Today on DenverPost.com, Vincent Carroll wrote: "Shouldn't this country's experience after 9/11 reassure those who fear a backlash against Muslims?... The most recent data, from 2007...: Of 1,477 offenses motivated by religious bias, only 9 percent were directed at Muslims."

Peter Boyles was echoing the "there has been no Anti-Muslim backlash" mantra.  They seems to be ignoring the rest of the FBI Religious Hate Crimes data:

Year - % of Religious Hate Crimes that were Anti-Islamic

1995 - 2.3%

1996 - 1.9% (page 11)

1997 - 2.0% (page 10)

1998 - 1.5% (page 10)

1999 - 2.3% (page 9)

2000 - 1.9% (page 11)

2001 - 26%  <-- I'd call this a "backlash"

2002 - 10.8% (page 13)

2003 - 11% (page 9)

2004 - 13%

2005 - 11.1%

2006 - 12%

2007 - 9.0% (last year available)

Muslims in America were 0.5% of total U.S. population in 2001 (Jewish was 1.4%).  In 2007, Muslims made up 0.6% of total U.S. population (Jewish was 1.7%).

If Initiative 300 in Denver passes, and you forget your wallet and get pulled over, police officers will be forced to impound your car leaving you stranded.

Which is why we're asking for your help. We need you to vote No on Initiative 300 if you live in Denver County.

It's deceptive. It's scary. It's expensive. And it's unnecessary.

Police officers already have the ability to impound vehicles if they are concerned about public safety. The Denver Post, Mayor Hickenlooper, ten members of the Denver City Council, House Speaker Terrence Carroll, and a long list of Denver community organizations and individuals oppose Initiative 300. And the proponents of this nightmare are counting on low turnout in an off-year election to sneak this one past us.

• Send an e-mail to 5 friends in Denver and ask them to vote no.
• Talk to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers in person about how important it is for them to return their ballots, and ask them to vote no on Initiative 300.
• Sign up to volunteer.

As for voting, the 2009 Election will be Mail-In Ballot only. Voting couldn't be easier-- it just takes 2 stamps to return, or you can drop it off to the Denver Election Commission in person. So please Vote NO on Initiative 300 and help spread the word.

If you live in Denver, you should have received your ballot in the mail. To check on your voter registration and on the status of your ballot, click here to look it up at the Secretary of State:

http://www.sos.state.co.us/Voter

If you believe you are registered to vote and you have not received your ballot, call 311 today.

From the Bob Herbert op/ed, "Igniting the Growth of Jobs"

NY Times

'40,000 teachers lost their jobs in the last year.  16 to 29 year olds, worst unemployment ever since national records have been kept.  One in four black men in Illinois between the ages of 20 and 24 has a job.'

One of the regents of the University of Colorado, Michael Carrigan, told me that Colorado had a return on investment of 40 to 1 for each dollar invested in higher ed. The only figures I could find for Colorado was a 15.07 percent return.  New Jersey leads the nation with 42.32 percent, followed by Massachusetts 39.16, New York 37.82, California 36.53 percent.  All in all a substantial return on investment.  The lowest in the nation, predictably, was Mississippi at 6.49 percent.  Most surprisingly, Indiana is second from the bottom at 7.22 percent

Higher Ed Return on Investment for States

Most significantly, Herbert says this:

""The past," as William Faulkner told us, "is not dead. It’s not even past." The lessons of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s are right in front of us, ready to be studied, analyzed, updated and applied to the present-day needs of the country."

I hate to say this, but we are a country of nepotism, in our unions, our military, in corporations, in government.  Because of this "inbreeding" and counterproductive behavior, we must import the brightest minds/strongest work ethics from around the world to carry our water and be used as if indentured servants.  It is all a vast pyramid scheme where the unqualified extinguish the flames of the most gifted and reap the rewards off the backs of the timid.  Their only qualification?  Being members of the lucky sperm club.  Here's something the "conservative revision" Bible will surely leave out, "As you have done to the least of these......."  The least very much includes the youthful poor, who have no say in the conditions they find themselves in and obviously don't have the attention of those that have the most.  While we argue about war, healthcare, social justice, gay rights, Obama's Nobel Prize, etc., no one considers our most precious asset nor what should be our greatest legacy to them, "Liberty and Justice for all.."  This is what is great about the idea of America, eloquently pronounced in the Preamble of the Constitution, not just to ourselves but to our Posterity,  the word was capitalized unlike the word "ourselves":

Truth = Law?

"Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state, in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the blessings that the gods shower on a state."

Plato circa 350 BC

Likewise, Aristotle endorsed the rule of law, writing that "law should govern", and those in power should be "servants of the laws." The ancient concept of rule of law is to be distinguished from rule by law, according to political science professor Li Shuguang: "The difference....is that under the rule of law the law is preeminent and can serve as a check against the abuse of power. Under rule by law, the law can serve as a mere tool for a government that suppresses in a legalistic fashion."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_law