Archive for August, 2008
I took my son up the Fryingpan this afternoon. We put in at the bottom of the public access below Big Hat Bridge and fished up stream. My son caught the first fish within about five minutes. I wasn’t even finished figuring out which fly I wanted to use.
It wasn’t a big fish. Maybe an eleven inch German Brown. I netted the fish for him, taught him to wet his hands before handling the trout, and to hold the trout belly up to remove the hook without struggle. I taught him how to un-snag a nymph rig with a roll cast, and how to tell the difference between when a trout is eating a bug on the surface and when it’s eating just below the surface. I taught him what a blue wing olive looks like, and the difference between a mayfly and a caddis fly...
Continue Reading August 31st, 2008
Once upon a time, the rail corridor that runs the length of the Roaring Fork Valley was purchased by local governments, with the help of the federal government.
A Corridor Investment Study (CIS) was completed by RFTA in 2003 to serve as a long range plan for the use of the old rail bed. The scope of the study encompassed transportation options in general and the current state of, and future expectations for, conditions on Highway 82.
The CIS predicted huge increases in traffic volume and subsequent congestion, and proposed a mass transit program which would have no effect on the problem. By the year 2025, a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system would result in less congestion than the “No-Action” alternative at only one of nineteen selected locations along Highway 82.
Continue Reading August 29th, 2008
The Con Man finds out about auditions for Aspen Community Theatre's production of "Chicago" from director-choreographer Marisa Post, then turns his attention to Barack Obama's acceptance speech.
Click here for the complete "Con Games with Michael Conniff" for Thursday August 28, 2008.
August 29th, 2008
Dear Jesus:
I know You’re busy but hey—there’s no way You could be more busy than me. I had to take my first trip on a Gulfstream IV today just to make it in time for my big appointment. You know the one: your pal John McCain picked me to be his running mate—me, a nobody from Nowhere USA who nobody knows but You.
Now I know you’ve been working overtime for me and mine, not just by giving me the Vice Presidential nomination, but also by making my big days the same day as my 20th anniversary and John McCain’s 72nd birthday. But there is something that’s been bothering me ever since I left Dayton—and no, it’s not how Cindy McCain broke her arm or why she always wears those awful colors that show up her husband.
It’s something much worse.
Continue Reading August 29th, 2008
Galia Golan in her Aspen Institute lecture on Monday 8/25 confirmed everything I have been saying and writing about Israel for the last six years. Dr. Golan is a Jewish woman who has lived in Israel since 1966 and has been on the faculty of the Hebrew University since 1967. She has been active in Peace Now, an Israeli organization dedicated to ending Israel’s occupation of Palestine and was the director of Bat Shalom, a Jewish women’s peace organization.
Continue Reading August 27th, 2008
On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was declared in effect.
My husband and I had an argument just this morning concerning whether activism really works to effect change and whether it really even matters. As an activist myself, I’m personally invested in the belief that it does work and it does matter. My husband is of the opposite opinion. In these all too frequent arguments (usually spurred by the publication of one of my letters to the editor) I often cite the women’s suffrage movement along with the civil rights movement as examples of how grassroots activism leads to changes in social attitudes and government policy.
Continue Reading August 26th, 2008
I thought about signing up for the now-near-famous-and-yet-to-happen Obama text message announcing his VP choice, but I detest cell phone text messaging on principle. I spent too many years studying English literature, refining my usage, and expanding my vocabulary to find the hackneyed, vanity-plate-brevity of text messaging a form of meaningful communication. And besides, while Obama has a rich field of experienced politicians to choose from, I have particularly high hopes for one possible outcome...
Continue Reading August 23rd, 2008
I badly want to believe the news that Aspen City Council is likely to postpone any bond relating to affordable housing—the $16 million “stealth bond” I’ve blogged about before.
I badly want to applaud that decision but I can’t, because it’s clear City Mamas and Papas are embracing the postponement for all the wrong reasons, citing concerns like multiple administrative costs for multiple bonds, as if a little tweaking will make everything right.
My applause will have to wait, because I have seen or heard nothing to indicate anyone in the top of the Aspen hierarchy—pols or staff—understands what just happened in the last six months when it comes to affordable housing.
Continue Reading August 22nd, 2008
With the fighting in Georgia, the Con Man makes the intellectual journey from the Cold War to what he calls the Carbon Wars beginning with Gulf War I. Also: A visit from Charlie Firestone, head of the Aspen Institute's Communications and Society program.
Click here for the complete Con Games with Michael Conniff July 14, 2008.
August 20th, 2008
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