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Sunday, April 15, 2007
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Mrs. Gulch points us to this Denver Post Perspective on The State of the Rockies conference held this week. From the article, "Prolonged drought, perilous forest conditions and rapid population growth are combining to create serious challenges for the eight-state Rocky Mountain region.
"With increased population growth and continued drought-like conditions becoming a regional norm, how will the Rockies manage competing needs, particularly allocation of the region's already scarce water? That was the key question that the 2007 Colorado College State of the Rockies Project examined.
"The issue of sustainability increasingly permeates discussion of water distribution in the Rockies. Limited in supply and often separated from 'higher-value users,' water has and will continue to be a fundamental challenge for Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The sustainability and livability of the Rockies, so valued by millions of residents and visitors, depends largely on how this limited, variable and potentially shrinking supply is managed in the face of myriad challenges, ranging from climate change to rapid urban growth. Water supplies must sustain both human and environmental needs if the region is to retain vitality and viability."
"colorado water"
10:28:40 AM 
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Colorado Confidential: "This might not be as good as CSPAN, but 'CCNet-TV' covered the Democratic National Committee Convention Kick-Off Rally in Denver on Thursday. This is the first of many public celebrations leading up to the DNC Convention Aug. 25-28, 2008. This video includes the majority of the speech made by DNC chair, Howard Dean."
"2008 pres"
9:34:28 AM
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Juan Cole: "McClatchy estimates that 289 Iraqis were killed or wounded in political violence on Saturday. This passage is extremely important to understanding the sentiments of the Shiites of the South, among the main victims of the violence: Aqeel al Khazaali, the governor of Karbala, blamed the Baghdad Security Plan for the attack inside the relatively safe southern city. Karbala is about 50 miles south of Baghdad. 'The Baghdad crackdown and the tribes in Ramadi are forcing the terrorists to leave their cities,' he said. 'Now Karbala is under fire from terrorists, and the central government has to take the necessary steps to help us to protect the holy city.' The destabilizing character of this assault on the city of the Prophet's Grandson is seen in that many residents blamed the elected governor for not ensuring security-- such that a big crowd rioted in protest. The crowd is said to have marched on the governor's mansion and surrounded it, demanding his resignation, and set two police cars afire. They accused the United States of having had a hand in the bombing. Nothing could be more dangerous to the position of the US in Iraq than to have it believed that it had anything to do with a massive bombing near the shrine of Imam Husayn."
Jesus' General: "Peril in Mesopotamia: Fighting the same wars, making the same mistakes."
Jonathan Rauch: "With two great secretaries of State at his side, Truman ran a more creative and competent foreign policy than Bush has managed to do; but Bush, like Truman, has visionary qualities as well as impulsive and simplistic ones. So far, Bush's presidency looks like four years of impulsive overreach followed by two of desperate improvisation, but recall that Truman was unpopular and widely regarded as a failure when he left office. In 2009, something akin to Eisenhower's brand of calm, cold realism may offer the best hope of rebuilding the country's foreign policy. And George W. Bush's reputation. "
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link.
"2008 pres"
9:08:48 AM
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Captain's Quarters: "With his Congressional testimony just two days away, Alberto Gonzales has opted for a practice run in today's Washington Post. The beleaguered Attorney General pleads his case directly to the American public. He categorically states that he would never ask for a resignation of federal prosecutors for malign purposes, but afterwards the case gets somewhat weaker."
Curious Stranger: "Karl Rove and other White House employees were cautioned in employee manuals, memos and briefings to carefully save any e-mails that might discuss official matters even if those messages came from private e-mail accounts, the White House disclosed Friday."
TalkLeft: "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' Sunday WaPo piece just confirms that he should never have been nominated, confirmed or allowed to remain as the nation's chief law enforcement. Forget his mendacity. Forget his outrageous opinions. Consider only his gross incompetence. What kind of Attorney General would defend his running of the Justice Departmenr saying this: 'During those conversations, to my knowledge, I did not make decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign.' The man running the Justice Department did not decide who would or would not be fired is his defense."
Opinions You Should Have: "Karl Rove was absolutely stunned to discover that his deletion of emails resulted in their deletion, a lawyer for Rove said today. 'Mr. Rove thought that his emails would still be there after he deleted them,' the lawyer explained.
"Mr. Rove spent many painful hours regretting the tragedy. 'If he had hair, he would have pulled it out,' said Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney. 'He was fit to be tied.'"
"2008 pres"
9:04:03 AM
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Political Wire: "'As the first-quarter finance report his campaign will file today is expected to document,' Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) 'has managed to successfully bridge two very different political worlds,' reports the Washington Post. 'Along with thousands of first-time donors who sent $50 or $100 from their home computers, the report is to list scores of longtime political insiders who funneled stacks of $2,300 checks to Obama's accounts.'"
NYT: "Senator John McCain said that the buildup of American forces in Iraq represented the only viable option to avoid failure in Iraq and that he had yet to identify an effective fallback if the current strategy failed. 'I have no Plan B,' Mr. McCain said in an interview. 'If I saw that doomsday scenario evolving, then I would try to come up with one. But I cannot give you a good alternative because if I had a good alternative, maybe we could consider it now.' In a discussion of how he would handle Iraq if elected president, Mr. McCain said that the success of the Bush administration's strategy, which seeks to protect Baghdad residents so Iraqi political leaders have an opportunity to pursue a program of political reconciliation, was essentially a precondition for a more limited American role that could follow."
Unbossed: "I rarely write 'covers' for other authors' commentaries, but today is the exception. I urge you to head over to Harper's and read Scott Horton's splendid essay on the nature of state secrecy and torture: Torture, Secrecy and the Bush Administration. In this speech, which he gave the other day at the NYU School of Law, Horton places the Bush administration's bizarre record of lawlessness, secrecy, and torture in much needed historical context. He describes the struggle in 17th century Britain to do away with the Star Chamber (secret courts) and to enshrine elements of legal due process and openness that the founders of our Republic embraced and defended."
Huffington Post: "For the last couple of months we have been talking with New York University journalism professor (and HuffPost blogger) Jay Rosen about teaming up with his experimental site, NewAssignment.net, to add a new dimension to the coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign.
"We are now ready to invite your participation. We are recruiting large groups of citizen journalists from around the country to cover the major presidential candidates.
Each of these volunteer reporter/bloggers will contribute to a candidate-specific group blog -- offering written updates, campaign tidbits, on-the-scene observations, photos, or original video."
Political Wire: "According to a new CBS News poll, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) continues to lead the Democratic presidential field, garnering 39% of the vote. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) comes in second with 24% and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) places third with 21%. On the Republican side, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) continues to enjoy a comfortable lead over the pack with 47% of the vote. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) trail with 25% and 10%, respectively."
"2008 pres"
9:01:43 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 12:50:54 PM.
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