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Saturday, June 11, 2005
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Coalition Numbers in Iraq
GlobalSecurity.org: "The size and capabilities of the Coalition forces involved in operations in Iraq has been a subject of much debate, confusion, and at times exageration. As of March 15, 2004, there were 25 non-U.S. military forces participating in the coalition and contributing to the ongoing stability operations throughout Iraq. These countries were Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Ukraine. As of March 8, 2004, the MNF-I website incorrectly included Portugal in the list; that country's troops left Iraq in February. It also omitted Armenia which has about 46 troops in Iraq which it deployed in Jan. 2005." Thanks to the Daily Kos for the link.
9:02:10 AM 
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Warner/Hagel for President?
Political Wire: "'With a possible eye toward the 2008 presidential race,' Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) 'has opened a federal fund-raising committee and hired a former consultant to Al Gore to try to elevate his national profile,' the New York Times reports."
Oval Office 2008: "Another key factor for Hagel could be that, despite his friendship with McCain, he was not one of the 14 Senators signing up to McCain's filibuster compromise deal - indeed he was openly critical of it - which avoids an association that might be unpalatable to many social conservatives."
The Moderate Voice: "We've put in our posts here a statement that Democratic fundraising is lagging under Howard Dean but Media Matters says that is not the case and they've documented it...So we do stand corrected on that one. This is one of the weaknesses, by the way, of virtually all weblogs: bloggers base their analyses (in general) on media reports but do not and cannot confirm every fact in it."
Oval Office 2008: "Anyway, one bookmaker seems already to be counting out Massachusetts Senator and 2004 nominee John Kerry, according to the Boston Herald. The Herald reports that SportsInteraction.com has placed Kerry ninth in its list of... err... nine candidates for the Democratic nomination. Kerry trails behind Clinton, Edwards, Bayh, Vilsack, Richardson, Obama and, wait for it, Tom Daschle. (That's only eight, I know - the Herald says it's nine)."
Daily Kos: "People are upset because Dean spoke the truth about the GOP? That it's become primarily a white Christian party?"
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
8:25:03 AM
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Referenda C/D
As you bump along the roads or sit in a pool of storm water this summer the state would like you to consider that the cure is Referendum D on the fall ballot, according to the Denver Post [June 10, 2005, "57 road projects hitch ride on TABOR vote"]. It's going to be great fun watching the campaign for the referendum and it's companion measure, Referendum C, over the next few months. From the Post article, "State and local officials Friday settled on a list of 57 highway projects, costing $1 billion, that Colorado voters will consider in November as part of a ballot measure that alters the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Referendum D, if approved by voters, will allow the state to issue bonds that will help pay for transportation, education and police and fire pensions. To issue the bonds, Colorado officials need voters to approve a companion measure, Referendum C, that allows the state to keep revenues in excess of spending limits set by TABOR. That revenue will be used to repay bondholders. An infusion of bond money is needed to fund transportation because other sources of highway funding have dried up, Colorado Department of Transportation executive director Tom Norton told local officials Friday."
The real fun starts the day after the election if both measures pass. Coyote Gulch foresees fights over highways vs. education vs. healthcare services and other social services where funding has been slashed over the past few years. Don't leave out libraries.
We haven't found the websites for supporters or opponents (except the Independence Institute) yet. If you know the URL's send us the links. The email address is jworrAToperamail.com.
If anyone reading this is on either side and wants some help setting up a weblog, send us email to the address above. We will help you get set up, free of charge. You'll need $40 for Radio Userland and $2,500 or so for a PowerBook.
Here's an opinion piece on the referenda written by Bob Ewegen from today's Denver Post [June 11, 2005, "Counties unite for budget fix"]. He writes, "Colorado's 64 counties display an amazing variety of landscapes, people and resources. But despite - or perhaps because of - their diversity, they seem more united than ever in their efforts to resolve common problems ranging from social services to this state's crumbling highway network."
Guerin Green - North Denver News: "I think it may be time to amend the Denver City Charter to compel the Denver Election Commission to administer elections in a manner designed to maximize voter participation. I've been a student of voting for a long time, particularly since I have sat on the Board of Kids Voting Colorado, a civics education and voting program, for more than a decade. That experience has made watching the Denver Election Commission's ill-conceived, on-again, off-again Vote Centers project cause to wretch. Moving away from a mail election in May depressed turnout, and elevated the prospects for a city jail. Now, in November, Denver will use a mail election, which skeptics suggest would aid the passage of Referenda C and D."
Category: Denver November 2005 Election
8:02:24 AM
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Stream Temperatures
The Colorado Water Quality Commission will be holding hearings next week to study the effects of higher temperatures in streams and the effect on acquatic life, according to the Rocky Mountain News [June 11, 2005, "Fight over streams, fish heats up as hearings on temperature loom"]. From the article, "Over five years in the late 1990s, brown trout populations in a stretch of the Dolores River near Cortez plummeted by two-thirds. The culprit, at least in part was high water temperatures linked to people squeezing off river flows, environmentalists said. Now, for the first time, state regulators are making a stab at preventing such die-offs by setting standards for water temperatures in Colorado's lakes, streams and rivers to aid struggling fisheries...Colorado's water rights laws usually trump water quality regulations. That means it would be difficult to require water diverters to leave more water in depleted steams to keep them cool."
Of course brownies are a non-native species. No one is asking what the fisheries were like before Coloradans dammed, diverted and polluted the rivers. Maybe those details are unknowable.
Category: Colorado Water
7:41:57 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 7:34:39 PM.
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