I am writing here today to ask the Con Man NOT to tar all conservatives with the same brush that I think he should take to Mike from Jim Crow, Eagle County, US of A.
His straw man example of two guys faking a gay marriage to obtain benefits would have made Rush proud. Set up an isolated situation that plays into your point and pretend that it's the WAY THINGS ARE - how Hannity-esque.
Continue Reading Add comment March 31st, 2009
At a time when conservatives and liberals alike are caterwauling about bonuses for disgraced executives at politically bankrupt A.I.G., the U.S. Defense Department blows merrily along, squandering hundreds of billions with barely a peep from the cognoscenti on either side.
Conservatives looking to make a point about government incompetence and malfeasance—their only point—need look no further than here. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is reporting this week that the Pentagon’s weapons programs were nearly $300 billion above the original cost estimates. The ten biggest programs blew through their original estimates by almost a third. In all, 64 programs (69 percent) exceeded their original estimates.
The Associated Press is reporting further that Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and the Boeing Co-led Future Combat Systems Army modernization “still represent significant cost risk moving forward” in the GAO’s words.
Earmarks and entitlements are chickenfeed compared to these babies, but to conservatives the Defense Department has always been sacrosanct, as if all their talk of government run amuck can’t even produce a cluck when it comes to weapons programs. Big bad government, you see, can only do good when the spending allows for destruction and carnage—or should we say shock and awe?
Continue Reading Add comment March 31st, 2009
Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has signed a law which "legalises" rape, women's groups and the United Nations say. President Karzai helped rush the bill through parliament to appease Islamic fundamentalists in his hope to win the August election.
Continue Reading Add comment March 31st, 2009
As one of today's preeminent dramatic sopranos, superstar Deborah Voigt has garnered acclaim from both critics and audiences. This August 6, Voigt joins David Zinman in what will surely be one of the most memorable concerts of the summer. The program includes music of Beethoven and Strauss.
Also, please join us for the Festival and School's 60th Anniversary Celebration that will take place prior to this concert at 5pm. Come eat, drink, and reminisce about your favorite Festival memory. Celebration-only tickets are $35. Tickets with special seating at the Deborah Voigt concert with Celebration are $150.
This event is sure to be very popular, so get your tickets early by calling 970-925-9042.
Add comment March 30th, 2009
Add comment March 29th, 2009
I have just gone online searching for “multimedia novel” and “online fiction” and can’t find anything that remotely approaches what I’m trying to do, though I did see a novel on a T-shirt and a mobile phone (no kidding) and plenty of online short stories and novels. For some reason I’ve had no fear that I was missing anything for fifteen years and now I have an idea why: the concept is overwhelmingly difficult (see above) and there’s no money in it. So lots of luck to anyone who tries it.
I finally figure out “hypertext” seems to be the active phrase these days. (Note the word “text” betraying historical origins in print.) The “hypertext” entry from Wikipedia, circa today...
Continue Reading Add comment March 26th, 2009
Mr. Boyd, a little history lesson is in order. Or maybe you should just read David Remnick’s (The New Yorker’s current editor) King of the World, a thoroughly engrossing narrative of Ali’s early years. You’d then know that to equate Mr. Ali, to mention him into the same paragraph with Rush and Billo the Clown, a paragraph that includes the word hypocrisy is American sacrilege, and just plain (uninformed) wrong.
Ali knew what he was doing from the moment he won Olympic gold and turned pro, and he knew who had come before him, a white guy with long golden hair and he wasn’t to proud to take some direction from an admitted showman for it was then and is now, showmanship that sold tickets...
Continue Reading Add comment March 25th, 2009
Mick Ireland has a new opponent in the race for Mayor……political pundit Marilyn Marks has entered (or is attempting to enter) her “Red Ant” as a candidate of sorts-----Marks heads the blog by the same name. You can expect to see Marks---who says she wants no political office herself---to express her opinions on local government more in the coming month---as Election Day approaches on May 5th.
Ireland will be facing off so far, with real life opponents L.J. Erspamer and Andrew Kole.
Mayor Ireland says if re-elected, one of this major goals is stop the exodus of young people from Aspen.
Ireland emphasizes that affordable worker housing is the key to keeping people in town.
This most recent snow storm closed Vail Pass for about four hours on Monday---the Westbound Lanes had to be shut down at 3pm yesterday---as plow trucks and other equipment cleared areas in danger of snow slides…and that danger continues this morning over the pass---even though it has been reopened. The changing conditions with the warmer temperatures make those snow packed slopes leading down to the highway especially prone to snow slides and rock fall-----be careful as you head out.
News Tip or Opinions? Send an email to news@aspenglenwood.com and be sure and listen to KUUR weekday mornings beginning at six for the most accurate local news. KUUR is located at 101.1 fm in Aspen, 96.7 fm in Carbondale and Basalt, and in Rifle and Glenwood Springs at 107.7 fm. KUUR! Your Radio!
Add comment March 24th, 2009
Monday March 23, 2009
A man lost over the weekend near Vail was rescued on Sunday morning, after spending a frigid night in the back country. 42 year old Anthony Bowerman of Aurora became separated from a group of Nordic skiers in the vicinity of a the Peter Estin Hut above Vail and dug a snow cave Saturday night----crawled in it and headed out the next morning. His companions reported him missing, and a helicopter spotted Bowerman headed down Sunday morning---and picked him up…….the skier was not injured but was dehydrated.
The Aspen Environment forum kicks off this Wednesday at the Aspen Institute----some of the best scientific minds in the world will be addressing global warming and other natural debacles facing all of us…and how to work out way –away from those problems.
Helping to cover the forum will be Jason Lasser ---a candidate for Aspen city council, who we are meeting with today. Lasser ays that as a former planner with the city of Aspen (he was included in a recent layoff of staff members for the city’s planning department), along with his skills as an architect, he will prove a valuable asset at council table.
Lasser also has some innovative ideas for the contentious BMC West property by the Airport Business center, purchased by the city for 18 million dollars. An undisclosed party has shown interest in purchasing the site –for quite a bit less, but the 4.25 acres is also an option for Lasser’s idea—to possibly build a factory at the site to manufacture affordable housing.
News Tips or opinion? Send an email to news@aspenglenwood.com
Add comment March 23rd, 2009
Thursday March 19, 2009
Jason Lasser, 40, is the latest to toss his hat into the election race for one of two open seats on Aspen City Council. Lasser was recently laid off from his job as a city planner---and says that experience plus his work as an architect will be invaluable.
Mike Kaplan will explain his position as president of the Aspen Skiing Company-----what the company plans to bring in more business next year----and how the March numbers are stacking up –in this week’s News of the Future---only on TV Aspen –our sister station. Airing on Friday mornings at 10 o’clock…and again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 10:30 p.m. on Resort Sports Network---Comcast Cable Channel 19!
The economy dominates as the focus for the elections this year…..as ballot questions face the voters on May 5th including whether the city should sell the site of Rio Grand Place to those who want to build a new museum. Next week we’ll feature interviews with those who say we must have a new facility closer to town for Aspen’s art----and other residents who rally against selling government buildings---used now for a variety of public functions.
Any questions for the candidates? Or opinions on the issues?---send them to news@aspenglenwood.com
Add comment March 19th, 2009
