The USA immigration laws only use the word "immigrant" when the foreign-national obeys our laws. Thousands of Americans suffer frustration daily as to the invasion of our country by millions of ILLEGAL aliens. While more than 20-30 million aliens roam around our country, with 10% seasoned criminal aliens, our politicians and debate moderators worry whether one or the other candidate wears a lapel pin.
ASPEN, Colo. — Roaring Fork Valley residents can receive a significant discount on their Aspen Music Festival tickets this summer. The AMFS Local’s Pass offers admission to ten events for only $12.50 each ($125). The pass is fully transferable, allowing access to six concerts and four rehearsals/master classes, and is good for all events except operas, benefits, special events, house musics, films and Sunday 4 p.m. concerts.
The spendthrift Aspen City Council has already run through the money in the affordable housing fund by paying multiples of what properties are actually worth. Now Council has raised the hilarity to a new level by trying to come up with another $23.5 million "to pay for extra costs that have crept up in recent months," according to an uncritical and unquestioning story in The Aspen Times.
"The additional expenses will take the 2008 budget from $104.7 million to $128.2 million in expenditure appropriations," according to the paper. "The additions to the budget are routine and occur a few times a year, said Assistant City Manager Bentley Henderson."
Routine? When the Aspen budget exceeded $100 million for the first time a few years ago it was big news, but now a more than 20 percent increase in mid-year is considered "routine"?
For Autism Awareness Month, the Con Man interviews Ariane Zurcher and Richard Long about the "horrifying" experience of being the parents of an autistic child. Zurcher is the grandaughter of Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke, the founders of modern Aspen, and the daughter of Victor and Paula Zurcher.
One of the people at the newspaper who hired me when I came to Aspen five years ago told me about “the tractor beam effect.”
That’s a poetic way of saying that once people leave Aspen they always come back, inexorably drawn to the mountains, the valley, the rivers, and certain ineffable things that have no name.
True enough: all of that speaks to why we’re so lucky to be here. But it’s also another way of saying people leave—they leave all the time—and that we’ve experienced this directly and personally. At least three key people, great friends, will no longer live here full-time come 2009.
Post blogger Star Eagle sent a video link from Brasscheck TV to the Con Man this morning. If you've ever heard the Con Man's interview with Daryl Donley, this video will make you cringe--not because there's anything visually troubling to those familiar with 9/11 imagery, but because there's still people out there who buy this crap. But don't take our word for it. Decide for yourself:
The Con Man takes issue with the notion that Hillary Clinton can't win the Democratic nomination, saying it ain't over until it's over, and it ain't over until the superdelegates vote. Plus: Immigration Wednesday with Mike McGarry, co-founder of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, with talk of the Pope's comments on immigration.
As I sit here in front of this laptop, there are four Mexican-American men outside my home, prepping the grounds for the Spring/Summer metamorphasis that is spiring, which inspires me still...
Sure, they are Mexican, well.... actually one is from El Salvador... so that actually constitutes him as Latin-American. Somehow, the four of them, with him, seem to be hitting it off very well, working very well together. I understand Spanish fairly well, as two years of it in high school and two semesters in college seem to help me. However, from Tijuana to Juarez to Matamores to Vi A'Cuna to El Salvadore to Mexico City.... they all have their own slang, and it makes me want to say... "Okay, slow down fellas, I'm trying to comprehend this..."
The Con Man contemplates the change in Barack Obama's Democratic Presidential primary campaign after the body blows that came after the discover of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and calls this "the end of hope."
Also: the hateful, anti-democratic cynicism of Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" urging Republicans to vote Democratic for Hillary Clinton so as to keep the Democratic race alive.
Aspen Music Festival and School Director of Educational Outreach, Debby Barnekow, gives us an inside look at the second week of her two-week Composer Forum in area schools.
Guest composer Andrew Norman and I will be checking in with all the student composers, looking at their music. There is much to do for the Music and M.O.R.E. concert on Friday, April 25 at Harris Concert Hall at 6:30 pm. For most of the composers, this is their first piece to be performed. There are also the seasoned composers, Evie Herrera, Taylor Crist, and Pearce Littler for whom this will be their third world premiere.
There is such a variety of styles in what these students have written. From Milo Turner's (age 10) first piano concerto, to Audrey Sichel's (age 13) poignant love song, to Paul Jung's and Dominic Franklin's jazz pieces, to the award winning pieces of Evie Herrera (age 18), who has a choir piece, and Pearce Littler (age 17) who will play his violin/piano duo. There is much more to come, with something for everyone to enjoy!
