We humbly ask the community and those we serve to support us in this effort and will prove ourselves worthy of this support by operating with the highest level of integrity to assure the public trust

Step 8 We have established and will adhere to a clear statement of ethics and developed policies to ensure our fundraising never compromises our ability to stand as an independent, authentic voice for those we serve

Step 9 We have taken active steps to create programs that promotes personal responsibility, shared accountability and self-determination by offering opportunities to serve, build wealth, and work cooperatively for a better community without sacrificing our collective future

Step 10 We will serve as stewards of the community and assure the public of the integrity of our efforts through transparent management and accountability

Step 11 Seek to improve our conscious contract with those who entrust us with the resources to use them as they were intended as efficiently and effectively as possible

Step 12 Having regained our Independent Voice as the result of these steps we tried to carry this message to other like-minded organizations to practice

As a "recovering public fund junkie" I can tell you - hitting the "delete" button on the continuous flow of public RFP's that hit my e-mail daily is not an easy thing. I am operating a fledging nonprofit and its not that I don't know "how" to play the game and pick up a few government grants but that the cost of that money in an era when those I've pledged to devote my life in service to need a independent voice more than ever. And it's true we all are still pulling dollars out of our pockets each month to pay the bills instead of collecting paychecks - but our hands are clean and "business" is picking up. And each time someone tells me the solution to all our problems is to go get a "government grant" I just smile and tell them "No thanks - I'm in recovery so can you just write me a check?"

This song, called Wounds I wrote as a tribute to veterans of all wars and was inspired by my work with Chaplain Mary Murphy of the Veterans Village.
If the link doesn't work above here are the lyrics.

Wounds
Melle Johnson

Support your soldiers far from home
Support your soldiers after they're home.

Remember those among us
And those that watch over us.

Keep the promise
Sacrifice for what they gave
Yesterday and today.

I.

wish to dig a grave for your enemy
Purchase another plot for yourself.
Cos the snakebite doesn't really kill you
But the venom that pulses in your veins.

Let go of all the wounds
Celebrate the sacrifices that are made.

Remember to keep the promise to those among us
For the sake of those who now watch over us
From above.

II

And you wish your time
Could somehow be discovered
And for certain know the bullet was meant for you
In the Lord's eyes suffering just a part of growing.
And his kiss upon your head spreads endless love.

III

And refrain from cursing on your enemy
He's just the other side of the coin.
It was never about you and him anyway
But a test of your love for the world.


Coda

Love your boys (after they've come home)
Love your gals (after they've come home)
Love your sons,
Love your girls
Love your enemies

In another place we're together as one.
Wounds are made to heal

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Police dislike new state immigration law
Rocky Mountain News
A new state law will put pressure on state and local governments and police to show they are working to enforce immigration laws. And police are not happy about it. Even before President Bush announced a new strategy to tighten the border, Colorado lawmakers and those in 42 other states were trying to come up with local answers to illegal immigration. During the legislative session that ended last week, state lawmakers rejected a half-dozen Republican- sponsored immigration bills and passed seven measures. So far, Gov. Bill Owens has signed one into law. It requires police to report suspected illegal immigrants to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and directs municipalities, with the threat of losing state funding, to adopt policies that encourage cooperation with federal immigration officials. The so-called "sanctuary city" bill has caused discomfort among law enforcement officials who say they are ill-equipped to interpret complex immigration law or to determine someone's immigration status. Local police officials say they are caught in a political storm.

Senator urges withdrawal of drilling parcels on mesa
GJ Sentinel
U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., on Monday urged the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw oil-and-gas leases on Grand Mesa watersheds. Salazar wrote to BLM State Director Sally Wisely asking that the agency withdraw parcels in the watersheds of Grand Junction and Palisade. Salazar and U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., both opposed the sale of the leases earlier this year and have contended that agency stipulations on drilling in the watersheds are inadequate to protect the municipal water supplies. John Salazar's district includes most of western Colorado.

Ancient sites face threats
Denver Post
Archaeological sites across the West, holding ancient rock art and pueblos, are at risk due to chronic shortages in federal funding and staffing, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Bureau of Land Management spends $15 million a year for the surveying and protection of cultural sites, but the preservation group says spending should rise to $50 million a year over the next five years. "The BLM manages the largest, most diversified and scientifically most important body of cultural resources of any federal agency," the trust said in a report released today. "However, much of this cultural resource base is seriously threatened," the study said.

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Wouldn't it be interesting if some trigger-happy guardsman starts blazing away at the redneck ranger vigilantes? Or vice-versa? At least now there is absolutely no excuse for the vigilantes not to be arrested and hauled away. Seriously, the Guard are military units, not trained for police missions. The last time the Guard was deployed like this, we got Kent State.

Today's ABC News Blotter takes us through the looking glass.

Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.

ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.

Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation...

So there you have it, folks. Should put to bed the last notions you had that they were "only targeting terrorists."

It's "you're with us, or you're with the terrorists" -- brought to its logical fruition. Not quite yet, I suppose, since we're still hearing about it at all.

Doin' his party proud -- just having some problems getting it down in complete sentences. But Jim Welker wants you to know that the next time he sends out an email tell you about "black moral poverty," or "diseases gay people carry," or whatever, that he doesn't necessarily endorse it. Good to clarify.

Of course, you might be able to tell what he wrote himself versus what he's merely forwarding simply by noting that Jim Welker appears to have the grammar of a grade-school dropout.

Via Wash Park Prophet:

I am passing this on for informational purposes. I do not claim to agree with all of the content, but, I believe that it is good for you to read what others are saying via the Internet, just like you would be reading newspapers, magazines, watching TV or listening to the radio.

If something that you are reading by what I send you, I suggest that you contact the author. I did not write the article and will not take the responsibility of what others say or write.

Rep. Jim Welker
HD 51 - Loveland

Would I flunk him? Hell, my five-year-old can do better...

We've got about 4,000 people ready to join them.

Xcel rate hike plan needs a close look

After paying steep winter-heating costs, Xcel Energy's 1.3 million Colorado customers now face the prospect of bigger electric bills. Xcel Energy has a right to earn a profit, but some of what it wants the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to approve may not be in consumers' best interests.

Xcel's request raises several questions. One involves a proposed 1.5 percent fee for consumers who don't pay their bills on time - Xcel says last year it ate $25 million in bills that were never made good. But many consumers had difficulty paying because natural gas prices were so high. Is it practical to slap extra costs on customers who already have problems paying?

The PUC meets May 23 to begin setting the timetable for letting the public intervene in the case - and already four consumer groups have signaled opposition to the package...

A reasonable opinion: read it all. And stay tuned.

While Steve Gilchrist and his pack of rebel flag-waving trailer rats conduct their "patrols," others save lives on the Mexican border. Today's Boulder Daily Camera reports:

Saving lives in the desert

The volunteers patrol the desert on foot and in cars in search of people in need. Their small camp is on private property, about 12 miles from the border.

It's about a day's hike from the border. It's where blisters start to debilitate people, and dehydration begins. No More Deaths volunteers have doctors and lawyers on call at nearby clinics and often call for medical emergencies.

According to the group, more than 2,000 men, women and children have died attempting to cross the border since 1998.

About 280 people died last year in the Sonora desert south of Tucson, said John Fife, a retired Presbyterian minister who works with No More Deaths.

The record gets broken each year, Fife said.

Once you realize that Michael Savage's prattling on about "Reconquista" has nothing to do with reality, once you learn about these desperate people streaming north, risking everything in hopes of a better life...well, reasonable people feel sympathy for their plight and compassion.

And outrage at people like Michael Savage.

Because after the third or fourth trip to Iraq, the Mexican border probably looks pretty good.

Bush to Place National Guard at Mexico Border

President Bush is expected to give a rare primetime address to the nation this evening to announce his plan to use thousands of National Guard troops to secure the border.

Citizen soldiers cry foul, Tancredo dances with glee, millions still pour across the border because they have no choice. Great plan. We've treated the symptom with no understanding of the disease.

The winners? Well, the Minutemen can go back to their trailers now. There are few others.

PROGRESSNOW IN THE NEWS

Xcel rate hike plan needs a close look
Denver Post editorial
The PUC meets May 23 to begin setting the timetable for letting the public intervene in the case - and already four consumer groups have signaled opposition to the package. The PUC likely will gather information during the summer and hold public hearings in September. A formal decision is expected by December. Xcel's stated aim, to have enough cash to improve service, is legitimate. But it's up to the PUC to make sure any price hikes truly are in consumers' interests.

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Legislation awaits Owens' nay, yea
Denver Post
Now, for the final act.

Environmentalists count several victories at Capitol
Rocky Mountain News
Proposals backing cleaner energy sources, energy efficiency and tougher steps to curb pollution were part of an unusually large wave of green legislation during the recently ended 2006 session. Even measures to address global warming - an apparent first at the legislature - emerged from a session that environmentalists are declaring a success, even as they concede some losses along the way. At least 16 bills touched on environmental issues, far more than in recent years, activists said, with about half of those related to energy. Growing national urgency in regard to rising gas prices, the search for petroleum substitutes and concern about climate change contributed to the rising activity, lobbyists and lawmakers said.

For gays, it's Round 2
Rocky Mountain News
The passage of Amendment 2 - the 1992 measure that banned anti-discrimination laws for homosexuals - shocked Colorado gays and lesbians, and then propelled them into politics as never before. It also galvanized their opponents, and proved to the be the first battle of a Colorado political war that continues through dueling ballot initiatives to this day. The lesson learned, leading gay activists say, was both bitter and profoundly instructive: Fight or be trounced. Ted Trimpa, a tobacco lobbyist at the time, decided to come out of the closet and dove into political activism in support of gay rights. Today, as an adviser to gay philanthropist Tim Gill, Trimpa is a powerful Denver political operative.

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Along with destroying the other key pillars of American democracy, (goodbye Bill of Rights, Congressional oversight, independent judiciary, separation of church and state) the Bush Administration has induced the press (including print, radio and TV) to commit collective suicide. It has been so coopted and made into such lapdogs in its groveling for "access" that it has lost any credibility for producing "the truth."
The advent of the Internet generated a lot of soul-searching about the meaning of "journalism." The conclusion seemed to revolve around high standards of investigative journalism, use of independent reliable sources, fact checking, editorial oversight and a level of independence that combined to create a level of trust and credibility in readers/viewers that was lacking on the Internet. Those were useful distinctions, but MSM have not met those standards, and instead have become a tool of propaganda for incumbency and corporate sponsors. Why watch or listen? Why pay?
The people have to provide their own news now, and the more we do, the more the MSM will be driven to extremism in the attempt to maintain their earnings, and the more viewers/listeners/readers will be driven away.
The role of "the press" in informing the public so that incompetence, corruption, and tyranny can be rooted out is being replaced. Long live the blog.

It wasn't spin-compatible, you see --

Army Concerned About HBO War Film

Senior Army officials have scaled back their planned participation in an advance screening of a documentary about an Army Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad out of concern that its grim medical scenes could demoralize soldiers and their families and negatively affect public opinion about the war, Army officials said Friday.

Two senior Army officers, who were granted anonymity to publicly discuss the private deliberations of Army leaders, said the secretary of the Army, Francis J. Harvey, had declined to attend the screening by HBO, scheduled for Monday night at the National Museum of American History in Washington.

High-ranking military officers, including Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, who is the Army chief of staff, and Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, the surgeon general of the Army, had been expected to attend the screening but now will not, people involved in preparations for the event said.

The documentary, titled "Baghdad ER," chronicles two months at the 86th Combat Support Hospital, where filmmakers were given broad access to follow doctors, nurses, medics and others as they treated soldiers wounded by roadside bombs and in combat. As one nurse, Specialist Saidet Lanier, says in the film: "This is hard-core, raw, uncut trauma. Day after day, every day."

The Army officials said that concerns about the documentary -- which includes footage of an amputation and of wounded soldiers undergoing surgery and, in some cases, dying -- were also raised by the wives of top Army officers who had seen the film.

"Given the subject matter, it's not something you're going to cheer at the end," said one senior Army official.

...

As it turns out, the Cheney Snarl was meant for you after all.

Cheney Pushed U.S. to Widen Eavesdropping

In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney and his top legal adviser argued that the National Security Agency should intercept purely domestic telephone calls and e-mail messages without warrants in the hunt for terrorists, according to two senior intelligence officials.

But N.S.A. lawyers, trained in the agency's strict rules against domestic spying and reluctant to approve any eavesdropping without warrants, insisted that it should be limited to communications into and out of the country...

For his part, Mr. Cheney helped justify the program with an expansive theory of presidential power, which he explained to traveling reporters a few days after The Times first reported on the program last December.

Mr. Cheney traced his views to his service as chief of staff to President Gerald R. Ford in the 1970's, when post-Watergate changes, which included the FISA law, "served to erode the authority I think the president needs to be effective, especially in a national security area."

General Hayden seems determined to stand up for the agency's conduct -- and his own. In the press club speech, General Hayden recounted remarks he made to N.S.A. employees two days after the Sept. 11 attacks: "We are going to keep America free by making Americans feel safe again."

He said that the standards for what represented a "reasonable" intrusion into Americans' privacy had changed "as smoke billowed from two American cities and a Pennsylvania farm field."

Just as your Founding Fathers predicted.

Everyone knows about the Saturday Night Live appearance by now, but lots are talking about the great Gore video that didn't air during the 2000 Democratic convention by director Spike Jonze. People are starting to wonder if he's promoting more than just his
new movie.

Wired: The Resurrection of Al Gore He invented the Internet (sort of). He became President (almost). Now Al Gore has found his true calling: using the power of technology to save the world. By Karen Breslau

Unseen Al Gore Campaign video DNC/Spike Jonze, 13 min 12 sec - Jan 1, 2005 (Google Video)

SNL: Al Gore as President (iFILM)

I am a recording artist and I wrote a song called Dear Mr President also back in 2001. But I'm not famous so of course you wouldn't have heard about it. But I have a video that I made for it and I think you may appreciate it if you liked Pink's song. Mine's a little different but just as direct. Please check it out.
at
Link
Thanks for your time.

I prefer to blog on myspace because I have a lot better chance of getting signed and fending off the add requests of beautiful women. Alas being married and all, I now do responsible things like helping strange non profit people discover new ways to help folks who don't always want to be helped. Like every combat veteran I've met.

So we actually stopped helping and started empowering which is like 10 times more helpful than whatever the United Way is doing these days. But I can't quite figure out how to line my own pocket if we are actually helping poor people become rich people. Then they won' t need my white knight, hierarchical, excellent cocktail party supporter, approved by the United Way non profit to take care of them for the rest of their lives and I'll be out of a job


Oh wait we can make a profit now off of contracts with the government. I love privitization. I think I'm going to privatize my personal finances because if someone has a profit motive, it will certainly end up better than my helter skelter check floating ways.

Anyways JMC and I met today to discuss online marketing for our website. I know, I'm a lover, not a web designer. Oh, what's that? You want to execute our $40,000 web site strategy for free? Great! I am at 800-fat-chance. Unless you happen to be reading this and work for Convio. Then, my number is 720-422-9437.

ROLE is working on starting a REIT. That is a much better way to pad my pocket than, I don't know stealing directly from the organization coffers. That is so uniway, dude, get with the present.

Have a great mortgage banker named Dan Narsete. Look him up, he is ethical and fast. And he knows less about fishing than any fishing expert I have ever met. Anyways, he happens to be a good friend with the Beauprez clan so I am hoping ROLE can pitch its innovative and politically safe great idea to put money in the pockets of the poor welfare reformed and the rich bankers like Heritage Bank. And maybe some for me too. A win-win-win. My kind of deal.

I'll even pretend that Bob really is a rancher if I can make this happen.

MJ

Expected topics for Jay Marvin's show on AM 760.
Monday May 15th

Monday May 15th from 6--10AM on AM 760

6:45AM: Jay is joined by very special guest Congressman Charles Rangel who represents New York's 15th Congressional District. With the enrollment period for the Medicare prescription drug plan expiring on Monday, millions of seniors run the risk of paying the price for the confusing and complicated program. Just last week, GAO released a report that found that the 1-800-Medicare hotline provided inaccurate, incomplete or inappropriate responses to one-third of basic questions. On one key question - which plan offered the lowest costs for individuals who take a given set of drugs - the Medicare hotline provided inappropriate, inaccurate or incomplete answers almost 60% of the time. Rangel will also give us his thoughts on the NSA scandal. Rangel has served in Congress for over 30 years and is the Senior Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee and Dean of the New York Congressional Delegation.

8:00AM: Jay will catch up with democrat gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter. Ritter recently criticized GOP gubernatorial candidates Mark Holtzman and Bob Beauprez for seeking to overturn and undermine Referendum C.

8:20AM: Jay is joined by special guest Congresswoman Diana DeGette who will discuss everything from the NSA scandal to the Medicare prescription drug plan expiring.

9:00AM: Jay is joined by Claire Ryder who was arrested On Nov. 18th last year along with 11 others for blocking the entrance to an army recruiting center in Lakewood. Ryder will give Jay the latest on their case.

AM 760 Website

What the heck happened here? What the heck were you thinking, Congressman?

Salazar brothers split votes on GOP tax cuts

The Senate voted 54-44 to approve the bill Thursday afternoon with Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., voting with the GOP majority while Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., stayed with Democratic opponents.

The House passed the same measure Wednesday night, 244-185, with Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., among 15 Democrats to join Republicans to vote for the tax-cut extensions.

"I voted to give tax relief to middle-class taxpayers," Salazar said Thursday.

No...you...didn't...

The bill would continue reduced tax rates on dividends and capital gains through 2010 rather than 2008. It would protect an estimated 15 million people from the higher tax bite of the alternative minimum tax, though that protection would last only one year.

"The average millionaire will receive an additional $42,000 tax cut," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said of the bill Thursday, "while middle-income Americans will see an average of $20."

Critics...say it would do nothing to encourage additional saving and would merely bleed the Treasury of much-needed revenue.

The proposal's revenue gains would dissolve by 2018...and the Treasury would give up nearly $100 billion in expected revenue by 2049.

John Salazar made a serious mistake by voting for this incredibly foolish tax cut. A mistake that his and my kids will pay for for decades to come.

There's no way to sugar-coat it: it's a turned back on what I thought were our common progressive values. Like effective government that can pay its bills. You can't justify endless tax cuts while spending record amounts of money: unless you're voting to help Grover Norquist destroy government by starving it. It's just astonishing.

Please call Congressman Salazar at his Washington office, 202-226-9669, and ask for an explanation.

The right-wingers say. Except you don't:

Basics, Not Luxuries, Blamed for High Debt

Why are Americans so deeply in debt? It's not because they are using credit cards to buy plasma TVs and premium coffee drinks at Starbucks. The real culprits, according to a new analysis, are the rising costs of housing, health care and education.

The debt of the typical American family earning about $45,000 a year rose 33.1 percent from 2001 to 2004, after adjusting for inflation, according to a study based on data compiled from the Federal Reserve Board's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances...

Real wages, after adjusting for inflation, have been flat since 2001, according to the study, while the cost of big-ticket items for which families pay the most rose.

Remember, there are winners and losers in the Bush Economic Miracle. And (brief pause) you're the loser.

Got a phone? You've given the NSA permission. Check the fine print.

One government lawyer who has participated in negotiations with telecommunications providers said the Bush administration has argued that a company can turn over its entire database of customer records -- and even the stored content of calls and e-mails -- because customers "have consented to that" when they establish accounts. The fine print of many telephone and Internet service contracts includes catchall provisions, the lawyer said, authorizing the company to disclose such records to protect public safety or national security, or in compliance with a lawful government request.

"It is within their terms of service because you have consented to that," the lawyer said. If the company also consents, "and they do it voluntarily, the U.S. government can accept it."

Verizon's customer agreement, for example, acknowledges the company's "duty under federal law to protect the confidentiality of information about the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, and amount of your use of our service," but it provides for exceptions to "protect the safety of customers, employees or property." Verizon will disclose confidential records, it says, "as required by law, legal process, or exigent circumstances."

Except for Qwest, who didn't buy this particular argument. "Exigent circumstances," like the NSA saying they need it RIGHT NOW and a court of law just won't do...

COLORADO TOP STORIES

The resister in Denver
Denver Post
Former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio was a key industry adviser to the White House on issues of network security. He was cleared by the Department of Defense to handle top-secret information. He met regularly with top White House staff, including a meeting in March 2001 with then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and special adviser Richard Clarke. They discussed the potential of building a government, nonpublic network. But at the same time, Nacchio was fighting off an effort by the National Security Agency to hand over information on phone calls made by Qwest customers, according to a report in USA Today. Qwest was the only one of the four Baby Bells to reject the NSA's request for customer records, the newspaper reported Thursday. Verizon, AT&T and BellSouth provided the government with phone calling information for tens of millions of Americans.

Dems want Moloney to step down
Rocky Mountain News
Board members have quarreled in private over whether Moloney, 65, should stay, but the issue became public Thursday, one day after district superintendents said schools need better leadership from the state to help them meet Colorado's educational goals, such as closing the gap in test scores between minority students and Anglos. The superintendents, sticking to diplomatic language, didn't blame Moloney directly. But Democratic board members did during a tense board discussion Thursday. Board member Jared Polis, of Boulder, said the superintendents wouldn't be criticizing the state Department of Education if Moloney were doing a better job. "He's the chief education officer of the state. He needs to provide leadership," Polis said following the meeting.

Land auction enters ferret habitat
Denver Post
The federal Bureau of Land Management auctioned more than 150,000 Colorado acres for oil and gas development Thursday - including prime habitat for the endangered black-footed ferret. In the $6.8 million lease sale, one of the largest ever in Colorado, oil and gas companies bid on about 155,000 of 192,000 acres offered. Protests have been filed by environmental and recreation groups on 86 percent of the offered parcels.

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Don't forget Mother's Day this Sunday, May 14th.
Why not celebrate it by going to a Mother's Day Parade! Click here to find out when and where.


Click to watch Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation read by Mothers Acting Up!

Arise, then, women of this day!
These are the words that open Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation written back in 1870.

Today we have Mothers Acting Up, a wonderful group working to mobilize mothers all across the country to fight for the health, welfare and well-being of all children on this planet.

Mothers Acting Up organizes Mother's Day Parades all across the country.
Click here to find the parade closest to you.
To learn more about Mothers Acting Up, please visit their website at www.mothersactingup.org.

If you enjoyed the video or just believe in the cause, please forward this around to all the women and mothers and fathers and friends you know.

As they say at Mothers Acting Up--Let's Reclaim Mother's Day!

Watch Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation!
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Credits:
To Juliana Forbes, Joellen Raderstorf, and Beth Osnes who lead the charge.
To all the good hearted, warm spirited Mothers Acting Up who agreed to wear a funny wig and read Julia Ward Howe's moving words in front of a camera.
To Julia Ward Howe herself, author of not only the Mother's Day Proclamation, but also the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Go fiesty woman go!

As a former Qwest contractor who lost his job with about ten thousand others during the infamous Nacchio Plundering, today is the first time I've said that in five years.

I have such contempt for Joe Nacchio, who put so many good people I know out of work while he pocketed hundreds of millions of their dollars. Nothing will excuse what he did to US West/Qwest -- but I'm forced to concede that this one thing he apparently wouldn't back down on, that is your right to privacy under the Constitution, was an heroic gesture that historians will note with approval.

Qwest refused to turn over records

According to multiple sources, Qwest declined to participate because it was uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer calling information to the government without warrants.

The NSA originally approached Qwest and other major phone carriers in 2001 after the attacks of Sept. 11. They said turning over the "call-detail records" was a matter of national security. The records don't include names and addresses with the phone numbers, rather they show calling activity. Still personal customer information, according to USA TODAY, could be located by cross-checking the entries with other databases.

According to sources familiar with the events, Qwest's CEO at the time, Joe Nacchio, was deeply troubled by the NSA's assertion that Qwest didn't need a court order - or approval under FISA - to proceed. Adding to the tension, Qwest was unclear about who, exactly, would have access to its customers' information and how that information might be used...

(deep breath) Thanks, Joe Nacchio. You made the right decision on this. I hope the people you stood up to go to jail for longer than you.

They revealed their hand. I know they told you it was only the illegal immigrants they had a problem with. And that it wasn't a racial thing. And that legal immigrant citizens are wonderful, watch while they hug 'em for the cameras.

All that's getting in the way of this happy scene are the actions of members of Tancredo's Immigration "Reform" Caucus. Like Rep. Steve King of Iowa. He seems to regard naturalized citizens with the same suspicion -- making it awfully hard to conclude it's not a skin color thing.

House committee reauthorizes multilingual voting ballots

By a near unanimous vote, the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday sent a reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act to the floor that continues the practice of giving multilingual ballots to those with limited English proficiency.

Rep. Steven King, R-Iowa, was the lone dissenter on the committee. King was unsuccessful in stripping from the landmark legislation the requirement that multilingual ballots be provided. The panel defeated King's motion 26 to 9, with only Republican members supporting his effort.

King said Congress should "put the burden to understand English on U.S. citizens, not the taxpayers of America." He said leaving in the provisions for ballots in other languages could mean "the next leader of the free world may be chosen by non-English speakers."

King said even without these provisions, any voter is entitled to bring someone into the polling booth to help him or her with a ballot.

Committee members from both sides of the aisle denounced King's amendment.

"The question is," said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., "do we want to encourage or discourage American citizens from voting?"

I think the answer in this case was "discourage"...and I say thank you, Rep. Steve King, for showing us again why the Voting Rights Act is still necessary. To protect our democracy from people like Rep. Steve King.

There was a WaPo article from this past weekend that didn't get nearly enough attention. Seems that one of the Republican candidates running in CD 5 got his campaign mixed up in some illegal fundraising recently. Bentley Rayburn, the candidate, asked his old friend Jack Catton to help him raise some money from their classmates at the Air Force Academy, and Catton obliged. Problem is that Catton is still active duty, and active duty military personnel can't get involved in political races. To make matters worse, the fundraising appeal that Catton sent out by email came from his government email address and went to the government email addresses of other active duty officers. That's also illegal. Here's the text of Catton's email:

Classmates,

As some of you may have heard, Bentley Rayburn is running for Congress in Colorado's 5th District. What many of you may not know is his website address and the uphill battle he has in terms of limited time to campaign (less than 100 days) and raising money to support a competitive campaign. We are certainly in need of Christian men with integrity and military experience in Congress. Please read Bentley's note below and join me in supporting his bid to continue serving our country.

Proud to be a member of the Spirit of '76,

Jack

Here's the text of Rayburn's email to Catton that started this whole thing:

Jack,

It was great to talk to you on the phone today. Thanks a million for your willingness to spread the news of my congressional run among your classmates. Needless to say, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was important--if I didn't feel called to the task--and if I didn't think we could win this thing. We can win, but it's going to take a lot of hard work and help from a lot of people. So, what I'd ask you to do is to convey to the Class of '76 some of the basic information of my candidacy and ultimately enlist their support and encourage them to seek out the support of their family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. As we discussed, beyond the local issues here in the 5th District of Colorado which they may not be interested in if they don't live here, the lack of credible military experience in Congress is a national problem. The lack of any Air Force presence within the Congress was particularly telling over the last few years, and we as a service have suffered for it. For those reasons alone, along with the need to support the President in our war against radical Islamic jihadists, it only makes sense that we look for more folks with solid military experience who can provide the balance we need in Washington. For those of us who are Christians, there is that whole other side of the coin that recognizes that we need more Christian influence in Congress. That being said, I'm the guy who has put his hand in the air, so any help I can garner from your class and our other Academy colleagues, would be of tremendous help. Our website is: www.RayburnForCongress.org. We have the capability for on-line donations, and also attached is a form folks can fill out (it's also on the web) if they want to send a check vice doing it electronically. We can win, but you know that it's going to take a lot of hard work and help and money from a lot of people. Time is important because it is not going to be a long campaign as the primary is 8 August, 97 days from now. Hopefully we'll be able to raise funds quickly to show some strength relative to the other candidates. My classmate, John Gaughan (Col, ret), is our campaign manager. He's doing a great job! We can win this seat--which needless to say will be great for the AF, the US military, the USAFA and for folks who hold to our values for God and Country--but we need your assistance. I certainly appreciate any and all help that the men in '76 can give. Thanks for being such a great friend,

Bentley

According to the WaPo article, appropriate Air Force officials are investigating. Click on the extended entry for the text fo the WaPo article.

COLORADO TOP STORIES

BLM auction chafes environmentalists
Rocky Mountain News
The federal auction today of 192,334 acres of mineral-rich Colorado public land for oil and gas drilling is once again pitting environmental activists against the Bush administration as it pushes for more energy development in the Rocky Mountain region. Faced with skyrocketing energy prices and the call for more domestic production of oil and gas, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has stepped up the leasing of federal lands for drilling in past years. From fiscal years 2001 through 2005, the agency has leased more than 2 million acres of public land in Colorado, 13 percent more than the almost 1.8 million acres auctioned during the previous five years. "Our leasing is fairly well correlated with oil and gas prices," said Duane Spencer, BLM's branch chief of fluid minerals. "Given the price increases, we expect more nominations and more leasing in this fiscal year."

Suthers' legislative appraisal: 'Very, very successful session'
Rocky Mountain News
Attorney General John Suthers bragged Wednesday he's "eight-for- eight" in getting his initiatives through the legislature, including efforts to crack down on online sexual predators and protect water interests. "We felt like we had a very, very successful session," he said, conceding that lawmakers generally support public safety and natural resources issues that attorney generals push.

Norwood book-ban teacher, colleague facing dismissal
Montrose Daily Press
The pending dismissal of two popular teachers at the Norwood schools -- for what their supporters say has more to do with their activism than their job performance --prompted dozens of students to leave classes and appeal to school authorities Wednesday. Norwood High School Principal Jim Hoffmann confirmed that contracts for teachers Lisa Doyle and Beth Costa might not be renewed by the Norwood School District R-2J Board May 16. Because of personnel privacy issues, he could not comment as to why the contracts aren't likely to be renewed. But students and supporters in Norwood think they know why, and pointed to a controversy that erupted last year, after Doyle assigned Rudolfo Anaya's award-winning novel, "Bless Me, Ultima," to her English classes. School officials pulled the book, after a single parent complained about its language and "pagan" elements.

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UPDATE: Given the recent phone spying news, this video just seemed to be relevant again.
If you haven't seen it yet, enjoy.
If you have seen it, then forward it on to your friends who haven't.
NSA head and staunch warrantless wiretap supporter Michael Hayden's confirmation hearings to head the CIA are coming up.


Watch the funny No-Spy Video, sign the No-Spy List.

If you have found little to laugh about over President Bush's domestic spying program, well, it's your lucky day.
We here at ProgressTV decided to have some fun. So, we produced a little video for your enjoyment.

However, illegal spying on U.S. citizens is not funny.
That is why we are asking everyone across the nation to sign the "No-Spy" list.

If you don't want the government eavesdropping on your phone calls, emails, and internet searches, Sign the No-Spy List

Watch the No-Spy Video
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Credits:
Matt Sheahan, Actor Extraordinaire
Todd Wilson, Intern & Actor Extraordinaire
Catherine and Davis and Annie across the hall, for all their help.
The best action movie ever--Enemy of the State.
The genius of Rockwell.

My wife, Beth, and I went to high school with Bob Beauprez. We are delighted to see someone challenging his draft exemption because it is totally inconsistent with the very active Bob we knew well at Fairview High School in Boulder.

In addition to remembering him as a very active "jock" throughout high school, including the year of the allegedly debilitating ulcer, I also knew Bob as a neighbor in the agricultural area east of Boulder where we both lived. (Boulder was a small town back then.) Bob worked very hard on his father's farm. If Bob should be touting anything about his condition in 1965, it would be how hard he worked at home and at school. He sure wasn't showing any signs of a physical health problem.

Beth dug back into her archives and found the following two paragraphs about Bob's high school commencement remarks in a Boulder Daily Camera article from June 9, 1966:

Beauprez said that while college students once were concerned primarily about athletics and social events, they now discuss Viet Nam and civil rights.

Today's teenagers, he said, have reached an advanced age of social development. "We will remain progressive," he continued, "because we are prepared. We must contribute to today's progress."

Both Ways Bob has his historical inconsistencies, too! He sounded like a liberal in high school.

What a dubious horse-race this is:

Gubernatorial hopefuls duel on tax refunds

Marc Holtzman on Tuesday announced his plan for "the largest tax break in Colorado history," proposing to cap Referendum C revenues at $3.1 billion and refund the surplus.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez announced he was the first to sign a petition for a "fiscally prudent" constitutional amendment that would cap those revenues at $3.7 billion and send the rest back to taxpayers in the name of heating-bill refunds.

Holtzman offers loot for special interest TABOR-refund beneficiaries (vast majority of Coloradans get nothing). Beauprez offers more corporate subsidies for Xcel's price-gouging -- the other side of "helping" the poor pay their inflated heat bills.

There are your winners. The rest of us? Take your thumb and forefinger and plant it on your forehead in the classic 'L' shape.

Yes, of course mothers* across the country love roses, breakfast in bed, and a thoughtful greeting card. But this year we're taking to the streets to celebrate the true meaning of Mother's Day: a day when mothers unite to protect our global family. In 1870 after the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe wrote a Mother's Day Proclamation --the inspiration for Mother's Day in the US--which begins, "Arise then women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts!"

Facing a world scared by war, Julia Ward Howe said one question burned in her heart, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?"To incite interference, she passionately worked to bring women from around the world together, "for a great and earnest day of counsel."

Fast forward 136 years to today, a time when Julia's vision of mothers uniting is better known than her writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Why are mothers just now resonating with Julia's call to action? Because we stand at a crossroads in history: a time when globally we spend over a trillion dollars on our military budgets, while nearly every other child lives in poverty. Our leaders seem to have lost their way, as Julia said, "unlearning all that [their mothers] have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience."

In our world, 29,000 children die every day due to malnutrition and preventable disease. 1 in 6 has no access to safe drinking water. 1 in 8 has no access to health services. 1 in 20 will not set foot in a classroom this year. 1 in 150 has lost their mother or both parents to AIDS. In the US, 2,000 children are born into poverty every day. We can no longer afford to watch silently as our children's resources are spent and their future neglected.

The 2006 US national defense budget is at an historic high of $535 billion dollars--nearly as big as all other military budgets in the world combined. Building new fleets of fighter jets and researching the next generation of nuclear weapons is not creating true security. The real cost of this budget--to the citizens of the US and the world--must be examined.

One of the real costs created by these huge investments in defense is the loss of life. UNICEF estimates that 90% of war casualties are now civilians--and almost half of these victims are children. The US doesn't track civilian deaths, but a report published in the British medical journal Lancet, estimates 46% of civilian casualties in Iraq have been children under the age of 15. Somewhere between 15,000 to 50,000 Iraqi children--in addition to 2,376 US sons and daughters--have died since the US preemptively attacked Iraq.

Again, Julia's words are a call to action, "We, the women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: 'Disarm! Disarm!' The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession."

Mothers know the best weapon at our disposal is investment in the prevention of poverty. A report from the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change states, "Combating poverty will not only save million of lives, but strengthen states' capacity to combat terrorism, organized crime and proliferation." It's time we invest in our global family and divest from war. World leaders have already crafted a plan called The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Leaders from all 22 donor nations (meeting the technical standard of "high-income" nations), have agreed to contribute .7% of their GNP (the U.S. currently contributes 0.16 %). The goals may be lofty, however significant progress is already being made in many communities around the world. This plan to end extreme poverty in our lifetime is worth our greatest efforts.

Julia said it well more than 100 years ago, "Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace..."

This Mother's Day (after a quick peek at the greeting cards), mothers* across the country will stand tall--on stilts or off--and join an exuberant movement of mothers and others ACTING UP on behalf of all the world's children, not just a privileged few. "Arise then women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts!"

Mothers Acting Up Mother's Day Parades will be held in Denver (the Highlands neighborhood) and Boulder at 1pm on Sunday, May 14, 2006. Visit www.mothersactingup.org for more information.

* mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller

PROGRESSNOW IN THE NEWS

Beauprez hit with Web attack ad
Rocky Mountain News
Congressman Bob Beauprez's draft status during the Vietnam war came under scrutiny again Monday when a political organization launched the first in a series of Internet-based attack ads. In the 60-second spot, a Vietnam veteran wonders how Beauprez received a medical exemption for an ulcer that didn't prevent him from playing two varsity sports in high school. "On the one hand, Bob Beauprez was healthy enough to letter in two sports in high school and major in physical education in college," says Jim Hudson, who served in Vietnam and currently is active in Colorado Veterans for America. "On the other hand," Hudson continues, "Bob Beauprez says he wasn't healthy enough to serve our country when his draft number came up after college because of an ulcer he had shortly before this picture was taken." The photo, from Boulder's Fairview High yearbook, shows the congressman in a three-point stance with the caption, "2 yr. letterman." The ad opens with photos of Beauprez in a flight suit and concludes with Hudson saying, "Dodging the draft then, taking the credit now. You can't have it both ways, Bob." ProgressNow, a liberal advocacy group that produced the ad for less than $300, sent the link to 23,000 e-mail addresses in Colorado.

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Rivals agree promises kept
Denver Post
Republican Gov. Bill Owens on Tuesday played down the partisan wrangling that dominated the Capitol this year, declaring the legislative session that ended Monday a "relatively quiet and businesslike" success. Most important, Owens said, was the fact that "we were able to start to put the state budget back on track." Legislative leaders, meanwhile, spent Tuesday touting their achievements and crafting messages for what promises to be a contentious battle in November for control of the Statehouse.

Mother of slain soldier calls Owens in protest
Greeley Tribune
An Evans mother of a GI killed in Iraq was so angry Tuesday that she called Gov. Bill Owens' office and asked him to veto a watered-down bill to protect mourners from protesters at funerals. Julie MacKenzie, who's son Tyler was killed in Iraq last November, is upset over the amended bill that was passed by the state legislature on Monday. The original bill was designed to keep protesters 300 feet away from a funeral. After debate, that distance was reduced to 100 feet. MacKenzie said Tuesday she called the governor's office and left a message for him not to sign the bill when it arrives on his desk. She had earlier testified before the Judiciary Committee that was studying the bill.

Rocky Flats signs draw controversy
Boulder Daily Camera
Deciding the verbiage on a few signs seems a trivial undertaking compared to the challenges of a $7 billion nuclear cleanup. But the signs must provide historical context for a site that for four decades churned out plutonium pits at the heart of hydrogen bombs, a site shut down after a 1989 FBI raid for alleged environmental crimes and a site that was, as of October 2005, officially cleaned up after a massive, decade-long effort. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday released its draft language for signs it proposes to post at all access points to the future refuge. The wildlife service is accepting public comment until June 9. Not all comments will be supportive. "I find the entire language very glowing and a very 'nice' retelling of the Rocky Flats story," said Erin Hamby, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center's Rocky Flats coordinator. "I don't think it's true to what happened out there."

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There's an awful lot of code mixed up in the immigration noise; let's sort some of it out. What percent do you think is.. (totals can add to more than 100% due to double counting).
- "Law and Order" types - those who say that illegal immigrants are breaking our laws and should be punished. These are often the same folks on the right who support illegal invasions of other countries, undeclared wars, wholesale violations of the Bill of Rights, illegal wiretaps, etc. and oppose legal abortion.
- Protectionists: generally labor union types who see low-wage immigrants (not just illegals) undermining high union wages.
- Racists: this goes all the way back to the eugenics movement that followed the introduction of social Darwinism in the earliest days of the 20th century in the US. (see Thomas Leonard, "Eugenics and Economic in the Progressive Era" Jnl of Econ Perspectives, Fall 2005 for a great historical review). The unabashed practitioners of today are the white supremacists, but there are a lot of closet racists.
- English-only types - An indicator for those who see immigrants as polluting the dominant Anglo-Saxon culture with Spanglish, asian languages and cultures. They oppose ESOL, bilingual education or culture-free standardized testing (probably heavily correlated with racists and tax-cutters)
- Tax-cutter, anti-welfare types: classic Republicans who argue that immigrants cost the economy in the form of welfare, health care and education, and don't pay taxes. Same guys who will spend billions to build a fence.
- Politics - the right dislikes immigrants because they historically tended to vote Democrat. This has been undermined by heavily Catholic Hispanics who side with them because of opposition to abortion. Some on the left don't like them because they undermine union protectionism.
- National Security - from the vigilantes and supporters who claim that "porous borders will allow terrorist to enter the US." All the above arguments are now wrapped in the flag of 9/11. All those terrorists were in this country legally.
-Regional conflict: "Occupied Mexico" (SoCal, AZ, TX, NM, and CO) versus the rest of the country.

The Europeans are going through a similar debate, especially in the UK, Germany, France and Italy with asylum seekrs and economic refugees from Africa and the Middle East.

............the ADM, Cargill, Conagra- corporate kind, about the only kind of welfare that doesn't make sense. It's plain wrong to subsidize or pay agribusiness to not plant millions of acres when you can plant that acreage with oil producing crops for biodiesel. Some will argue that planting, fertilizer and pesticides will give you a zero gain on petrochemicals required, that may be the biggest lie ever perpetuated by the oil industry.

The beneficiaries of the subsidies have changed as US agriculture changes. In the 1930s, about a quarter of the U.S. population resided on the nation's six million small farms. By 1997, 157,000 large farms accounted for 72% of farm sales, with only 2% of the U.S. population residing on farms.

The United States paid farmers almost $15.7 billion in subsidies during 2002, and the U.S. Agriculture Department projects $18.7 billion for 2003. Subsidies, which rise and fall opposite market prices, peaked in 2000 at $32.3 billion, the USDA said.
The 15-nation European Union annually spends roughly $50 billion, nearly half its annual budget, on its common agricultural policy and rural development.
Japan is another heavy subsidizer, but U.S. and EU payments are widely considered to have the harshest impact abroad and to be likely targets.

Expected topics for Jay Marvin's show on AM 760.
Wednesday May 10th

Wednesday May 10th from 6--10AM on AM 760

6:30AM: Jay is joined by Ryan Lizza from The New Republic Magazine to talk about Senator George Allen's Race Problem, a two part story he has written about. Ryan Lizza is the Senior Editor and White House correspondent for The New Republic.. He has been with the magazine since 1998. He previously worked at Harper's Magazine and the Center for Investigative Reporting, where he worked on an Emmy award-winning documentary for PBS's "Frontline."

7:00AM: ProgressNowAction is calling on Congressman Bob Beauprez to explain whether he dodged the Vietnam draft based on new research. Progress Now released a video and sent an email out on Wednesday showing the discrepancies between what he says and what we know. Executive Director at Progress Now Michael Huttner is our guest to talk about "Flightsuit" Both Ways Bob.

7:20AM: State Representative Morgan Carroll will join Jay to discuss Governor Owens' veto of HB 1193, a bill providing whistleblower protection for medical workers who report errors. According to Representative Carroll This drives up the cost of health care, causes needless death, disability and injury, passes costs of disabled into taxpayers, increases litigation, and increases the cost of medical malpractice insurance.

9:00AM: It's our guest of the week from The Nation Magazine! Joining Jay is Ari Berman to talk about the current soap opera of a situation the CIA is encountering. He has written a couple pieces in The Nation's Blog The Notion. Ari Berman is based in Washington, DC, is a contributing writer for The Nation, a contributor to The Notion and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute.

9:20AM: A new GAO report released by Democratic Members of the House of Representatives finds that the information provided by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the complicated new drug benefit is rife with problems. Jay's special guest is Congressman Pete Stark who is the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and the author of legislation to extend the May 15 Medicare prescription drug enrollment deadline and waive the corresponding late enrollment penalty. Stark is recognized as one of the nation's foremost proponents of universal healthcare. While Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee from 1985 to 1994, Stark authored and enacted legislation to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay and to prevent physician self-referral for unnecessary procedures. Serving his 17th term in Congress, Stark represents the 13th Congressional district in the State of California, located on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay.

AM 760 Website

Apparently they spell it "irresponsible."

Doctors push `morning-after pill'

Doctors raised the stakes in the nation's ongoing battle over emergency contraception Monday with a new campaign that encourages women to get an advance prescription for the "morning-after pill," so it will be readily available if they have unprotected sex.

The "Ask Me" campaign is organized medicine's most aggressive effort yet to ensure women have access to emergency contraception when they think they need it. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which represents nearly 50,000 physicians, is the sponsor.

The goal is to encourage doctors to ask women of childbearing age if they would like an advance prescription for the morning-after pill "at every visit," said Dr. Douglas Laube, ACOG's president-elect and chair of the ob-gyn department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. That way, if a woman has unprotected sex or contraception fails, she can take steps to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

Conservatives fumed at the medical group's initiative. "We think this is a totally irresponsible move on the part of the doctors," said Jim Sedlak, vice president of the American Life League, an organization that believes emergency contraception is a form of abortion.

The doctors -- the ones who understand EC and must prescribe it -- are being "irresponsible" by offering to prescribe it.

Prattle away -- we'll call it "fuming" so you don't look so ridiculous.

Click to watch our Both Ways Bob video! Did Bob Beauprez dodge the draft?

Bob Beauprez claims that he was not "physically fit" to serve in Vietnam. Yet new research and the first of our "Both Ways Bob" video series shows that while Beauprez continues to parade around in a military uniform, the facts show that he may have dodged the draft.

Beauprez came up for the draft based on his lottery number for the 1970 drawing. His draft records indicate, however, that on August 6, 1970 he was "excused" because of a "physical reason."

Beauprez claims that the physical reason was a "bout" with an "ulcer" he had in 1965. This claim was never scrutinized.
After his "bout", Beauprez was an All-Conference high school football player and heavyweight wrestler.

How can Beauprez have a 'bout' with an ulcer, then play football, then wrestle, then major in physical education at CU, and then later use that 'bout' to get out of the draft?

Click here to call on Beauprez to disclose the information he gave to his doctor in order to receive a deferment from serving in Vietnam.

Please forward this around to all of your friends and family. Let's get the word out about "Both Ways Bob"!

Watch our Both Ways Bob video!
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COLORADO TOP STORIES

Legislature: It's a wrap
Denver Post
Colorado lawmakers were working late Monday to wrap up the 2006 legislative session, a contentious but productive four months that restored budget cuts, banned indoor smoking and set the stage for a fiery election season. The key successes of the session were paved by Colorado voters in November with the approval of Referendum C - a ballot measure that loosened the fiscal knot that was tying up the state budget. At the same time, the majority Democrats continued to struggle in delivering new laws for key supporters, including labor unions, women's rights advocates and environmentalists.

Sen. Salazar in the middle of nation's immigration debate
Fort Collins Coloradoan
Sen. Ken Salazar's last name has drawn the attention of folks on all sides of the immigration debate. His colleagues in the Senate often defer to him on the issue. Hispanics from all over the country look to him as one of their champions. Others, frustrated with the sheer number of immigrants here illegally - about 11 million - have directed their anger at him. Some have even gone as far as to suggest that the Colorado Democrat should go back to Mexico despite the fact that his family helped settle the city of Santa Fe, N.M., four centuries ago - before Plymouth Rock and Jamestown.

Number of metro homeless falls 11.5% over year
Denver Post
The seven-county Denver metro-area homeless population dropped 11.5 percent last year to 9,091 - but by only 4 percent in Denver, according to a survey released Monday. While the study found an overall decline - the first since 2004 - the number of homeless families increased 12 percent, and the chronically homeless surged 47 percent. The homeless population also continued to concentrate in Denver, hitting a seven-year high. While Denver's homeless population went down, the percentage of homeless in the metro area who are in Denver has gone up.

Today's complete daily news digest

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
CONTACT: Michael Huttner
(303) 931-4547

Call for Beauprez to disclose draft information:

New research and video shows Congressman’s claim he was not “physically fit” to serve fails the sniff test

Denver – ProgressNowAction launched the first in its “Both Ways Bob” video series and emailed its 25,000 members to call on Congressman Bob Beauprez to disclose the information he gave to his physician in order to receive a deferment from serving in Vietnam.

Click here to watch "Both Ways Bob: The Draft" (Windows Media Video).
Low-res video
Click here for the radio spot.

"Beauprez should refrain from parading in military uniforms when the facts show he may have dodged the draft," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNowAction.  “Trying to have it both ways bob when it comes to the military, especially when he has the worst voting record on veteran's issues is reprehensible.”

Fairview High School Yearbook, 1966 Edition

Beauprez came up for the draft based on his lottery number for the 1970 drawing.  His draft records indicate, however, that on August 6, 1970 he was “excused” because of a “physical reason.”

Beauprez claimed in 2004 that the physical reason was a “bout” with an “ulcer” he had in 1965. This claim was never scrutinized.

ProgressNowAction's new research reveals that Beauprez's claim is questionable:

After his “bout”, these high-school yearbook pictures of Beauprez as an "All-Conference" football player were taken.  He also was the  school's heavyweight wrestler in 1966.

The research also revealed that Beauprez graduated with a major not merely in "Education," as his website misleadingly claims, but more precisely in "Physical Education" from the University of Colorado in December of 1970.

"We question how Beauprez can have a ‘bout with an ulcer’, then play football, then wrestle, then major in physical education, and then later use that ‘bout’ to get out of the draft," stated Huttner.  “We challenge Beauprez to disclose the information he gave to his doctor in order to get his medical deferment.”

In the video and in an email to more than 25,000 of its members, ProgressNowAction called on people to visit their website www.progressnowcolorado.org/bwbdraft and join the call for Beauprez to disclose the truth about his draft history.

According to the Disabled American Veterans, Beauprez has the worst voting record of any member of the Colorado congressional delegation, as he voted against them on every one of their key votes for both 2004 and 2005. (www.dav.org)  For additional photos of Beauprez parading in military uniform visit his website. (www.house.gov/beauprez/)

# # #

For sources, interviews or additional information call Michael Huttner at 303-931-4547.

progressnowcolorado.org is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(4) whose mission is to be a strong credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems.

Great column by Ed Quillen in today's Post:

Given our penchant for initiatives, referenda, constitutional amendments and the like, Colorado ballots can be long and confusing. This year's promises to be even more complex than usual, since there could be as many as four marriage-related items.

One is already assured of a spot. It's the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Responsibilities Act, and last week the General Assembly agreed to refer it to voters. Also called "1344" for its legislative bill number, it would give same-sex couples some rights, such as the ability to make medical decisions for each other and to adopt each other's children.

That is much too fair and humane to suit some Coloradans, and so there are petitions circulating for an amendment to the state constitution to supersede 1344 by forbidding any legal recognition of any status "similar to marriage."

To counter that, there's a proposal to protect 1344 by amending the state constitution to declare that the provisions of 1344 are not "similar to marriage." And there's another constitutional amendment proposed for the ballot (this one designed to ensure a heavy right-thinker turnout at the polls) that would duplicate a state law defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman.

So we have 1344, a referred domestic-partnership law. We may see the anti-1344 constitutional amendment, the protect-1344 constitutional amendment, and the one-man one-woman constitutional amendment.

The simplest solution to all this is one I proposed several years ago: Enact a domestic-partnership law that applies to all couples, and remove "marriage" from all state laws.

Why? As the right-thinkers often remind us, "marriage is a sacrament." Consider other sacraments, like baptism, confirmation and penance. Thanks to certain enlightened provisions in the state and federal bills of rights, the government does not tell churches how to perform these sacraments, nor who may receive them. It's entirely up to the church, as it should be.

So it should also be with marriage. Get your civil union certified at the courthouse, and then visit your church, mosque, temple or ashram if you want a marriage.

This would be easy to implement and would promote separation of church and state. People could go about their lives with minimal state interest in their intimate relationships. The protectors of family values could address real issues that tear families apart, like unemployment and medical bills, and Colorado might be a better place to live.

But that would not be sufficiently polarizing and thus would not enhance certain political careers. Perhaps we could try another approach, one that might please just about everybody. The right-thinkers shouldn't have any trouble with anything named "the Colorado Old Testament Marriage Definition Amendment." And even the most libertine should be able to tolerate it after reading the provisions.

Same-sex relationships? King David was "a man after God's own heart." David's companion Jonathan, the son of King Saul, died alongside his father in battle. David then lamented that "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been unto me.Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women."

Surrogate partners? The patriarch Abraham had a wife, Sarai (although he sometimes told people that she was really his sister). Sarai was barren, but she had an Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar. Sarai urged Abraham to "go into my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her." And he "hearkened to the voice of Sarai."

Premarital sex? The wealthy farmer Boaz found himself captivated by the attractive young widow Ruth. She wondered how to respond to his attention. Her late husband's mother told her to find where he would be resting after a hard day of winnowing barley, and "thou shalt go in and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do." Now note that "feet" was almost certainly a euphemism for what she was really supposed to uncover, since Boaz said, "Let it not be known that a woman came." After he purchased her, they married, and she soon bore a son.

Multiple partners? Among the descendants of Ruth and Boaz was King Solomon, who "loved many strange women" and "had seven hundred wives ... and three hundred concubines."

This could continue indefinitely, but by now the point should be clear: If the right-thinkers insist on promoting biblical standards, they shouldn't be allowed to stop at one verse in Leviticus. Let's put it all on the ballot.

Disarmament

My understanding of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is
that the nations with nuclear weapons had agreed to begin to eliminate their nuclear arsenals and the non-nuclear nations agreed to stop seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The hope of humanity was to eliminate nuclear weapons altogether before some insane national leader decided to actually use one. We all know that any use of nuclear weapons will mean the end of civilized society (so called) and possibly make earth uninhabitable for human life.

Has the American public mind become so warped that this fact does not seem to bother them? The Bush administration has terminated its agreements with Russia to disarm its nuclear arsenal and, in violation of the Non-proliferation treaty, is currently developing new tactical nuclear weapons, the so called Bunker Busters that it has threatened to use against Iran; which the Iranians have rightly labeled violations of the UN Charter of which the US is not only a signatory but the primary author.

The hypocrisy of this administration is astounding. The US government is threatening to use nuclear weapons against a nuclear-unarmed nation because it fears that nation might attain nuclear weapons and might use them if it had them. We must remember that there is only one nation that has actually used nuclear weapons against a civilian population, and has done it twice and is threatening to do it again. Who is the villain here???

Have the American people abandoned all responsibility for the future generations? It takes very little imagination to empathize with the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and envision a world where millions of people would be vaporized in an instant…and they would be the lucky ones…as the radiation sickness would slowly envelope all of humanity in its infernal embrace. To continue developing nuclear technology is utter insanity, be it for civilian or military use. How much logic does it take to figure out that you do not play with forces that will remain active and deadly for hundreds of thousands of years…and there is no place to put them that is "away"?

Perhaps the American people do not realize that the US has over ten thousand nuclear warheads poised to be launched at civilian populations. Perhaps those same people do not realize that Russia and China and Israel and France and India and Pakistan also have thousands of nuclear warheads and at least one of them is pointed at the civilian population of Fort Collins, Colorado. Is this not utter insanity? Is this not the epitome of evil? Is it not obvious that insane men have been ruling the world and insane men are a threat to the very existence of human society?

Is the task too great for simple human beings to rise up and say NO MORE OF THIS MADNESS!? We have squandered hundreds of trillions of dollars on weapons of destruction and despair and yet we do not have enough money to provide food for the downtrodden or health-care for our own citizens, or a quality education for our future generations. We cannot live in peace because war and destruction is much too profitable to those who sit in the seats of power.

War is not inevitable. War is simply profitable. America has prided itself in being a Christian nation without ever practicing the pacifist teaching of Jesus Christ. Christ spoke truth to power and was despised for it. When the military power of Rome offered the multitude a choice between the pacifist Jesus and Barabbas, the murderer, to be set free; they chose Barabbas. The American multitude still chooses Barabbas and then makes him President.

So AmericaBlog has a post... asking what "the internet people" think of Al running again...

The Wall Street Journal is opining about a possible Gore run for president in 2008. I'm just curious what you all think about that - good idea, bad idea, not sure? Also, be sure to indicate how you felt about Gore the first time around in 2000.

As for me, I wished Gore had Clinton's personality, but at the time I also remember thinking there was a part of Gore's seriousness that was good and necessary after the Clinton scandals. Still, it seemed that Gore, like Kerry, had a real problem bouncing back and forth between his advisers, never really quite finding his own voice.

Anyway, I'm intrigued by the idea of Gore running again. A friend the other day - or maybe it was one of the folks at the AMERICAblog coffee meet-up we had in NYC last week - said that maybe this is why Gore has been laying low the past five years, so he can come back on the scene "new and improved" for the 2008 election.

It's an interesting idea. And I might just support it. I wasn't thrilled on Gore running again right after he lost, but now...

If you want to add to the 400 and some odd comments...

Here are my thoughts on this...

Holy crap.... are you kidding????? I guess we see why the dems keep getting their ass handled to them (I am a dem)... NO WAY he should run... and NO WAY Kerry should run...

AND hopefully Hillary does not run... (do we need to get into this one?)

If Gore is the nominee, I am switching to unaffiliated... and writing someone in...

Why??? Because he lost, he looks like a robot and he can not relate to people outside of one on one conversations... did I mention he lost (ya ya... I know he did win... time to move on...)... oh ya... and he LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! buy a tv station... do something... but do not run Al...

White Republican Colorado lawmaker denies existence of racial profiling.

Is that supposed to be news?

Lawmaker demands apology

The political storm over illegal immigration grew Friday when a Colorado lawmaker demanded an apology from a Mexican official for expressing concerns that a new immigration law would lead to racial profiling.

State Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, sent a blistering letter by fax and mail Friday afternoon to Juan Marcos Gutierrez, Denver's consul general of Mexico. Minutes later, Wiens' staffers notified the media.

Wiens blasted Gutierrez for comments that "insinuated that honest, law-abiding citizens and employees of our state and local governments here in Colorado would put personal agendas above the rule of law."

Naw (rolls eyes), that never happens. And leave Jim Welker out of this, dammit. He may be a little racial about stuff, but they took care of him. And don't even start about Ismael Mena, you commie Mexican diplomat. That's totally different.

It's too bad when the Colorado legislature has to resort to resolutions to shame the federal legislature into doing its job.

Good on ya, Angie Paccione.

House urges stem-cell research

Under the leadership of Rep. Angie Paccione, D-Fort Collins, the House is calling on the U.S. Senate to support research that could lead to the treatment of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart disease, among other illnesses.

The House passed Paccione's resolution this week urging the U.S. Senate to support U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette's Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The measure, which passed the U.S. House last year, would allow clients at in vitro fertilization clinics to donate their leftover fertilized eggs for research.

Paccione's resolution received bipartisan support.

"The stem cells they use are limited to the ones they throw away," said Rep. Bob McCluskey, R-Fort Collins, who supported the bill and said his father had Alzheimer's disease. "I think anything we can do in terms of this research makes a lot of sense."

Last year U.S. Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave voted against DeGette's bill, but voted in favor of legislation supporting adult stem-cell research. Adult and embryonic stem cells come from different sources and can be derived at different periods of human development.

Guy Short, a spokesman for Musgrave's campaign, said Paccione purposefully omitted adult stem-cell research even though some in the medical profession say it's more promising.

"The congresswoman thinks it's important to spend money where success is actually achievable," Short said. "Miss Paccione shows an incredible lack of compassion and a real misunderstanding of life-saving science when she purposely omits adult stem-cell research from the resolution."

The problem, Mr. Short, is reality.

According to John Sladeck, vice chancellor of research at the University of Colorado for Health Sciences Center, embryonic stem cells are the cell choice for biomedical scientists with respect to curing diabetes, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries, etc.

"There's more potential for embryonic stem cells to cure a large number of diseases," Sladeck said.

We interviewed Dr. Curt Freed of the UCHSC a few months ago and he said the same thing. I'm going to go ahead and trust him over Marilyn Musgrave's banal talking head -- nothing personal.

We know it's almost over, and you're tired, etc. Could you Colorado legislators maybe please pay attention to what you're doing? Those votes matter.

Water-quality measure rejected in voting miscue

A measure to require water court judges to consider water quality before approving large water diversions died on a surprise 17-18 vote in the Colorado Senate on Friday.

But what led to the death of HB1352 involved a weird sequence of votes in the 35-member Senate.

A day after 20 senators voted for the bill, three of them - including Sen. Lewis Entz, R-Hooper - switched their votes to oppose it.

The other two legislators were Sens. Stephanie Takis, D-Aurora, and Suzanne Williams, D-Denver, whose district includes a portion of Aurora.

While Takis' and Williams' switch was not surprising - Aurora leaders historically have opposed such measures - Entz said he voted against the measure by mistake.

Ah, municipal backrooms trump the best interests of Colorado. And one Republican screwed up. Surely that's never happened before. Did you note the party affiliations of the switch votes? They're worth noting.

As it happened,

While the second vote gave Entz a chance to change his vote, a fourth legislator, Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, came out of nowhere and switched her vote to oppose it...

Tochtrop danced around her reasons for switching her vote, saying she committed to vote for it once.

But once it came back to be reconsidered, Tochtrop said she felt she had fulfilled her commitment.

I stand corrected. Lou Entz needs to mash the right button, but maybe he's not the one making this episode look bad.

Hi guys, this is my first blog post here, I guess. I came from Democratic Underground, where I had been talking to a woman from Minnesota regarding Xcel stuff. Read the letter below.

Also, she is supporting the fact that Progressivenowaction is exposing Xcel for what they are.

PROGRESSNOW IN THE NEWS

Pueblo plant drawn into Xcel rate debate
Pueblo Chieftain
Criticism of Xcel's Energy $1.3 billion power plant expansion in Pueblo has resurfaced as part of a dispute over the utility's latest proposed rate hike. Four consumer groups this week announced opposition to Xcel's proposal for a $209 million rate hike on its power customers - primarily Denver residents -and, in the process, some criticized the Comanche expansion. The groups want consumers to join an Internet protest drive at www.progressnowcolorado.org. The group requests submissions by May 19, one of the early public comment deadlines set by the Colorado Public Utilities commission. Public comment hearings will run through September. Dan Friedlander, executive director of Clean Energy Action, said, "Xcel's proposed $209 million-rate increase is a double outrage. First, this proposed increase sits on top of already massive hikes. Second, the $209 million is up-front payment for yesterday's technology, a polluting coal plant."

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Air Force probes general's e-mail
Denver Post
The Air Force is investigating whether a two-star general violated military regulations by urging fellow Air Force Academy graduates to make campaign contributions to a Republican candidate for Congress in Colorado, Pentagon officials said Friday. Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, who is on active duty at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, sent the fundraising appeal Thursday from his official e-mail account to more than 200 fellow members of the academy's Class of 1976, many of whom are also on active duty. We are certainly in need of Christian men with integrity and military experience in Congress," Catton wrote. Defense Department rules prohibit active-duty officers from using their position to solicit campaign contributions or seek votes for a particular candidate. Catton urged his classmates to support Bentley Rayburn, a recently retired Air Force general seeking the Republican nomination for a House seat being vacated this year by Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo.

4 Proposals on Same-Sex Unions Compete for Favor of Coloradans
New York Times
So far, the only proposal with a guaranteed place on the ballot -- approved on Thursday by the state House of Representatives and sent directly to the voters -- is the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Responsibilities Act, known as 1344 for its bill number in the Legislature. It would give same-sex partners many rights of married couples, including the ability to adopt each other's children and to make medical decisions on the other's behalf. After that things become more complicated. Opponents of 1344 have mounted an effort to get enough voter signatures for a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would short-circuit the Partnership Act, by barring legal recognition of any status "similar to marriage." A third proposal would attack 1344's attackers. The sponsors of that proposal want to enshrine in the Constitution a statement intended to protect the Partnership Act by declaring that such unions are not "similar to marriage." A fourth ballot proposal would strengthen the law banning same-sex marriage by putting that ban into the Constitution.

House nixes special session on immigration
Rocky Mountain News
Mariachi music played in the background Friday as a House committee nixed a request from a Republican lawmaker to call a special session on illegal immigration. Rep. Dave Schultheis, of Colorado Springs, said a session is necessary this summer because the legislature, which ends next week, has passed bills that "only scratch the surface of true immigration reform." "While I will agree that this body has done more this session on this issue when compared to past sessions, it has done so kicking and screaming and avoided several key issues," Schultheis said.

Today's complete daily news digest

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Maybe if it was all dumped in DC, our "elected" officials would pull their heads out of their asses.

NEW ORLEANS -- Block after block, neighborhood after neighborhood, tens of thousands of hurricane-ravaged houses here rot in the sun, still waiting to be gutted or bulldozed. Now officials have decided where several million tons of their remains will be dumped: in man-made pits at the swampy eastern edge of town, out by the coffee-roasting plant and the space-shuttle factory and the big wildlife refuge.

But more than a thousand Vietnamese-American families live less than two miles from the edge of the new landfill. And they are far from pleased at having the moldering remains of a national disaster plunked down nearby, alongside the canal that flooded their neighborhood when Hurricane Katrina surged through last year.

Read the whole story

I have been reading a lot about how Hillary Clinton and Al Gore will battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. I am convinced that the party needs a new face to win, and I think the demographics of the country say that it has to come from the west. I like Gore and Clinton, but I want to win!
Clinton has true believers in the party, but I don't think she can win the election. She is too divisive a figure, and in New York she has to pander too much to AIPAC and the Kennedy machine that has churned out loser after loser.
Gore is a great guy who unfortunately has been tagged as a loser already.
Gov. Richardson of New Mexico has the DC credentials, but is a western governor of hispanic background, has the expertise in energy policy, and has proven international diplomacy credentials.
Why NOT Richardson?

Bush's Appointees Not As Diverse as Clinton's

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 8, 2006; Page A17

This article reprises the ethnic diversity of Bush's cabinet appointments. Gotta give the devil his due - Bush has appointed a rainbow gaggle of the incompetent, crooked, stupid, ideological, fascistic and ignorant without regard to race, creed, color - but with regard to religion.

By doing so, he has blunted criticism of his appointments from the limp left who equate criticism of ethnic individuals with racism in general. So now we have Clarence Thomas, Gonzalez, Rice, etc.

But in the process, Bush has done a good thing - he has made it possible now to criticize these kinds of appointees, also without regard to race, creed, color or religion. By appointing these kinds of morons, he has made moronness open to critique without having to flinch at the possibility of accusations of racism.

Funny how the business pages are more willing to level with their readers than the front-page news writers.

We don't want to start a panic, or anything, but some of you should know...

Too Much White House Wrongdoing to Keep Up With?
Create the Ultimate Tracking Tool!

People For the American Way thinks it's time the public had a single place to read up on the multitude of Link and ethically dubious policies and activities of the Bush Administration. With your help, we think we have the answer!
 

Using the same technology as the popular encyclopedia site Wikipedia.org, which is authored entirely by the general public, PFAW has set up Link. At Link site, you can post any material you wish, edit any material already posted, and create new topic areas.
 
We have launched this site with a small amount of content - just enough so you can see the type of material we seek. It's up to you and your friends to make this a truly useful new site for the nation. This is not a blog for rants against the Bush administration (the world already has plenty of those), but a resource for those seeking information on White House wrongdoing. So post only factual material backed up with links to reputable sources.

Visit Link today and see what could be possible with a little bit of help from you and your friends - then carve out some time over the next week to input at least one really solid entry based on a recent news article that stuck in your craw. Or, if you're more the editing type, go into just one section and improve other entries with more precise language or better transitions.

This is a site the public could really use - will you help build it?

The first rule in navigation for those that find themselves lost is quite similar to the one regarding finding yourself in a hole, stop digging. Staying the course is exactly what not to do when you don't know where you are, you certainly can't be for certain where you are going unless you know where you are. Once you have found your bearings, setting a new course and plotting the expected checkpoints lends confidence to the journey. It doesn't really matter how we got lost, it matters mostly that we can acknowledge that we are indeed lost and corrective measures are made so that the journey can continue.

So where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? Who will lead the way?

First of all, the greatest failure of American representative democracy is that it isn't. We elect congress to represent we the people. Not only are they unresponsive, they don't seem to have the intellect or morals to be trusted to do the right thing nor most importantly have a sense of what leadership entails. Have you noticed the silence among Democrats long after the silence has had deadly consequences? They are beating up on Stephen Colbert, a comedian, for being rude to the president, I say the time has long passed when the president should have been cuffed and frog marched to Gitmo along with his pals Cheney and Rumsfeld. How many have to die/suffer before we can quit pretending the emperor has clothes? How long do we have to allow the Democrats to stand on ceremony before they realize the salvation of the country is in their hands? What do you say to the 33% that still support this president? For starters you might suggest they seek mental health care. A person that is wrong and will not consider otherwise is dangerous. This is not partisan bickering it is plain old black and white, good versus evil.

The world is at war over resources, meanwhile the United States is using 25% of world crude to satisfy our lust for solitude at 65 mph. Question is, when all the oil is gone and there is no way to heat your home, will you miss your car?

Pretend for a moment that Uncle Sam represents a father and the rest of the world his children. Pretend for a second that bombing, torturing prisoners, killing innocent civilians, kicking doors in during the middle of the night is a parental abuse. What is the end result of parental physical and verbal abuse? We are worse than bad parents, much worse.

Let's talk labor, the Colorado Democratic Party wants to have the 2008 Convention here. Problem is, Denver doesn't have enough union hotels. The most vibrant union in the country is the Service Employees International. Does the Colorado Democratic Party want to do something positive to build it's base? The answer is no, they want special consideration for what? Because we have supplied a DINO such as Ken Salazar to the Senate? Let's say that Alberto Gonzales was a small town Texas judge and you went before him, would you feel comfortable? I can imagine Gonzales and Bush as children helping each other vaporize frogs. We are talking about the man that condones torture and elective Constitutional government. Ken Salazar owes the state of Colorado a huge apology. And John Salazar, a non-combat veteran wants to take time out from some very important legislation to prosecute wannabees for wearing fake fruit salad. Start with the generals John, the field is ripe. And in Denver we have dear old Ms. DeGette, who wouldn't know a cause if it bit her on her ample ass. Denver, who can elect a firebrand SAFELY and REPEATEDLY, instead chose a woman whose only surefire, absolute, take it to the bank conviction is a woman's right to choose. Speak truth to power, people, you may as well, the people that are doing it for you have set the bar low enough to where you couldn't possibly look any worse.

Speculating on why a figure as shadowy as the Director of the CIA "abruptly" resigned at news-dump time on a Friday is a perilous business.

Is this a good thing? A really bad thing? Don't pretend you know or that they're actually going to tell you. Salon has some useful speculation this morning, though:

Porter Goss' spooky demise

If George W. Bush were presiding over a normal administration, there would be nothing spooky about Porter Goss' abrupt resignation Friday afternoon. It would be painfully evident from Bush's forced rhetoric ("Porter's tenure at the CIA was one of transition") and Goss' comically overblown boasts ("The agency is on a very even keel, sailing well") that the CIA director was sacked for ineptitude...

Normally under Bush, promoted-above-your-abilities incompetence is not a firing offense unless, of course, you drown an entire city. True, Josh Bolten, the new White House chief of staff, has been trying to put a few new faces on the flight deck of the "Mission Accomplished" administration. These transitions -- like the long goodbye for White House spokesman Scott McClellan -- have been carefully orchestrated rather than cobbled together like this one, without even the slightest hint of a successor for Goss.

"If you believe the White House explanation that this is all part of Josh Bolten's reorganization, then this was done in a surprising fashion," said Rand Beers, a terrorism expert who served in four administrations before resigning from the Bush White House in early 2003. "This makes me believe that it's the cover story."

For those practiced in connecting the dots, little artistic training is needed to speculatively link Goss' here's-your-hat-what's-your-hurry departure with the bribery scandal surrounding jailed former GOP Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

NBC News reported Thursday night that the CIA is investigating whether a top agency official, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, improperly steered a $2.4 million contract to his close college friend Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor implicated in the Cunningham case. Wilkes reportedly supplied prostitutes to Cunningham at poker parties that Foggo also attended, though the CIA official denies seeing the female entertainment.

Of course, the Foggo-Wilkes connection may have nothing to do with the sudden change in Goss' career arc. Daalder posed the speculative question, "Was there an intelligence blunder that we don't know about -- and that we may never know about?"

It would be better if the American people had the slightest amount of confidence left in this administration. Would make the head-pat and the "we've got everything under control" paternalism a lot easier to swallow.

As it is, Goss' hasty departure will only reaffirm the uneasy feeling you developed when he was appointed and began purging the CIA of Bush administration dissenters. Will that end now? Or is the job merely completed...?

They'll tell you when they feel like it, citizen.

HB-1149, Rep. Morgan Carroll's bill to require lobbyists to disclose information about their clients and the bills they're involved with achieved final passage in the legislature today. Final vote in the House was 43-18: a respectable bipartisan showing.

Now it's up to the Governor. We had hundreds of members write their Senator in support of this bill, which was vital in getting it over the finish line. Now it's the Governor's inbox's turn:

Link

The Governor and his right-wing allies in the General Assembly are working to cut retirement benefits and to privatize Colorado's state retirement plan much like Rep. Bob Beauprez and other conservatives across the country have been trying to privatize Social Security.

Public employees contribute to their retirement funds with a share from every paycheck. That money, which is placed into the retirement pool, supplies approximately two-thirds of retirement payments.

Some others suggest we must cut retirement benefits in order to solve tough budget problems. The truth is that the cost of state employee retirement benefits is less then 1.5% of the total Colorado budget.

Proposals to force Colorado public employees like teachers and State Troopers into privatized 401-K style plans will make them put their future into risky stock market investments without saving any Colorado tax dollars.
The right wing has been playing politics on this issue for years, claiming financial crisis when there was only mismanagement. Colorado teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses, and other public employees deserve better. Tell the governor that politics got us in this mess; they're not going to get us out. Demand fiscal solvency in our state retirement system today.

Link

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Allard: No; Salazar: Yes
Rocky Mountain News
Colorado's senators split Thursday over a $109 billion emergency spending bill, which Sen. Wayne Allard said was loaded with "egregious" pork-barrel spending. Allard, R-Loveland, was among the 21 Republicans who voted against the bill, saying he opposed it because it went far beyond the $92 billion President Bush requested. "To me, this was a vote to impose fiscal sanity on the appropriations process," Allard said. Among the "egregious" spending, Allard was concerned the bill included $6 million for sugar-cane growers in Hawaii and $15 million for "ewe lamb replacement," Allard chief of staff Sean Conway said. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Denver, voted yes, with 42 other Democrats, 33 Republicans and one Independent. He pushed for amendments that added $30 million to reduce fire risk in forests, $3.9 billion in disaster relief for farmers and ranchers, and a requirement that the Department of Defense report on the progress of training against the use of improvised explosive devices in Iraq.

Metro unsold homes hit record in April
Denver Post
Sellers, beware: The inventory of unsold homes in the metro area reached a record high in April and will likely keep rising into the summer. The number of metro homes on the market hit 29,045 last month, surpassing the previous high mark of 28,043 reached in June 2004. Home inventories were up 6.4 percent from the 27,309 homes available in March. The number of homes put under contract was 5,813, and the number closed was 4,300 in April. Both of those measures fell from March of this year and April of last year. Despite slower sales and more homes on the market, the median price for a single-family home rose to $250,000 in April, up from $247,500 in March.

Same-sex debate fractious
Denver Post
The Colorado House erupted into an angry debate over the sanctity of marriage Thursday when lawmakers approved a measure that will let voters decide whether to recognize domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. A stream of Republican lawmakers rushed to the podium to denounce final passage of the ballot issue, while some Democrats jeered the opponents. "We do not need to pass this on to voters," said Rep. Lynn Hef ley, R-Colorado Springs. "It is a mockery of traditional, true marriage between one man and one woman."

Today's complete daily news digest

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Introduction:
Nothing is more basic to our country than the citizen's right to vote. Technological developments and real concerns about voting systems' reliability created an environment where the Federal government, through the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), has intervened in the State and County level to create a more standardized environment in selecting voting systems.

HERE'S HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Click to watch Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation read by Mothers Acting Up!

Arise, then, women of this day!
These are the words that open Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation written back in 1870.

Today we have Mothers Acting Up, a wonderful group working to mobilize mothers all across the country to fight for the health, welfare and well-being of all children on this planet.

Mothers Acting Up organizes Mother's Day Parades all across the country.
Click here to find the parade closest to you.
To learn more about Mothers Acting Up, please visit their website at www.mothersactingup.org.

If you enjoyed the video or just believe in the cause, please forward this around to all the women and mothers and fathers and friends you know.

As they say at Mothers Acting Up--Let's Reclaim Mother's Day!

Watch Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation!
Please select a format:
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iPod Video, 9.8MB Time: 1:50

Low-bandwidth: Recommended for those with dial-up
Windows Media, 1.7MB Time: 1:50
Quicktime 7.0 only, 1.3MB Time: 1:50

Instructions for Download:
For Windows Media and RealPlayer:
Best for those using Windows PCs.
Right click on the link and click Save Target As.
Save the file to your desktop. Double-click on the file and view.
For Quicktime:
Best for those using Macs.
Note, this file will only play in the lastest version of Quicktime, Quicktime 7.
Go to www.apple.com/quicktime to download this latest version.
Once you have installed Quicktime 7, just click on the link and give it a second to load.

Credits:
To Juliana Forbes, Joellen Raderstorf, and Beth Osnes who lead the charge.
To all the good hearted, warm spirited Mothers Acting Up who agreed to wear a funny wig and read Julia Ward Howe's moving words in front of a camera.
To Julia Ward Howe herself, author of not only the Mother's Day Proclamation, but also the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Go fiesty woman go!

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Ads use court case to hit Holtzman's credibility
Denver Post
Gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman's testimony in a Denver courtroom last week has become the target of a new radio ad that attacks his credibility and compares him to former President Clinton. The ad, which started Wednesday and is paid for by an independent political committee, blasts Holtzman for testimony he gave at the hearing that contradicted what he said in his deposition. It also criticizes him for being the only gubernatorial candidate to not disclose his tax returns. "What's he trying to hide?" a speaker in the ad says. "Holtzman sounds like Bill Clinton under oath." The comparison refers to Clinton's denying he had a relationship with Monica Lewinsky in a deposition but admitting it before a grand jury. Holtzman did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Attorneys to meet with 4/20 smokers
Boulder Daily Camera
Some of the people caught on camera smoking pot at the 4/20 celebration on Farrand Field are considering lawsuits against the University of Colorado, according to a pro-marijuana group hosting a campus forum with attorneys tonight. Nationally known civil rights attorneys Perry Sanders Jr. and Robert J. Frank will be among those at the informational session to address the constitutional rights of those gathered for the pot-smoking celebration. Sanders and Frank are the attorneys for the estate of slain rapper Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace, or the "Notorious B.I.G." More than 2,500 people converged on the CU field April 20, and many smoked pot. Others were spectators. In anticipation of the annual smoke-out, university administrators attempted to close the field by barricading entrances and posting signs that said trespassers would be photographed and videotaped. Last week, police posted 150 pictures of pot smokers online and offered $50 rewards for each correct identification. Another 50 pictures were added to the site Tuesday.

Same-sex partnership bill closer to ballot
Denver Post
Colorado voters would decide whether the state should recognize same-sex domestic partnerships, under a bill that was initially approved by the state Senate on Wednesday. House Bill 1344 faces a final vote in the Senate, perhaps as soon as today. The bill would refer the issue to voters, who would decide in November whether the state should allow same-sex couples to register domestic partnerships. As domestic partners, a same-sex couple would have some of the same benefits as a married couple: They would get survivor benefits, they could make medical decisions for their partner, and they could jointly adopt a child. Opponents of the measure said it is a back-door way for the state to bless gay marriage.

Today's complete daily news digest

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I am feeling something that I haven't felt in a while. Political desire. I became so burnt out on everything that I just couldn't play the game any more. Now...I am so fucking angry all the time that I need to fight back.

Tens of thousands of Foreign Guest Workers Stripped of their Passports and Trapped in Involuntary Servitude.
May 5th, 2006

Sewing clothing for Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Gloria Vanderbilt, Target, L.L. Bean, Thalia Sodi, Kmart, Victoria's Secret and more...

$1.1 Billion of garments made in Jordan entered the U.S. duty-free last year.

Young woman hangs herself at the Al Safa Factory after being raped by a plant manager. The factory produced for Gloria Vanderbilt and Target. Four young women, including a 16 year-old girl, were raped by managers at the Western Factory, where garments were being sewn for Wal-Mart. Forced to work 109 hours a week, including 20 hour shifts, without pay for six months.

Al Shahaed workers, also sewing Wal-Mart, routinely forced to work 16, 24, 38 and even 72-hour shifts for an average wage of two cents an hour. Workers beaten with sticks and belts.

All across Jordan, it is common for guest workers to be at the factory over 100 hours each week, while they are being cheated of upwards of half the wages legally due them. Not one guest workers is paid the legal minimum wage. Nor do guest workers receive the legal overtime premium.

Seven day workweeks are routine, with one, at most two, days off each month. Beatings are common. Workers are shoved, slapped and punched for making mistakes, falling behind in their production goals or using the bathroom too often. Bathrooms lack tiolet paper, soap and towels. Workers asking for back wages owed them could be imprisoned. Housed under primitive dorm conditions, 8 to 10 people sharing each 10-foot by 10-foot room, sleeping in narrow metal double-level bunk beds. The dorms often lack running water up to three and four days a week, making it impossible to bathe. The stench of the bathrooms is unbearable. Corporate codes of conduct and audits are completely meaningless. Many workers say they feel like slaves, some workers are trying to escape, leaving their passports behind, hiding by day and running by night in an attempt to cross the border out of Jordan.

Yesterday's New York Times article just scratches the surface of an explosive new 160-page report being released today by the National Labor Committee.

Senator Byron Dorgan will introduce the "Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act" which will prohibit the import or sale in the U.S. of sweatshop goods made under conditions violating core ILO worker rights standards.

Some Background:

Between 2000 and 2005, Jordan's apparel exports to the U.S. soared 2,000 percent--reaching $1.1 billion in 2005.These garments entered the U.S. duty-free. There are at least 48,000 garment workers in Jordan and more than 25,000 are foreign "guest workers." The totals could be much higher since record keeping in Jordan is poor and dated. Guest workers are from Bangladesh, China, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Most of the garment factories in Jordan exporting duty-free to the U.S. are foreign-owned, with investment from China, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India, Oman. The Big Winner is China: More than 60 percent of the value of the garments entering the U.S. duty-free from Jordan are made up of fabric from China. Jordan is the fourth country with which the U.S. has signed a free trade agreement, doing so in December 2000. For years these gross, systematic violations of worker rights have gone on in broad daylight. In the immediate future, the U.S. is planning to sign FTAs with Oman, Peru, perhaps Colombia and United Arab Emirates. USAID trained the manager of the largest FTZ in Jordan--Al Tajamouat--where worker rights violations are rampant.

See the full report

That's Joel Hefley, (R) Colorado Springs. Some people call him "Honest" Joel Hefley after his Tom DeLay-managed punking out of the Ethics Committee chair. May not miss much else from him policywise, but I suppose he deserves "Honest" Joel Hefley.

Reform bill falls short, Hefley says

Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colorado Springs, was among only a handful of Republicans who voted against a lobbying reform bill in the House of Representatives Wednesday, saying it was not the type of "real, meaningful reform" that was needed.

The House narrowly approved the legislation by a 217-213 vote, with only 20 Republicans opposed and only eight Democrats in favor. Colorado's congressional delegation split along party lines, except that Hefley, the former chairman of the House ethics committee, voted "no."

He said the bill did not toughen ethics enforcement, as he had proposed in separate legislation.

"We had a serious opportunity to implement comprehensive ethics reform in the House, but we didn't take advantage of it," Hefley said. "There are some good provisions in this bill, but overall I don't think it goes far enough in providing the real reform package many of us would like to see. Real, meaningful reform in the House must include strengthening the ethics committee and the ethics process."

Expected topics for Jay Marvin's show on AM 760.
Thursday May 4th

Thursday May 4th from 6--10AM on AM 760

6:30AM: The Center for American Progress today released Strategic Redeployment 2.0, an update to a plan released last September calling for a responsible, phased exit from Iraq that refocuses US troops where they are needed elsewhere in the world. Frequent guest and co-author of the plan, Larry Korb joins jay. Korb is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Senior Advisor to the Center for Defense Information. He was Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration .

7:00AM: Medical costs and health insurance premiums are spiraling out of control, an ever-growing number of working families struggle to access affordable health care, and quality is deteriorating. According to the most recent estimates, 45 million Americans lack health insurance, including over 750,000 Coloradans. In addition to supporting reform at the federal level, making progress at the state level is crucial as well. Four bills currently before the Colorado Legislature would expand a vital health care safety net, increase transparency, empower consumers, and lower costs. Joining Jay on this issue is Jared Polis who is Vice Chairman at the Colorado State Board of Education. Mr. Polis and Progress now have teamed together to make it easy for Coloradans to email representatives about their thoughts on health care. Named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2000, he is founder of the Jared Polis Foundation and a businessman and political activist who has founded, funded, and/or run several high-tech start-ups.

8:00AM: XCEL Energy, owner of Colorado's largest utility, just reported a 25 percent increase in profits over the previous year. Xcel's huge profits come at a time when customers have been reeling from skyrocketing bills all winter. Home heating bills, on average, rose 25 to 40 percent in Colorado during the peak winter months. Progress Now is asking for help in developing an unprecedented campaign to hold Xcel accountable to consumers. Executive Director at ProgressNow Michael Huttner is Jay's special guest.

8:30AM: Today's Washington Post calls the GOP ethics bill "diluted snake oil", "feeble" and "an insult to voters who the GOP apparently believes are dumb enough to be snookered by this feint". The cost of corruption to the American people is high - with skyrocketing prices at the pump, spiraling drug costs, and the waste, fraud and no-bid contracts in the Gulf Coast and Iraq, for Administration cronies like Halliburton. Our special guest is Congressman Jim McGovern who represents Massachusetts Third Congressional District. Congressman McGovern is the second-ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee. Before his election to Congress, he served for 14 years as a senior aide to former Rules Chairman Joe Moakley (D-MA). According to the 2006 Almanac of American Politics, "with deft maneuvers reflecting his Capitol Hill experience, McGovern has positioned himself to become a House power broker whenever the Democrats regain their majority in the House ... in 2002, he officially moved to Rules, where he immediately showed familiarity with House procedures."

AM 760 Website

You know the story: Wal-Mart doesn't pay its workers enough to survive, but they expect them to survive all the same. The solution? Schlep their health care and food stamps off on the state.

Conversely,

EOC distributed $833,000 in emergency energy aid

Energy Outreach Colorado is distributing an additional $833,314 to residents who can't afford to pay their energy bills.

The EOC plans to distribute a total of $9 million this season, including $2.15 million to Colorado LEAP, the government's low-income heating and energy assistance program...

And right into Xcel's pocket. Just another thing to keep in mind next time you read about their world-rocking Q1 financials.

Great work, folks. Hundreds of letters have been delivered to the Colorado Senate, urging them to pass meaningful lobby reform.

We've proven to them that ethical government matters (some of your representatives would have you believe otherwise).

Senate backs measure for lobbyists' disclosure

Hired lobbyists would be required to disclose information about their clients, the bills they're pushing and their activities at the Capitol under a measure that won the Senate's initial approval Tuesday...

Senate Republicans opposed the bill, even though the House had weakened it by stripping two provisions: one would require a one-year "cooling off" period between leaving public office and become a lobbyist, and the other would compel lobbyists to report campaign contributions of $100 or more.

Still, the bill would require lobbyists to disclose the bill numbers of legislation they're working, their clients' position on legislation and any direct business relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers.

Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, led the fight against the bill, arguing that it's unnecessary because reputable lobbyists already disclose such information to the secretary of state.

He said the bill would ultimately hamper lawmakers...

Depends on what it's "hampering." Hampering the peddling of influence? Hampering the secret dealing that screws ordinary citizens because they don't have a lobbyist? Considering the source, I'd say that's the point.

Didn't you Republicans learn this lesson in your twelve years of power?

No?

GOP Turns on a Dime, Decries Rebate

Republicans denounced their own gas price rebate plan Tuesday, acknowledging that sending a $100 check to American taxpayers would do little to ease the pain of high prices or address their cause.

The quick backtracking -- the Senate plan was announced with great fanfare just five days ago -- reflected the discord among GOP lawmakers as they confronted the political perils of $3-a-gallon gasoline...

What? You've got nothing. Your square ideology doesn't fit in this round hole. You can't tax-cut us out of an energy crisis. You can't preach the unassailable virtue of the "free market" while it bankrupts millions of Americans.

Once again, this is obvious to everyone but them, which is why the outrage surprised them.

I received an email with a call for action re. the increases at Xcel Energy. It stated it had increased 25-40%. This is incorrect. It has increased over 70%.

Call Xcel they will tell you. But be kind. The person answering the phone is just the messenger. They are in the "same boat" (her words) if no worse than many of us. The reason I say this is I just spoke with someone at Xcell to confirm that the rates had indeed increased 70%. (By the way I received a letter last week stating another 10.15% increase would take effect in June).

With all the increases and profits. I said I hope that she was benefitting. (Yeah sure!) She works just under what is considered full time and does not have any benefits. I was encouraging her and at the end of the phone call she thanked me for "being so nice". She said come Nov we will make our opinions known.

Today I spoke with someone in IN, New Orleans, Cleveland, MA. Regarding different business. A varied group. Yet, we all agreed on some things. I don't believe it matters what your main concern/issue might be. If we don't take back our country we will have more of the same.

If you like death and destruction you came to the right place at the right time. No? Then become a one issue kind of person. Get the greedy whores (whores - yes, they will do anything for $) out of our government!

Funny, I thought she was gone after she was caught spying on other Republicans. Just goes to show there's a career in backstabbing flackery:

Aide says she redirected staff

A top aide to gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman admitted on the witness stand Tuesday that she told Holtzman staffers they should work on behalf of an issue committee that stands accused of illegally coordinating its activities with the campaign.

Laura Teal, political director for the Holtzman campaign, said she had defied her own campaign manager and told employees they should work closely with If C Wins, You Lose, an issue committee that ran TV ads opposing Referendum C last fall. Under Colorado campaign finance law, political candidates are not supposed to be directly involved with issue committees.

"I instructed my staff to help out Andy George," Teal said.

Like Andy George helped her. I expect she's being set up as the sacrificial lamb, with the rest of Holtzman's staff close behind. Soon it will be Marky Marc, an RV, and little else but memories...

Sic semper lying righties.

ProgressNow Executive Director Michael Huttner at today's press conference.



Launch of ExposeXcel.com:
Consumer groups launch unprecedented effort to hold Xcel Energy Accountable

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Contact: Michael Huttner
303-991-1900

Denver: The largest consumer protection organizations in Colorado joined forces to launch ExposeXcel.com, a new website clearinghouse to hold Xcel Energy accountable. They called on all Colorado consumers to visit the site by Friday, May 19th, the intervention deadline to file objections to a proposed $209 million electric rate increase. Xcel's rate increase on residents and small businesses comes at the same time that the company and its executives are making massive profits.

"We call on all Colorado consumers go to ExposeXcel.com and file their objections to Xcel's proposed $209 million increase in electric rates," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of progressnowcolorado.org. "That Xcel is increasing its rates while making massive profits and gifting extra millions to its executives is nothing short of highway robbery."

Last Thursday Xcel Energy reported a 25 increase in profits over the previous year. What has not yet been reported is that Xcel gave its former executives millions in hidden "incentive" pay including an additional $8 million dollars to its former CEO when he left the company (contact us for full details).

"The Xcel profiteering is beginning to sound like Exxon!" stated John Kefalas of the Colorado Progressive Coalition, a statewide low and middle-income advocacy organization. "On behalf of thousands of families across the state that have the hardest time paying for energy costs, we strongly oppose Xcel Energy's proposed rate increase," he stated.

Xcel's huge profits come at a time when customers have been reeling from skyrocketing bills all winter. Home heating bills, on average rose 25 to 40 percent in Colorado during peak winter months. Yesterday Xcel admitted that this electric-rate increase in likely the first in a series of hikes Colorado customers will see in coming years.

"Xcel's proposed $209 million rate increase is a double outrage," stated Dan Friedlander, Executive Director of Clean Energy Action. First, this proposed increase sits on top of already massive hikes in rates. Second, the $209M is up front payment for yesterday's technology, a polluting coal plant."

The group also proposed how Xcel could save Colorado consumers and be consistent with the voters intent to increase the use of clean energy with the passage of Amendment 27 in 2004.

"For every dollar Xcel spends on its energy efficiency programs in Minnesota, customers save over $5.00," noted Rex Wilmouth, Director of CoPIRG the consumer advocate. "If Xcel can save customers with energy efficiency programs in Minnesota, they can do it in Colorado as well."

The ExposeXcel.com campaign is led by CoPIRG the consumer advocate, Colorado Progressive Coalition and progressnowcolorado.org along with Clean Energy Action.

Each group is asking its members to visit www.ExposeXcel.com and file their objections before Friday, May 19th as that day is the intervention deadline for Colorado consumers to share their objections with the Public Utilities Commission over the proposed rate increase.

# # #

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Xcel rate-hike filing may be first in series
Denver Post
Xcel Energy's proposed $210 million- a-year electric-rate increase is likely the first in a series of hikes Colorado customers will see in the coming years. "As soon as we finish this rate case, what I think will happen is the company will file another one," said attorney Mark Davidson. "Instead of every four years, we're probably in a two-year rate-making cycle."

Aide says she redirected staff
Rocky Mountain News
A top aide to gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman admitted on the witness stand Tuesday that she told Holtzman staffers they should work on behalf of an issue committee that stands accused of illegally coordinating its activities with the campaign. Laura Teal, political director for the Holtzman campaign, said she had defied her own campaign manager and told employees they should work closely with If C Wins, You Lose, an issue committee that ran TV ads opposing Referendum C last fall. Under Colorado campaign finance law, political candidates are not supposed to be directly involved with issue committees. "I instructed my staff to help out Andy George," Teal said. George was one of two employees of the If C Wins, You Lose committee. The trial was prompted by allegations that the Holtzman campaign illegally created the If C Wins, You Lose committee to promote Holtzman's candidacy. The charges were brought by veteran lobbyist Steve Durham, a supporter of Holtzman's Republican rival for the gubernatorial nomination, Congressman Bob Beauprez.

Senate backs measure for lobbyists' disclosure
Rocky Mountain News
The Senate approved three measures aimed at cracking down on sex offenders; a bill that makes identity theft a crime; and a measure that would make it felony to cause severe emotional damage to a child under the state's child abuse laws. But House Bill 1149 by Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, and Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, drew the most political backlash. Senate Republicans opposed the bill, even though the House had weakened it by stripping two provisions: one would require a one-year "cooling off" period between leaving public office and become a lobbyist, and the other would compel lobbyists to report campaign contributions of $100 or more. Still, the bill would require lobbyists to disclose the bill numbers of legislation they're working, their clients' position on legislation and any direct business relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers. "This is good government disclosure," Tupa said, noting that lobbyists help fund campaigns, draft legislation and fund lawmakers' controversial office accounts. "Lobbyists are paid outside of the legislature to lobby the political process, and this bill sheds more light on their dealings," he said. Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, led the fight against the bill, arguing that it's unnecessary because reputable lobbyists already disclose such information to the secretary of state. He said the bill would ultimately hamper lawmakers.

Today's complete daily news digest

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To subscribe to the daily news digest, click here.

The immigration crisis in Congress raises an important issue: What value is U.S. citizenship? How important is a U.S. passport? Unfortunately, to U.S. companies and consular officers in Saudi Arabia, the answer is "Not Very."

In Saudi Arabia, American Companies are confiscating American Citizen's passports. The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh agree with this practice and encourage it. This practice is extremely dangerous it places U.S. Citizens at risk, violates human rights, and as a nation, sends the wrong signals to struggling nations fighting for human rights issues in Saudi Arabia. An employee in a foreign country has no rights, no proof of validating their citizenship without the passport.

An example of this practice that disregards Saudi law: Computer Science Corporation Arabia (CSCA) a partnership between Computer Science Corporation (CSC) and Technology Boundaries (a Saudi Company) participates in the business practice of confiscating U.S. passports from their employees. The confiscation of the passports (Link is a tool to control and intimidate employees. Control is imposed to safeguard several outstanding issues:
• The head of the Minister of Interior (Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud) has a vested interest in CSCA.
• The partnership is operated by an American General Manager, working on multi-million-dollar contracts from the Minister of Interior Organization.
• U.S. Citizens are working on non-employment visas for six months.
The average U.S. Citizen looking for foreign employment is not aware of the environment they are about to enter. This practice sets the stage for the abuse and exploitation of workers (Link from poorer nations like Indonesia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Sri Lanka. British Aerospace employees say they retain their passport and have not experienced this problem.

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when asked to comment on this issue, "It is within the Saudi Labor law. The law requires that the employers should keep their employees passports while expatriates are employed in Saudi Arabia," stated Mazen M. Shahan, in an email dated February 21, 2006. Only government officials can confiscate a passport, it is an illegal practice by private industry. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh is trying to trivialize this practice to help support U.S. Company policies and is not actively protecting U.S. Citizens.

The Department of State was asked to comment on this issue. Michelle Bernier-Toth, Office of American Citizens Service and Crisis Management, stated in a letter dated March 20, 2006, "Under Saudi law, employers typically hold foreign employees' passports, and such employees may not depart the country without the employer's permission." But while "typical," the practice is not enshrined in Saudi Labor Law. Neither the Department of State nor the Embassy in Riyadh has been able to produce the relevant language from Saudi code legitimizing passport confiscation by private industry.

This is not surprising, because the language does not exist. The Department of State's Report on Human Rights Practices 2005, (Link, states that "the Basic Law prohibits employers from retaining foreign workers' passports; however, in practice most sponsors reportedly often retained possession of foreign workers' passports." It continues: "The law prohibits employers from holding their employees' passports without the employee's consent; however, this law was not well known to foreign employees and, as a result, was frequently violated." The assertions of the Department of State, the Embassy in Riyadh and the Human Rights Report is problematic.

On February 9, 2006, the Saudi Labor Court System was petitioned to intervene on a confiscated passport event. The Saudi Labor Court made it clear that a passport confiscated by a private company was considered "stolen property." They demanded that the CSC / CSCA General Manager return it immediately. While the Saudi Labor Court System should be applauded, its decision highlights further the problems caused by the reluctance of U.S. diplomats to stand up for the rights of their citizens.

Expected topics for Jay Marvin's show on AM 760.
Wednesday May 3rd

Wednesday May 3rd from 6--10AM on AM 760

7:30AM: Our special guest is Jason Leopold of Truthout who reports that despite vehement denials by his attorney, who said this week that Karl Rove is neither a "target" nor in danger of being indicted in the CIA leak case, the special counsel leading the investigation has already written up charges against Rove, and a grand jury is expected to vote on whether to indict the Deputy White House Chief of Staff sometime next week. Jason Leopold spent two years covering California's electricity crisis as Los Angeles bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires and has spent the last year cultivating sources close to the CIA leak investigation, and is a regular contributor to Truthout. He is the author of the new book News Junkie.

9:00AM: It's our guest of the week from The Nation Magazine. Marc Cooper writes about the immigration rallies on Monday in Los Angeles (where he lives). Marc Cooper is a Nation contributing editor and the host and executive producer of The Nation's syndicated weekly radio show, RadioNation. Cooper's books include Pinochet and Me: A Chilean Anti-Memoir and Roll Over Che Guevara: Travels of a Radical Reporter. His work has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists, PEN America and the California Associated Press TV and Radio Association.

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ThinkProgress, from today's White House briefing:

HENRY: Scott, on Friday the president firmly said he believes the national anthem should be sung in English. Kevin Phillips, the Republican analyst, wrote a book called American Dynasty. And in there, he claims that, during the president's 2000 campaign, he did sing The Star Spangled Banner in Spanish at some Hispanic festivals, various campaign events.

Are you aware that you recall that from the 2000 campaign?

MCCLELLAN: No, I don't.

HENRY: Do you think that that would be counter to what the president laid out on Friday?

MCCLELLAN: I don't recall that, and I'm not going to try and speculate on something I haven't looked into.

Here's a cheat sheet, courtesy of the United States government.

La Bandera de Estrellas

Amanece: ¿no veis, a la luz de la aurora,
Lo que tanto aclamamos la noche al caer?
Sus estrellas, sus barras flotaban ayer
En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de cohetes, de bombas estruendo,
Por la noche decían: "!Se va defendiendo!"

Coro:
!Oh, decid! ¿Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada?

En la costa lejana que apenas blanquea,
Donde yace nublada la hueste feroz
Sobre aquel precipicio que elévase atroz
¡Oh, decidme! ¿Qué es eso que en la brisa ondea?
Se oculta y flamea, en el alba luciendo,
Reflejada en la mar, donde va resplandeciendo

Coro:
!Aún allí desplegó su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada!

¡Oh así sea siempre, en lealtad defendamos
Nuestra tierra natal contra el torpe invasor!
A Dios quien nos dio paz, libertad y honor,
Nos mantuvo nación, con fervor bendigamos.
Nuestra causa es el bien, y por eso triunfamos.
Siempre fue nuestro lema "¡En Dios confiamos!"

Coro:
!Y desplegará su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada!

Source: US Department of State

Just another chance for me to reiterate that you pathetic nativist haters make me sick. Himno nacional, courtesy the State Department. Seems they'd be the ones to know the etiquette, whereas you "defenders of American culture" don't even know enough about America to pass a citizenship test. Perhaps we should send you back.

I forgive Bush because he doesn't have a clue anyway. The rest of you are making a joke of all Americans. It's like the "English only" throwbacks -- who nobody ever told that the Colorado Constitution was originally written in three languages...

COLORADO TOP STORIES

A roar for respect: a day without immigrants
Denver Post
Tens of thousands of immigrant- rights supporters chanting "We are America" marched through downtown Monday, their energy level intensifying as they poured onto the Capitol lawn in a sea of white shirts and American flags. The crowd, estimated at 75,000 by Denver police, was part of a national day of action to draw attention to immigration rights. Wearing white to symbolize a peaceful protest, they carried signs saying "We are not criminals" and "Liberty and justice for all."

Holtzman calls outside probe unnecessary
Denver Post
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Marc Holtzman said Monday he would look into his campaign manager's admission that he lied to the media but said an outside investigation was unnecessary. "I want to know the facts," Holtzman told The Associated Press. "If what was reported is true, it raises serious concerns." His top adviser, Dick Leggitt, testified under oath Friday that he made up poll results he gave to a Denver Post reporter last year. The paper referred to Leggitt and those numbers in an article last year. Leggitt has said he lied because he suspected the reporter was forwarding his e-mails to Holtzman's opponent, U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez.

House endorses drug bill
Denver Post
Drug manufacturers may be supporting a bill to lower the cost of prescription drugs because it will give them a competitive advantage, the measure's opponents said Monday. Representatives from the drug industry have said they support House Bill 1100, to which the House gave preliminary approval on Monday, because it would offer some uninsured Coloradans access to discounted drugs. But a Republican lawmaker, representatives from a major health plan and a business group said the measure would allow the drug industry and others access to confidential pricing information between health plans and drug makers.

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View Source Here http://blog.aflcio.org/?p=488

Among the massive cuts to federal programs that benefit working people, Republican congressional leaders have muscled through $12.7 billion in cuts to student aid as part of the Bush administration's budget blueprint.

Translation: Students who borrow up to $20,000 could end up paying an extra $6,000 over the life of the loan.

The education cuts are part of a $40 billion package President George W. Bush signed in February that also slashed health care funding, child-support enforcement and several programs for low-income families. A $70 billion tax giveaway to the rich is awaiting congressional action.

To counter the attack on the education of our nation's children, the AFL-CIO, AFT, NEA and other unions and student groups are lining up in a "Reverse the Raid on Student Aid" campaign to make a college education more affordable for working family students.

New legislation (S. 2573, H.R. 5150) introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) would:

* Reverse scheduled student loan interest rate hikes the Bush spending cut package will impose July 1.
* Fully fund the Pell Grant program.
* Make it easier for students and their families to consolidate their student loans.

"The AFT firmly believes that the role of the federal government is to increase access to higher education," says Gabriella Gomez, a higher education specialist in AFT's legislative department. "Until now, there has been very little done in the president's budget to ensure that access is a reality. This legislation is a definite step in the right direction, and we hope that other members of Congress will follow suit."

Durbin and Miller point out that the average tuition at a four-year public college has jumped 40 percent since 2001 (adjusted for inflation) and the average student borrower is saddled with a $17,500 debt after graduation.

"Congress should be making college more affordable, but instead Washington Republicans chose to put college further out of reach for American students and their families," Miller says.

The heart of the bill would cut interest rates in half--saving the student with the $17,500 debt some $5,600 over the loan's life. The other key provision would fully fund the Pell Grant program and boost the maximum grant to $5,800, compared with the $4,050 limit the Republican-controlled Congress has imposed by underfunding the program.

"The legacy of this White House and Congress to date has been broken promises and historic funding cuts that put college even further out of reach for millions of American students and their families," Durbin says.



by Mike Hall

I was a little late getting downtown today, sending out emails and such. By the time I got to the office, much of the crowd had already made it to the Capitol -- though the Mall Shuttle was still shut down. Made getting over there that much more adventurous.


New Post/News building in the background. My understanding is they were there, too. That used to mean everything mediawise -- but today you've got your matchless cadre of Colorado blogs. Which means you've got your own boots on the ground.

The redoubtable Coloradolib hooked up with the march on 17th Street. So did Luis Torro, covering the action on DailyKos:

I joined the march in the middle of downtown around noon. Before that, I saw from a window of a downtown building that the march stretched all the way back to almost Federal Blvd. on Speer...

For those of you not in Denver, that's quite a distance.

It was definitely the biggest crowd anybody I knew could remember. The closest I've ever seen to this at Civic Center was probably the St. Francis of Assisi Mass in 1993 that inaugurated World Youth Day. That was a big crowd -- maybe it was the white that made this seem so much bigger...

Westword's Michael Roberts caught up with my boss at the RejectTancredo.com table:

Michael Huttner, the public face of progressnowcolorado.org, manned a table at which he promoted his latest creation, a Tom Tancredo-bashing website accessible at RejectTancredo.com; Huttner was resplendent in a priest-collared white shirt that made him look like a visitor from a renaissance fair...

The great thing about our office is how everybody can make fun of each other, even the Executive Director, and nobody gets fired. God bless you, Michael Roberts, because this is a week's ammo.

I was amazed, as the state police slowly moved the demonstration off the steps of the Capitol while we packed up our table, at the almost complete abscence of trash. Understand, 75,000 people had just been there -- I don't even think the Catholics left the place so clean.

But after thinking about why these people were there -- to demonstrate to the nation that they are a worthy piece of our collective American entity and they will not be scapegoated -- it made perfect sense.

Next action for:
The Question Alliance
Saturday, May 13, 2006
10-11:30 a.m.
Corner of University & Highlands Ranch Parkway

Topic: Genocide in the Darfur Region of Sudan

Question: How much does the current genocide in Darfur, Sudan disturb you?

Since 2003, the Sudanese government and Janjaweed militias have killed tens of thousands of people, raped and assaulted thousands of women and girls, bombed, burned and destroyed hundreds of villages, forced more than 2 million Darfurians from their homes and created at least 1.5 million people in need of food assistance because of the disruption in the local economies, etc. Although the United States has declared the treatment of black Sudanese in Darfur as genocide, we and other nations around the world have not taken the necessary steps to end the slaughter of innocents. Let us bring more attention to this unacceptable situation. Google-- genocide darfur sudan-- for more information.

Please remember that it is important to have the same exact wording on your sign. The exact wording for the question on May 13th is:

How much does the current genocide in Darfur, Sudan disturb you?

Please bring family and friends to join The Question Alliance. All are welcome!! Children need to be supervised.

We encourage others to participate in this action in your own neighborhood if you'd like. Just let us know your plans, make sure the question is worded exactly the same as above, and let us know how it goes.

Remember we are a peaceful, respectful group that abides by local requirements. We'd like to expand The Question Alliance by having drivers read the same important question at multiple locations the same day!


This action will be postponed if the weather is too nasty.

You might want to make sturdy signs. It can get windy!

Please contact us with any questions, etc.
TheQuestionAlliance@gmail.com
Thank you,
Jim and Diane Schrack

Ok, here is the next thing I have seen... Iran is saying they did nothing... which you would expect if they did, but then who really has any idea!

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Monday denied Baghdad's accusation that Iranian soldiers had shelled Kurdish positions on the Iraqi border and ventured five kilometers (three miles) into Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels.

Iran's Kurdish territories along its border with Iraq have simmered with unrest since July. Several members of Iran's security forces and Kurds have died in a string of street protests and gunfights.

Iraq's Defense Ministry on Sunday said Iranian troops had crossed the border to attack positions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on April 21. Iran accuses Pezhak, PKK's Iranian wing, of killing several of its soldiers.

"Such reports are denied," Iran's government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said, when asked about the Iraqi accusation and a report by the Arabic-language Al Jazeera network that Iran was mustering troops in Kurdish areas.

Iran's mountainous western borders are always heavily militarized because of ethnic tensions and smuggling routes.

Any breaches by forces from Shi'ite Muslim Iran are liable to fuel accusations from Iraq's Sunni politicians that Tehran is meddling in Iraq's affairs.

Read it

A few individuals from the ocean of people:


Voters (you've been warned).


Proving that "podium" is a state of mind. Si, tu puede!


Best sign.

Early estimates of 75,000 in Denver.

Thousands (as in I don't even know how many thousands -- ten thousand?) of people have signed up to rejectTANCREDO.com. We'll be combining these names into a petition to distribute far and wide.

Photos:







More coming -- lots to photograph today.

FRIST'S ANTI-PATIENT HEALTH CARE SCEME
By Patty Skolnik
Get ready for another dose of corporate-friendly legislation from the good hands people in Washington, D.C.
Oval Office contender, Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), will unveil an anti-consumer bill in early May. The measure is designed to cap civil damage awards against bad doctors, HMO's and the Insurance Industry. Frist's well-connected corporate allies want a national limit on damages. They want to limit awards to $250,000 on such trivial matters as "pain and suffering."
If Frist and his Insurance Industry friends win, it means a husband could not obtain justice from the people who killed his spouse. Instead, a government approved protection plan guarantees wrongdoers feel no pain.
It's no accident that Frist, whose family owns the Hospital Corporation of America, one of the largest and most profitable hospital chains in the county, announced the measure during "Health Week" in D.C.
Good health in Washington usually fattens the pockets of politically connected corporations. Frist's plan will only benefit insurance companies, which reaped $44.8-billion in profits last year.
What's next? A government-backed law that lets Exxon charge $3.50 a gallon, yet protects the oil giant from environmental lawsuits?
I know more about medical malpractice than most people. I learned it the hard way after a hospital error ended my son's life and changed mine forever. My only son Michael underwent an unnecessary brain operation in 2001. A doctor misdiagnosed his ailment and recommended surgery. Thus began a thirty-two month nightmare that saw Michael suffer bleeds to the brain, infections, pulmonary embolisms, paralysis and death.
Michael is hardly the only patient to die from a hospital mistake. Nearly 195,000 people are killed annually in America due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors, according to a study of 37 million patient records by the Lakewood-based research group HealthGrades.
No wonder Frist's Insurance Industry friends want to prevent damaged patients and families from seeking justice in a court of law.
I work to protect and strengthen the civil justice system. I want the wrongdoers to face up to their responsibilities.
Frist, however, believes civil justice defenders like me are insignificant bit players in some kind of lawsuit lottery. Trust me, I have not won anything. I lost a son and now fight to prevent similar tragedies from shattering other lives.
Frist's Health Week scheme is nothing more than the latest in a series of corporate-backed attacks on the civil justice system and the people who want to protect it. The corporate and political liars behind this distortion campaign want you to believe that caps help our health care system.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Insurance premiums in states with damage caps are 12 percent higher than those states without caps. OB/GYNs in states with caps pay higher malpractice insurance premiums than their counterparts in states without caps. Surgeons in states with caps pay nearly 20 percent more for malpractice insurance premiums than the surgeons in states without caps.
Insurance companies have paid only 160 medical malpractice claims per year in Colorado since 2001. The majority of these were worth less than $125,000. Meantime, the Insurance Industry has pocketed more than $80 million while doing business in Colorado over the last five years.
The system Frist embraces is unfair to everyone, except insurance giants that have the money and clout to gain government-backed protection.
Colorado passed tort reform measures 20 years ago. We were told the caps would lower insurance rates and improve the health care business. Yet today, in Colorado and across the nation, medical malpractice rates continue to escalate. So do Insurance Industry profits and the number of people accidentally killed by medical mistakes.
Patty Skolnik is the founder of Colorado Citizens for Accountability, a grassroots, non-profit dedicated to protecting civil justice and holding powerful interest groups accountable from misdeeds.
You can learn more about her organization at Link.

COLORADO TOP STORIES

Job, school weighed vs. march
Denver Post
As advocates for immigration reform approached the national call for today's planned economic boycott, marches and rallies, many families faced a dual dilemma. Adults wrestled with whether they could afford to skip work. Parents confronted another question: What's the best way to balance education and activism? Less than two weeks after about 2,500 students walked out of classes to attend a march and rally at the state Capitol, today's gathering raises the opportunity - or excuse - for kids to ditch class and join what could be a massive demonstration.

Holtzman aide under fire
Denver Post
Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman's opponent on Sunday said Holtzman's campaign manager broke the law when he lied to the media and should immediately resign. The demand from U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez's campaign was in response to Dick Leggitt's admission in court last week that he made up poll numbers and results he gave to a Denver Post reporter. The paper referred to Leggitt and those numbers in an article it published last year. "Either Marc Holtzman supports Dick Leggitt in this violation of this law or he condemns him and fires him," John Marshall, campaign manager for Beauprez, said Sunday. "We think this is serious. We think it's illegal, and we think he should resign." Holtzman did not return messages to his cellphone Sunday.

PERA reform still hangs fire in Legislature
Pueblo Chieftain
recent audit of the state's largest public employee retirement plan showed that in 40 years, PERA would be $12.8 billion short in paying out expected benefits, though more recent estimates put that amount as low as $11.3 billion. Regardless, PERA officials said that if nothing is done about the problem, the plan that covers about 370,000 state workers and school teachers could be less than 50 percent funded by 2034. But a compromise plan designed to bring PERA back into the black is working its way through the Legislature. The Colorado Senate approved the compromise - SB235 - Friday on a 20-14 vote.

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Please drop what you're doing because here we go again. Senate leaders are again exploiting rising gas prices to rush a bill to the floor that would destroy the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and boost oil industry profits. The vote could come as early as Tuesday.

The Senate front men for Big Oil are doing their damnedest to convince Americans that sacrificing the Arctic and sending each of us a $100 rebate check will solve all our problems at the pump.

There's only one way to expose these lies and prevent the sacrifice of America's greatest wildlife refuge: Help light up the Senate switchboard today!

Please call your two Senators right now:
Senator Wayne Allard: (202) 224-5941
Senator Ken Salazar: (202) 224-5852

Tell them to vote NO on the Gas Price Relief and Rebate Act. Tell them you will not trade the Arctic Refuge for $100 or be fooled by policies that do nothing to solve the real problem of America's dangerous dependence on oil. Urge them to get to work on cutting oil consumption by improving the mileage of our cars and promoting clean and renewable energy.

Here are the facts: the Energy Department says that drilling in the Arctic Refuge would save consumers only one penny per gallon at the pump in 20 years!
Meanwhile, anyone who drives will be forced to take the Senate's $100 rebate check -- paid for with our tax dollars -- and sign it over to ExxonMobil for their next two tanks of gas.

Only an oil company could love a bill that picks the taxpayers' wallets for $12 billion in gas money. The Gas Price Relief and Rebate Act should really be called the "Guaranteed Profits for Big Oil Act!"

Remember: these are the same Senators who passed a pro-polluter energy bill last summer that refused to make America's gas-guzzlers more fuel-efficient, but instead doled out billions of tax dollars to oil and coal companies. This latest bill is just more of the same corporate welfare.

Call your Senators right now and tell them you will not surrender the Arctic Refuge or line the pockets of the oil companies with your tax dollars.

Looks like the Cons (interpret as you will) read this one wrong...

Aides for several Republican senators reported a surge of calls and e-mail messages from constituents ridiculing the rebate as a paltry and transparent effort to pander to voters before the midterm elections in November.

"The conservatives think it is socialist bunk, and the liberals think it is conservative trickery," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, pointing out that the criticism was coming from across the ideological spectrum.

Angry constituents have asked, "Do you think we are prostitutes? Do you think you can buy us?" said another Republican senator's aide, who was granted anonymity to openly discuss the feedback because the senator had supported the plan.

Full Article

Yours truly quoted in the conservative paper:

Pro-life Democrat vying for governor By Valerie Richardson, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, May 1, 2006