If you’re curious about what today at the Colorado Capitol Building looked like, see this link for photos.  Around 250 Iranian Americans showed up to show support for the people of Iran, not the government.

Here’s my ten minute long youtube video:

Link to cbs4denver’s report here.

Squee #2 – Boulder City Council are urging Amtrak officials to alter that old line a bit. The Pioneer used to run through Greeley, but considering all the local support surrounding FasTracks and the much-anticipated Boulder Transit Village, they suggest the revived Pioneer run instead through Boulder. Direct rail travel from Boulder to Seattle? OMGWTFBBQ!!!1!1!1!!!eleven!

I done saw it in the Daily Camera (also in the Colorado Daily, for more detail, via Twitter feed AmtrakNews) where the sole commenter as of this moment is voicing support for the reinstated line but not for “regular Amtrak trains through Boulder.” I’m not quite sure why. Do they fear the noise and congestion of 20 TRAINS DAY, I SAID TWENTY MILLION TRAINS A DAY, SINGING A BAR OF ALICE’S RESTAURANT– Dude, chill. You got any reason to expect the Pioneer will run more often than the California Zephyr, which is to say once a day in either direction? You think that’ll add any significant hullabaloo to the existing freight traffic that passes daily through town on the BNSF? Or maybe they worry that Boulder will suddenly host a super big amount of car traffic as the new Amtrak Mecca? I am confused. Enlighten me.

As for me, I totally support an Amtrak stop in Boulder. Do you? Squee here! Don’t you? Explain!

Jefferson County recently sent out their assessments for this year.  Ours went up by a ridiculous amount and I had to ask a few of my friends whether they had seen similar increases.  They all reported the same thing.  Their assessments were raised by $50,000, $60,000, even $150,000 from the previous year.

Needless to say, we are all going to appeal.

The question is – why?  Given what we all know to be a major drop in real estate values, why would Jefferson County have picked this year to increase our assessments by such large amounts.

We all came to the same conclusion – they need the money….  I think this is also why there are so many police cars out their handing out speeding tickets.  They need the revenue.  And they are taking it out on us.

The Denver Post wrote about this here.

For a little background on this bill and the national trend to eliminate the death penalty, please see my previous posting on the the possible repeal of the death penalty in Colorado.

Almost identical legislation narrowly failed in 2007, but may have a better chance of passage this year given the budget challenges and the fact that the Democrats are the majority party in both houses of the Colorado legislature and we have a Democratic Governor.

Colorado currently has only two people on death row and has only executed one person since 1967.

Both the Denver Post and the New York Times have written articles documenting the fact that in addition to Colorado a number of other states (including Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Maryland, Montana and New Mexico) are considering repealing the death penalty to save money at a time when states are facing enourmous budgetary pressure as a result of the recession.  These articles document the fact that death penalty cases cost as much as ten times what it costs to prosecute criminals and keep them in prison for the rest of their lives.  According to California’s Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, California spends an additional $63 Million each year just to imprison its death row inmates.  That expense does not even include the cost of trials and appeals which can be up to ten times as expensive as trials where the penalty being sought by the state is life imprisonment.

The Daily Sentinel reported:

The money spent on prosecuting death-penalty cases and subsequent appeals, according to Weissman, is a drain on state law enforcement resources. “We spend about $2 million from the state, and about $2 million locally on a death penalty that we never use,” Weissman says.

Add to this the facts that very few death sentences are carried out each year and that a number of death row inmates have subsequently been exonerated through DNA evidence, and there appears to be a strong argument to repeal the death penalty this year when state budgets are so tight.

I have mixed emotions about the death penalty.  As a general matter, I am opposed to the idea of killing anyone.  However, I am a husband and a father and I have read news accounts over the years about gruesome murders by criminals who are so repugnant that I can see where an eye for an eye has an appeal.

I know that many family members of victims disagree, but I have to believe that Colorado can find better ways to spend the money it will save by repealing the death penalty – especially during this recession when all of us have to make difficult choices.

House Bill 1091 requires all new homes and apartments to install CO detectors. It also requires installation of detectors in new construction of single or multi-family dwellings, including rental properties. Prior to renting, the bill states that a landlord must replace or repair existing alarms, and permits a local government to set more stringent requirements for the installation of alarms.

While I tend to be fairly liberal politically, this legislation does give me some hesitation.  It does seem to to be an intrusion into our private lives.  (There is an appeal to libertarian thinking….)  That said, according to the Cherry Creek News:

The CDC reports about 500 Americans die each year due to accidental CO poisoning, and another 20,000 end up in the emergency room. Children are especially vulnerable. Although CO poisoning can happen anytime, most incidents happen during the winter months, mainly due to an increased use of fuel-burning appliances.

Six people have died in Colorado since Thanksgiving from Carbon Monoxide poisoning and fifty people have been treated in Colorado emergency rooms.

Last weekend, on Valentine’s Day, our good friends called us in a panic – they needed us to take their dogs for the night.  Their CO detector had gone off – they had just installed it a week before.  The fire department had determined that their stove was leaking gas and they had to leave their house for the night.  Thankfully, they had their CO detector installed or they could have been another statistic….

This morning, I installed a second carbon monoxide detector in our house.  It was our choice and we don’t have the Colorado legislature mandating – yet.  But, maybe it is a good thing to mandate this.  It is relatively inexpensive, it will save lives including a few people who knowingly accept the risk and other unknowing beneficiaries of the pending legislation.

My issue with this has little to do with Obama and more to do with the blatant hypocrisy exhibited by naming a school where racism, discrimination, and segregation are not only allowed, but enforced by the staff and administration.

To understand why I am so upset about this, you need to know my back story. As a bi-racial student at BHS from 1999-2002, I have first-hand experience with some of Boulder’s infamous hypocritical behavior.

2/12: updated: Students pull plan…

9News reports that Boulder High School students say it’s time for a “Barack Obama High School”.

Well, you have to give them props for going right along with the whole “Yes We Can” motif that has swept the country coast to coast and threatens to drown the rest of us in an overdose of Hope and Change.

All right, maybe that was a little snippy, but I’m just going to come out and say it. This Obama worship that seems to be breaking loose from the far and near corners is a more than a little creepy and embarrassing. In the United States it feels like we’ve suddenly given up hope in ourselves and placed it in the hands of one man. People, he’s the President. He’s not the guy who is going to save America single handily. This whole crisis is not just one guys fault. There’s plenty of blame to go around and Former President Bush is not the only one to put on a pike and dance around gleefully.

Although I suspect some would gleefully suggest such a thing.

Which brings me to Boulder High School and the students who’ve decided that after over one hundred years of legacy and history it’s time to jump on that speeding wagon of “Yes We Can” and by golly name the school “Barack Obama High School.”

First of all, High School students are always wide eyed optimists when it comes to most anything they come up with the Utopian world they live in. I know because I lived in and now live vicariously through it via kids at my church. Wildly politically skewing ideas are a trademark of Boulder and the High School is no exception.

Via the always infallible Wikipedia:(I actually even blogged about this event here)

In 1999, Boulder High students founded the Student Worker activist group. Several of the group’s demonstrations have received national attention, including a January 2005 “sleep-in” protesting the war in Iraq and a May 2001 “kiss-in” supporting alternative sexuality.[9][10] In May 2005 Student Worker, in a partnership with Peace Jam, erected 1,650 American flags in memory of soldiers killed in Iraq.[11] In September 2007, the group protested the Pledge of Allegiance, citing an objection to the “one nation, under God” clause, and instead reciting a revised version.[12]

To me this story represents a good teaching lesson to the students. Taking this action ignores everything that has come before. The history, the legacy and the connection that all holds to the school. The adults in Boulder suprised me this time around by agreeing with me and the 9news article makes it seem like this would be a uphill battle for the students. The kids seem to think that “Yes We Can” will get them through this but I have some words of wisdom.

Wait until he’s out of office and the legend of Obama can be confirmed by history and those that will witness it. His success in becoming the first African American President of these United States is a huge accomplishment and he deserves credit for that. However, that does mean we should grant him immediate sainthood via a High School named after him. I believe he should prove himself first over the next four or so years before we start giving him the props such a honor would allow.

This is something the high school students should consider. I understand the palpable excitement I can feel through reading the article but I would suggest a splash of cold reality and a good line of questioning to allow them to see the adult perspective on this one. I would say in four years you might have a good case for such a move, depending on how the future unwritten history plays out through time.

Thoughts?

Much like I’m going to now. Let me ’splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

About a month ago on the 25th of September I was leaving my house at about 12:30pm intent on going to my second shift job. I recently moved into the DU area in June. Because there are five people living in the house, there is limited parking in the garage. Which means I’m the odd man out. Therefore, we were issued “guest” permits since there are only so many resident permits allowed.

I have one of those guest permits. I have hung it faithfully since I received it. I even had it renewed last week because I knew I’d get the ticketing ticketers on my tail if I didn’t.

Anyway, on the 25 of September I found my car had been ticketed. I was upset. Then the meter person (maid is probably offensive) honked at me and apologized, said he hadn’t seen my pass and if I could give him the ticket he’d take care of it. I said, “Oh, cool. Thank you very much” and was as pleasant as Pooh Bear on a honey buzz. I smiled, thanked him again and was on my way to work with nary a thought to the ticket.

Until today.

I now must pay this ticket or face being booted, impounded or drop kicked into the Bronco’s end zone. I’d love for the last one since it might improve our current sucky season o’ donkeys.

The ticket is now up to 50.00 because I didn’t respond to the original one. What original one? The one the parking meter guy said he’d take care of? The one that I shouldn’t have had in the first place because I had my guest badge in my front mirror displayed like it should be? I had moved my car in the last 72 hours and had done everything according to what was required. And yet, here I am staring down a 50.00 ticket.

Should I want to dispute this ticket, it’s going to take more work for me. I’ll have to call the department and probably be told that I have to come in to dispute this and somehow prove that yes indeed the dude said this and that I shouldn’t have even gotten this ticket. I’ll probably have to go downtown and pay for more parking at a meter so I don’t get towed, go in and state my case and hope that somebody there realizes that the guy that did this ticket messed up and I shouldn’t have to pay.

But it’s the issue of me having to go in and take care of this when this wasn’t even my fault! I mean, if I had been hit with the ticket cause my window dangler-thinger wasn’t there, I would accept this. I would gladly suck it up and find a way to pay with monies I don’t even have. If this ticket had a purpose. But it doesn’t. At all.

It’s not my fault that this guy screwed it up. It’s not my fault he didn’t take care of it. And I shouldn’t have to pay for his mistake by using up gas, paying for parking and having to plead my case.

I hope that I can call tomorrow and say, “Look, I have no cash until Friday. And I don’t have any off days for awhile. Can we deal with this now and not drag this out?”. And I know what the answer will be.

“Can you come down and chat with us?”

Head, meet desk.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repea…

_____

National Blog Writing Month (nablowrimo) is underway! 22 bloggers from around the world are united in blogging once a day! You should read them and check ‘em out every day!  See more details at the site here or look at the list below!

NaBloWriMo Bloggers

• groovygrrl
• I’m Not Hannah
• The Kittalog
• Indian Food Rocks!
• Cooking and Me
• The Way I Always Was
• Jugalbandi
• Culinary Colorado
• Digging In
• Thistle Dew Farm
• Mimi On The Move
• Enjoy Indian Food
• Siri’s Corner
• Conch-to-be
• Nags of a Similar Ilk
• Damn Yankee, Vermont
• Aaron Delay
• Fun Climbs Around the World
• Seriously Wonderful
• Straight From Hel
• Use Real Butter
• Here it is!!!

Rumor has it, we had about 100,000 people turn out. I believe it. The entire park was jammed with people, as well as the lawn of the capital. I was shoulder to shoulder with my fellow Colorado Dems, and it was pretty damn cool!

Obama rally snippet

I took a bunch of pics (which are stuck on my iPhone until my main laptop is back from the shop, short of emailing each one to myself), and 16 clips of video. This is one of them. I woulda done his whole speech, but my arm wouldn’t have made it.

Oh hai Denver!  How are you?  I am fine.  It’s finally October and the countdown until the first snow of the year is here.  Isn’t that exciting?  Not really.  In all honesty, Denver’s weather patterns are 1) unpredictable and 2) really not worth talking about (you hear that Dicker?) because in reality people who’ve been in the city for more than ten years know exactly what every fall will bring and what happens on Halloween. Unless Doomsday comes, every kid from Aurora to Westminster will be wearing winter coats over and under their pretty pretty princess costumes. It’s just the way it is.

Let’s see. Nuggets are not even in play. Avalanche, nothing special there. Broncos? The Choking Donkey’s are still doing what they do every year. Rockies? Don’t even get me started. I’m not up on the whole CU/CSU whole sports situation.

So for the most part Denver’s just the same ole’ same ole’. The DNC glow is finally faded and compared to the RNC, our city came out like Angels singing in the Heavenly Choir. Nobodies starting the controversies lately. I mean, there are a few ex-Broncos making headlines, but that’s pretty normal. The (Non) Recreate-68 crowd has faded into the background again. Columbus Day went without a hitch, cry or complaint. Usually there’s screams, yells and all kinds of straw man arguments hoisted from both sides that by the time the event comes around it’s like the North and South have reignited their storied Hatfield and McCoy war all over again.

So, Denver’s back to being the one horse cow town we’ve been known as every since the first DNC here in 1908. To be honest, part of me is glad things are calmer and quieter. Mind you, the nationwide political scene is bubbling over. I mean in the house I share with five others I’m the lone (R). On our lawn is a Obama and Udall yard sign. And in my window is a McCain 2008 shirt. So it’s not really quiet in that sense.

Plus I wore that shirt around my DU neighborhood today and got so many crusty looks I lost count.

I’ve got more posts, photos and things to come. Hows the Denver Fall going for anyone? Those leaves are a changin’…and it’s beaautiful.