As I See It

Comparing

2012-01-25T11:30:00.002-05:00

Sometimes this is how I feel:

Going global for the greater good - ColoradoBIZ Magazine

2011-09-02T12:29:00.000-04:00

Check out my latest article Going global for the greater good - ColoradoBIZ Magazine.

Verizon

2011-06-15T14:16:00.003-04:00

This is why i like Verizon:

-----Original Message-----

Primary Subject: Feedback
Secondary Subject: Customer Service Feedback
Message Body: To Whom It May Concern:

First i would like to say that I appreciate the consistently top-notch customer service your company provides. One of your fine representatives (Sherice) informed me that Verizon is discontinuing the new every two benefit. I encourage you to implement another similar benefit, as it is one of the reasons i stay with Verizon. Plans, phones and networks are similar enough that it is customer service and perks that keep many customers loyal, therefore i ask that you create a new perk regrading phones to keep us loyal.
Sincerely,
Cassi Clark Ward-Hunt

Their Response:

Dear Cassi Clark Ward-Hunt,

My name is Jeremiah, and I can definitely understand your concerns regarding the charges to the New Every two program. We have updated our upgrade options. So, going forward, while there will no longer be a New Every Two option you'll continue to qualify for promotional pricing with a one or two year agreement. You can take advantage of promotional pricing and any special offers that are available with an upgrade after 20 months on a two-year agreement.

Verizon Wireless is always looking for ways to better meet the needs of our customers. Your comments regarding changes to our upgrade options have been forwarded to the appropriate department for review and consideration. Your feedback provides us with the perfect opportunity to hear exactly what you think, and often leads to improvements you will see in the future.

I do see that you are still eligible to regarding your final New Every Two discount effective 12/23/11. You are also currently eligible to complete an Annual Upgrade. You may view your promotional pricing and process your order by signing in to “My Verizon” using your Account Owner Number and password. Next, click on the “Upgrade” icon located under “Device” in the “I Want To” section at the bottom of your home page and follow the instructions provided.

Cassi, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss updates to our upgrade options. If you have any additional questions or concerns please reply to this e-mail. We appreciate your business and thank you for being the most valued part of Verizon Wireless!

Sincerely,
Jeremiah
Verizon Wireless, Customer Service
Internet Response Team

Half my friends and family don't even spell my name right, and Verizon not only spelled my name correctly but answered my web-based feedback personally! (Now if they will only continue to help me get inexpensive or free phones life would be perfect!)

Real Woman Do Cry

2011-04-13T15:02:00.002-04:00

Speaker of the House John Boehner cries. He cries at work, on TV and probably at home. He was made fun of by the late night circuit, but eventually we all accepted it. He is not considered weak. He was nearly unanimously elected speaker of the house. He is just a man in touch with his emotions.

But what if this were Nancy Pelosi? Would she have gotten the same respect as Mr. Boehner? Would she have been considered strong? I doubt it. Somehow in our push to be treated as equals to men, women have traded our female strengths for male traits. Independence is good, but not when it has cost us our ability to deal with our emotions.

In a few years there will be more hispanics in America than whites. With this will come a group of women that is perceived to have missed the feminist movement. Many hispanic women still enable the macho culture they came from, and I worried about what this will do for the feminist movement. Would it set us back. But now, I see these women also have a strong female culture. A culture that is in touch with the innate strengths of women, and perhaps that is a positive influence us emotionally cut-off women need.

The reality is that we are all the same. Hispanic cultures have women in power just as Americans do, and those women got there using whatever is in them individually that they possessed. But I hope that as a gender in America, women can embrace what makes us female and make that part of our culture.

New Space Age Shoes

2011-04-12T14:49:00.001-04:00

These style shoes combine high-heeled fashion with Tron design.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

This Run Brought to You by the Federal Reserve and the Letter's B and D.

2011-02-16T15:38:00.004-05:00

Today I literally ran around Denver looking for money. No, not the $20 bill you dropped outside the bar last night in your drunkenness, nor a cash paying job. I was looking for cash money shredded into tiny little bits and packs of fake cash, and since it is 69 degrees today, I decided to run and get me some of that Vitamin D doctors keep telling us we need even thought they are not sure why. I began by fighting the wind going north along 18th Street toward Unions Station, over the bridge to Confluence Park. Low and behold the Union Station B-cycle station was open and full of bikes!! Yay B-cycle! But I kept running. I fought the wind going south along the Cherry Creek Trail to the Denver Mint. The Denver Mint, for you who don't know, is one of the many off-white stone buildings behind the City and County Building that all look alike. It is the one building that has nothing to do with the Judiciary Branch of State or Local government. (Among the official buildings was an empty B-cycle station. Yay B-Cycle!) The very pretty Denver Mint building is surrounded by a tall metal spiked fence and trailers. Yes, doublewide trailers like Clear Creekers used to go to classes in and somewhere someone's cousin Billy Bob resides in. One such trailer houses the Mint Gift Shop, and outside are very nice security guards to assure guests that yes that is the 10-year-old gift shop. Inside the Denver Mint Gift Shop are the coins you see on TV commemorating just about everything, and a few that are real money too, but no cash dollars, whole or otherwise.

So, at the suggestion of the Mint customer service ladies, I ran off to the Federal Reserve (yes, fighting the wind). The reserve building is the official looking building set back off the 16th Street Mall between Champa and Arapahoe. The entrance is on Champa by the noise-art sidewalk that moos at you. This building feels much more like a federal building (there are no trailers), also surrounded by a tall spiky metal fence in the entrance has security guards in an enclosed guard office next to a metal detector and conveyer-belt x-ray machine. The guards happily offered to let me in for a self-guided tour of the "museum," but alas I didn't not have my ID because I was on a run. However, the guards did confirm the rumor that our very own Kansas Federal Reserve Denver Branch gives away free money to anyone who asks. I got three bags full! (Yes it was shredded and completely worthless, but still very cool.) The guards also suggested I make an appointment for a tour because then you can see where the money gets counted! It's now on my list of things to do in Denver.

Anyway, having run roughly four miles and having my hands full of money I decided to walk the rest of the way home, stopping in souvenir shops here and there looking for packs of fake money, to no avail. Ironically I almost crossed the street in front of, to be killed by, an armored cash truck!

So though I am sure you have been completely entertained by my little story, you might be wondering why I ran all over Denver looking for money that is not going to pay the bills. We're having a Michael Douglass Wall Street Party. Invitation only, unless your stock portfolio is big enough.

Productive day

2011-02-01T01:17:00.003-05:00

So today was a cold snowy day in Denver. So I finished my curtains,

researched radio in 1912, and then finished darning my socks.

Not as pretty as I thought they would be, but new life for my Smartwools!

Time to start the front piece of my hoodie sweater.

Taco Hell

2011-01-08T13:06:00.001-05:00

So The Husband comes home with a couple, like 2, tacos from Taco Bell last night and this bag of ridiculous amounts of sauces. Are you saying your food us that bed Taco Bell, or just that business is so good you can afford to loose money with every purchase?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

secret places

2011-01-06T14:45:00.001-05:00

This gorgeous building his on the back side of St. Joes hospital, a gem of beauty and history unknown to us who take the same routes most of the time.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

creative graffiti

2010-12-13T17:27:00.001-05:00

I do love creative, non-destructive graffiti.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

a room of my own

2010-12-12T18:04:00.002-05:00

Most girls I know have internalized Virginia Wolff's "A Room of Your Own" even if they never read the essay. The idea of having a place to think free from uninvited influence is a valuable thing.

This desk is my HD seaking husband's. It inspired me to get my own because as you can see we cannot share.

So here is MY fav room.

Through the window is a view of the city. I am surrounded by creative projects and books, and have space on which to work!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

Thing I want on the internet

2010-11-30T19:16:00.002-05:00

I would like the internet to be an orginizational tool. I want it to be like my own pintrest.com. I want my facebook feed on this page to be visually appeal like the links are when added to the real facebook page. I want one place where I can "keep" all my profiles, but have that page be private, and also visually appealing. I am thinking something like what my android phone looks like, but the "apps" are visual links to my vairous profiles. I want it all to work together and be easy to use. Is there a programing genious who can build this place for me? PS if so, i also want a way to add these profile widgets to my own website. Thanks!

Shoe Storage

2010-11-29T15:17:00.001-05:00

How did I not think of bookshelves for shoe storage?! I just love this picture, from desiretoinspire.net.

Identity Crisis

2010-11-04T15:31:00.003-04:00

Who are you? Who Am I? So often now-a-days we are asked to define ourselves. We define ourselves for potential bosses who ask us directly in interviews, and indirectly with questions like what is your biggest weakness? or how did you react to your worst defeat? We decide how much of ourselves to show on social networing websites, and who should be able to see what parts of those cites.

But what about professionals. Conventional wisdom says do not "friend" workmates or bosses, so not talk about work online, and do not use those cites while at work. But what if you need work? What if your work needs readers or buyers? What if your work includes making you a personality?

Social networking is still in its young adult stage. First we were too open letting it do whatever, like a teenager without a curfew. After that blew up, we are trying to reign it in, give it discipline. Eventually we will get to a place where we can approach it maturely, seeing the benefits of "letting ti all hang out" as well as the wisdom in keeping some things to yourself.

For now, I like this idea of all your online presences working together to create the brand of you. My brand: an open "friend" who will share all her thoughts, even the bad ones, who lets you in to her world which is full of intrigue and links as diverse as her interests.

State’s First Motorcycle Storage Pod Aims to Reduce Impaired Riding & Save Lives — CDOT

2010-10-26T17:59:00.000-04:00

State’s First Motorcycle Storage Pod Aims to Reduce Impaired Riding & Save Lives — CDOT

What a great idea. Now if we can get motorcyclists to use it and other motorists to follow their lead and leave their cars!

The end of unemployment

2010-10-15T18:01:00.000-04:00

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=139401&catid=339

So unemployment is undeniably a mess. But one solution that may destroy the state may be exactly what the unemployment system needs. If the ballot measure to prohibit state and local governments from borrowing passes, then the state will not be able to make its unemployment payments. The bill will effectively eliminate unemployment under the current conditions. Perhaps this is what is necessary. Then more people will become needy and homeless and those people who don't want to pay taxes and donate the same (or more) amount of money they would have paid in taxes to non-profits that help the homeless and needy. But at least it won't come from the state...

In case you can't tell my approval of this plan is entirely sarcastic.

New way to steal identities

2010-10-01T11:12:00.001-04:00

Watch this video and beware next time you copy your personal information on a copier you don't own.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6412572n&tag=related;photovideo

urban renewal

2010-07-31T19:33:00.001-04:00

Good bye McDonald's on colfax. What will replace you: sewing store, knitting store,health food store? one can only dream!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.8

support

2010-07-24T13:29:00.001-04:00

sometimes even nature needs support.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.8

Prison Earth Wins Awards!

2010-05-10T14:38:00.000-04:00

My Uncle's Book is award Winning! Prison Earth won third place in the Science Fiction Category of the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards!

Go Cliff!

Fun Thoery

2010-05-03T10:54:00.003-04:00

YOUR Government-A Rant

2010-04-23T17:56:00.000-04:00

Did you know this is your government? As in a Representative. As in whether or not you believe it, the 1 representative you elected and 1 senator you elected (to the state legislature) are really out for your (and most of the other people in your area's) interest. But there are 100 legislators all representing other people, so sometimes other representatives vote in ways that pass or kill bills you'd like to see killed or pass. So what do you do? You cry. This my friends is not productive. The forefathers did not design a government system where crying changes things. They gave you tools. They gave you processes, but if you are too lazy to use them, it's your own damn fault bills pass that you don't like!

Did you know that if a bill passes that you don't like, you have 90 days to get an initiative on the ballot to over rule the legislature's decision? Yup, you have the power to veto a bill.

And, then if that doesn't work (or you're too lazy to try it) you can take it to court through the Attorney General (if he agrees with you) or another orginization.

Now, I may be making this sound easy. It is not. But, do not be fooled my friends. Getting a bill through the legislature (getting 100 people to agree on anything) is not easy. But these politicians, that you so veheminatly disagree with, and whom you complain "do nothing" for the citizens, are willing to work hard enough to get bills passed. Are you? If you "vote them all out", do you have the energy to work hard to govern Colorado, or even the US?

Legislative Process

2010-04-23T17:46:00.001-04:00

Many people are unaware of how the legislative process in Colorado works, and how they can participate. So here his a nice piece explaining it. Read it.

Tea Party and Taxes

2010-04-17T12:07:00.000-04:00

Read this today: Forbes: Tea partiers confused, taxes ‘lower by every measure’ under Obama.
I've been thinking about taxes and government and "the people's" reaction quite a bit lately. The think Bartlett is right that things are turning upside down. I am generally a liberal. I like helping people that can't help themselves, and think the government and churches should stay out of my body. But, I have always believed in fiscal responsibility, which for what ever reason the conservatives have staked their claim on.

But thursday, I sat in the House Gallery and watched a dem and republican argue over who had given the most tax breaks and to whom. It made me wonder if we haven't just totally lost sight of how government works and what's important. I know many american' aren't surprised, this being an election year and all, but i seem to delusionally hold to the idea that our elected officials are there the govern us well. In my basic finance class, we learned that a business (or individual) has to have enough income to cover costs and liabilities. There can be some stretching, but it's pretty limited. In the rest of America, those of us that spent more than we made, ended up in a massive credit crunch that lead to the economic situation we're currently in. So why are our legislators arguing over who cut the government's income the most? and not bragging about where they've equally cut costs.

Living in a state with no budgetary wiggle room, I see that there is a way to provide a helping hand to those who need it, but not so much that it creaks that bank (or the government in this case).

I stand by my argument that we need to pass a law limiting on Legislative bills at the Federal Level to one topic. Then we can better prioritize and pay for programs that are necessary, and not every pet project. Unfortunately, something has to get cut, if we Americans insist on not paying taxes enough to cover the spending.

Interesting Legislative Statistics

2010-03-26T16:08:00.000-04:00

Got this from Rep. Miklosi. With everyone bitching about loosing their jobs, and threatening congressmen, it's nice to hear some good spin.

Mid-Session Summary of [the Colorado State Legislature's] Accomplishments By the Numbers:

2,000 – Number of new energy efficiency jobs that will be created in the next 5 years by increasing access to bonds & loans for home energy improvements with HB 1328. HB 1328 – Rep. Joe Miklosi (D-Denver), Sen. Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass Village)

19,795 – Number of additional families receiving essential food assistance due to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). HB 1022 – Rep. Sara Gagliardi (D-Arvada), Sen. Betty Boyd (D-Lakewood)

50% –Annual expected increase in nursing faculty accepted to Colorado nursing programs thanks to expansion of the Nursing Teacher Loan Forgiveness program.  The program will reduce waitlists and increase the number of new nurses.  SB 58 – Sen. Abel Tapia (D-Pueblo), Rep. Sara Gagliardi (D-Arvada)

130,000 – The number of women who will no longer pay up to 59% more than men for the exact same health insurance coverage with passage of the Gender Equity/HC bill.  HB 1008 - Rep. Sue Schafer (D-Wheat Ridge), Rep. Beth McCann (D-Denver), Sens. Carroll/Schwartz

30% – Amount of energy produced by the state’s utilities that will come from renewable sources by 2020 with our new Renewable Energy Standard. HB 1001 – Rep. Max Tyler (D-Golden), Sens. Schwartz/Whitehead

3,333 – Average estimated number of “construction period” jobs per year in our New Energy Economy that could result from 1,000 megawatts of Distributed Generation – green energy from local sources like rooftops.  DG is a central component of HB 1001. HB 1001 – Rep. Max Tyler (D-Golden), Sens. Schwartz/Whitehead (from votesolar.org report)

23 – Number of jobs a single primary care physician can generate in a community, increasing economic development through the Health Care Jobs Act.  HB 1138 – Rep. Sara Gagliardi (D-Arvada), Sen. John Morse (D-Colorado Springs)

10^th – Maximum grade level for language in insurance policies; insurers must replace confusing legalese with “plain language” in their policies.  HB 1166 – Rep. John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins), Sen. Linda Newell (D-Littleton)
$2,000,000,000 – Approximate amount of money that has been cut to keep the budget balanced, including making $500 million in cuts in the last 60 days.

11 – Number of the 100+ existing corporate tax loopholes, credits and exemptions (worth about $2 billion/year) that have been or will be lifted to help balance the budget, to keep schools funded, and to make sure every interest group pays their fair share to live and work in Colorado.

$132.6 Million - Amount of money which will be preserved for schools, public safety, and other social services for closing tax loopholes.

Additional Highlights

Renewable Energy Job Creation Bill: New Energy Jobs Creation Act would create a statewide, voluntary Special Improvement District that empower 50,000 homeowners to receive financing to hire approved companies to install solar, wind, geothermal renewable energy systems and or energy efficiency improvements for their homes. These bonded improvements will be paid through an annual assessment on their property taxes at a fixed rate over 20 years. This would create 2,000 - 3,000 installation and supplemental jobs during the next five years, increase property value by 8% - 10%, make America more energy self sufficient, and attract good-paying renewable energy jobs to Colorado (Rep Miklosi and Sen Schwartz).

Work Share Bill: Allows employers to retain workers whose hours have been reduced to be compensated with pro-rated unemployment benefits. Work Share would not negatively impact the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Presently17 other states have work share programs. Prevents layoffs and empowers employers (Sen. Heath and Rep Pace).

State Park Efficiency and Renewable Energy Bill: Innovative goal to make all State Parks in Colorado energy self sufficient by investing in renewable energy systems. Colorado will save thousands of dollars and be the first state in the nation to implement this creative idea (Rep. Randy Fischer).

Preventing Financial Abuse of Elders and At-Risk Adults Bill: Requires financial institutions to inform customers, who are at risk defined as a person who is 60+ years old, or 18+ years old with a disability, of their right to voluntarily sign a prior consent form and have this placed in their financial records (Sen Schwartz, Rep Frangas and Rep Kefalas).

Maternity Protection Bill:  Most basic health care policies do not cover maternity care and some classify pregnancy as a pre-exisiting condition. This is ridiculous. In Colorado, last year, there were 27,000 unintended pregancies. As a value statement, and for both health and economic reasons, this legislation will insure pregnant women so that they receive basic maternity health care. We will all benefit from this landmark legislation (Sen. Foster).
Transparency in Government
Colorado State Treasurer Cary Kennedy is one of the best Treasurer's in the nation because of ideas like this. She recently created theColorado Tax Tracks, which empowers Coloradans to see how an individual or a family's income taxes are spent and lets them offer input as to whether they agree or disagree. Colorado Tax Tracks is part of a comprehensive effort to make state finances more transparent and accessible for all Coloradans. For more information, visit:

www.Colorado.gov/treasury

Stones and glass houses

2010-03-25T00:05:00.001-04:00

I'm not usually about throwing stones; I know dems have done hypocritical things too, but this does seem to explain some of the "image" issues the GOP has.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/americandad/2010/03/an-open-letter-to-conservative.php

This blog has moved

2010-03-15T15:56:00.001-04:00

This blog is now located at http://thoughts.cassiclark.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://thoughts.cassiclark.com/feeds/posts/default.

Government & Jobs

2010-03-15T15:55:00.000-04:00

Somehow Americans have gone from demanding less government, passing initiatives to tie the hands of government, and electing officials that supposedly believe in less government, to insisting that government protect their jobs since their markets didn't, and create jobs since the economy isn't.

The Federal Government was designed to help us all live together, and protect those that can't protect themselves, which does sometimes including regulating markets. But it is not the job of governments to take over in job creation and protection when the economy slumps. The point of our free market economy is flexibility and adaptability. So if businesses go under and people loose their jobs, it is because the market has changed and those businesses couldn't adapt, but new ones will pop up in their place. Turning every piece of legislation into a jobs issue cripples a government's ability to govern well. For example, should companies be allowed to put carcinogenic chemicals in skin creams? Some would argue that it is the government's job to protect consumers (that is why we have warning labels), but industry people argue that it will cost jobs. I wonder why those companies wouldn't hire more scientists to find new components to put in those products, thereby creating jobs, and potentially increasing their sales! Another Example: There is legislation to increase access for city dwellers to Solar energy through solar gardens. Some people argue this is a good idea, the more alternative energy the better. But industry people argue that it will cost jobs of installers who do individual property installations. I wonder why those companies can't expand to install solar gardens as well!

The government should not be expected to pamper industries and forgo needed change and good governance just because industry won't change.

Another Cool Colorado Tax Website

2010-03-10T13:16:00.002-05:00

This one shows you how much you pay in the various Colorado Taxes, and where it goes. Then you get to vote on what you think is too little, just right, or too much.

http://www.colorado.gov/taxtracks/

Random thought of the week

2010-03-10T12:36:00.000-05:00

So light posts have been around for a while now, and so have dogs. So how come no one has engineered light post access panels above dog pissing level?

Colorado Students (and everyone else) Should Boycot Amazon.com

2010-03-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

In a budget crisis such as the state of Colorado is experiencing now, students are hurt the most. Higher education is one of the first things to be cut and last to be recovered. Tuition rates go up and classroom sizes go up. This year, the legislature passed a law requiring online sales to pay state taxes (a low 2.9%). Upon signing of the bill into law, Amazon.com dropped all their Colorado affiliates, effectively avoiding taxes; tax money that would have gone to education. So now students who pay higher tuition and have to buy books, don't get the help they need.

So students, don't buy your books online!

A letter from the Tattered Cover General Manager:

If you would like to use the following statement or part of the statement, you are welcome to do so.

As independent booksellers in the state, we wish to call your attention to the unfortunate decision made by Amazon.com to fire its Colorado-based online affiliates in the wake of HB10-1193 being signed into law which was the state's attempt to level the playing field among retailers by establishing sales tax equity. The corporate retailer's actions are nothing short of outrageous coming after the state's good faith efforts to fashion a compromise that sought to take into account the affiliates' concerns.

Unlike sales tax equity legislation in other states, which makes clear that an active network of in-state affiliates establishes nexus -- and requires an out-of-state retailer to collect sales tax for online sales -- our state's law now merely asks these retailers to inform residents of the amount of use tax that they owe for online purchases. Amazon's refusal to do even this clearly shows that it is only interested in maintaining its significant competitive advantage over the bricks-and-mortar retailers in the state -- and that it is more than willing to use its online affiliates as pawns to do so.

To be clear, we supported the original version of HB10-1193, which would have clarified state sales tax laws to require out-of-state retailers with nexus in the state via online affiliates, who act as sales agents for remote retailers, to collect and remit sales tax. The tax avoidance being practiced by out-of-state retailers with online affiliates acting as sales agents in Colorado is putting our businesses at an unfair competitive disadvantage, is cutting into our sales, and is significantly affecting our bottom line and ability to maintain employment levels and create new jobs.

Our argument is not now, nor has it ever been, with online affiliates. If the amended bill had worked to level the playing field for us and had saved online affiliates important sales commissions, then it was win-win, which we would have supported. After the bill's passage, our only request had been that our legislators monitor the situation to determine if use tax revenue was being collected.

Unfortunately, despite the best intentions of the Senate Finance Committee, Amazon went ahead and fired its affiliates anyway. With its latest salvo, it is manifestly clear that Amazon.com will oppose any efforts to enforce existing sales tax laws and that legislators' efforts to bend over backwards to placate this corporate giant in an effort to shield in-state affiliate businesses are pointless.

There are 30,000 retailers in the state that are being hurt by sales tax inequity. Something had to be done to protect Colorado's in-state business and the approximately 438,000 people they employ. We certainly hope Amazon's recent decision doesn't convince anyone otherwise.

Thank you.

Matthew Miller
General Manager
Tattered Cover Book Store

Can you Balance Co's State Budget?

2010-03-05T15:14:00.000-05:00

CSU has created this fun tool for you to try to solve Colorado's budget problems. Where do your priorities lie?
http://engagedpublic.com/EPBudgets/dashboard.aspx?tid=6

Budget Balancing by Rep. Levy D-Boulder/Clear Creek/Gilpin

2010-02-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

I think Rep. Levy eloquently explained the problems with balancing the budget and party dynamics...without naming names.

State Representative
CLAIRE LEVY
200 E. Colfax Ave., Room 271
Denver, CO 80203
Capitol: 303-866-2578
claire.levy.house@state.co.us Committee Membership:
Chair:
Judiciary
Member:
Legislative Legal Services

COLORADO
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
State Capitol
Denver
80203

How to Balance a Budget (or Not)

So here we are, cutting about $400 million from the fiscal year that has only four and a half months left in it. This is a painful exercise. There aren't good options. The governor and the Joint Budget Committee labored over how to close the gap between what had been budgeted for the 2009-10 fiscal year and the revenue projections. On Wednesday, the legislature began debating a series of about 30 bills that were a product of months of work. Those bills scaled back or eliminated programs and services in each department.

Each committee of reference conducted hearings on how the proposed budget balancing measures affected the departments over which the committee had jurisidction. In my case, as Chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, we questioned the joint budget committee on the budget proposals for the Department of Corrections, the Judicial Branch, the Department of Law, and the Department of Public Safety. The budget balancing bills proposed surgical, strategic cuts. I wasn't happy with them. But I didn't have any better proposal to make.

When the time came to debate the package of bills on the floor of the House with all 65 members, our one Unaffiliated member and the Republicans threw a hand grenade into the process. They proposed a 1.6% across the board cut from each department's personal services line item. In effect, that meant cutting people's jobs in every department.

As each department's bill came up, the refrain was repeated: this is a modest cut that allows the department to implement it as the department head sees fit. Flexibility was the watch word.

That sounds reasonable until you stop to think about it. ("Have you ever stopped to think and forgotten to start again?") The departments are statutorily required to implement and provide certain programs and benefits. The legislature has not repealed any of those programs. Nobody has sponsored legislation to eliminate the visiting home nurse program, for example. Nobody has proposed to scale back the Medicaid programs we fund. When the legislature considered eliminating the seed inspection program in the Department of Agriculture, for example, the answer was a resounding "no." So considering the fact that the legislature wasn't considering legislation to eliminate any services currently being provided, we will continue to need parole officers, probation officers, water quality inspectors, and the like. We don't have wiggle room unless we begin eliminating programs upon which people depend for public safety and welfare, literally.

This "modest proposal" assumed that the State of Colorado is able to provide the same services, the same level of supervision, the same degree of public health and safety, with 1.6% fewer dollars going to each and every department and agency. The problem is, that isn't possible. And it wasn't really just 1.6% from each department. Since we are 3/4 of the way through the fiscal year, the proposal was closer to a 6.4% budget cut as a percent of the remaining budget, . You cannot pretend that cuts can be made to that extent without impacting the delivery of public services.

The legislature rejected the amendments in hours and hours of debate. That was a wise decision. We cannot continue to ask our state departments to do the same job with fewer and fewer employees. It would have been far more honest to have identified the programs the Republicans no longer thought were necessary and have a debate on the value of those programs. Instead, they perpetuated the myth that the public should expect the same level of services and protection with a diminishing pool of dollars.

Speaking of which, students and parents are beginning to get a sense of the effect of cutting $260 million from K-12 education. It appears that will require elimination of about 5,000 teaching positions state-wide. My House District includes Clear Creek, Gilpin, St. Vrain and Boulder Valley school districts. Those cuts will be dearly felt, and they bring into even sharper focus the previous weeks' debates over the merits of imposing the state's 2.9% sales tax on items such as soft drinks, candy, bull semen, downloadable software, on-line retail purchases, the energy used in mining and manufacturing, and the stuff you get from take out restaurants like napkins, paper bags, straws and such. I realize that paying a 2.9% is money out of everybody's pocket. The revenues raised will prevent even larger cuts to public education.

--My Thoughts
Before this newsletter came out, I fantasized about sitting down with minority leadership and finding out which services they actually wanted to cut and why. I thought, as a negotiation tactic, government and the people would be better served if we could look at their actual interests, compare them with those of the Dems and then work on a solution rather than the positions of cutting versus taxing since neither of these exist exclusively, and neither party does just one or the other. If the Republicans believe in smaller government, why don't they make meaningful cuts to services that can be privatized rather than as Rep Levy said forcing agencies to provide the same level of service with less people and/or money?

Health Insurance Discrimination

2010-02-19T03:27:00.000-05:00

Ah, late night health insurance rants. Nothing better when you have the flu and can't sleep!

So, the Colorado Legislature is working on a bill that would make it illegal for health insurance companies in the state to discriminate against women. What?! Health insurance companies discriminate? No Way!

Sad, but true. In the committee testimony for this bill, when asked why insurance companies charge as much as 2 times more to cover women than men, the said because they always have. God bless tradition. Turns out they did not have any empirical evidence that shows that women cost more. In fact, studies show that women cost more in the beginning (because apparently we do preventative care more than men) and men cost more in the end, evening out overall costs to insurance companies. I could maybe understand paying more if they covered birth control and pre-natal, but most don't. So now, if this bill passes (and seriously, what legislator who wants to get re-elected is going to vote against a bill even the insurance companies can't refute) women might actually pay a "fair" amount of health insurance.

Perhaps that will help the woman in my previous rant be able to afford health insurance... not that companies will actually cover birth control or anything else that might keep her from becoming a stereotype.

Health Care Culture Crisis

2010-02-19T03:19:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine sent me a forwarded email a couple days ago that argued that we don't need to reform the health care system, we need to reform our culture. In it a white doctor treated a low-income black patient with tattoos, a gold tooth and piercings, who drank and smoked and ate junk food. He claimed that it wasn't fair that we have to pay for her health care since she doesn't take care of herself. Now, I am a big believer in taking responsibility for oneself, but this example bothered me. It's easy to look at someone who doesn't match us and say they are living wrong and so we shouldn't help them. But it is unfair and incorrect. Take this woman. Should she have shown up in the hospital in raggedy clothes, defeated and without any self worth because she income is low? Would the doctor then have felt bad about treating her?

Let's look at her life. She probably eats junk food because it is 2 to 3 times cheaper than healthy food. And while it would be better for her to eat well in the long run, in the short run paying bills is the fact of life she faces. Smoking is bad. But did she grow up in a world where smoking is bad? Did she grow up in a world where people live long enough to die of cancer? Is smoking the worst thing people in her neighborhood do? And if she started as a kid, where can she go to get help quitting...that she can afford? Her doctor? Oh wait, we don't want to pay for that. And she drinks. So do I. In fact a lot of people I know drink. Sometimes it's because we enjoy it, sometimes it's because our friends are, and sometimes it helps us forget our stresses even for a little while. What do you do to cope? Should she not be allowed to partake in vices the rest of us enjoy? Now these are all bad things, and she probably doesn't exercise. Studies show that exercise increases with economic stability. If you're working 2-3 jobs to make ends meet, your probably not going to have a lot of time to exercise, and since most of your friends work that hard too, it's not a part of your culture. And if you're working that many jobs you're probably not going to pay for a gym membership. That is a luxury item.

So this woman drinks and smokes to have a little pleasure in her life and deal with the stresses of being poor, and she got tattoos and a gold tooth. Last month I spent a little more than I should have on a few pairs of shoes. They made me feel good. They made me feel like I fit in. Did you know 1 gold tooth runs between $50 and $500? And tattoos can be expensive, but most people who have a lot, have friends who do them for them, or work our trades. But for the fun of it, let's say she spent $2000 on all her tattoos, and $500 on her tooth. And for the sake of argument, let's say she waited till she was 18 to get them, and is now 25. She spent $2500 over 6 years for her enhancements (which help her fit in in her neighborhood, show off her aesthetics [like my shoes] and make her feel good about herself); that's $416 a year, or $35 a month. Now, it is safe to assume her jobs aren't providing her with health insurance since this doctor was upset about paying for her care. I, a healthy non-smoking women of 31, pay $79 a month for coverage that doesn't cover any preventative med (no nutrition counseling, no help quitting smoking, etc), doesn't cover my yearly pap, or any other general doctor visits.

I agree we need to change our culture. But perhaps it will take more than suggesting this woman give up the only lifestyle she's known for her white doctor's culture. Perhaps it will take making junk food more expensive than healthy food, and making preventative and general health care affordable to people who don't exist in insurance pools, and don't make enough money to pay for it but who need it the most.

Power and the People, poor people

2010-02-02T23:35:00.001-05:00

I read in Conflict Resolved, by Alan Tidwell, "To be powerful is not only to carry a gun, but to be able to exclude others from resources, both real and symbolic, and this is done through language." This made me think of the correlation between obesity and low-income. Is it corporations, or the food machine that desire to keep nutritious resources from poor people? They use advertisements to propagandize junk foods and vilify healthy foods as "rich people food." But why? Does this example work, or am I stretching the idea to accidental circumstances?

Town Hall Meeting

2010-02-01T18:09:00.001-05:00

Boulder, Clear Creek and Gilpin county residents please join Representatives Claire Levy and Dickey Lee Hullinghorst at a Town Hall meeting on Feb 6th from 10 to noon. They will be discussing higher education in Colorado with guest speakers from the University of Colorado. The event will be held on the CU campus in Boulder at the University Memorial Center, room 247.
Your comments and questions are always welcome.

How taxes really work, the PG13 version

2010-02-01T16:12:00.002-05:00

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_14289798

Sales tax exemption arguments

2010-02-01T11:18:00.001-05:00

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14298635

While we were sleeping? I think not! Everyone is suffering right now, so businesses should take their small hit too. It is very short sighted of them to think that continuing to cut education will be good for them or drawing new business to the state in the long run...no business will want to be here if we have an uneducated employee pool. And 3% sales tax on some things should not break businesses. If it does they're not very good at being business owners.

Colorado's Black Friday

2010-01-29T17:01:00.001-05:00

Brought to you through me, from the Majority Communication Office: The day after thanksgiving is Black Friday -- because increased retail sales put so many companies "back in the black" and OUT of the red (debt). That's what the Democratic Legislature in Colorado is doing today! They are pulling Colorado out of debt, balancing the budget and putting us in the black! TODAY IS OUR BLACK FRIDAY!

My 3 cents

2010-01-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

Today the Colorado State Legislature is discussing, and voting on suspending many sales tax exemptions. Everyone knows the state is broke. Many people think schools can only be cut so much. A lot of people enjoy roads, health care and public safety, and many of those people would agree that they cannot exist without money. But the business community seems to think that they cannot tolerate a 2.9% sales tax. According to them, 2.9% would break them; their margins are too thin. This makes me wonder how good they are at business in the first place. But regardless, many say they will leave Colorado, move to another state. Colorado is the lowest of all states including the District of Columbia that have sales taxes. There are 5 states that do not have sales tax, though in many of those their property and other taxes are very high, and none of those are close enough to Colorado to allow easy business transactions here while based in a no-sales-tax state. So I laugh and I cry. I laugh that people threaten to move their businesses to Utah and Wyoming whose sales taxes are 1% and 3% higher than Colorado's respectively. And I cry that our businesses are so illogical as to think that's a good threat. Do they run their businesses with the same irrational emotion? If so, it explains their tight margins.

http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/sale_vdr.html

Adrenal Health

2010-01-25T00:49:00.000-05:00

I have recently found time to catch up on some back issues of my fav magazines (it lasted all of a week, and now I'm back to all school reading all the time). In the Dec. 2009 issue of Vogue was a story about adrenal health. It was told from the perspective of being too tired for sex (it is a fashion magazine, not a political or health magazine after all), but discussed how some doctors have discovered that prolonged stress can tax your adrenal gland to the point of failure making you tired. Wow. I am so glad we pay our doctors so much money that they finally figured what makes us tired. (Yes, that is sarcasm). I was diagnosed last year with hypothyroidism, which was cured, by my naturopath. She told me that when one gland is stressed it can affect the others, because our body is a system. (Someone should tell regular doctors this!) When I returned her, after my thyroid was fixed, feeling exhausted and getting flu like symptoms all the time, she told me that it was common for adrenal glands to "fail" as well. While it doesn't really die, it can't keep up when your other glands are out of whack, and if you're stressed out a lot, as grad students often are, it can't keep, thus we feel tired. And, because our bodies are systems and our hormones are all connected, adrenal fatigue can affect your immune hormones making you feel sick a lot! The funny part was that she told me this as if it were a common thing that anyone with a good understanding of how bodies work would know this. (She was very nice to me, and not condescending at all, as I have little idea how my body works!) But, according to the article, there are doctors who don't "believe it". Wow. And we let these guys have the monopoly on medicine and wonder why it is so expensive?! Of course these are the same people who tried to keep me on thyroid pills for the rest of my life, while my naturopath healed my thyroid in 4 months and got me off the meds.

Fashionably Long Hair

2010-01-25T00:31:00.000-05:00

I read an article in the Dec. 2009 Vogue about the author's relationship to her long hair. It was her identity when she was a kid, and something she ran away from as a young adult and came back to as a slightly older woman. I, myself, love my hair. I love it long; I love it short. I love that it is fine and, for the most part, blonde and that I have a lot of it. I love that when filling out a Sephora questionnaire I had no complaints about my hair. But I have never thought of my hair as fashionable. When Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox grew theirs out, I thought, that's neat, but what's so special about that? My mother has had beautiful red hair down to her butt as long as I can remember. My hair, of course, reflects my moods. When I am contented, or sometimes insecure, or facing a lot of changes, I grow it out long; it's my security blanket. It wraps around me, protects me, and weighs down my nerves calming me. When I'm bored or in need of adventure or change or need to be daring, I let someone else choose the style and chop it off.

I was impressed by this article, not so much because it taught me about having long hair, or our attachment to our hair (though I was impressed that there were salons that dealt only in length and taught women how to take care of it--which apparently requires more that I knew), but that really we can write about anything...and sometimes get paid for it!

Tax Credit for Students

2010-01-15T14:31:00.002-05:00

Thank you Obama and Legislators who passed the Recovery Act! Students can now get tax credits for textbooks, course materials, tuition and fees!

http://www.textbookaid.org/

Historical Reading

2010-01-13T23:22:00.003-05:00

Do you ever look back on your blogs, or things you've written and wonder where they came from? The beauty of blogs, and twitter is that they record our fleeting thoughts, the interesting ones we'd otherwise forget!

Cow Town

2010-01-13T22:30:00.003-05:00

Just when I thought Denver was starting to be taken seriously the Stock Show comes to town edifying our reputation as a cow town. And technically, there were not that many cows in the parade...but it was pretty cool, and unique enough to be proud of!

My favorite "float".

Not everything is about horses or cows.

Hi Todd Helton!

Rumor has it they wear these colors every year, not just a throw back to the 90's!

Turns out Cowboys recycle and compost. Maybe we should all follow the cowboy way!

When I'm an Octogenarian, I'm going to drive one of these...in a city.

When was the last time you saw a parade stop so an horse could piss out a gallon!

We may be a cow town, but at least we're civilized enough to clean up after ourselves!

Silly question about politics

2010-01-13T22:02:00.004-05:00

If you pass a good bill, a bill that stops the bleeding and keeps the economy alive, and you push for not only new funds, but 45% of the bill as tax cuts, why would you not advertise it? So the recovery Act of 2009 is 45 % tax cuts, which is money into main street's pockets, insisted on by Republicans. Yet, they only talk about how bad it is that tax payers will have to pay back the $787 Billion dollars...45% of which is actually tax cuts and not new money. This is also a bill that stopped the unemployment rate from rising, like stopping the bleeding on a severely injured patient ( a task traditionally called heroic, at least in terms of human life). Why don't they try to take credit, or talk about how great they are for the tax credits?

I have heard the answer is that they don't know who they are, therefore don't have a solid, good message to send out. Or that they are illogical (which is like saying the sky is blue without explaining it). Are they just bad at communications? Or so against Democrats that they can't even support they're own good work if it is working with Dems?

Can someone explain this to me?

Moral Government

2010-01-05T13:14:00.006-05:00

My friend Taneka brought up the idea of "The Government's Moral obligation" the other day in her blog (http://www.thoughts.com/Tinksstraighttalk/blog). This got me thinking. "The Government" is actually not one entity, but many comprised of thousands of people, all of whom have variations on their definitions of morals. Can a "government" of the people that is supposed to serve ALL the people be moral? And do we want it to be moral? Some of those who we have elected to govern us believe killing unborn fetuses is immoral. Other's believe letting the mother die is immoral, and still others believe telling a person what to do with his or her body is immoral. Most of us agree that killing is immoral, and so we put murders in jail even if they them selves kill for moral reasons (vigilantes). Yet if a criminal gets hurt in jail, they are entitled to medial care. But then again, some states kill. Others find it to be immoral.

If governments were moral, then their morals would change as our governors change. To some extent this is true, but not fully. Governments have to serve everyone in their jurisdictions, and since we cannot agree on a set of morals, we should not impose such an impossible label on those required to keep the peace. Here's a thought: if governments are moral, does that mean that inefficient self-preserving bureaucracies are moral?

So, on the point of Taneka's comment that the government has a moral obligation to provide health care to it's soldiers, for which she cites the constitution, what about black civil war soldiers who were not treated the same as white soldiers and therefore had a higher mortality rate? http://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/ecom/MasterServlet/GetItemDetailsHandler?iN=9780801886966&qty=1&viewMode=3&loggedIN=false&JavaScript=y

The VA's website has an interesting history of medical care for soldiers. http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/history/history1.asp. Turns out the first pension for soldiers was created to "increase enrollment and curtail desertion." How moral. Now don't get me wrong, I do think "the government" should pay for the medical care of soldiers. And, I think it is a good thing for everyone because it leads to great advances in medicine and other inventions (i do love super glue). However, my point is that times and circumstances change. Not allowing the government to adapt due to some notion of morality that doesn't apply to entities merely cripples that which is supposed to protect and serve everyone, as well as hinder innovation.

FLUID COFFEE BAR TO GO PAPER-CUP-LESS DEC. 30th and DEC. 31st

2009-12-31T12:08:00.002-05:00

They will open our doors @ 6am on the 30th and will remain open until we reach 40,000 cups saved.
As of End of Day Dec. 29th we have 991 cups to go. Every Cup Counts!

Spread the word!

December 30th 5:30 pm - Join us for Game Night
( Scrabble, Pictionary, Chess, Cranium, Taboo...Etc)
Later on movies on the big screen.
Later, later on...drink up and save a cup All Night Long.

All drinks will be served in "in house mugs" or travel mugs

According to the Rocky Mountain Sustainable living Association 41 million coffee cups are thrown away each day.

Fluid Coffee Bar, located on the corner of 19th Avenue and Pennsylvania,
is on a mission to save 40,000 cups from entering a landfill this year.

Fluid Coffee Bar will host the local event as part of an ongoing effort to save 40,000 cups.
Community members are encouraged to show their support by enjoying a paper-cup-less coffee
in a reusable travel or house mug at FCB on Dec 30th and 31st.

“This is a big deal, not just because it has a positive impact on the environment, community and business but because it is a giant step in demonstrating how collaboration and creativity between small business and the local community can lead to positive change. “ Jeff Aitken, Owner Fluid Coffee Bar

ABOUT FLUID COFFEE BAR
Established in 2005, Fluid Coffee Bar, is a meeting place for friends and colleagues.
Come Discover the Art of Coffee and Community in a friendly stimulating atmosphere.

Fluid Coffee Bar, LLC
501 E 19th Ave
Denver, CO 80203
fluidcoffeebar.com

Placing Blame

2009-12-24T02:58:00.005-05:00

So i sat next to a woman on a flight from Florida who was an education administrator, specifically middle school. I found it interesting that as with all human endeavors we all want to blame each other, rather than ourselves. but she illuminated an interesting point for me: She said that in the early 70's she taught, but then she took time off to raise her own children. When she came back to teaching in the late 70's children had lost their respect for authority. My reaction: Hmm, who's fault was that! the baby boomer generation doesn't want to take fault for raising my generation to question authority (my first t-shirt that i can remember), but hates that they get blamed for those repercussions. They were the ones that passed the laws that all children must be educated, rather than letting kids drop out at 6th grade, and now that they are nearing retirement, they don't want to pay for that law. But it was their law, as was No Child Left Behind. And then after refusing to pay for these education requirements, they bitch about crime in their neighborhoods, where kids have no choice but being left behind or living on the streets, and then they either place all the blame on the teachers or refuse to let teachers to take any blame and wonder why the system is broken.

I love my elders. But i feel like maybe my generation has a chance to fix their mistakes once they quite voting and/or retire from political positions. no offence to McCain, but thank God we got one of our generation in the oval office!

Banks are...us. haha

2009-12-24T02:29:00.003-05:00

Caught the tail end of the Daily Show tonight...the part where Aaron Sorkin and Jon Stewart insuneuated that banks are only paying back the 0% government loan to r*p* us, the tax paying public. Funny and scary at the same time. So do we blame the president, the banks, or perhaps it's out own dam fault for letting people get away with stuff that we should not. Where does your checking account lie...who owns that bank? If our money is our power, who are we empowering? By that token, if we boycott the bailout banks, who is going to pay back the loans? I am sure that if they do not get our fees, they cannot pay back the loans, so then we the tax payers suck it up. so either way it comes down to us. Sucks to be us.

The Buddy System: How Medical Data Revealed Secret to Health and Happiness

2009-12-09T16:09:00.002-05:00

The Buddy System: How Medical Data Revealed Secret to Health and Happiness

Posted using ShareThis

Banking NSF Regluations--It's About Time.

2009-12-04T14:54:00.004-05:00

For years banks have been charging fees for over-drafted accounts. This probably made sense in non-electronic banking times, but now, with electric banking and debit cards there is no reason not to alert customers that they are about to over draft, or to decline their debit cards at the point of sale. Well, there is one reason: $28 billion. That's the money banks made from 17% of the population last year. So, who is that 17%? Is it the Bernie Maddofs, and Enron Exces? Prob Not. Probably not even the uncorrupt rich people. Raraly is it even middle class folks. It's poor people who work hard and often can't make ends meet, who have not intention of over drafting, but when their accounts get low, don't know till it's too late. Then they pay and extra $35 for purchases that could have been avoided if they'd known. This is the classic example of stealing from the poor to give to the rich. Thank goodness for our Congressional Robinhood!

Lost fees will hurt banks - Denver Business Journal:

Bank NSF Regulations--It's About Time!

2009-12-04T14:53:00.000-05:00

For years banks have charged bank fees for overdrafted accounts. Maybe this made sence in a non-electronic time of paper checks, but in this day of electronic banking and debit cards, there is no reason not to alert customers when they are about to overdraft, or decline the card at the POS. Of course, there is a reason: $28 Billion. That's how much banks got last year from 17% of the banking population. And who is that 17%? Is CEO's and executives of multi million dollar companies? Or perhaps, just the upper middle class. Not ususally. It's us poor folk, who work our butts off just to make ends meet, and if they don't we get to pay $35 extra for every purchase that could have been declined! This is a case of banks stealing from the poor to give to the rich. But that's about to change!

Lost fees will hurt banks - Denver Business Journal:

Health Care Solution

2009-11-28T04:05:00.003-05:00

So Republicans don't want to work with Democrats to solve the health care crisis. So why don't they propose, and pass, a bill that reverses that law that hospitals have to serve uninsured persons? In one easy move, they can change health care with out having to pass a complicated bill that confuses everyone and makes people actually have to think. I'm sure Sarah Palin would support it. If it passed, and health care providers wouldn't have to serve the uninsured or underinsured, and then, those people (mostly poor people) would die off, therefore solving many republican problems.

I personally am not a proponent of such a solution, but I am sort of surprised that I haven't seen it proposed yet; makes sense from a boot-straps, each to their own approach to politics, and would be much easier to pass than a complicated health care reform bill.

No Flu for You

2009-11-19T13:41:00.001-05:00

Scary Initiatives

2009-11-17T11:09:00.004-05:00

This is the scariest article I've read in quite some time. http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/11/02/daily91.html

I understand that people are struggling financially so they feel any extra payments are unnecessary. But why don't they buy less junk food, booze or whatever excesses they spend their money on, rather than denying everyone in the state services. What good are low car fees if the roads are so broke down your alignment and tires get ruined whenever you go out.

This is making a good case against initiatives. Perhaps that should be an initiative (to make the process much harder so short-sighted people cannot get their issues on the ballot). Do people not see that there is no money for the state to infill education funds if we stop putting property taxes toward school districts. And that if school close, or we can't educate the kids, it affects crime rates and the labor pool that draws in businesses, which would then mean no jobs for the morons who voted for these initiatives. This would so completely cripple the state, that we would be in worse shape than California. Perhaps that is what these people want...no government. If that's the case, move somewhere else. I like feeling safe because police patrol my street, and street lights come on. I like that I can go back to school and get a higher degree without having to pay private school prices. I like the art museum. I like that criminals go to jail. I like that the snow gets plowed. I like getting mail. I like that our government is building us a transit system, that we pay very little for.

Please kill this thing before you rob the rest of services we enjoy!

Denver’s Anti-Idling Program Reminder

2009-10-02T10:11:00.001-04:00

From the Denver City Council:

Did you know that idling for just 1 minute produces as much carbon monoxide as smoking 3 packs of cigarettes? Did you know that in the Denver metro region idling is responsible for 40,000 tons of air pollution a year and over 400,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually?

For environmental and safety reasons, remember not leave your vehicle running in your garage or driveway to warm it up during the fall and winter time.

Idling your vehicle can also be quite damaging for the environment. Here are some common misconceptions about idling:

Myth: An engine should be warmed up before driving
Reality: While the engine must be warmed up, idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle. For cars with fuel injection (almost all vehicles built since the late 1980s) idling for even 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting the engine, and it is only necessary to warm the engine up for 30 seconds before driving away, even on the coldest winter days.
Myth: Idling is good for your engine
Reality: An idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means that fuel does not undergo complete combustion. This leaves fuel residue that can deposit on the spark plugs and increase fuel consumption by up to 5%. Also, water condensation in the exhaust system can reduce the life of the exhaust system.

Not only is idling bad for your car, and bad for our air quality, it’s also against the City and County of Denver Municipal Code (Chapter 4, Section 4-43). This limits idling to 5 minutes per hour with exceptions for cold temperatures (less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit), emergency equipment and auxiliary power equipment. Persons reported for violating this ordinance will be sent a letter informing them of the ordinance and potential penalties. If the situation is excessive or repetitive an inspector will investigate. To report a violation, call 3-1-1 and ask to speak with Environmental Health.

While we all love a warm car, this behavior invites car thieves and the number of stolen vehicles increases during this time. Last year, hundreds of people had their vehicles’ stolen while they were left running unattended.

History on TV

2009-09-22T16:58:00.005-04:00

Did you all see Obama on David Letterman last night! That was history! It will go down in the books with "where were you when we landed on the moon?"

Swankity

2009-09-15T11:15:00.003-04:00

Check out Swankity. It's the new venue for Katie Boyer-Clark designs, featuring everything a car and gun show, atv ridin' chic would want!

and of course read all about it at http://two-red-doors.blogspot.com/.

Anti-Government Types

2009-07-09T18:21:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I think we should give the no-taxes, anti-government types what they want. Slash state budgets by half or more, getting rid of welfare programs and whatever else can't be afforded. Then when they complain that homeless people are everywhere, taking over their neighborhood, we can say, well you didn't want to pay for shelters. And when their kids don't get accepted to schools, we can say, well schools can't take as many kids because they have no money, so it's ok because you didn't want to pay for them. And when their flights get grounded or delayed because there aren't enough air traffic controllers, we can just be happy that our money isn't being waisted by the government. And when hospitals close because the number of uninsured people cost them too much, we can be happy that we aren't wasting money on Medicare and Medicaid. And when the mail stops coming, or costs $5 for a simple letter, we can be happy to know that the government isn't too big anymore.

New Theme Song

2009-06-30T16:49:00.001-04:00

My new Theme Song is White and Nerdy by Weird Al!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw

La Piazza Chalk Art Show at Larimer Square

2009-06-09T16:58:00.003-04:00

Just another reason Denver is so cool. First we saw the Hayday playing a concert for kids outside the DCPA, and then enjoyed a Caribbean lunch at 8 Rivers, and then watched artists replicate master pieces and create their own out of chalk! Good times!

Taking a "winning" pic! Mike's camera sponsored a photo contest where they loaned out digital SLR cameras. The winner gets a trip to Italy!

Perhaps the winning pic!

And there was wine...

And music...

A sad day for the Ducks.

2009-05-28T16:25:00.004-04:00

So I have been inspired by my friend Katie's blog http://two-red-doors.blogspot.com/. She uses such great colors and finds beauty in everything. So I present the pretty (and sometimes funny) things we saw in Vegas last week.

I love these flowers. I want to cover our porches with them!

Perhaps someday it will looking something like this:

Cameron wants to work with water features. Perhaps put a fountain like the one at the Billagio on the roof! :)

During the day Vegas was kind of dirty and run down looking. Many of the casinos smelled of old smoke and alcohol. But at dusk the magic descended and the city became beautiful.

In a weird alternate universe sort of way.

Health Care Reform

2009-04-28T12:45:00.003-04:00

Health care reform is the new fun issue to debate on Legislature floors, on political blogs, in bars, over dinner, etc. Here's my idea:

It seems to me that President Obama is on the right track in trying to change the medical priorities of doctors and patients from end of life crisis care to preventative medicine. Now I think we need to allow alternative medicine into our system.

Last year I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, a disease that (combined with Hyperthyroidism) affects millions of people. The western medicine response is a lifetime of thyroid replacement, which means taking synthetic medicine the rest of my life. I didn't like that answer. So I went to a Naturopath. Dr. Vitaro discovered that I was mineral deficient and put me on sheep thyroid for three months and a mineral supplement. While my insurance didn't cover it (though technically my insurance doesn't cover anything by disasters), it cost me all of $200 to get my thyroid working on its own.

In the past I had repeated sinus infections, a fairly common ailment among ski instructors. Being uninsured I went to the ski area doctors who treated employees for free. They usually took about 5 min to diagnose me and give me antibiotics. After six years my sinusitis was called chronic. Chronic to me means doctors are not creative enough to figure out what is causing the problem and fixing it. Eventually I went to a Micro-biologist who discovered that I had a yeast infection as opposed to a bacterial infection, so the antibiotics were actually making me worse. With one very gross remedy he cured my sinusitis.

These two medical events have definitely biased me. By why shouldn't I get to choose what kind of doctor I want to see. It is time our health care industry allows us to make a choice as to who we want to seek help from. And imagine what kind of money the industry could save if people were being correctly diagnosed, and chronic illnesses were being prevented and people were going to doctors they liked and getting the preventative care they need. We have allowed the American Medical Association to have a monopoly on medical policy and health care. It is time we opened our minds and our bodies and our laws to real health care. Even if you do not want to go to a alternative medical practitioner, why not let those of us who do be allowed to, and let it be an option for people who don't want to go to regular doctors but need health care.

Colorado Tax Rant

2009-04-28T12:17:00.003-04:00

As the 2009 Colorado Legislative Session nears its adjournment blood pressures are skyrocketing, and everyone in the state is upset. Tax exemptions are getting cut; state employees are being forced to take 4 furlough days a year; higher eduction took a large hit in the budget; there's no money for health services; and our roads and bridges are falling apart and there is no money to fix them. And so Coloradoans have begun rallying at the Capitol for their causes. But does anyone actually think that chanting and giving speeches on the importance of whatever issue actually helps?

Don't people realize that the legislature didn't cut programs, work days and tax exemptions because they are mean or misguided. Colorado is either 46th or 48th in terms of tax burden compared the other states. The good news is we don't pay taxes. The bad news is that the state doesn't have enough money to pay for the programs that we as a state think are important.

So how does rallying help? It does let the legislators know who cares about what. BUT it does not fix the fiscal crisis. What a waste of time! May I suggest that if people want more education funding, if they want their roads and bridges fixed, if they want more health care spending perhaps we need an initiative (which means a ballot issue that is sponsored by an individual as opposed to the legislature) to raise our income taxes. Yes, it would be painful for all of us, but it would keep tuition low, health care affordable, bridges from falling and car maintenance costs due to raid damage low. In the end it would benefit our pocketbooks as much as it would strain them. It would be a wash. A little more taxes, would save us money in fees and personal payments for government services.

Word of the Day

2009-04-28T11:47:00.002-04:00

In the elevator at the Capitol today I heard the word Obstreperous. I like it! It means to be Aggressively boisterous or Noisily and stubbornly defiant. I don't have enough energy to be either of these things, but I hope to be someday!

Colorado's Death Penalty

2009-04-21T14:11:00.003-04:00

Today the Colorado House passed a bill to repeal the Death Penalty. It was a narrow victory, but important non-the-less. HB09-1274 would take money saved from keeping prisoners on death row and killing them and put it towards an underfunded cold-case unit that was created two years ago. For years studies have shown that a life sentence carried out is less expensive than the death penalty, and yet the debate has been played out as a moral issue. Moral or not, it's expensive. Talk about government waist. The difference between a life sentence's cost and the cost to fulfill the death penalty shows just how expensive our court system is.

This bill next gos to the Colorado Senate. I hope our times of economic crisis will urge our government to pass a very smart bill, no matter their personal beliefs on the topic.

Change

2009-04-21T14:01:00.003-04:00

President Obama campaigned on change, but I didn't fully understand what that meant. When he began his presidency I saw government as usual, not change. Yes, the administration changed, which was good. But the fundamentals of government remained. But then someone brought to my attention that we are entering an era of pro-government. I've been trying to put my finger on what was different about this election than say when Clinton won. I believe it is that we the people once again trust our government. Since the 70's we have participated in strong anti-government movements in terms of taxation, and now we are seeing the repercussions of putting our eggs in the market and not letting the Government hens lay.

But this is just one change. In school we are taught American history from its conception, but it is the time from World War II that really sicks with us. We have parents and grandparents who were there. We, our parents, and our children only remember a world where China is communist, European nations don't rule the world, and where America is the most powerful. But now we are facing a time when America might not retain its power, where Europe could unite and become a global reckoning force, where England could loose its monarchy and China could return to its previous system of government or a new non-communist one. In terms of history, the world as the average American has seen it has really just been a blip, a mere 70 years where nations tried on new ideas and new roles. Some of those ideas might stick, but many will not and in another 10-20 years our world will be unrecognizable. This is not a bad thing, but it does put the importance of our perspective into context.

Trickle Down Economics

2009-03-04T18:57:00.002-05:00

Since Trickle Down Economics doesn't work without assistance, here is some information to help you get some stimulus help from your credit card banks. Check out http://www.bcsalliance.com/x_creditcardtricks_a.html for more information.

File a Complaint Against Your Credit Card Company

Report the credit card issuer to the Comptroller of the Currency. Phone number is 202-874-4700.

Report the company to your state's attorney general's office. You can find links to your state's AG website at naag.org. Your state might allow you to file a complaint online. This is probably the most effective complaint to make as it is the attorney general's who have filed most of the lawsuits against credit card companies. For example, it was the California AG who sued Providian and forced them to pay the largest judgment against a credit card company ever.

Report the company to the Better Business Bureau. Submit your case for dispute resolution online at www.bbb.org.

Report the company to your elected representatives. You can find their email / mailing addresses at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. Note that the banking industry (which is comprised mostly of credit card companies) has a lot of power in Washington, D.C. in the form of lobbyists and contributions to election campaigns. Despite this fact, your elected officials are more afraid of you because you can vote them out of office. If you think contacting them is a waste of time you're wrong. Someone will read your correspondence -- if enough complaints are received something will be done about it. Learn more.

Report the company to banking regulators. Their mailing address is Division of Credit Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580 or file a complaint online at www.ftc.gov.

Civic Lessons

2009-02-16T12:16:00.003-05:00

My pet peeve of late is people who rail against the wrong branch of the government. So often I hear the President of the US or a governor of a state being blamed for legislation. Or state legislatures being blamed for a Federal bill. Of course the classic uneducated argument, which often comes in the form of loud words and expletives, is that "the government" is the cause of all that is wrong (fill in specific issue here).

I love when people participate in the process at any level. But, seriously, people do your research. It only distracts and takes away valuable time from whomever you're talking to (via email or phone or forward) if you are complaining to the wrong branch of the government, and/or if you don't know what you're talking about! For instance, State governments are not broke because they "wasted" money (though i do realize government by nature of the bureaucracy is not always efficient) they are broke because much of their money comes from sales and use taxes and we as a nation are not spending right now! Therefore your schools are poor, and your Departments of Transportation are too broke to fix all the bridges!

Please contact your government and participate in the process, but make sure you're calling the right branch, and if you're not sure, ask before you rail!

Our favorite little bar in SoCo

2009-02-02T19:14:00.002-05:00

This summer my boyfriend and I stumbled across Brandon's Pub, a Mexi-American restaurant and bar, on our way home from Aqua (a story for another time). Looking for a place to enjoy after dinner cocktails on Lincoln, we entered because of the sandwich board sign proclaiming "Ladies Night, free wells and draft".

Its open atmosphere, ceiling to floor front windows and street side patio appealed to my claustrophobic side. Unlike its club-like neighbors, this is not a bar that when filled wall to wall with people will feel crowded. Of course, the crowd here would be mostly sports fans and not meat market shoppers anyway. The bar style restaurant sports mostly tall tables and a nook with comfy chairs for watching sports on a big flat screen TV, and as Colorado Law requires all bars to serve food, Brandon chose to serve Mexican with a few American favorites like hot wings.

This particular night, the restaurant was practically empty. Their upstairs neighbor and resident promotion girl featured shots of SoCo (Southern Comfort) aptly nicknamed as Brandon's is in the SoCo neighborhood (South of Colfax). Everyone, including Brandon, was super friendly and glad to have us.

After a few drinks and good conversation with the staff we entered their daily give-a-way, which that night, was a pair of tickets to the next day's Rockies' game, and left. The next mornings I got a call informing that I'd won the tickets. From then it was sealed: We liked Brandon's. But I feared with the news of so many restaurants closing in Denver, that we would lose our Brandon's.

Tonight we returned again, and it was still everything we love about it. I was happy to see it about half full on a cold Wednesday night in January. We had the Brandon's jalapeno poppers, chile con queso, and chile rellenos. All were really good (and I'm not a big Mexican food lover). I was especially impressed with the spice of the jalapenos and that they were not another fried dish. And of course, their margaritas were great, as good as Wahoos. This is the kind of place you'll want to make your weekday, or neighborhood bar (if you live near 9th and Lincoln).

Entertainment at the Capitol

2009-01-23T17:36:00.003-05:00

I got to the Capitol today around 8:30 for my internship. Upon going up the stairs to the Third floor I heard music. There on the second floor was Rep. McKinley and tow of his friends giving a mini concert. Apparently this is a regular activity for the Southeastern Counties Representative who's Legislature profile lists Cowboy as his occupation. He also helped a friend of his exhibit paintings in the capitol. Stop by and check them out, you might even get a free concert.

Class action make-up

2009-01-23T17:24:00.003-05:00

So a friend called me on wednesday and suggested we go check out a story that she's heard about department stores giving away free make-up. Since it was such a beautiful day, we hopped a bus to Cherry Creek Mall. The line between the shoes and other cosmetics at Nordstrums was fairly short when we got there. We had to sign a petition that said we'd bought makeup at a department store since 1994. Then we got to choose between a Clinique moisturizer or a Estee Lauder wrinkle serum. I chose the moisturizer.

The line at Neiman Marcus was really long and a news crew was talking to some of the shoppers about the give-away. The women manning the booth were rather bitchy for giving away free stuff. Made us wonder if they were responsible for the mark-ups that lead to the lawsuit in the first place. Of course this was day two of three and by the number of products crossed out on the list, I suspect Tuesday was really busy, so perhaps they were just tired of people by the time we came along. At Macy's the tables were set up deep in the store behind a black curtain. It was easy to find if you knew it was there or were willing to explore, but seemed a little difficult for a businesses who's supposed to be making retributions. The Saks people seemed resigned to their jobs, just as the Nordstrums women were. All the stores at Cherry Creek gave away the same products, but we heard that Flat Irons had more stuff, and the lines were supposedly very long.

Interesting that there are people watching out. I would never have known that there was a price too high for cosmetics. :)

Seeing America

2009-01-23T17:12:00.003-05:00

Coming home from a visiting Medford, OR and my grandmother, I got to ride on a super nice plane. One of those that are big enough that even the last seat reclines; the kind that make flying not the worst thing ever! But what was even cooler was the class of Chinese students on my plane, coming to visit Denver. I laughed as they squeezed past each other getting settled on the plane. Americans will wait and let the other person get settled, then move past, or slide into the seat leaving room for the other person to pass, but these cuties just squeezed around each other like they come from a culture with no personal space issues.

Halfway through the flight a little girl came and sat next to me. She wanted to know how to pronounce her host family's names. We chatted about what she was going to see in the Denver and where the program she's in. It's called Travel High School. They were a group of 15-17 year olds, and were going to be Denver for a month. After a bit, a boy joined our row and asked his host families name and the names of our coins. They showed me their money, and showed what few bills of ours I could. But my favorite part of the meeting was that my new friend wants to be a dreamer when she grows up.

Enjoying Denver

2008-12-20T03:24:00.005-05:00

I went for a run today, and as I enjoyed my heart beating and blood flowing, I took notice of how great the Denver climate is. It's December and I was able to run comfortably in a long sleeve shirt. There was snow on the ground, but the sidewalks were dry.

And then, as I passed the Botanic Gardens, a street sweeper stopped his work, so that I could pass without breathing in his dust. how nice was that! Gotta love Denver!

Wal-Mart is the ultimate American company

2008-12-20T03:18:00.005-05:00

I read in an excerpt from Free Lunch that Wal-Mart convinces communities to pay it to come to town. It doesn't have to pay property taxes, and often gets subsidies. It even gets to keep the sales tax it collects in some cases. So not only does it put local businesses out, underpay its employees, it doesn't pay it's part of the cost of being in a community. This is horrible, but it is so very America. The corporatocracy (banks, corporations and the government) go into third world countries and convince them to take on more debt than they can ever pay off to pay American corporations to build infrastructure for resource extraction that ends up back in America. And those countries end up with no money, a trashed environment and they don't even get paid for it. That's just wrong!

We need to redefine American.

The end of the world-revisited

2008-12-20T03:08:00.003-05:00

In a previous post I posited my apocalyptic prophecy. The world would not end so much as due to natural disasters a large portion of the world's population will be wiped out and the currently rich nations would have to seek out survival from third world counties because us "northerners" would be under ice in a global ice age. This image appealed to my vindictive side, though I never really knew why. I felt that we in the developed world needed to pay for our transgressions, but I felt it had to more than our arrogance in chasing non-renewable resources. Now I get it. The part where we become dependent on undeveloped nations is retribution for our horrific subjugation of those nations to fill our gas tanks, closets and bank accounts. In my revised prediction, the world will kick our asses, but it will also come with an economic melt down. Many cultures say we are in a changing time, an end to old calendars, and that what has been for centuries will change. We will move from a world of dominance and war to a world of cooperation and caring. I think our current economic melt down is just a stage to that change. Change is hard, but it is not a bad thing. That what does not change, dies.

The New World Economy

2008-12-20T02:37:00.003-05:00

I, like almost everyone else in the world, have been trying to make sense of what is going on in the financial markets and world economy. Worlds like globalization are the new bling, worn like gold and diamonds by CEOs and Government Leaders, western government leaders.

I just finished "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man", a history of the economic world that lead us to where we are today. In the not-yet-coined name of globalization and commerce our government colluded with corporations and "world" banks to trap third world countries with debts. The purpose, of course, was to control their resources, and convince them to modernize, at the cost of their poor and indignant paid to US corporations. Much like the americans who took too-big loans that were too good to be true, these countries will never pay off their debts, so we offer them debt forgiveness with the catch of forced privatization of utilities. Now water is too expensive for most people.

So I wonder what a new economy would look like. The "world" banks failed, and the corporatocracy worked to save them. But now the corporations are failing too, and so the government is left to bail out the other two legs of the perfect economic empire building trifecta. They pretend they will let the other two legs fail; it took a whole week for the government to give in to the $700 billion bail-out, and two for it to give in to the auto companies. We now are saddled with more debt than we can pay back, like our third world counterparts. If China calls in our debt, we become ruled (economically) by another empire. If the Euro takes over as the international currency, we again loose our status at a power house, and our global economic empire falls to other countries.

But now the corporatocracy is struggling. The globalized economy is in a recession. And the US elected a president who claims to want to end our dependance on oil, a commodity that fueled this globalization. Perhaps it is in the recession that the people can change the world. If the rich westerners stop driving and shopping, corporations loose money; the rich stop becoming richer, and thus the poor stop becoming poorer. As the corporations loose money and power, there is less incentive for the government to control third world governments and countries. In the Preface to John Perkins' book, he says that according to the UN for less than half what the US spends on the Iraq war, we could provide clean water, sanitation, food and education to everyone in the world. But I'm not sure how that statistic looks. Is that for 1 year, or for a person's lifetime? and how long would it take to do that? Privatization has become such the hip new wave in politics as governments on a local level run out of money, that we the people have been convinced it is the way to be. Now it turns out that capitalism is just as bad as communism, fascism. We have hurt millions of people by convincing them that they need to pay us to bring them into the 20th century. People are starving to deaths because their communities cannot afford to feed them or grow the food they need because we want to be able to drive from NYC to LA, or to Wal-Mart.

So if we shifted away from this profit at all cost mentality and begin to take care of our own and others, does everyone become equal? Do individuals maintain their independence? and if that is possible, how do we keep giant corporations from forming again and taking over again? This is starting to sound a little like global socialism (which admittedly, I've never saw as a bad thing), but even so called socialist countries have big corporations that do terrible things to other countries.

So what does the new economy look like?

Thanks for Voting Early

2008-11-04T17:09:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the half of Colorado residents that have already voted! For the past two months all i've heard is how long the lines will be and how easy early voting is, but i was so excited to vote for real on the day in person. This is the first election that I did not move right before or on the day of in the last 8 years! This is the first election where I understood the ballot issues and care because I'll be around to see the consequences. So I wanted to do it the traditional way.

On friday I worried that I would not have enough time to vote on Tuesday, so I decided to try early voting. I went to the Wellington Webb building, but could not handle the line! It was huge! On the upside it was full of oddly dressed halloween celebrators making for good people watching, but i just couldn't do it. This morning, I got up relatively early (9:30) and went over to St. John's Cathederal book in hand, prepared for a long wait. I passed a man who confirmed an hour and half wait. Having stood in line at the 9 News Health Fair, I was surprised to find the hallway empty. I walked right in to the voting room and found empty booths and no lines at the signing tables. I was delayed momentarily with a confusion over my out-of-state ID. Bt we remedied the problem with my in-state student ID, and straight to the booth with me!

Thank you to all who voted early, that I might have a fantastic first in booth voting experience!

Another great headline

2008-10-20T01:45:00.003-04:00

This one is from CBS4:

Baby Shower Brawl Included Car Jack, Beer Bottle

I of course imagine a group of women going at it, one or two with huge bellies threatening to slash the other bitches. But alas it was men. It least they picked an entertaining time!

American Leader

2008-10-17T17:48:00.004-04:00

I am now a student of public policy and leadership (literally, I'm going to CU-Denver studying public administration and taking among other a leadership class). We have been talking about adaptive leaders versus technical leaders. According the Ronald Heifetz, there are three types of problems: 1 we can define the problem and the solution; 2 we can define the problem but the solution is vague; 3 the problem and solution are vague. These types of problems lead to various types of leadership from 1 technical, like a doctor knowing how to set your broken bones, to 2 technical and facilitative working and 3 facilitative leadership. This creates an axis with the 1:1 point being a defined problem requiring technical leader with specific know-how. 3:3 being an unclear problem with unclear solution requiring a facilitative leader. This person is also called an adaptive leader. (See I am learning stuff.)

America is currently in 3:3 crisis. Though we all know there is a problem, not everyone can agree on the definition of that problem or its solution. This kind of dilemma requires an adaptive leader. An adaptive leader is creative in his solutions, and facilitative in his demeanor. Which of our presidential candidates is facilitative? Well, let me just say that command and control (McCain's military outlook) is not facilitative. While that kind of leadership has a time and place, it is rarely successful as a predominate trait. Meanwhile, the ability (and desire) to negotiate, is a facilitative style of leadership (Obama).

I admit Obama's cool (meaning calmness) is appealing to me, but why shouldn't it be? We need a leader who can create relationships with countries we currently fear (it's necessary to fear people and countries that you piss off). We need a leader who can keep us out of war that we no longer have money for. We need a leader who will give money back to the states in a form of over-sighted infrastructure grants. We need a leader who is innovative and not stuck in the mind-set of the "old boys club"that had predominated government since. Ragean. Funny how the party who is not known for less government, wants to give power back to the states. An adaptive leader will lead despite his party politics. He will do what is best for the organization (America). The political issues of which party stands for what issues, while important in terms of appealing to our emotions, is irrelevant. What really matters is what kind of leader will we elect? A person who demand things be done HIS way, or a leader who is willing to look at all sides of an issue, all the stakeholder and create an innovative solution?

Denver for Obama

2008-10-17T02:52:00.003-04:00

To bring this whole election thing home, think of the candidates this way: Obama is for infrastructure improvements and alternate energy research, that means that if he is elected it could be much easier for agencies like RTD to get funding for projects like FasTracks, which would mean the tax would not have to be raised. While I am for the increased RTD tax (i mean it's $0.03 on the dollar), it would be cool if the federal government could send some money our way, rather that just giving us unfunded mandates and bailing out rich guys.

Saving Denver's Economy

2008-10-17T02:43:00.004-04:00

I appreciate the efforts of our government, state and federal, to save the economy, but I think the wrong businesses are getting bailed out. We should be bailing out Denver's independent or small business run restaurants. By letting these cultural businesses going we are loosing the flavor of our city; we are returning to the strip mall, frozen food chain city that is just like all the other cities with an ESPN Zone, Cheesecake Factory and Chili's. We need to save our identity and individuality so that we can cull the creative class who will create new businesses and jobs and invest in our economy long term and without need of $700 gazillion. A little money spent bailing out small businesses will go a long way toward saving our cities and the whole economy.

Just so we're clear...

2008-10-17T02:41:00.001-04:00

I think this ad is perfect!

Old West

2008-10-14T22:54:00.002-04:00

"Nederland welcomes its first sidewalks"--Headline from the Daily Camera, 10/14/08

And we told everyone at the DNC the west was modernized. :)

Fit and Famous

2008-10-02T16:33:00.003-04:00

On September 22nd, the Downtown Denver YMCA hosted an America on the Move event feature my regular monday Outdoor Fitness Class. We lunged, hoped and ran the capital steps, getting our butts in shape while being cheered by an Anti-Amendment 48 rally and filmed by a Channel 7 Cameraman. 30 seconds of my 15 minutes are up! :)

Check it out at: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/17604522/

Neighborhood shootings

2008-09-24T22:51:00.005-04:00

This happened two blocks up the street from my house:
Denver Officer Involved In Shooting, Man Wounded
DENVER (CBS4/AP) ― Two officers were involved in a shooting in Denver Wednesday, police said. One man was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition.

Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson says the man sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the shooting that occurred shortly before noon Wednesday.

The suspect was wanted in connection with several recent robberies in the area.

The shooting happened near 14th Avenue and Washington Street at a small apartment building called The Washington.

Witnesses told the Rocky Mountain News they heard several shots.

Two officers, one of whom was undercover, approached two robbery suspects, police said. One suspect ran toward Colfax and the other went into the building where the locked door stopped him in the entryway.

After some shouting and a confrontation, witnesses said the officers shot the man in the entryway at point blank range.

"I heard at least eight shots," witness Matthew Bates said.

"The guy was trapped inside the access door, rolling on the ground and screaming in pain, and then they carried him out in an ambulance" witness Keith Franklin said.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey arrived at the scene not long after the shooting.

Neither the name of the suspect nor the names of the officers involved in the shooting have been released.

I lived in Spanish Harlem for 6 months and there were 4 murders on my block. This is why Denver is better: In 1 years in this neighborhood the only shooting deaths was of a criminal (his 'buddy' said he was suspected of robbery) by a cop. Yes I do feel safer here. The cops in denver don't just hang out at the Dunkin' Doughnuts. And it might add perspective that the 'buddy' the victim was visiting was covered in scabs and scars that were probably from meth (though admittedly, I've never seen leprosy).

Kantian Society

2008-09-24T16:27:00.003-04:00

Immanuel Kant wanted the fuzzy world of ethics to be defined in rational definitive terms similar to mathematics, thus he wrote his categorical imperative and suggested that everyone faced with ethical dilemmas make their decision based on the idea that your choice should be able to made into a law or that everyone should choose that same choice. It's an interesting theory that I think can work in come cases, but I think that his need for clear concise rules that follow mathematical exactness eliminate our ability to use some of the best tools humans have, that being emotions and instincts. It has also created a society, inadvertently i'd guess, that is against women. Typically the male gender is described as the rational, definitive gender, while women are the emotional, intuitive ones. So if Kant want's a rational world, obviously it can't be run by women, unless they act like men. But this Kantian world isn't just bad for women, it's bad for all creative emotive people. If a man is supposed to think logically and rationally about every decision, he ignores that little voice in his head that tells what the true right choice is, and it quiets that voice that wants to stand up for the underdog, or use creative even shocking ways to direct people's attention. Even the current generation of twenty-somethings are rebelling against Kant's idea with the EMO culture.

I'm not entirely against Kant, but I am glad there are people in the world who don't buy in the idea of what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

Optimism

2008-09-24T16:16:00.003-04:00

Optimist: One who sees failure, but delineates between their own responsibility and forces out of their control, then picks themselves back up and tries again.

One of my classes in grad school is on Leadership and Ethics. I love this class. It gives me hope for myself and the future of the world. It also stretches my brain. In the study of leadership, we have learned that just about everyone agrees that all the successful leaders have had some amount of optimism. A trait that I am often attributed with, and the modified with naive. If optimistic leaders are so successful why are pessimists so prevalent, or is more like when someone gets bad service and tells 5 friends while a happy customer only tells 1. Are pessimists just louder? I should not that pessimists are often disguised as "realists" which is to say that their reality is one of failure, so why even try. And if there are more pessimists or perhaps they are just louder, how much hard and therefore more admirable does that make successful leaders who remain optimistic in the face of challenging circumstances and difficult nay-sayers.

Optimism takes energy, with all the energy it takes to stay optimists, especially with the added difficulty of dealing with pessimists, is there a correlation between optimistic leaders and those same people having ADHD?

Friendships Revisited

2008-09-24T16:03:00.002-04:00

My father taught me that if someone is bringing you down, that you aren't required to keep that person in your life. The idea backfired on him, as he brought me down and is no longer a part of my life.

I've been thinking about this lesson a lot this past year, as a good friend of mine and I had a falling out. Today I saw on her myspace (on which we are no longer friends either) that she is engaged. For a minute this made me sad. Since our original fight, she missed out being there for me during a rather rough year and I missed out on getting to know her fiance. Which brought up the question: When is it just a fight, and when is it a realization of mispared friends? I wrote her a note of congratulations in a moment of nostalgia, sad for my loss. But then I remembered why I had been so hurt, and wondered if there are some people you really shouldn't' be friends with. The beginning of our friendship was rough, with her condemning me high school for a few months of rebellion. Her freeze out lasted longer than my sinning. And since we've stopped talking we never run into each other, even our mutual friends have sort of agreed not to bring us together (and despite what she thinks I had nothing to do with their choices to get involved or not!). So perhaps, despite my heart's slowness to heal, we were not really meant to be friends.

That theory discredits my belief that everyone has a reason to be in someone's life, even if only for a min. So maybe we were meant to be friends, but only until we finally grew into adulthood. Perhaps we her influence kept me out of trouble in my early years, but now that I know who I am, I don't need her, nor do I want to be judged by her.

I present this topic as my own problem, but it should be noted that she has a similar outlook on the disposability of friends. I think we just out grew each other.

Party in the neighborhood

2008-09-23T00:25:00.005-04:00

Saturday afternoon Wax Trax (on 13th and Washington, Denver co) was having some kind of party, with DJ's and cheap CD's. Gave the walk to and from the places I go some much needed rhythm. I have no idea who was spinning, but I dug it!

Economic problem?

2008-09-10T01:28:00.002-04:00

While I'm not quite in as much denial as McCain in regards to our national economic problem, I do view the issue what I thinks is differently. Perhaps instead of whining about lowered federal revenue and how people aren't spending anymore, we need to re-evaluate our values. In my finance and policy classes, various authors have discussed the principle that goods are deemed valuable if we the consumer buy them. And that is where the government gets their income, from the taxes on those valuable items. So, obviously, if we don't buy them, the government looses money. But if we aren't spending our money, then why are we still poor? Answer: We're still spending our money, just not on things the government has gotten into the habit of getting it's revenue from. Case and Point: from the Denver Biz Journal:
A report on August tax receipts issued Tuesday by the Colorado Department of Revenue shows the state collected $4 million in liquor taxes. That’s 42.2 percent above what Colorado collected a year earlier.

So see, we are still spending our money, just not on gas! Maybe this means duis will decrease too! :)

Don't Forget Snigrab!

2008-08-28T01:07:00.003-04:00

So will the delegates stick around to buy their ski gear and season passes? Seems like a good time to plan a winter vacation! For the rest of us, time to plan our winter fun, as if there's not enough to do this weekend! At least this one gets you out of downtown!

Love Her

2008-08-26T23:40:00.002-04:00

Stole this from the Demver Yourhub blog, but just loved it!

Lincoln Likes Denver

2008-08-26T22:57:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I lunged past a young Abe Lincoln talking to folk son the 16th Street mall, with my YMCA outdoor fitness class. Today I saw him at Argonaut, and asked him what he was doing at the DNC. Happily he answered my question, proudly showing his DC Votes button. He is in Denver getting petition signed to give DC representation. He is a good protester. He is working within the system to get what he wants...and it's working. He said he's been successful in educating the public and getting his petition filled, and he likes Denver. It's a beautiful place he says. :) I always liked Lincoln.

I could have been a republican

2008-08-26T22:56:00.002-04:00

In another time I could have been a republican.

From the Washington Post:
Indeed, the anti-Republican red meat was left for an unlikely source, soft-spoken former GOP congressman Jim Leach of Iowa, who hailed Obama as "a transcendent candidate" as he criticized his own party.

"The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values," Leach said. "The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the Earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts."

Uninformed Protesters

2008-08-26T21:00:00.002-04:00

It makes me so mad to read about the protesters at Planned Parenthood. I have not been able to afford health insurance since 2000. But thanks to planned parenthood and other social welfare programs I have been able to get yearly paps to take care of my preventative medicine, saving tax payers a lot of money. But "conservatives" choose this place to protest abortions! It's not all they do, and how dare they make women feel bad about getting health care where they can! No Wonder the health care system hasn't been fixed, Republicans don't even want women to get health care from non-profits!

Like Ever Listen to Like Yourself Talk?

2008-08-26T20:34:00.001-04:00

My pet pieve is interviewing people who have never listened to themselves talk. Try it, next time you're having a conversation pay attention to how often you say, "like", "you know", "just like", "Sort of".

Does Protesting Work?

2008-08-26T20:10:00.004-04:00

A friend and I were discussing the merits of getting arrested this week in Denver. Of course protesting the DNC is a high priority for many people and has been for quite some time, long enough that some people seemed to be more concerned with getting their message heard, and therefore got permits to protest legally. I can only imagine that going that route, means those protesters won't get arrested, and therefore have the "ear" of the politicians longer. But still some, as my friend pointed out, are protesting the fact that we need permits in the first place. This seems reasonable, however I do find it comical when those protesters, who are technically breaking the law even though trying to change it, get upset about arrests. My friend explained that the rub is that police are too rough. So are protesters, who are breaking the law in mob form (do we need a psychology class here on mob rule?), wanting police to nicely ask them to come with them? Saying please and thank you? of course they're going to be rough, were the protesters being arrested going quietly, and cooperatively? No. Ok, enough of that rant.

The question is does protesting even work?

Politicians are here this week to discuss the Democrats policy on many hot button issues, for instance the war. Is a group of people chanting "Fuck the War" going to affect their thinking? Are those protesters coming up with new usable ideas? While I understand how sit in and protests worked in the 60's they do not seem to apply today. Even in the history of the 60's we are shown on TV and taught in classes, their successful protests are pointed and aimed at local change. The vietnam protests didn't get us out of vietnam. Though I suppose they did tell the government that the "people" were against it. But so does a pole and letter's the to editor. Back to the point, blacks sitting in white restaurants, and white buses changed things. I just don't see the point of chanting "Fuck the war". Politicians, bloggers and corporate media all seem to be listening to lobbyist groups, and private interest groups like the LGBT caucus who have an event at the Convention Center for politicians to go and listen to their ideas.

A Rage Against the Machine singer said that politicians don't just magically change things, and that we the people need to rise up. I Agree. I think "we the people" need to rise up and take jobs in government roles that we have ideas of how to change. We the people need to vote for other people who have good ideas. We the people need to quit being bums, get off our unemployed asses, go to school, get master's degrees and run for office or appointed positions! Funny how you rarely see corporate businessmen protesting for less corporate taxes, or non-profits picketing for better social programs. They figured it out, if you don't like it, change it!