Friday, April 14, 2006

Frist for president? Oval Office 2008: "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is calling on some support as he rebuilds his reputation from a bad 2005, and seeks to reposition himself as a credible presidential contender. Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill recently reported that 'allies of ... Frist (R-Tenn.) are waging a quiet campaign to rehabilitate his image among opinion makers to ensure that members of D.C.'s 'chattering class' who mold the national conventional wisdom do not dismiss his presidential prospects.'" Category: 2008 Presidential Election 11:25:54 AM

Rumsfeld under fire Bull Moose: "The Moose expresses his appreciation to the Secretary of Defense. Donald Rumsfeld has accomplished something no government official has achieved. Rummy has brought the country together. He is truly a uniter and not a divider. Republican and Democrat. Conservative and Liberal. Civilian and Military. Red State and Blue State. All together. America is agreed. We are a united nation. There is a national consensus - Donald Rumsfeld must go." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 11:20:53 AM

Your Tax Dollars On Drugs AlterNet: "Americans' annual day of reckoning with the IRS on April 15 is a good time to consider where our money is going -- and where it's being wasted. With the federal budget deficit ratcheting past $400 billion per year and the White House and Congress looking at cutting spending for Medicare, education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no excuse for squandering billions of dollars on programs that don't work. No. 1 on the failure list is our government's war on marijuana users. This war has not only failed to curb marijuana use and availability, but it has done real harm to our nation while chewing up billions of dollars every year. How many billions? Last year, Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron estimated that the federal government spends about $2.4 billion annually on enforcing anti-marijuana laws, which is on top of about $5.3 billion that local and state governments spend annually. Under prohibition, we also forgo the roughly $6.2 billion in tax revenues that Prof. Miron says would be generated if marijuana were regulated and taxed like alcohol and tobacco. But that's only part of the cost of marijuana prohibition. The federal government has spent over $1 billion since 1998 on TV, radio and print anti-drug ads that have focused overwhelmingly on marijuana, often neglecting far more dangerous drugs like methamphetamine. And the government spends millions of additional dollars conducting and publicizing research that's designed to justify marijuana prohibition -- and an unknown amount campaigning against state and local efforts to reform marijuana laws. The goal of all this is to choke off the marijuana supply and put a stop to marijuana use. Are we getting our money's worth? In a word, no... "In another recent federal government survey, 86 percent of high school seniors said that marijuana was 'easy to get' -- a figure that has remained virtually constant since 1975. All this, despite an all-time record marijuana 'eradication' campaign in 2005, with over four million plants seized. Marijuana arrests have also set a record: 771,984 in one year. That's the equivalent of arresting every man, woman and child in the state of Wyoming plus St. Paul, Minnesota -- every year. By cherry-picking the most favorable statistics, the White House has tried to convince us that marijuana use has dropped in a big way, but this simply isn't so. Although changes in survey methodology make direct comparisons difficult, the latest edition of the federal government's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released last September, reports a higher percentage of 12- to 17-year-olds using marijuana at least monthly than when President Nixon first declared a 'war on drugs' in 1971. The number of Americans who admit to having tried marijuana has reached an all-time record -- nearly 100 million. Nearly 15 million say they use marijuana at least monthly. That's more people than attend all college and professional football games in a typical month, more than three times as many as buy Apple's red-hot iPod in a month, and eight times as many as attend rock concerts in a month. The futile effort to 'eradicate' marijuana has produced a harvest of misery. By forfeiting any chance to regulate the marijuana market -- you can't regulate what's illegal, after all -- we've given criminals and gangsters an exclusive franchise. We've guaranteed that marijuana will be grown in dangerous locations -- even hidden in wilderness areas or national parks -- instead of by regulated producers who are subject to environmental and labor standards. Unlike liquor merchants, who could lose their very lucrative liquor licenses if they sell to children, marijuana dealers have no incentive not to sell to kids. Marijuana prohibition may be the most spectacular policy failure since -- well, since the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s. It's time to stop wasting money on this boondoggle. It's time to tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol." Thank to TalkLeft for the link. Category: Denver November 2006 Election 11:13:06 AM

Ritter or Holtzman for governor? Marc Holtzman and Bob Beauprez talked about the issues at the Rocky Mountain Workforce Development Association yesterday, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "Republican gubernatorial hopeful Marc Holtzman said Thursday he would declare a state of emergency in Colorado to pressure the federal government over illegal immigration... "Democratic candidate Bill Ritter, the former Denver district attorney, said the answer on illegal immigration should come from the federal government... "Ritter said he favors a solution that is "an achievable thing ... not necessarily an ideological thing" such as recently proposed guest-worker programs. Holtzman's call for a state of emergency echoes a letter eight Republican state lawmakers sent to President Bush on Tuesday in response to immigration rallies across the country." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 10:24:09 AM

Arkansas River flows The Arkansas River is running very low, even for this time of year, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. They write, "The weather in Pueblo was gorgeous Thursday - unless you happen to be a fish or a kayaker. Flows in the Arkansas River through Pueblo were just a trickle - less than half of what they were one week ago... "Snowpack in the mountains, however, looks better this year than in 2002 in the Arkansas River headwaters. Weather conditions in the next month could either improve the outlook or send the region into another prolonged dry spell. Most of the snowpack is above 10,000 feet and has not started melting, and if dry, windy weather continues, the moisture content of the higher snowpack could evaporate before it enters the river, Flory said. At midweek, flows dropped to about 64 cubic feet per second above Pueblo, with about half of that coming through the state fish hatchery. That's down from more than 200 cfs one week ago. At the Moffat Street gauge, midway through Pueblo, flows dropped to 39 cfs Thursday, down from 149 cfs one week ago. By comparison, Fountain Creek was running at 33 cfs. Contributing to the lack of water in the river is the increase of water on Pueblo lawns. More people have started watering as temperatures climb. The mercury hit a record 90 degrees Thursday. With warmer weather, water demand has shot up to 31 million gallons a day from 23 million gallons a day one week ago, said Alan Ward, water resources specialist with the Pueblo Board of Water Works. Pueblo increased its intake from Lake Pueblo by more than one-third - to 47 cfs from 35 cfs - to keep up with the demand... "Under the 2004 intergovernmental agreement, the trigger to curtail exchanges at this time of year is 350 cfs. Unless river flows increase significantly over the weekend, there won't even be the opportunity for exchanges, Ward said. Low flows also could complicate plans for the Icebreaker kayak rodeo planned for next weekend, one of four weekends where flows of 600 to 1,000 cfs have been requested by local boaters. The event is expected to attract top kayakers from across the country, local organizers say... "Flows are currently below the minimum 100 cfs the City of Pueblo has asked the Colorado Water Conservation Board for in order to maintain fish habitat as well. Ward is optimistic the river will improve once the high-country snowpack begins to melt." Category: Colorado Water 9:36:48 AM

Agreement for Buena Vista and Salida RICD Mountain Mail: "The Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District directors voted unanimously Thursday to approve a memorandum of understanding in connection with the Chaffee County application for a recreational in channel diversion water right. Of 12 entities involved in the agreement, only the water district and Colorado Springs Utilities hadn't yet agreed to it. Both agreed Thursday, paving the way for an unopposed run through water court... "The water right will ensure as much as 1,800 cubic feet of water per second flows through boating parks in Salida and Buena Vista during the height of whitewater season... "[Julienne] Woldridge negotiated on behalf of Upper Ark directors up until Thursday morning. Approval was conditional upon Woldridge reaching final agreement with the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District related to evaporation from Pueblo Reservoir. The agreement focuses not so much on the decree in the RICD, but on how parties will relate to the voluntary flow program which provided adequate flow for recreation and fish spawning for 15 years. Woldridge negotiated language into the agreement allowing the district to maintain its ability to operate ex changes in a way that detracts from flow program flows when absolutely necessary to save water or meet its commitments. It can also manage future water rights in the same way. Chaffee County agreed to yield its RICD decree to future exchanges by some entities in the agreement. The district retained the right to object to these future exchange cases, some of which have already been filed." Category: Colorado Water 9:20:45 AM

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