CO-04 (Special Election)
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(R) Greg Lopez
(R) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Joe Biden*
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%↓
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
90%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
90%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
(R) Ron Hanks
40%
30%
20%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(R) Deborah Flora
(R) J. Sonnenberg
30%↑
15%↑
10%↓
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Dave Williams
(R) Jeff Crank
50%↓
50%↑
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
90%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) Brittany Pettersen
85%↑
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
(R) Janak Joshi
60%↑
35%↓
30%↑
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
July 04, 2008 05:32 AM UTC
72 Comments
Mexico’s drug cartels are waging war against Mexico’s army and local law enforcement.
55% of Mexicans surveyed in a recent poll said the cartels are winning the fight. The US GAO estimates that 275 metric tons of coke is shipped into the US each year, while drug enforcement agencies are able only to confiscate 36 metric tons.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/…
Maybe we should recruit England’s finest in our hour of need.
http://abcnews.go.com/Internat…
Meanwhile Colombian FARC rebels seem to be confused and possibly enjoying too much of their own product. Rebels were tricked into giving up 15 hostages, some high profile, in a covert operation run by the Columbian government.
Is this the beginning of the end for FARC? Will there be peace in Columbia between two parties whom have fought a civil war since the 1970s?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…
The border sheriffs are pissed off. We give millions to Mexico for the Merida anti-drug project and don’t help the US side of the border: U.S. funds for Mexico drug war frustrate Texas sheriffs http://www.chron.com/disp/stor…
What does it say for Mexico’s anti-drug fight when one of its major criminal gangs, which serves traffickers, consists of ex-military who brazenly recruit current soldiers to cross over?
Los Angeles Times:
http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-m…
Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
Travelling through Mexico years ago, the police corruption was widespread. Back then they didn’t get paid enough to support a family, so they supplemented with little bites from citizens.
Now we are facing drug cartels that behead targetted victims and boast about it to the world.
Do you think they’ll burn themselves out, restore a pecking order and get on with business? Or is this new generation of drug cartels trying to institutionalize drug trafficing in northern Mexico?
But I can wager guesses like anyone else.
Well the cartels will establish a pecking order for a certain amount of time, before there’ll be a split or organizational shakeup. Then it will all be up for grabs again.
I suspect that drug trafficking has already been institutionalized for quite some time in northern Mexico, effecting all sectors of society.
What the heck is going on in North Korea? Actual diplomatic breakthroughs leading to North Korean President Kim Jong Il blowing up a nuclear reactor tower in a symbolic gesture to end international pressures against his country.
Then President Bush removes North Korea from the US terrorist blacklist and lifts key trade sanctions in place against the country.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25…
What happened to mean ol’ Kim Jong Il? Maybe he just got to ronley…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Iran stays in the forefront of international issues. Back in late 2007 the National Intelligence Estimate stated that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons. This admission undercut years of diplomatic dialogue, built to stop the threat of nuclear Iran.
Now, it would seem the multiparty talks and UN sanctions are not working and Iran is determined to continue down the yellow cake road.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/mid…
http://www.time.com/time/world…
Continued nationalistic rhetoric from Iran and Israel is doing nothing to diffuse the situation. Israel has noted that military strikes against suspected Iranian nuclear facilities could come within the year and Iran has promised a ball of fire if this scenario occurs.
Is it too late to avert military strikes against Iran? Is this President Bush’s swan song?
How would the new administration begin dealing with and diffusing the potential for increased animosities and warfare in a region already teetering on the brink? How does the world welcome a new member of the nuclear club?
Bush is going to attack Iran so that the US is embroiled in a conflict that will destroy our economy and any hope for stability.
Watching the spin machine at work. Not just Bush, previous Presidents as well, but Bush’s spin cycle is like a dervish on crack.
The other night I watched a film about media and the lead up to the Iraq war. The rhetoric and the repitition of phrases (‘smoking gun’), the claim of diplomacy with the disclaimer that everything is on the table…
Before the NIE report, I saw this process ramping up again and it scared the poop out of me. After the NIE, it seemed the talk became a bit deflated.
It is interesting to think the intelligence world undercut President Bush on purpose.
Possibly (likely?) Israel will attack Iran, thereby doing the dirty work. I think they’ll do it before November, not wanting to risk what a new Administration may think.
but Israel may.
from the Economist –
http://www.economist.com/opini…
Lame duck President Bush sat back in the White House residence one night about a year ago and realized his legacy was in jeopardy. So what does any right thinking President do to ensure a legacy? Broker a Middle East peace deal, that’s what!
Secretary of State Condi Rice, bless her little heart, has travelled often to the region to persuade, bully and cajole members on both sides to find a way to peace.
It is an interesting statement, about the office and the man, when a President who has inflamed the Middle East so well is able to even dream about pulling off a peace deal before another chapter begins.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new…
and flawless operation to rescue Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages, including three long held Americans, was pretty amazing. All pinpoint accurate intel and infiltration, no gunfire or bombing. After the news broke, noticed a few early attempts by the Bush administration to take some credit but even the Pentagon agrees with the Colombian military that all the credit belongs to them and US had nothing of any importance to do with it.
Kind of makes you wonder what we might have accomplished by now in the realm of counter-terrorism if we hadn’t cut lose so many Arabic speakers of Arab descent throughout all of our intel agencies and made them all so inhospitable to Arab Americans who were willing to help.
Of course, we have to have the now sultry Ingrid Betancourt falling for the FARC leader, while an erstwhile American captive attempts to set her straight. She finally comes to her patriotic (Columbian-French) senses and stabs him while submitting to his animalistic advances while singing a composite national anthem consisting of the Columbian music and the French lyrics.
is a brilliant operator. Not only do they rescue high value hostages, but they nab the FARC commander in charge of guarding them! From the fake NGO to the Che Guevara t-shirts, the attention to detail shows that a real intel pro was involved. While not as many hostages were rescued here, you can easily compare it to the Israeli mission at Entebbe.
This is a real blow to the FARC, the only real winning card they have had to play in a while is the large number of hostages they hold with the threat of their death if any rescue is attempted. With the rescue of Mrs. Betancourt and the others, that threat is severely undercut.
Bravo to the Columbian Army, for an excellent example of the perfect rescue!
And, this is Colombia’s walk on the moon day. Congratulations to a brave people.
I spelled it right. Do I get extra credit?
My bad.
Columbia
Britin
Azerbaijan
Djibouti
Kyrgyzstan
Seychelles
‘Merica (best pronounced with Bush accent)
FL governor Charlie Crist popped the question to Carole Rome and didn’t get a veto. Very pretty – and wealthy. (Ms. Rome, not Charlie.)
Yes, they were together at McBush’s Memorial Day-Vet VP Possibilities BBQ. Maybe John told Charlie he needed to get married to be considered…….
…ask Suzanne Craig, Dina Matos McGreevy, and Gayle Haggard. It is, however, evidence that he’s seriously being considered for V.P.
Gov. Cris was married for six months when in college, stayed single for all of these years, and thirty years later marrying again.
I would think that if truly gay, staying single would have a lot more advantages than covering by marrying….even for the veep slot.
Daily comes the reminder the government is failing, drugs, long, costly warfare, energy, border crossings, gangs, health care, education, social security, out of control litigation, the economy. Government accomplishes nothing. It matters little who’s in power, blue or red. Americans get the same results for their money, whether taxes are high or low. Every malady we pay to resolve becomes worse by the moment. It must be obvious now to ambitious despots the US is feckless. With every power grab, the dysfunction multiplies. With every new injustice lawyers concoct, with the environmental catastrophe of the moment, our resources are diverted and wasted. We could never again duplicate our success in World War II when our power and influence peaked. We’re a nation in slow motion collapse, a happy prospect to contributors here addicted to debasing power and authority no matter the cost to the nation.
I think you forget just how dominant admired and respected the US was just 10 years ago.
Our problems are managable if we just get off our asses and do something about them.
If we sit around and wallow we will get nothing done and we will fail, but I have hope.
I think Americans are self-absorbed, but they are not suicidal.
you parked the finger that points at the beginning of the end of the middle class under Ray-gun and the absolute disaster that the Boosh administration has been.
Squandered money like drunken sailors, destroyed the sympathy and good will of the world after 9/11.
There is plenty of blame to go around, including the average Amurikan wanting lots more stuff, but don’t every blame wanting a world with clean air and water and with rights for everyone.
If you want respect for authority and the good old days, there a lot of places in the world you should be comfortable in.
The average American I know wants health.
The desire for a new pick-up is largely gone now. I stopped looking, myself. I really like the Ford F-150. But forget it at $4 gasoline. We’re all fat. My friends who got into the jogging craze in the 1980s are all heavy now. Most limp because they’ve blown out a knee or a hip.
I would imagine you’d agree, there’s something in the food, hormones or steroids.
Personally, I want bigger biceps. But, liberals don’t want bigger biceps for themselves and certainly not for me.
“Comrades! We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all”
Nikita Khrushchev
I suppose that’s your way of saying liberals are wimps. Three generations of my family are liberals, combat vets and patriots while you are a silly snot nosed little moron. You don’t have a clue what the 4th of July stands for. Hope you enjoyed the mattress sales.
Although not a fan of intra-Pols name calling, that last line is a zinger!
Something in the food. Maybe the water. You seem to be the General Ripper type. Too much grain alcohol and rain water.
Unfortunately, your friends in Congress aren’t big fans of affordable healthcare. Your jogger friends could use it to see a doctor about their blown joints. Or maybe they should try maintaining a more suitable and consistent workout schedule to help prevent injuries. My knees were blown out years ago, but I’m still able to leg press 150.
I work out 3-5 times a week. I’m hitting 30 soon, and my belly button isn’t as close to my spine as it used to be.
Civilization advances. Daya by day, even year by year, you will have setbacks. But century by century, with the exception of the dark ages, we move forward.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
I should have put a poll with the diary.
How is the state of the world?
good
getting better
getting worse
bad, or
desperate as usual.
I’m sure that all of the previous generations had great emotional struggles with, oh, the Depression, Hitler invading Poland, the Cold War, slavery, and, oh yes, those pesky British shacking up in your house.
One thing very new is the detox program we are entering to get off of (near term) cheap energy. This is already having wider repercussion and decreased standards of living than any political or economic troubles of the past. Even The Depression probably would have healed itself and people at a gut level knew that.
OTOH, I do think that we, meaning the whole fricking world, has the intellectual ability to solve this problem. I would be surprised that even with 100% implementation of alternatives that we will ever again have the luxury of cheap energy.
Whether the politicos have the will power is a whole ‘nudder question.
it will take 20 – 30 years but technology tends to find much cheaper ways to provide. We jut needed this mess to get people focused. By defzinition solar & wind should both be very cheap once we get them right – like hydro
I think some energy will be inexpensive, mostly electricity. Once built, most alternatives don’t require a constant input of fuel, just some lubing and minor maintainence. That electricity in turn is capable of refining uranium for fission nukes. I just don’t see how we can attain the electricity we need to add transportation without going nuke until fusion and lots more wind, solar, tidal, ramps up.
Petroleum and liquid fuels will be appealing for transportation for years to come, regardless of the source for obvious reasons. But we can, in the meantime ramp up electric transportation for local and commuter use.
Back to your response, I think in the near term, thirty years at a minimum, we will be convulsing to get it all worked out. After, that, utopia! 🙂
It’s always about 30 years off, isn’t it?
At 30 years we’ll have some other major problem facing us.
…so much water vapor being put into the air the desert will become a rain forest!
Since I am in Taiwan now, I might as well mention that this weekend China and Taiwan have resumed flights between the 2 nations after 60 years of no direct flights.
Guardian article
Most Taiwanese I have spoken to are very excited about the advancement of relationships with mainland China – primarily for economic reasons.
At least they are talking and not pointing weapons at each other.
I had not heard about this, thanks.
Beehooves both countries to move the diplomacy forward. Strategically China should want to save face with the Olympics coming and lessen American influence by strengthening economic ties.
In Taiwan on business or pleasure?
I worked in Taiwan for 6 months and I found the people there to be really nice and very much like us. Culturally I think they may be more like America than any other country.
I also know a lot of people in PRC – also very nice people. Microsoft’s developer support team is there as is one of our largest OEMs.
I think the Chinese people by and large want to get back together and are realistic enough that they’re going to do it peacefully.
It’s good to see real steps like this happen.
Forbes is reporting
link
If it was a total disaster for them, this is probably the best angle they can try and sell it as.
I can see it either way, but your point is a good one.
We pay the various factions in Iraq not to shoot at each other. We pay the warlords in Afghanistan to quell the violence there and to hand over fresh meat for our black prison sites. And the French and Germans (particularly the private sector) regularly pay ransoms to get their people back as a matter of policy–one of the reasons the kidnapping industry is so lucrative down there.
If past actions are any indicator, I’d say the story is fairly believable.
The fact that FARC prisoner commandant Gerardo Aguilar Ramirez, AKA Cesar, was captured in the operation completely puts the lie to this story.
There are reports out there that the inside man is a disgruntled member of the FARC and that he may be getting a hefty reward from a $100 million fund that was set up for the capture of the organizations leaders. Expect stories of purges and fractures in the group as paranoia starts to set in.
It’s interesting two liberals were distracted by biceps and totally missed their issue, what’s going on with the food on grocery shelves. In London recently, I noticed the comparative paucity of fat people. It was startling. And British food is identical to American.
But I’m really disappointed by my delt development, the first thing that goes with age.
And I was taken by surprise on the vet part of it. I don’t see how that’s connected to the food. The only connection it could possibly have to biceps is psychological, not logical.
What’s your unit BlueCat, you ole god of war you? Did you carry a 9mm or a .45?
I was rejected at my induction physical. I’m sure you and Parsing have something to say about that as well. (I was too small and my nose ran constantly. Oh, you already have said something.)
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much”
on my thread or shut the hell up.
you can go on spouting nonsense if you wish.
You won’t get much respect from the community here if you do, though.
You can spout nonsense, we can ask you to shut up and go away – we are each exercising our right to free speech.
So I’ll add my $0.02 worth – please go away until you learn to at least make sense in what you say. Moronic ramblings just waste everyone’s time.
Henceforth I will not replay to any post of yours.
But would I be surprised? Almost nothing is surprising anymore.
Never said I was an old warhorse. Spoke of family members. And that’s the last response I’ll ever make to anything this Para- something ever posts.
Well, let’s see what’s moronic. Louisville is an integrated community. How can you make a statement like that, especially if you live there? The Hispanics live in the trailers and that’s what makes Louisville integrated? It’s in the aggregate? Denver is integrated because Montbello is in the city limits?
This is itself, this inability to see the world as it is, this fantasy is racist.
You give up too easily David. If you give up that easily, maybe Republicans, whom I thought were dead and gone, will come back.
But, if they don’t, the comments I’ve been reading are a preview to Republicans what single party rule will be like. This is a minor unleashing of the violence Democrats have in store for us. Thank you all for revealing your souls to us.
Are you really sure that a floor can’t also be a ceiling? ~M.C. Escher
A Republican administration got us into war in Iraq. Your presidential candidate sang “Bomb Iran” for crying out loud.
Democrats are trying to end this war. Our candidates are winning special elections on an anti-war platform. Yep, we’re the violent ones. You’re onto us, Skippy.
Why don’t you take a break and take in some fresh air? We’re trying to have rational discourse here.
Its not your politics: aside from believing that racism is a liberal myth, I’ve never seen much in the way of politics.
Your posts seems to be strings of non sequitors that you believe are clever, but are in fact completely devoid of even a framework to help us understand your point. It frustrates people, they think you are being nonsensical on purpose–I personally think you suffer from a disability, mental health issue or deficient language skills.
I will attempt to make adjustments for your condition.
As to your point about UK Obesity: you are wrong. Though not as high as the US, UK rates are out of control. http://www.news-medical.net/?i…
Most likely culprits: rise of computer entertainment (i.e gaming, blogging) and High fructose corn syrup processed food. Continental Europe retains a cooking culture which keeps the fructose out of the diet of most Europeans.
Not my area of expertise, but I can see from the stats, that our problem is not unique.
.
some of it is just plain dumb,
but there are occasional pearls of, what ?,
something of an intellectual stimulus.
.
We eat the meat and then we start putting on the pounds….Coincidence? I think not.
In our world religion plays a significant part of how international politics play. Currently in Turkey there is a battle between the secular government and the Islamists. The Islamists have power but the secular judicial branch has agreed to hear a case calling for a shutdown of the ruling party because some believe they are trying to establish an Islamist theocracy in Turkey.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…
Even more interesting, from today’s NYTimes –
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07…
The history of the bible has always fascinated me. I have always viewed the book as a guide on how to live, but not as a literal account of history.
This stone tablet may show that the bible reflects historical myths and beliefs that were later incorporated into mainstream Christianity. Creation myths, flood myths, resurrection myths…all part of religions predating Christianity
Should religious leaders teach that a) these myths were incorporated into a growing religion and b) men through the ages adjusted what had been written to meet the agendas of their time?
Muslims and Christians have battled for centuries over religion and to this day there are people on both sides of the ocean who believe the words of their holy books as literal.
The stone tablet and other archeological finds, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, will ensure that the debate continues for years to come.
turned on the History channel, and heard that an early biblical document that did NOT make it in the final version spoke of Jesus’s malevolent side as a youth. Apparently, he was quite a challenge. According to this account, Jesus apparently pushed a boyhood friend off of a roof and killed the poor lad. When accosted with the charge of murder, Jesus claimed innocence. To prove his innocence, he brought the kid back to life and asked him. The kid answered, “No, you didn’t push me off the roof causing my death”.
Now if GW could bring back over 4500 dead Americans and countless thousands Iraqui’s to ask them the same question, would he get the same response?
I saw a program on this subject and it pointed out this same story and that it survives in the Koran. Evidently at the time the Koran was written the story hadn’t been tossed yet. The bible today is apparently just the most recent collection of approved religious writings.
Lots of stories, from both the Jewish and Christian religious writings that were once included have been tossed by the religious powers that be of various eras. Others have been added over the centuries by the monk/scribes who copied the bible when they decided another parable to make a moral point was in order. A biblical scholar I heard on NPR explained that the story of the prodigal son is an example of such an addition.
The chaotic history of how the present day bible was arrived at helps explain why there are so many contradictory passages in it and also makes taking all of it to be literally true a bit problematic. If the modern version is different than more ancient ones, which is to be considered THE literally true one? I suppose people who do take it literally would consider this nit picking.
What an interesting story. I can see Joseph and Mary standing there, shaking their heads.
Joseph turns to Mary and says, “You know, he gets this rebellion from you.”
If GW could bring back all the troops, he would get a response, but I don’t think I would want to see Messiah GW hangin’ around…
The G8 is set to meet this week in Japan and already newsprint shows protesters punished and demonstrators demanding change.
Again, from the Economist, an interesting article on how the richest, most powerful nations show leadership in the future.
http://www.economist.com/displ…
Shouldn’t a major economy like India be included in discussions? With no Islamic country represented, how can the G8 say that their leadership is what’s best for the world?
What about that pesky UN? Are they able to justify their existence with an alphabet soup of agencies, or should we turn towards McCain’s idea of a League of Democracies?
Throw in Indonesia (Populous (4th), moderate Islamic, Democratic, growing/reforming economy)
(maybe Pakistan too if they can get their shit together) and you’d have the multimodal architecture that could actually stabilize a lot of places.
The US should be trying to build up regional leaders–we won’t always get want we want, but we wont have to carry all the cost ourselves.
The article also points out that if America resists new members, those countries will be more likely to form their own alliances (the Asian Union similar to the EU) – competing against us instead of working together.
Besides, in politics there’s always strength in numbers.
Make it “large economy, democracy.” Granted Russia’s democracy is pretty rigged, but so is Japan’s and Mexico’s was for a long time. And the bottom line is – it is a democracy.
Add Turkey and any others that fit the bill and we make it a very powerful force. You might even consider telling Iran they’re in if they drastically reduce the power of the ruling cleric over the democratic system.