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Wednesday, May 3, 2006
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Internet Neutrality
Ed Cone: "I'm guessing former Clinton mouthpiece Mike McCurry meant to sound tough and bloggy with this post about Net neutrality.
"It really didn't work. He sounds like an angry insider who can't believe a bunch of nobodies dared to challenge him.
"Yeah, it's rough out there in the comments, but you have to stay cool and on point.
"It helps to mix a little Google into your act, too: McCurry sounds ignorant when he calls Vint Cerf 'Vince.'
But his biggest problem is this challenge to 'net neuts,' as he calls proponents of Net neutrality: 'What content is being denied? What service is being degraded? What is not right with the Internet that you are trying to cure?'
"The answer to his third question: It's not a cure, it's a vaccine.
"The phone companies (for which McCurry is a paid lobbyist) are the ones who want to change the rules, and those changes would bring abundant answers to his first two questions.
"The battle of Net neutrality has moved into the political arena. Presumably this is why the telcos are employing a political expert like McCurry.
"But when the battlefield moves to the Web, it might help to have someone who knows the terrain."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
7:04:19 AM 
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Immigration
Captain's Quarters: "The May Day protests by activists for illegal immigrants have resulted in an utterly predictable backlash, according to the Washington Post. Voters have sent bricks to their Congressional representatives as donations for a border barrier, and even those who considered themselves liberals want the government to start rounding up illegals and send them packing."
Bull Moose: "[Monday's] immigration protest only assisted one group - the Republican right. It inflamed the fever swamp and it was not a good thing. Those who are here illegally should not flaunt a sense of entitlement. Yet, there is a need for a comprehensive reform bill, and whatever backlash that might develop shouldn't dissuade Congress from acting.
"The GOP's right fixation on the 'immigrant hordes' is ludicrous. Sure, there is a problem, but it is nowhere as immense as some Republicans suggest. These illegal immigrants generally come to America not to be on the dole but to work and work hard. Yes, they speak a foreign language and observe customs from the old country - and so did many of our parents and grandparents. English should be the preferred language for the national anthem, but even if it is sung in a foreign tongue it is better than not being heard at all.
"Ironically, these immigrants are likely more socially conservative than native born Americans. As the Washington Post pointed out, there is a revival of Pentecostalism among new immigrants. Indeed, the native tongue may be speaking in tongues!"
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:40:43 AM
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HB 1352
HB 1352 [Concerning an expansion of water judges's jurisdiction to address the effects of a water right adudication on water quaility] passed the state House yesterday with 33 votes, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. On to the state Senate now.
From the article, "Rural lawmakers' perennial push to address increasingly poor water quality for Coloradans who live downstream of the state's metro areas cleared its biggest hurdle yet Tuesday. The House narrowly approved a proposal that calls for water court judges to take water quality into account before ruling on transfers of water from one area of the state to another. Colorado water law requires judges look at who a water transfer or diversion might harm, but it doesn't direct them to weigh the environmental harm diverting water from a river basin might inflict on users downstream...
"Giving McFadyen the vote she needed to keep her bill alive in the closing days of the 2006 legislative session was Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez. Larson voted for the bill last month when the House cast an initial vote on the measure. But as a final vote on the measure languished on the House docket, he felt increasingly inclined to change his vote. Larson said his 'water buffaloes,' a term used to describe experts in the water field, took advantage of the lull to sway his thinking, too. They didn't like the idea of bringing water quality into the mix. On Tuesday, Larson's water buffaloes told him to go with his gut, even if it wasn't what they advocated. 'I was the 33rd,' said Larson, who said he expects to take some heat from the folks back home for his support. 'I'm pleased to have been a part of it.' Holding his ground on the measure was Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose, who maintained his opposition to the bill despite the urging of his rural colleagues. Rose said the bill has nothing to do with water quality and everything to do with transferring power from the state's Water Quality Control Commission to the courts. HB 1352 directs judges to use water-quality criteria established by the commission...
"[Buffie] McFadyen acknowledged her bill isn't in the clear despite passing the House. Among the critics she must now win over is Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus. Isgar heads up the Senate Agricultural Committee, the bill's next stop and a hurdle it must clear before it can be debated on the Senate floor."
Category: Colorado Water
6:12:30 AM
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Arkansas Valley Conduit
Most of the preliminary work on the Arkansas Valley Conduit is finished, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Congress should have all the information it needs to advance legislation on a drinking water conduit for communities east of Pueblo by midsummer. About half of the 42 communities have signed letters of intent to join the conduit, and most of the others are expected to follow suit by June 1, said Bill Long, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District president and chairman of the Arkansas Valley Conduit advisory committee."
Category: Colorado Water
6:02:52 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 8:11:13 PM.
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