Coyote Gulch

Saturday, December 11, 2004

On Freedom
John Perry Barlow: "Assuming the possibility of appeal - which is a certainty if I lose this round - this case may go on for a long time, but if that's what it takes to prevent the imposition of general warrants upon the traveling public, I'm willing to go the distance. John Gilmore, bless him, appears willing to do the same. We're trying to set a precedent here and the government is determined to prevent one. Only through such solitary struggles as this one can we preserve the dreams of Jefferson and Madison through this period of panicked expediency. On September 11, 2001 I sent out a spam to my mailing list in which I warned that 'the control freaks will be dining out on this day for the rest of our lives.'"
7:56:16 AM

2008 Presidential Election
Western Democrat: "I'm not going to make this a Webb for DNC chair blog, but it seems at least this guy is saying all the right stuff. Maybe he's a good comprosmise candidate between Dean and Rosenberg."
7:45:24 AM

2004 Presidential Transition
Bernard Kerik has pulled out of the nomination for Secretary of Homeland Security, according to the AP via the Denver Post [December 11, 2004, "U.S. security nominee pulls name"]. The blogosphere and inkesphere were digging up all sorts of great questions to ask the nominee. From the article, "One administration official helping prepare Kerik for Senate confirmation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kerik's unexpected decision shocked senior leaders at the Homeland Security Department. This official said Kerik still had not filled out all his ethics filings - which would detail his sources of income and financial liabilities - and said the FBI background investigation of Kerik was still incomplete. But the only moderately troubling information uncovered about Kerik so far had been news that he had earned $6.2 million by exercising stock options he received from Taser International, which did lucrative business with the Homeland Security Department, the anonymous official said."
Josh Marshall: "Newsweek's Mark Hosenball suggests that his investigation may have been what scotched the Kerik nomination. And he may be right."
The President named Samuel Bodman as his nominee for Energy Secretary yesterday, according to the Denver Post [December 11, 2004, "Ex-MIT prof to lead Energy Dept."]. From the article, "Bush asked Samuel Bodman, 66, to advance a second-term energy agenda that includes ramping up domestic-energy development to help the nation begin weaning itself from foreign - particularly Middle Eastern - oil and to push the president's energy plan, which went nowhere in Congress the past four years. One controversial proposal: opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling...Bodman earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1961 and a doctorate of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. He was an associate chemical engineering professor at MIT from 1965 to 1970 and technical director of the American Research and Development Corp., a venture-capital firm, from 1964 to 1970. In 1983, he was named president and chief operating officer of Fidelity Investments. In 1987, he joined Cabot Corp."
7:27:58 AM

Colorado Water
"Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over." So goes an old truism about water in Colorado. Well, the state is building up a war chest for fighting over the Colorado River, according to the Rocky Mountain News [December 11, 2004, "State preparing for water battle"]. From the article, "Colorado will spend as much as $2 million in the next two years to build a legal war chest shoring up its rights to the drought-plagued Colorado River. The new initiative comes as Lake Powell and Lake Mead - the river's giant storage ponds - have reached historic lows, triggering anxiety over future supplies from Los Angeles to Denver...The money is being spent on new computer models detailing how the river's supplies will be affected by ongoing drought and on creating a computerized historic archive documenting Colorado's use of the river under the 1922 Colorado River Compact. It also will pay for new legal research to help guide the state in the unlikely event that the lingering drought prompts new claims to Colorado's share of the river's supplies...Colorado's destiny is intimately tied to the river whose birthplace lies high in the Never Summer Mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park. It supplies roughly half the drinking water 3.6 million Front Range residents use annually, provides water for snowmaking from Winter Park to Vail and irrigates the peach and apple orchards that dot the Western Slope. All told, roughly 25 million people in the West depend on its liquid bounty."
"Three key issues: Under the 1922 compact, Mexico is entitled to 1.5 million acre-feet of water, to be delivered from surplus supplies. The Upper Basin was to contribute only in times of shortage. But since 1970, 750,000 acre-feet has been delivered from Lake Powell annually. That means, in Colorado's view, that the Upper Basin has delivered too much water; Colorado also has asked U.S. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton to reduce the historic outflow from Lake Powell, in light of the drought. Reducing the flows from Powell would mean the Upper Basin states could maintain a stronger buffer against a possible demand for extra water from Nevada, Arizona and California; Colorado also wants Arizona to stop storing river water it doesn't need in aquifers, further draining the two giant storage ponds."
The Colorado Snowpack is looking good heading into the end of the year, according to the Denver Post [December 1o, 2004, "Colorado's snowpack up, easing drought fears"]. From the article, "Every river basin in Colorado has risen above the 30-year average when it comes to snowpack and experts say the state appears to be bouncing back from a five-year drought...The Upper Colorado River basin today was at 110 percent of average...As of today, the South Platte, a major source of water for Denver and northeast Colorado, was 112 percent of the average. In one day, the Yampa-White River basin in the northwestern section of the state, went from 98 percent of average to 111 percent."
Here's the link to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
7:16:41 AM

Denver November 2006 Election
Who will step up to run for the open Governor's office in 2006? The Rocky Mountain News has a story on the subject today [December 11, 2004, "Wide-open field"]. Here's the list they put together: "U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, 61, of Fort Collins, whose term expires in 2008. He's known as plodding but solid; U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, 56, of Arvada, who was just elected to a second term. The former state GOP chairman has been promised powerful committee posts in Congress; U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, 71, of Ignacio, a controversial, colorful figure who hated living in Washington, D.C., and called it quits this year; State Treasurer Mike Coffman, 49, of Arapahoe County, for years has attended local GOP functions to court votes in case he runs for higher office; U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis, 51, of Grand Junction, is retiring after six terms in Congress. A lawyer, he has joined a Denver firm. He could not be reached for comment; Beer magnate Pete Coors, 58, of Golden, lost the U.S. Senate race to Democrat Ken Salazar in November. He said he loved campaigning but hated the media scrutiny. He could not be reached for comment; University of Denver President Marc Holtzman, 44, of Carbondale. The former banker and political boy wonder served as Gov. Bill Owens' secretary of technology for five years; Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, 50, of Englewood, who was chosen by Owens to be his running mate in his second term; Entrepreneur Rutt Bridges, 53, of Denver, founder of the Bighorn Center for Public Policy, a Denver-based think tank; Former state Sen. Mike Feeley, 51, of Lakewood. The quick- witted attorney ran for governor in 1998; Mayor John Hickenlooper, 51, a brewmeister elected to his first political office last year. Although Coloradans traditionally have resented Denver mayors, numerous polls show he is very popular. 'Seriously though, it's difficult to imagine leaving a job where one can get so much done that directly improves people's quality of life,' he said; Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, 48, is leaving office because of term limits. The Colorado native grew up on an Arapahoe County farm with 11 siblings. 'I'm considering it as one of my options,' he said; U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, 54, of Eldorado Springs, was just elected to his fourth term in office. 'It's no secret that he would like to serve the entire state of Colorado in some capacity,' said his spokesman, Lawrence Pacheco."
Coyote Gulch will help any and all candidates for governor start a weblog, free of charge. Just email me at jworr@operamail.com.
7:06:56 AM

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