Archive | December, 2009
Nullification, part II
Wow! I can see that the political philosophy of John C. Calhoun is alive and well in America today. But here’s my point. Clearly, elected officials in any state have the right to oppose, to question, to seek to amend, or to minimize the impacts of federal regulations/legislation that they deem inappropriate, badly drafted, burdensome, [...]
Continue reading...Radical conservatives seek to nullify health care legislation
30. December 2009
The sweeping health care reform bill passed by both houses of Congress has yet to be reconciled and presented to the President for his signature, but revanchist uber-conservatives are already trying to undo it. Their plan: to amend state constitutions to make key provisions of the act unconstitutional. Here in Colorado, the feisty Jon Caldara [...]
Continue reading...Bared breasts vs. flying bullets
28. December 2009
Not so many years ago, when I was younger, carefree, single and ready to party, downtown was a wonderful place to be on a Friday night. Clubs such as Eden, the Vue and Rum bay were safe and welcoming, if often rowdy. But, these days downtown is downright dangerous. There have been a number of [...]
Continue reading...Gazette’s FreshInk gets less ink – like most newspapers these days
23. December 2009
The Gazette has abandoned its ambitious plans to publish its FreshInk as a four-day per week free tabloid newspaper and instead has relegated it to a once-a-week insert. FreshInk, launched during April of this year, was the brainchild of Gazette publisher Steve Pope, who reportedly told his staff at the time that FreshInk was intended [...]
Continue reading...My submission for Art Creates Community
21. December 2009
There’s something about earnest, cheerful, inclusive, well-meaning and uplifting community projects that brings out the Sheridan Whiteside in me. Sheridan Whiteside was the protagonist of Moss Hart’s and George S. Kaufman’s 1939 comedy “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” Whiteside, who was modeled on the famously acerbic theater critic Alexander Woollcott, had one of the [...]
Continue reading...Send money quick!
17. December 2009
Dispiriting, disheartening, disappointing, dismaying, draconian – or maybe just a single expletive. Damn. That’s how to describe the news that the city will kick 97 employees to the curb on New Year’s Eve. No names – just positions. Here’s a sample. Administrative Technician 1 Analyst II 1 Environmental Safety & Health Specialist 1 Forester [...]
Continue reading...New USOC boss needs to mend fences
16. December 2009
I suppose that we should be all a-twitter, eagerly anticipating the forthcoming announcement that we’ve all be waiting for. Who dat? Who dat? Who dat … gonna run the USOC? According to a recent column by Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune, there are six finalists: Sandy Alderson, a former major league baseball vice-president and [...]
Continue reading...So much for legislative coverage
10. December 2009
During the past 150 years, thousands of reporters have covered statehouses throughout the Mountain West. They tend to be merry, cynical, and tough-minded men and women, used to dealing with fools, scoundrels, hypocrites and even the occasional selfless idealist. In the old days, they seldom refused a drink, an opportunity for a good time, or [...]
Continue reading...WSJ blogs about Hoiles, Freedom
9. December 2009
Peg Brickley’s blog on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site might be of interest to Colorado Springs residents. Titled “Bankruptcy Beat,” it’s devoted to Springs resident Tim Hoiles, who reportedly cashed out his 8.6 percent stake in the family business, Freedom Communications, which owns the Gazette, for a cool $142 million. He’s sitting pretty – and that’s [...]
Continue reading...Broadmoor CEO ponders city’s problems
9. December 2009
The city’s ongoing budget crisis became slightly less acute this week with the discovery of a few million extra dollars that, it appears, Colorado Springs Utilities owes the city as a result of an inadvertent miscalculation of the so-called payment in lieu of taxes (PILT). That’s good news, since it enabled the city to pony [...]
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31. December 2009
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