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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
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War on terror
Andrew Sullivan: "About That Warrantless Wiretapping: My best bet is that Republicans will start worrying about it the minute the Clintons get their hands back on the reins of executive power." 
"2008 pres"
6:34:07 PM 
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? for President?
Political Wire: "A new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows Fred Thompson's support dropping a dramatic 8 points in the last month. Rudy Giuliani still leads the GOP presidential race with 27%, with Thompson now at 19% running just slightly ahead of Sen. John McCain at 17%. Mitt Romney is in fourth place at 13%.
In the Democratic race, Sen. Hillary Clinton runs way ahead of her rivals with 51% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 21% and John Edwards at 15%."
We wonder if Barack Obama will ask Dick Cheney for an endorsement. They're distant cousins it seems. Lynn Cheney (via Think Progress): "One of the things I discovered was that Dick and Barack Obama are eighth cousins. Is that an amazing thing? If you go back eight generations, we have a common ancestor."
Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:03:17 PM
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Rockies win National League Championship
You're right. The Rockies winning the National League pennant has nothing to do with water issues or elections. What the heck? We're on the bandwagon. Congratulations to the Rockies -- we hope you continue your winning ways starting next week -- in the World Series.
7:16:27 AM
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Iraq
Here's an Op-ed written by 10 army captains about conditions in Iraq from The Washington Post. They write:
Today marks five years since the authorization of military force in Iraq, setting Operation Iraqi Freedom in motion. Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles.
As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out.
What does Iraq look like on the ground? It's certainly far from being a modern, self-sustaining country. Many roads, bridges, schools and hospitals are in deplorable condition. Fewer people have access to drinking water or sewage systems than before the war. And Baghdad is averaging less than eight hours of electricity a day.
Iraq's institutional infrastructure, too, is sorely wanting. Even if the Iraqis wanted to work together and accept the national identity foisted upon them in 1920s, the ministries do not have enough trained administrators or technicians to coordinate themselves. At the local level, most communities are still controlled by the same autocratic sheiks that ruled under Saddam. There is no reliable postal system. No effective banking system. No registration system to monitor the population and its needs.
"2008 pres"
7:07:09 AM
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Middle East policy
Captain's Quarters: "Condoleezza Rice told reporters this morning that the time has arrived for a Palestinian state. She defended the launch of the latest American-sponsored peace conference by asserting that the administration had "better things to do than invite people to Annapolis for a photo op," and that the conference could make real progress towards resolving the decades-long standoff."
"2008 pres"
6:54:20 AM
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? for President?
Political Wire: "The latest American Research Group national poll on the presidential race shows Sen. Hillary Clinton continuing to dominate the Democratic field with 45% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 20% and John Edwards at 13%. On the GOP side, Rudy Giuliani leads with 24%, followed by Fred Thompson at 16%, Mitt Romney at 15% and Sen. John McCain at 14%."
Political Wire: "A new Las Vegas Review-Journal poll in Nevada shows Sen. Hillary Clinton dominating the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton leads with 39%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 21% and John Edwards at 9%. Among Republicans, Rudy Giuliani leads with 31%, followed by Mitt Romney at 30%, Fred Thompson at 18% and Sen. John McCain at 8%."
Political Wire: "A memo by Sen. Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, 'contends that women will be the deciding force in the 2008 elections, and says the campaign's internal polling shows that 94 percent of women under 35 said they would be more likely to vote in the November election if the first woman nominee is on the ballot,' according to the Boston Globe. 'Women represented 54 percent of the voters in 2004, but if Clinton is on the ticket, she can boost that majority by another point or two.'"
Political Wire: "A new Marist College poll in New Hampshire 'shows a Democratic contest that has a clear front-runner and a Republican race that doesn't.' Among Democrats, Sen. Hillary Clinton now holds a 21-percentage point lead. Clinton gets 41%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 20% and John Edwards at 11%. But among Republicans, Mitt Romney 'has an edge that seems increasingly precarious,' while Sen. John McCain 'has rebounded to a strong third.' Romney was backed by 26%, followed by Rudy Giuliani at 20%, McCain at 17% and Fred Thompson had 10%."
"2008 pres"
6:51:09 AM
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? for U.S. Senate?
From The Denver Post, "Democrat Mark Udall financially outpaced Republican Bob Schaffer for the second reporting period in a row, while state Senate president Joan Fitz-Gerald edged past her Democratic primary opponents in the race for Congress, according to reports filed Monday. Udall, a five-term congressman seeking a U.S. Senate seat, raised $1.1 million to Schaffer's $801,136 for the quarter ending Sept. 30. With the $1.4 million raised in the first half of the year, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars transferred from his congressional account, Udall still has $3.5 million in cash...In the race to replace Udall, Fitz-Gerald reported raising $387,598, compared with $368,761 from former state school board member Jared Polis, which included $19,639 he donated to the campaign.
The third Democrat in the 2nd Congressional District race, Boulder environmentalist Will Shafroth, reported $208,259."
"denver 2008"
6:24:48 AM
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Energy policy: Nuclear
Here's a report about the proposed upgrade to Colorado's mining laws spurred on by Powertech's proposed uranium mining operation in Weld County, from The Greeley Tribune "reg". From the article:
State Representatives Randy Fischer (D- Fort Collins) and John Kefalas (D-Ft. Collins) announced they are co-sponsoring a bill to be introduced into legislation in January that will protect groundwater, unveil secrecy around prospecting activities and protect landowners rights, Fischer said. While the legislation is not aimed to shut down the proposed mining project, it will raise mining safety standards that are out of date and could prove harmful to residents of Colorado, Fischer said. "The legislation we're proposing will meet new challenges and concerns posed by industrial mining technologies that were not anticipated by past legislatures," Fischer said. One of those, the In-situ mining technique used by Powertech, would be the first of its kind in Colorado. It employs high-pressured chemicals and water to remove uranium from the ground. The widest criticism of this mining technique has been the contamination of the surrounding groundwater and soil...
Senator Steve Johnson (R-Fort Collins) said the 30 other places where this technique has been used were damaged by the procedure. "In almost all of those areas, if not all of those areas, there has been serious contamination of the aquifer, of the water supply and of the environment," Johnson said. Cory Carroll, president of the Larimer County Medical Society, said the proposed mine would be a major hazard to residents of Colorado. The society has already passed a resolution opposing uranium mining. "Powertech, the company that is filing for permission to mine uranium, states candidly they will do no harm," Carroll said. "This is a fantasy. They will do harm. How much and the extent is the only unknown."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Andrew Sullivan: "We're counting on it to tackle climate change and keep our energy supplies intact. The politicians hype it. But the industry itself is not as confident - and deeply reliant on foreign supplies.
"2008 pres"
6:13:45 AM
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Immigration
The Modesto Bee: "It seemed pretty simple at first. If the federal government doesn't solve the problems brought on by a broken immigration system, then the cities themselves would take the law into their own hands by passing local ordinances that would make life so miserable for undocumented immigrants that they would just get out of town. That is how dozens of municipalities across the country attempted to unravel the mess. Now some of those cities are rethinking their strategy."
"2008 pres"
6:07:30 AM
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Palmer Lake filling
Palmer Lake finally found some water for their namesake lake, according to The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article: "The town plans to funnel about 6 acre-feet from a town reservoir into the lake over the next week, Palmer Lake council member Richard Allen said Monday. Officials opened the pipe last week."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
5:58:38 AM
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Pueblo Board of Water Works to make offer for Bessemer Ditch shares
The Pueblo Board of Water Works is hoping to buy shares of the Bessemer Canal to keep Arkansas River water in the basin and to line up a 100 year sustainable supply, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
A plan by the Pueblo Board of Water Works to obtain a controlling interest in the Bessemer Ditch to meet future water needs in the area could be launched today. The water board is scheduled to vote for approval of a plan to buy Bessemer Ditch shares and convert them to municipal use to help meet Pueblo water needs for the next century. The board is also scheduled to vote on an agreement with Pueblo West to jointly pursue the water rights. The Pueblo West Metropolitan District board is still discussing the agreement and is not scheduled to vote on it until Nov. 13 at the earliest, said manager Don Saling.
"The Bessemer is a good water right, and it meets our criteria. One of the benefits is that this would keep it in the Arkansas basin," said Alan Hamel, executive director of the water board. "Some are not going to sell, but we think we can be better partners than someone outside Pueblo County." The water would help meet projected water needs up to 100 years in the future, as well as reduce the share of imported water used in Pueblo's system. At buildout, Pueblo will get 60 percent of its water supply from the Colorado River basin, and climate change or downstream river calls could reduce the yield of those rights. The water board would not initially dry up farms. "For at least the next 20 years, we would lease the water back to farmers and improve their chances to succeed," Hamel said...
[Nick Gradisar, water board president] said legal and engineering fees are expected to be more than $500 per share, and the water board may also use money from the fund for its proposed enlargement of Clear Creek Reservoir or other projects. There may also be infrastructure needs, revegetation and other costs associated with the Bessemer purchase. The water board's plan calls for purchasing a controlling interest in the Bessemer Ditch, or slightly more than 10,000 of the almost 20,000 shares on the ditch, because of the high priority of water rights on the ditch. The ditch also diverts directly from Pueblo Dam, meaning no exchanges would be required to move the water into Pueblo's supply system...
The Bessemer Ditch flows about 30 miles from Pueblo Dam to the Huerfano River, and mostly provides irrigation water to farmers on the St. Charles Mesa southeast of Pueblo, traditionally irrigating 20,000 acres. The St. Charles Mesa Water District already owns about 10 percent of the ditch, and has filed a water court application to convert its shares to domestic use. Like the St. Charles district, the water board and Pueblo West would have to file a water court application for change of use. They will also have to convince shareholders to change bylaws to allow the water to be used outside the ditch area. Hamel said the St. Charles district could later become a partner, but negotiations are not complete. The Bessemer Ditch board of directors has already told the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District it is not interested in participating in a proposed Super Ditch land fallowing, water lease management program. The ditch is one of seven the district has been studying. Hamel said the water board would not stand in the way of the Super Ditch, but does not want to participate...
The water board will push for bylaw changes that would keep the water in Pueblo County. "None of the Bessemer Ditch water could be sent out of the basin and it would be used only in Pueblo County," Hamel said. The water board also is working with City Council to avoid a showdown similar to 2001, when council rejected the water board's plan to sell water to Pueblo West. Hamel said the situation is different, because no water would be sold to Pueblo West under the proposed intergovernmental agreement. "Pueblo West would acquire their own shares and they'll vote with us," Hamel said. In addition to what Hamel predicted would be a contested water court case, the water board also would be subject to Pueblo County's recently revised 1041 land-use regulations. "When we approach the county, we will point out that this will enhance the economy over time, moving water from one use to another, but in the same area," Hamel said.
"colorado water"
5:51:51 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 9:42:01 PM.
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