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June 18, 2008 03:38 PM UTC

Wednesday Open Thread

  • 60 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“A Republican stands up in Congress and says, ‘I GOT A REALLY BAD IDEA!’ and the Democrat stands up after him and says, ‘AND I CAN MAKE IT SHITTIER!'”

–Lewis Black

Comments

60 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread

    1. 1) Schaffer “invested” in a wind turbine company.  That is a long way from “promoting policies that assured mass deployment of wind across the US” (including distributed, small scale projects).  

      2)The Republican party once again yesterday blocked an attempt at the extension of the Investment Tax Credit for solar projects.  The San Luis Valley in Colorado is one of the best resources in the US for solar — and desperately needs that kind of development as their water resources are more and more at risk.  Allard’s vote was to deny the extension; Salazar voted for it.  Whether you support Bob or not — one has to ask which party you will trust to make the kinds of decisions that will continue to diversify our energy portfolio.

      3) Udall’s leadership with Amendment 37 shows how he tackles difficult problems.  Amendment 37 was VERY unpopular with the utilities in this state, yet the Congressman was able to rally the citizenry to support change.  Given recent Xcel testimony before the PUC, Colorado’s embrace of wind energy (thanks to the mandates of Amendment 37) is already saving every customer in Colroado that is served by a regulated utility millions of dollars.

      4) I’m not anti-nuclear but still suscpicous about oil shale on the Western slope.  The biggest problem with both of those resources is the amount of water needed for either technology.  We’re a water-strapped state that only lays claim to somthing near 35% of the water that falls within our borders.  This is going to be a very contencious issue as proponents of nuclear and oil shale move ahead.  

      1. It wasn’t like he even initiated the investment.  He may have continued investing in the wind turbine company, and he certainly sold off the wind turbine company, but he did not take initiative in beginning the investment.

  1. Please all, regardless of what garbage they spew out today, don’t reply to the sockpuppets we’ve recently gained.

    Especially Will?something-something? and DaBlonde.

    Lack of a response is the one thing that will make them go away.

    1. I’ll be posting recipes as responses. Anybody out there with good summer dessert recipes? Please, please weigh in…I need some yummy fruit dessert recipes to add to my file.

      1. I have a killer Long Island Ice Tea recipe I’m holding onto for this afternoon, which would go great with just about any dessert. Stay tuned.

      2. The basic KL recipe is:

        1 can condensed milk,

        3 egg yolks,

        1/2 cup of key lime juice

        Mix it up, put it in the freezer.  It will remain quite creamy and not hard frozen.

        Buy a graham cracker pie crust and break it up.  Sprinkle on the frozen KL stuff.

        Or,

        To that recipe add one can evaporated milk, another egg yolk, and another 1/2 cup of KL juice.  This one will freeze up more like ice cream or a hard sherbert. Not as sweet, which some of us like.

        Working, hard in the tropics for polsters,

            1. Have you met me before? Because you know me well. I’ve made that mistake more than a few times. I don’t know why I do that, either, but I get them mixed up all the time. 🙂

    2. Well, I will take a bit of credit for posting the link that has quieted the JP/ROTC posts all over ColoradoPols.  And the response from the poster has been relatively gracious, which is not always the case in these situations.  Turns out our poster was missing a key piece of information that I was able to provide (JP’s former name).

      However, don’t let that stop anyone from posting yummy recipes! 🙂

  2. This gives a whole new meaning to screw your neighbors. From the Boulder Daily Camera we have this story:

    Shop goes from ATV to XXX

    A Niwot couple says opening a pornography shop in Allenspark is the only way they can make money there after Boulder County commissioners denied their application to store and rent out ATVs instead.

    But some nearby neighbors say plans by Jeff and Vicki Mead to open the “Patterson XXX Porn Gallery” by mid-August are aimed at causing more controversy in the small mountain town. One neighboring couple, Glenn and Margie Patterson, says the gallery is even named after them because of their criticism of the ATV business — a charge the Meads denied.

    1. And the Meads are truly looking to piss all over any good will left. Except to drive by on Highway 7, no one stops at that place anyway.

      There is a great antique store in Allenspark and an awesome restaurant, Meadow Mountain Cafe, with homemade breakfast and lunch and peach cobbler served all day. Also some great hiking trails that you never see another living soul on.

      But a porno shop? I think the Meads are going to reap exactly the kind of karma they have been sowing with their neighbors.  

    2. My wife and I were in the middle of an intense conversation the other day as we drove up to RMNP.  I was just starting to reply to something she brought up when we drove past the aforementioned building, and was left completely speechless.  I would never have thought of putting a “Porn Gallery” in Allenspark, but it appears it’s out of spite, not out of love.

      And naming the shop after your critics is tacky at best.  The Meads deserve every bit of non-attendance their shop will probably get up there.

    3. So did the Meads give a reason they are naming their “gallery” “Patterson” OTHER than to get back at their critics?

      Oh, yes, they are claiming it’s named after Gov. David Paterson (with one “t”) of New York.  That’s likely.  Of course, it doesn’t take any “t”s to spell “disingenuous”.

  3. .

    The Crank Campaign sent me notice today that only a small fraction of the state legislators from the 5th CD have endorsed him:

    http://e2ma.net/map/view=Campa

    The Crank Campaign has previously announced that only a small fraction of law enforcement officials from around the district,

    El Paso County Commissioners,

    as well as Colorado Springs City Council members would back him.

    Is his Campaign Manager in a dispute with him over compensation ?

    .

  4. Just heard for the first time yesterday that Jared Polis was formerly Jared Schulz.  Apparently he changed his name just before running for the State Board of Education.  

    Why did he change his name?  Was he trying to be like that Gary Hartpence guy?

    1. Nice of you to look at the picture and recognize, once and for all, that you have been making unfounded accusations against him all along.

      Once you ante up with an apology, I’m sure we’ll all be happy to answer your latest question. Or not. Who cares why he changed his last name?  

    2. Nice of you to look at the picture and recognize, once and for all, that you have been making unfounded accusations against him all along.

      Once you ante up with an apology, I’m sure we’ll all be happy to answer your latest question. Or not. Who cares why he changed his last name?  

    3. Nice of you to look at the picture and recognize, once and for all, that you have been making unfounded accusations against him all along.

      Once you ante up with an apology, I’m sure we’ll all be happy to answer your latest question. Or not. Who cares why he changed his last name?  

        1. I apologize. Of course, had I known he had changed his name than there would not have been an issue.  Fair is fair and when you’re wrong you’re wrong.

          Now what is the deal with the name?  Did he figure it had worked for Gary Hart?

    4. Minor correction: it was “SchuTz”, not “SchuLz”.

      He claimed at the time that it was to honor his mother, whose maiden name is Polis.  I believe his official name is now Jared Schutz Polis, rather than Jared Polis Schutz.

      I don’t think he was being sneaky.  I was vaguely acquainted with him at the time (so vaguely that he probably doesn’t remember me), but I never asked.  I thought it unusual, but not too concerning.  I have a rather “funny” surname, and one of my male cousins has taken to using his mother’s “less funny” surname.  I don’t know if Schutz is more/less “funny” than Polis.  I knew of a family in my hometown that changed their name from “Dick” to “Dickson” to avoid certain off-color jokes.

      I don’t think there are any “disreputable” Jared Schutz’s out there for him to be confused with.  There’s some real estate agent in New York state, according to Google, but no serial killers or anything.

      Knowing Jared, he ran a focus group and decided that “Polis” tested better than “Schutz”. 😉

      1. I think you are right about the focus group as the name change came on the eve of his candidacy for the State Board of Education.  I never knew he had changed his name.  

  5. Something about motivating donors for a charity. And everybody thought he was going to change it to something wild and crazy, but he just swapped his middle and last names.

    1. It would have been a better story, though, if donors had been able to bid for the rights to choose his new name:

      “Area zillionaire Jared Schutz today announced that, as a result of a charity auction, he will be changing his name to Poindexter Q. McPeepants.”

      🙂

      1. Helluva an idea GeoGreg.

        Kind of typical of Polis. Two explanations for why he changed his name.  What is the official word Jared?

        I just have to remind the paid Polis bloggers of all of the other great Jared Polis lies:

        Saying he was always against vouchers.

        Claiming he had not taken lobbyist money.

        Bragging that he had not received any money from oil companies.

        to name just three of many

        1. Contrition followed by accusations. Please post evidence before making accusations that may be proven to be as baseless as your ROTC accusations.

  6. A new Quinnipiac poll done in Florida shows Barack Obama taking a narrow lead over John McCain, 47-43.  They also polled Ohio, and that poll shows Obama now leading McCain 48-42.  (Their previous OH poll showed Obama trailing McCain.)  In Pennsylvania, the Q-poll shows Obama increasing his lead to a comfortable 12 points.

    Combined with the recent SUSA and PPP results from Virginia which both show an Obama lead, John McCain is in serious danger of suffering a significant defeat.  Based solely on the latest polls, Obama would pick up 344 electoral votes.

      1. Obama has a very slight lead. After the best two weeks anyone could ask for he has a narrow lead. Michael Dukakis was up by over 20 points at this time in 1988. Carter and Clinton both saw huge leads narrow substantially in 1976 and 1992. Kerry and Gore were both up by double digits in 2004 and 2000.

        If the election were held today Obama would win.  McCain will be holding a big lead in November when it counts.

        McCain’s two TV spots are brilliant.

  7. Obviously he’s a Marxist.

    Speaking on CNBC this morning, the real estate magnate said taking punitive measures against companies reaping big profits in a capitalist society is against his nature, but the energy situation is unique.

    “I consider myself to be a great capitalist, but I think the oil companies have been ripping off this country and the world for a long time,” Trump said. “I can see doing something against the oil companies. They’re making numbers–nobody’s ever seen numbers like this. They and OPEC and lots of people together are having a lot of fun.”

    h/t Americablog

        1. which was arguably the greatest contribution to the arts and our national culture since, say, the novels of Steinbeck and Hemingway. j/k

        2. That said, he’s right on this one. Why are the oil companies sitting on something like 73% of the leased land that could “produce” more energy? If they were into providing what people need, it would be more energy, not more profits for themselves.

            1. However, the oil industry spends money on expanding supply, but not on the supply choke points.

              The goal is to expand proven reserves (assets), but keep prices high (profits).

            2. sitting on 73% of their leased….potentially energy producing land, a liberal fantasy? I’m missing your point here, which is odd, because I respect your contributions here.

      1. Not that great and a pittance compared to Big Pharma. The difference is you can switch from a car to a bicycle but can’t stop buying your heart medicine unless you want to die.  Sell Exxon, buy Phizer.

        1. MGI research suggests that the economics of investing in energy productivity-the level of output we achieve from the energy we consume-are very attractive. With an average internal rate of return of 17 percent…..

          http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/pu

          How did Enron manipulate their books again?

          1. I have no problem with your MGI numbers. What they are saying is that conserving energy…or making mor eefficient use of the energy we have…has a rate of returnh, 17 percent, that is about twice as high as the return on producing new energy.

            Damn straight, which is why the euros long used tax policy to promote energy conservation. They had $5 a gallon gas when we are at $1, for that very reason, and are 8-9 bucks a gallon now. Needless to say, energy conserved isn’t just the cheapest, its the cleanest. There is no co2 release from the gas you don’t burn by taking RTD, etc.  Just don’t demonize the oil companies for doing what they’re supposed to do. Find a way to do it better — and , if necessary, subsidize that better way to make it competitive in the marketplace that otherwise would not recognize externalities like pollution, etc.

            1. .

              a $9.9 B gross on $100 B in sales has almost nothing to do with ROI.  

              Folks who run oil companies could get a 22 – 25% ROI in investments in other industries,

              if they chose to.  

              Sorry, but I will not get into risk/ risk premium.  

              But they plow their earnings back into their field of specialization

              because,

              with their expert knowledge,

              they can get even better returns.  

              If they were only earning 10%,

              they would be smarter to put the dough in a mutual fund.  

              .

  8.  “Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (now retired) served as the deputy commanding general for support for the Third Army for ten months in Kuwait during the early days of the Iraq occupation. In a statement released today, he bluntly accuses the Bush administration of war crimes and lays down a challenge for prosecution.”

    This liberal fantasizer said at the very beginning that Iraq was a quaqmire, a hornets nest and sheer folly. There were those “conservative realists” that said Iraq would “pay for itself” and actually result in lower gas prices.

    Who’s fantasizing???

    h/t truthout.org

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