Max Karson: CU Boulder A "Racist Hell-Hole", His Moonbat Attempt To Start Dialogue On Race Backfires

Max Karson continues to fan the flames of the controversy of his own making, and the issue is not free speech, but racism:

A statement posted on the student newspaper's Web site Wednesday singled out Karson as the only person suspended from contributing to the online-only newspaper's content. But CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard on Thursday said all of the regular opinion-writing staff will be reassigned to other duties while changes are made.

"Max has been an editorial page assistant editor, and all of the duties of all of the editorial page editors have been suspended because the editorial page itself at the Campus Press has been suspended pending a restructuring and re-envisioning of what they're going to do with it," Hilliard said.
. . .
However, his letter to the Camera described his contempt for the opposition to him and the Campus Press.

"Sometimes it's necessary to offend in order to provoke thought about difficult subjects," Karson wrote. "For example, in my 'Asians' piece, I poked fun at Asian stereotypes for the purpose of mocking racist white people who never bother to understand or even consider Asian cultures and race relations at the University of Colorado.

So Karson is really a moonbat whose attempt to stir up a conflagration about race initially succeeded, but ultimately backfired when the object of the opposition became his own rather pathetic attempt at satire and not the "institutional racism" that, according to Karson, supposedly permeates CU Boulder:

I went to the rally full of excitement because I thought that the public conversation was going to move forward to the subject of racial tension at CU -- a subject that is consistently ignored by the general public, school officials and the media. But as the event organizers got up and gave their speeches, I felt my insides sink.

Every single speech was focused on my writing. They called it racist, insisted that it was not satire, and demanded that we reject hate speech as a community. The opportunity to bring new stories and ideas to the conversation was wasted on an hour of angry protests against my jokes ridiculing Asian stereotypes.

And that's what I can't stand. I can't stand that people would rather gossip about me than tell their own stories about racism. I can't stand that the people who experience racism every day would rather waste their energy on demanding the suppression of clearly protected speech instead of adding their own speech to the mix. I can't stand that our student leaders are simply giving more ammo to the angry conservatives who claim that liberals always suppress dissenting speech.

The sad irony of their CU-sanctioned protest was succinctly put into words by David Chiu: "We as a community seek the immediate resignation of the Campus Press staff and university faculty responsible for the publication of these articles. We do not want a scapegoat offered up for sacrifice to meet the demands of an infuriated public."

Yes, David, you do want a scapegoat. I stood there and watched the attending university officials smile and nod while you spoke. Do you know why they were smiling? Because even though they're the ones in charge of the racist hell-hole we call CU, you still managed to blame the hateful attitudes of thousands of people on a dorky, smart-mouthed kid with authority problems.

And your solution, of course, is the same as theirs. You think that if you shut me up, you'll be one step closer to the "hate-free environment" you dream of. It reminds me of when university officials apologize for my piece instead of apologizing for the fact that minority students don't feel safe at their school, and when the CU Student Union passed a self-aggrandizing resolution to condemn racist writing instead of encouraging public dialogue on the subject.

Racism has been driven underground and institutionalized over the past several decades. The days of hood-wearing and cross-burning, at least in Boulder, are over. Now racism lives in policies and micro-messages such as looks, remarks, and avoidance.

If you really want to fight racism, you have to allow people to express it, and then you have to engage it, not stomp it back into invisibility. No matter how much it hurts us, open dialogue is the answer.

My job as a journalist is to create that open dialogue by amplifying the voices of students -- even students with racist or other hateful ideas that I disagree with. Your job as an activist is to engage those ideas with community dialogue, and if you find them hurtful or upsetting, to try to change the minds of the people who espouse them.

Perhaps Karson should work on coordinating his "journalistic" efforts with those of the "activists" on campus. Not only is Karson's conception of what a journalist's responsibilities should be (no doubt instilled by the stellar CU School of Journalism) off-base, his own estimation of his writing abilities as a critical thinker and dialogue-starter are poorly served by whining self-indulgence and poorly constructed shock-jock bloviations. Given Karson's high opinion of himself, it is a surprise that he didn't figure on his implicit allies--the professionally outraged--not picking up on his "brilliant" plan and making him the focus of their efforts.

Karson won't be the first moonbat who believed that manufacturing and faking a racist incident--in this case poorly masked as "satire"--to "start a dialogue" would be a good idea. Sadly, he won't be the last.

Recreate68's Moniker, DNC Plans Draw Moonbats, Derision From Fellow Liberals

"I can’t figure out why, for the life of me, that somebody would want to re-create ’68," she said. "Is it the riots or tear gas — or perhaps the assassinations? Or maybe the election of a Republican president? I’m not sure the name was completely thought out"--Denver Democrat Representative Diana DeGette


As Drunka notes, why only dudes? Isn't Recreate68! supposed to be diverse? The photoshop possibilities are endless . . .

Drunkablog wanders into the cesspool over at Recreate68! to find out a bit of their planned "actions" during August's Democrat National Convention--including Shake Your Money Maker:

It's time to redistribute the wealth. Between security and corporate pay-offs, the DNC will cost over 100 million dollars for a party. We think the people deserve that money. Join us as we encircle the Denver Mint (where U.S. currency is produced) and use our collective power to raise the mint building in the air and shake the money out of it for the people. Don't forget a sack to put all of your loot in. Bring noise makers, energy, spells, magic, costumes anything that gives you power, we will need it!

Other highlights include the sure-to-be-joyous (and not destructive--well, maybe not) "Festival of Democracy" and a daily themed "Days of Resistance":

During the Convention, there will be five major protest, one each day. Each protest will focus on a symptom of the disease of an Imperialist, Capitalist, Racist system as seen in our communities. Some of the proposed themes are as follows:

Sunday - End All Occupations at Home and Abroad
Monday - Human Rights/Free All Political Prisoners
Tuesday - No Warming
Wednesday - No Borders
Thursday - No Racism/Imperialism

Advanced bongo, chanting, and dressing for activist success sessions will immediately precede each day's festivities.

Drunkablog also notes that Recreate68! is finally garnering some attention from the MSM in the Beltway. Moonbat favorites including Medea Benjamin of Code Pink will be there:

Re-create ’68?

“What’s the political calculation that speaks to them of the wisdom of civil disobedience — which means a massive media spectacle — on the brink of a Democratic campaign that could plausibly put a Democrat in the White House who’s committed to withdrawal from Iraq?” asked Todd Gitlin, an anti-Vietnam War activist who was at the Democratic National Convention in 1968. “If the objective is to put a belligerent Republican in the White House, they should keep up the good work.”

The “belligerent Republican” of whom Gitlin speaks will almost certainly be Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who spent the summer of 1968 as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Organizers acknowledge that their “Re-create ’68” moniker has been met with skepticism as they’ve toured the country to gin up support among fellow activists. “A lot of people of course associate it with the DNC of ’68 and react negatively,” said organizer Mark Cohen. But the point, Cohen said, isn’t to reproduce the violence associated with the 1968 convention, just the strong sense of countercultural protest that coalesced against the Vietnam War. “We don’t call ourselves ‘Re-create Chicago ’68,’” Cohen offered.

Leslie Cagan, head of United for Peace and Justice, an anti-war group that has organized large marches in the past, said her group has endorsed the planned demonstrations in Denver.

Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman now running as a Green Party candidate for president, will be expressing herself at the demonstration, said organizers. They also plan to reach out to Ralph Nader, who is running as an independent, third-party candidate. The coalition is seeking the support of ANSWER, an anti-war organization with a more radical approach to street protest than UFPJ’s.

A major march against the war on the Sunday before the convention will be followed by a week of action, some of which will include nonviolent civil disobedience.

"Nonviolent" as in "breaking things, trashing the place, and generally acting like goons--but peacefully."

Riiight.

Other liberals aren't so keen either on Recreate68's moniker, including Denver Democrat Representative Diana DeGette:

Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat who represents Denver, was only 11 in 1968, but she said that she’s flummoxed by the notion that anyone would want to re-create the dark days of that year. “I can’t figure out why, for the life of me, that somebody would want to re-create ’68,” she said. “Is it the riots or tear gas — or perhaps the assassinations? Or maybe the election of a Republican president? I’m not sure the name was completely thought out.”

DeGette added, however, that her husband is a top official at the American Civil Liberties Union and that she is pushing for the demonstrators to have a “robust right” to speak their minds.

Gitlin, a former president of Students for a Democratic Society, fears that the protests in Denver will be too much about people speaking their minds and not enough about obtaining the results that they want.

“In the ’60s,” he said, “there were competing strains: the desire for results and the desire for self-expression. This seems to belong squarely in the self-expression camp.”

Gitlin said that trying to re-create the feeling of another era “makes about as much sense as throwing a costume party. It’s absurd to think you can re-create the culture of a moment. History is a succession of irreproducible moments.

You can't recreate the moment--but the moonbat stupidity is eternal.

Rocky Mountain News Inquiry Prompts Clinton Campaign To Remove "Bill In Blackface" Event From Web Site

"We've hired some high-end comedic talent to ease the way into Primary Day! Want to see HRC in cat-scratch mode? Bill in blackface? How about Mark Penn doling out pizza crusts and doughnut holes to the volunteers? We've got it all!"--Cleveland campaign event for Hillary Clinton

Wayward supporter or Obama's revenge for those photos?



From the Rocky:

Inquiries from the Rocky Mountain News prompted Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign to remove a supporter's "Bill in blackface?" event announcement from Clinton's official campaign Web site.

The notice appeared in an "action center" section of www.hillaryclinton.com where average supporters are allowed to publicize local events that are not necessarily sanctioned by the campaign.

In this case, the notice promised "Laughter at NAFTA Rally!" on Monday in downtown Cleveland.

The description:

"We've hired some high-end comedic talent to ease the way into Primary Day! Want to see HRC in cat-scratch mode? Bill in blackface? How about Mark Penn doling out pizza crusts and doughnut holes to the volunteers? We've got it all!"

The event was listed at:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/actioncenter/event/view/?id=10076

An archived version of the announcement is available HERE.

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee called the language of the announcement "inappropriate and offensive."

"Any one of our supporters can host an event using the action network on our Web site and post it up there," Elleithee said. "If we ever find anything objectionable and it doesn't reflect what our campaign is about, we remove it, as we did in this case."

Whoops! A little too late in this case--not what Hillary needed at this moment.

Campaigns in the digital age will be forced to scrutinize all content provided through open-forum, user-generated sources. Great for organizing grass-roots supporters, but subject to the potential for misguided supporters inadvertently damaging their own candidate, or hacking by the opposition.

Posted by Republican Princess.

Recent News Indicates Global Cooling Currently Under Way

From the fellows over at the EPW blog, "A sampling of recent articles detailing the inconvenient reality of temperature trends around the planet."

An additional roundup of the global cooling/climate change.

Max Karson's Campus Press "Satire" Draws Rally And Suspension, Even More Calls For Apologies

"It will never be law, however, because the Supreme Court, no matter how conservative or liberal it might be, will never approve its manifest capriciousness, both as law and social policy. But it can weasel its way into practice if people who should know better, people such as Chancellor Peterson and Dean Voakes, validate "offensiveness" as the arbiter of free speech in university discourse. That is the kind of thing that really does do damage"--Peter Michelson, Professor emeritus of English at CU


Max Karson


Rallying to protest Max Karson and the Campus Press, singing "We Shall Overcome"

Max Karson's "satirical" editorial continues to enrage the professionally outraged activists at CU:

The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday.

"Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.
. . .
The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.

The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.

The transparency of the process is astounding:

Faculty members within the CU School of Journalism and Mass Communication met behind closed doors for more than two hours Wednesday to discuss how to best change the management structure of the Campus Press, a class that operates within the school, so that offensive content doesn't get published.

Concessions, concessions--and more apologies from the CU administration:

Paul Voakes, dean of the journalism school, did release a statement from the faculty group that served equally as an apology.

"This (column) is the antithesis of what we're trying to teach in our school," Voakes said. "The faculty and I take responsibility for the offense that the Campus Press obviously has caused."

He called Karson's column an "editorial mistake" that should have been caught.

Even local politicians have gotten involved:

Boulder City Manager Frank Bruno released a statement saying, "Discrimination is not what Boulder is about."

Unless you're a conservative in Boulder.

More faux rage, and the Feds!:

Also, about 150 students gathered on the University Memorial Center south plaza for a rally and demonstration against the Campus Press.

Chris Choe, a 21-year-old senior and member of the Korean American Students at Boulder group who led the rally, said he hopes the university's administration fundamentally changes how content is reviewed before it's published by the class.

"I want to see responsibility," Choe said. "I want to see that this isn't being marginalized."

Later, the group migrated to a large auditorium on the campus for a forum among Campus Press representatives, CU officials and student leaders.

Federal mediators brought in by student organizers from the U.S. Department of Justice moderated the public meeting, in which students continued to call for changes at the online student paper and in which Campus Press editors offered apologies for any pain that Karson's column caused.

Finally, the Campus Press editors offered their mea culpas to the seething ragists:

"The mistake that I made when I published the article was thinking that my reactions spoke for everyone," Editor-in-Chief Cassie Hewlings, who sat somberly through the meeting, told the crowd. "I am so incredibly sorry. I didn't want to hurt anyone.

"I've learned more this past week than I have my whole 22 years of life."

You're right Cassie. There is no place for free speech--including stupid, misguided (but publicity-seeking) satire--in Boulder, or at CU.

Text of the complete Campus Press apology.

Professor emeritus Peter Michelson excoriates the cult of "offensiveness" that threatens free speech on college campuses (but can't help himself in taking a swipe at conservative media in the process):

In the context of education these are plausible punishments. But the real lesson here is that free speech at CU -- i.e. speech for which one will not be, as the Chinese have it, "re-educated" -- is subject to the literary standards of a not particularly literate chancellor, the offensiveness quotient of a Student Diversity Advisory Board and anonymous "professional journalists of color," and opinion standards of "experienced opinion editors." If these journalists and editors of opinion were to include personnel from, say, The Washington Times, The National Review, and the Fox network as well as the tasteful local media, to say nothing of the Camera's Heath Urie and CU's own PR department, then the standards of vulgarity, mendacity, incompetence and offensiveness should not set the bar beyond the reach of even such a determinedly errant student writer/editor as Max Karson.

But then, how "wrong" was Mr. Karson? If one goes to the Campus Press Web site, one can read his column. Contrary to the chancellor's characterization, it is clearly indicated as opinion and commentary, and it is conspicuously obvious as satire. Further, its satirical context reveals how the presumably professional Camera reporter's description "got it wrong." So why would the dean of the journalism school ignore the evidence before his eyes, precisely what the Campus Press faculty adviser had seen and apparently approved, and take up the chancellor's righteously wrong-headed cudgel?

The real issue here is not whether Mr. Karson's satire is poor or sophomoric. Nor is it an issue of "damage," as the chancellor claimed. Whatever the resolutions of CU's Student Union Legislative Council or the public "upset" for which Dean Voakes felt obliged to apologize, Karson's article could not and has not damaged anyone or thing, including the reputation of the university. The real issue is that the chancellor feared or was told it was "offensive."

Offensiveness is what accounts for how the reporter, the chancellor and the dean took a shot at Kid Karson's epistle and "got it wrong." A cult of offensiveness has developed out of a "feel good' ethos, whereby everybody is supposed to have the right to feel good. Its ideology thrives on college campuses and even extends to the law. Serious legal scholars have proposed that First Amendment rights be measured by the offensiveness quotient of an utterance, that one's right to speak be moderated by whether it offends Mrs. Grundy or the ACLU or the Moral Majority or the Muslim community or the Asian community or Chancellor "Bud" Peterson.

It will never be law, however, because the Supreme Court, no matter how conservative or liberal it might be, will never approve its manifest capriciousness, both as law and social policy. But it can weasel its way into practice if people who should know better, people such as Chancellor Peterson and Dean Voakes, validate "offensiveness" as the arbiter of free speech in university discourse. That is the kind of thing that really does do damage.

So much for diversity of opinion at CU.

Colorado's December Missionary Shootings--More Details Emerge

Matthew Murray

Wow.

Matthew Murray went home after the first round of shooting at a missionary training center in Arvada, slept in his own bed, and then left home once again, attacking New Life Church in Colorado Springs, killing four in all (extensive previous coverage). President Bush honored heroine Jeanne Assam, whose quick action helped save lives at New Life Church.


Jeanne Assam

More details have emerged, as the parents opened up to Focus on the Family radio:

The parents of a gunman who went on a shooting rampage at two religious campuses say they were not "clued in" to the depths of his bitterness.

The parents of Matthew Murray talked to 9Wants to Know through their spokeswoman, saying they are finally ready to talk about their struggle.

In December, Murray, 24, killed two staffers at a missionary training school in Arvada and two teenage sisters outside New Life Church in Colorado Springs the next morning.

In between the shootings, Ronald and Loretta Murray say he came home to sleep in his own bed. They talked to him that night and had an inclination that something was wrong.

Ronald called Matthew from a business trip about 1:30 a.m., two hours after the attack at Youth With a Mission in Arvada and said Matthew seemed agitated and out of breath. He told his father he'd been in a fight at an Applebees restaurant.

The next morning, Loretta says Matthew told her he was going to church. That is when she believes he drove to New Life Church and killed two people before taking his own life.

Ronald said his son "had never expressed a desire for violence toward anybody," and that neither he nor Matthew's mother knew he owned weapons. "We were not clued in to the depth of his bitterness."

The Murrays say Matthew was laid off a few months before the shootings. They say he was upset that the computer company where he worked let him go because there wasn't enough work.

Matthew had told his parents the night of the shootings in Arvada that he was going out with friends that night for his birthday. The cousin called Loretta just before midnight, sharing his concern about Matthew's emotional state.

She said she prayed; called her husband, who was out of town on a business trip; and urged him to call their son. She then broke down in tears, "crying out to God for Matthew."

Murray's homeschooling and possible mental state were also discussed by his parents:

In Internet writings Matthew had been posting for months before the shooting, he raged against his strict religious upbringing and home schooling. His parents say they do not believe the home schooling had anything to do with the violence.

They said they taught him about generosity, truthfulness and forgiveness.
. . .

Murray's parents say to their knowledge, Murray was not on any prescription medication, but they say he suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and had taken Ritalin in the past.

Murray's parents say he stopped taking that at his own request six years before the shootings.

An autopsy on his body found he had ingested amphetamine and the tranquilizer benzodiazepine, which is sold under several brand names - including Xanax.

Murray's parents say they didn't know he was the gunman in both shootings until late Sunday night when, after searching the family home, officers told them their son was dead and they believed he was the gunman in both incidents.

They believe their son had problems communicating and writing because of his ADHD, was brilliant at computers, and felt rejected and marginalized, unable to forgive his perceived tormentors.

Colorado Voter Registration--February Update

**Update--from my new post over at Schaffer v Udall: what the new numbers and a mediocre showing by Democrat Senate candidate Mark Udall in his party's preference poll on Super Tuesday mean for Colorado's much-hyped Senate race

---

Following the record turnout on Super Tuesday (complete recap here), there has been an increase in attention from the MSM to the ascent of the unaffiliated/independent bloc in Colorado, a stable Democrat segment, and the "demise" of the GOP.

Last month's voter registration analysis, ahead of the Colorado caucus, demonstrated the rise in unaffiliated voters. New numbers of Colorado voter registration and affiliation have been released by the Secretary of State. Here is a comparison of voter statistics for February 2004, 2006, and 2008--as well as two handy graphs illustrating each party's registration since January 2004, as well as the overall total for the three main voting blocs in absolute terms:

02/04
R-1044195--37.1%
D-855542--30.4%
U-911510--32.4%
T-2811247

02/06
R-1044843--36.2%
D-871689--30.2%
U-969915--33.6%
T-2886447

02/08
R-1013466--34.92%
D-885623--30.52%
U-1003003--34.56%
T-2902092

Colorado voter registration trends from 01/2004 to 02/2008 (click to enlarge):


Total Colorado registered voters (Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliateds only, click to enlarge):

Ward Churchill Denies He Pulled Out Of Debate With Victor Davis Hanson

Based on comments at Victor Davis Hanson's own site, PirateBallerina highlighted the recent cancellation of an expected April 2 showdown between Ward Churchill and Hanson at CU. Hanson has published this apology:

April 2, 2008: Boulder, Colorado

Debate has been canceled at this time and we are working on an upcoming debate. Our apologies to Ward Churchill for misstating the reasons earlier.

In addition, "Charley Arthur" at the pro-Churchill blog Tryworks bolsters the claim (substantiated and footnoted--just kidding) that it was not, in fact, Churchill who pulled out unexpectedly, but that the event itself was cancelled by the third party sponsor--the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (from an email to Churchill):

While we now have everything from Kifer’s original overture to Churchill on the idea of debating Hanson, to their discussion(s) of the topic to be debated, to the contractual arrangements involved, the following e-mail, received by the Good Prof last Thursday, shows very clearly that the debate was NOT cancelled because Churchill “pulled out” (”unexpectedly,” or otherwise).

What follows is Mr. Kifer’s message, in full:

Dear Ward,

I am writing to regretfully inform you that we have had to cancel the debate for April 2, 2008 at UC Boulder. This is due largely to matters outside our control. I am grateful for your willingness to participate in the program and I hope that we can find another forum that would be more suitable for this dialogue.

Thank you again and I will be in touch with future prospects as they become available.

Most sincerely,

Chad G. Kifer
Director of Program Advancement and Collegiate Debates
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
800-526-7022
www.isi.org

The speculation over at Tryworks is that either ISI backed out (probable), Hanson himself chickened out (unlikely), or that a secret conservative cabal of outgoing CU President Hank Brown, President-elect Bruce Benson, and others determined that a VDH-WC debate wouldn't play well (?, also unlikely). There is also mention of Churchill pressing his contractual rights, and a potential lawsuit.

Having had some experience with bringing out high-profile speakers to CU Boulder as an undergraduate, I can say that coordinating a debate is a logistical nightmare. Having multiple parties involved--VDH and Churchill, ISI, and CU (at a minimum)--only makes the situation more complicated and more fragile. The likelihood for miscommunication rises, and could give the impression (in this case, a false one) that one party "unexpectedly pulled out", when in fact no such thing happened.

ISI's still wants to move forward and "find another forum that would be more suitable for this dialogue"--which could mean that there was a problem with the venue, though not because of Churchill since he has not been banned from campus (he had a "free" class there tonight). We hope to see this debate at some point, in a neutral site where Churchill's goons aren't playing enforcement.

CU Campus Press Faces Censorship

From the student government and administration:

University of Colorado student leaders said Monday they want to see more changes at the Campus Press following its decision to publish a pair of racially charged opinion pieces.

John Ali Sharza, director of diversity affairs for CU's student union, said minority groups, concerned students and staff members met Monday to develop an "action plan" for how they want the community and the Campus Press to continue responding to the controversial columns published last week.

"If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," by Max Karson, ran in the online-only student paper, www.thecampuspress.com, on Feb. 18; and "No hablo Ingles," by Lauren E. Geary, was published the previous day.

Campus Press editors said Monday that they're planning to publish in today's edition the first news story on the backlash from the articles.

"The news piece will be a full dis-closure of the process between the conception and publication for these articles," said editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings.
. . .
Sharza, though, said some students are concerned that "There's no formal apology on the Web site."

He said students want the Campus Press to apologize and possibly replace top editor Hewlings.

"There might be pressure for her to step down," he said.

Hewlings wouldn't comment Monday on anything except what her online paper plans to publish today.

On Thursday, student editors and their faculty adviser met with Paul Voakes, dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, to talk about how to deal with fallout from Karson's column.

In that meeting, the Campus Press agreed to "provide enhanced coverage on the campus controversy the paper has sparked;" establish a Student Diversity Advisory Board, composed of non-journalism majors, to provide editors with regular feedback; adopt an "opinions policy," with standards and procedures for determining the acceptability of opinion columns or reader-generated content; schedule a series of diversity-awareness workshops for the entire staff; and host a series of workshops for opinion writing and editing, to be presented by professional opinion editors.

In other words, using intimidation, kangaroo PC editorial boards, and diversity-awareness reeducation workshops for the the Campus Press staff.

Publish a juvenile editorial attacking President Bush--no problem.

But poorly written satire or editorial opinion that offends protected minority groups?
Censorship--or perhaps more correctly--self-censorship. The apologies, advisory boards, and "workshops" are all designed to intimidate the paper's student editors and staff into thinking and writing "correctly". The professionally outraged activists on campus will argue that they are demanding "sensitivity"--really a demand for a right not to be offended. That right, of course, does not exist. Free speech should be met with more free speech. Don't like an editorial? Criticize.

Leave censorship to the tinpot dictatorships and and small-minded leftist revolutionaries . . . oh nevermind, this is the People's Republic of Boulder, after all.

Maybe they can drag old Ward Churchill out to do a little lecture on free speech. He is an "expert" in offensive, incendiary speech--and will be arguing that in his coming lawsuit. He is on campus every Tuesday night this semester anyway.

Study: Hurricanes No Worse Today Than In The Past Says Leading Climate Scientist

"The study has implications for scientists who research whether or not climate change is responsible for increasing the frequency and severity of hurricanes. Pielke suggests that even if climate change does intensify hurricanes, the added damages caused by global warming are relatively insignificant. If people want to see less damage, they need to move away from the coasts, he said."--Roger Pielke Jr., a scientist with CU’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Not stronger. The reason for more damage? More human inhabitants in vulnerable areas:

If the same hurricane that plowed into Miami in 1926 were to swamp south Florida's coast today, it would cause around $150 billion worth of damage -- dwarfing the $80 billion in losses caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 -- according to new research by a professor at the University of Colorado.

The study, published this month in the journal Natural Hazards Review, extrapolated how much damage historic hurricanes would cause given today's denser and wealthier coastal populations. All of the storms that made landfall between 1900 and 2005 were studied.

“We took 2005 population and buildings and wealth and we said, ‘If every hurricane system occurred with that amount of development, what sort of damages would we see?’” said Roger Pielke Jr., a scientist with CU’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.

Pielke and his team found that hurricanes today are not more damaging than hurricanes a century ago. Instead, the main factor causing increased losses from hurricanes is the coastal development pattern.

“It’s not a wise or unwise decision to build on the coast,” Pielke said. “But I would like to see people fully appreciate the risks of their actions and consider who will be bearing the costs.”

The study has implications for scientists who research whether or not climate change is responsible for increasing the frequency and severity of hurricanes. Pielke suggests that even if climate change does intensify hurricanes, the added damages caused by global warming are relatively insignificant. If people want to see less damage, they need to move away from the coasts, he said.

Logic. Lost on moonbats in the globalwarmenist religion. One of the central tenets of the Al Gore conspiracy theory is that human activity exacerbates weather events--especially in the most destructive category of hurricanes.

Unfortunately for the global warming industry, there are scientists more interested in discovering what is actually happening to the Earth's climate--both causes and effects--than belonging to any mythical "consensus".

More Speculation--State Democrats Support Sen. Ken Salazar As Potential VP

With the Democrat National Convention in Denver and the clear desire by Democrats to appeal to voters in the Mountain Time Zone (and combat likely GOP candidate Sen. John McCain's independent appeal), Sen. Ken Salazar's name has surfaced once again as a potential moderate VP candidate for either of the ultra-liberal Democrat frontrunners (especially Sen. Hillary Clinton), with leading Colorado Dems voicing clear support:

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) feels that as vice president, Salazar "would be a strong voice" for major issues facing the Rocky Mountain states, said DeGette spokesperson Kristofer Eisenla.

"She thinks with how important ... those issues are in the Rocky Mountain West, we think (a Salazar vice-presidential nomination) is definitely a possibility," Eisenla said.

U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, is on board, too.

"Mark knows Ken would make an excellent choice, both as a nominee and as Vice President," said Udall campaign spokesperson Taylor West in a statement. "In addition to the judgment and experience he'd bring to the job overall, he'd also be a strong voice for the West and for rural America."

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) is "not surprised that Senator Salazar is on the short list" for Democratic vice-presidental candidates, said Perlmutter spokesperson Leslie Oliver.

"The senator is a very moderate Western Democrat, and (Perlmutter) thinks that the senator would bring solid Western values to the ticket, whoever the (presidential) nominee is," Oliver said.

Sen. Salazar, for his part, would say "yes" if asked by either candidate to join the Dem ticket in November.

Despite Global Warming, North America Has Most Snow Cover Since 1966

And not just here, but around the Northern Hemisphere:

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January "was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average."

China is surviving its most brutal winter in a century. Temperatures in the normally balmy south were so low for so long that some middle-sized cities went days and even weeks without electricity because once power lines had toppled it was too cold or too icy to repair them.

There have been so many snow and ice storms in Ontario and Quebec in the past two months that the real estate market has felt the pinch as home buyers have stayed home rather than venturing out looking for new houses.

In just the first two weeks of February, Toronto received 70 cm of snow, smashing the record of 66.6 cm for the entire month set back in the pre-SUV, pre-Kyoto, pre-carbon footprint days of 1950.

More scientists are doubting that "consensus" Al Gore and other global warmongers have repeatedly cited as "evidence" of anthropogenic climate change:

And it's not just anecdotal evidence that is piling up against the climate-change dogma.

According to Robert Toggweiler of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University and Joellen Russell, assistant professor of biogeochemical dynamics at the University of Arizona -- two prominent climate modellers -- the computer models that show polar ice-melt cooling the oceans, stopping the circulation of warm equatorial water to northern latitudes and triggering another Ice Age (a la the movie The Day After Tomorrow) are all wrong.
. . .
Last month, Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, shrugged off manmade climate change as "a drop in the bucket." Showing that solar activity has entered an inactive phase, Prof. Sorokhtin advised people to "stock up on fur coats."

He is not alone. Kenneth Tapping of our own National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon.

The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbours froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased.

Gateway Pundit has been relentless in covering the brutal 2007-2008 winter across the globe, with a roundup of "climate change" of the cooler kind.

Colorado's impressive snowpack totals continue to befuddle the "experts" who predicted a dry winter.

Related: measuring "the greenness of politicians by how many federal laws they impose on the American people".

Weekend Blog Wrapup

Here are some random links that I never got around to blogging this past week (lots of school and a few new projects)--

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22-year-old human smuggler arrested for 15th time, having already been deported 14 times prior to his latest arrest in Colorado:

Two illegal immigrants were arrested for human smuggling in Eagle today. One of the men has been deported 14 times for human smuggling prior to today's arrest. He is 22 years old.

At 8:21am a deputy pulled over a silver Chevy Venture van in the eastbound lane of I-70 for a license plate violation. The deputy discovered 13 illegal immigrants inside the vehicle.

The driver said he planned on delivering the twelve adult males in various locations that included Denver, Iowa, and Georgia.

Omar Alaverez-Mecedo, age 22, was arrested and charged with Human Smuggling, a class three felony, and operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license, a class two misdemeanor.

In the course of the investigation it was discovered that "Omar Alaverez-Mecedo's" real name is Israel Robles-Gaytan. According to ICE, Robles-Gaytan had already been caught and deported fourteen times; he gave law enforcement officials a different name each time.

Slime.

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Coming soon, courtesy of global warming moonbats, to a city (like Boulder) soon (h/t SondraK):

GLOBAL WARMING IS a planet-sized problem, so policy solutions tend to aim for the grandest possible scale. The signatories of the Kyoto Protocol have pledged to cut their greenhouse gas emissions at a national level, while laws in various countries and states seek to reform entire industries.

For individuals, the picture is very different. Environmentalism often boils down to small lifestyle choices, like turning down the thermostat and screwing in the squiggly light bulbs - gestures that can feel virtuous but futile. Some environmentalists even consider them counterproductive if they substitute for activism.

But a new wave of thinking suggests it may be better in the long run to address this global problem in a way that directly involves individuals. Several proposals generating buzz chiefly in the United Kingdom and Ireland operate on the notion that every individual has an equal stake in the atmosphere. The most provocative idea, personal carbon trading, would grant all residents a "carbon allowance," setting a limit on carbon dioxide emissions from their households and transportation. In the model of the industrial "cap and trade" system, guzzlers who exceeded their allowance would need to buy extra shares. People who conserved energy, meanwhile, could sell their leftover shares and ride their bikes all the way to the bank.

This is not just a fantasy floating around in the greenest reaches of the blogosphere. In 2006, the UK's environment secretary, David Miliband, endorsed the idea, and the British government has commissioned a study to explore the policy's feasibility.

Trading freedom for socialism.

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The nutty professor unemployed hack from CU, Chief "Shitting Bull" Ward Churchill himself, has unexpectedly "pulled out" of his April 2 debate with Victor Davis Hanson--apparently reading the writing on the wall (h/t Drunkablog):

April 2, 2008: Boulder, Colorado

Debate canceled until we find another opponent. Ward Churchill unexpectedly pulled out.

If you can't stand the thought of missing out on the Churchill's outstanding pedagogical prowess and intellectual insights, this semester's three and a quarter hour long "classes" are still on (h/t Drunkablog).

Colorado Caucus Confusion As Democrats Select Republicans, Greens As Delegates

Confusion? Or campaign fever? Dude:

Denver Democrats have a problem: 172 of the delegates and alternates they elected at Super Tuesday caucuses appear to be ineligible.

Some showed up at the wrong precinct. Most of them weren't even registered Democrats.

"A couple people were Republicans. A couple people were Green Party," said Jennifer Coken, who chairs the Democratic Party of Denver. "It's been kind of nerve-racking for us."

Republicans getting elected as Democratic delegates is just part of the confusion that accompanied an overwhelming turnout at precincts throughout Colorado.
. . .
In Denver, the number of voters who showed up at Democratic caucuses jumped from 2,628 in 2004 to 26,096 on Super Tuesday. They chose 3,032 delegates and 3,032 alternates to attend their county convention on March. 8, Jacobson said.

But according to Denver Election Commission records, 119 of the delegates and alternates are not registered Democrats, she said, and 53 "caucused in a location other than their precinct."

All 172 will be challenged, but they get an opportunity to prove the city records wrong at a Monday night meeting at Denver party headquarters. To qualify, "they have to bring in a certified copy of their voter registration," Jacobson said.

Because Denver concentrated its efforts on ineligible delegates, Jacobson expects it will be weeks before the local party can check the eligibility of all the others who signed affidavits and voted in the caucuses.

"There were a lot," she said, "maybe close to a thousand."

So, who's to blame? Enthusiastic but apparently uninitiated "unaffiliateds":

"Most of these people were unaffiliated voters, and some of them didn't know that," said Jennifer Jacobson, director of operations for Denver Democrats. "They said they voted for Democrats their whole lives. They didn't know they hadn't affiliated with a party."

That's ok. Ineligible voters have voted for Democrats for years. Some even voted from the great beyond.

Democrats are inclusive, after all.

Max Karson's Latest Attention Scheme Results In Diversity Training

CU student and self-styled provocateur Max Karson's latest foray into the world of the First Amendment and adolescent attention-mongering has resulted in--you guessed it--mandatory "diversity training" and other politically correct "reeducation". The goal? A more "nuanced" Campus Press staff at CU:

The University of Colorado student newspaper's staff will undergo diversity training and meet other measures outlined Thursday by CU officials in response to a column published earlier this week that said Asian people should be rounded up, "hog-tied" and "forced to eat bad sushi."
. . .
On Thursday, five editors of the Campus Press and faculty advisor Amy Herdy met for 90 minutes with Paul Voakes, dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, to talk about how to deal with fallout from Karson's column.
. . .
He said the Campus Press also will work with Dave Martinez, the school's diversity coordinator, to establish a Student Diversity Advisory Board composed of non-journalism majors who "represent a broad swath of interests on the campus," which will provide editors with regular feedback.

The Campus Press also agreed in the meeting to:

Invite student organizations to meet face-to-face with the editors.

Adopt an "opinions policy," with standards and procedures for determining the acceptability of opinion columns or reader-generated content.

Schedule a series of diversity-awareness workshops for the entire staff with the CU Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, with participation of professional journalists of color.

Host a series of workshops for opinion writing and editing, to be presented by experienced professional opinion editors.

"I'm confident that the current crop of editors has begun to develop a new, more nuanced understanding of the delicate balance between absolute free speech and journalistic social responsibility," Voakes wrote. "I also want to apologize on behalf of the school for the upset that our student publication has created."

Instituting "diversity training" seminars and a kangaroo non-journalism-but-PC-advisory-board are hardly startling, especially for a moonbat liberal campus that can't seem to grasp satire (even if poorly written).

What is disappointing is the dean's necessarily PC notion of trying to "balance" between "absolute free speech" and "journalistic social responsibility". Karson's column--distasteful and perhaps misguided--and the editors' decision to run the piece can and should be criticized. But blurring the line of free speech latitude with cumbersome PC "advisory boards" and the ambiguous "social responsibility" mantra is the true threat in this instance.

Karson is a hack, albeit a dedicated one. CU's damage control went into overdrive (as it has in the past), seeking to deflect or mitigate another potentially damaging story. Where are the Ward Churchill acolytes to support Karson's free speech protections? Or is there (yes there is!) a double-standard? Had Karson targeted white Christian conservative males, there would surely be cries in defense of his rights to push the "boundaries" and challenge the status quo. Instead, he chose Asians as the vehicle for his satire.

Karson may not be funny, but once again the joke is on CU.

The Drunkablog has more background on Karson's previous free speech flaps at CU.

Bruce Benson Elected CU President On Party Line Vote

For the first time since the early 1970s, a CU president is elected without a unanimous vote:

Bruce Benson was named the 22nd president of the University of Colorado tonight, despite criticism from some faculty, students and staff that the millionaire oilman doesn't have the academic credentials and is too tied to Republican politics.

The CU Board of Regents voted 6 to 3, on a party-line vote, to hire Benson to replace Hank Brown.

It marks the first time since 1974 that a CU president has been hired without a unanimous vote.

Regents Tillie Bishop, Steve Bosley, Pat Hayes, Kyle Hybl, Tom Lucero and Paul Schauer — all Republicans — voted yes, saying Benson's qualifications are unmatched.

"No one in Colorado today has a higher understanding of higher education in Colorado as Mr. Benson," Bosley said.

And the sticks in the mud:

The three no votes came from the board's three Democrats — Cindy Carlisle, Michael Carrigan and Steve Ludwig.

Ludwig insisted the vote was not a true party-line vote, saying politics had nothing to do with his decision.

"We need great relations with Colorado state lawmakers," he said. "Another controversy or controversial figure sucks all the oxygen out of the room."

Carrigan said Benson had been too polarizing a choice, while Carlisle took exception with the board bringing forward only one finalist.

The Drunkablog was following earlier faculty and student reactions to Benson's nomination.

Bruce Benson's election as CU president illustrates the immense importance of down ticket elections; in this case, the 6-3 GOP advantage in CU Regents. Benson's party line election, following a nomination process full of partisan rancor couched in questions over his qualifications, demonstrated the seething intolerance emitted by the moonbats in the faculty and the students themselves throughout the CU system. Democrats Sen. Ken Salazar and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper were among a handful of Dems who saw through the partisanship and believed that Benson was eminently qualified to lead CU as an institution, and not some GOP hack.

Who Knew? Climate Change, Global Warming Brings Colder Winter

As Gateway Pundit points out in at least a dozen instances all around the globe, it's really, really cold--just about everywhere. Take a look at the Arctic ice caps:

NEW evidence has cast doubt on claims that the world’s ice-caps are melting, it emerged last night.

Satellite data shows that concerns over the levels of sea ice may have been premature.

It was feared that the polar caps were vanishing because of the effects of global warming.

But figures from the respected US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that almost all the “lost” ice has come back.

Ice levels which had shrunk from 13million sq km in January 2007 to just four million in October, are almost back to their original levels.

Figures show that there is nearly a third more ice in Antarctica than is usual for the time of year.

The data flies in the face of many current thinkers and will be seized on by climate change sceptics who deny that the world is undergoing global warming.

A photograph of polar bears clinging on to a melting iceberg has become one of the most enduring images in the campaign against climate change.

It was used by former US Vice President Al Gore during his Inconvenient Truth lectures about mankind’s impact on the world. But scientists say the northern hemisphere has endured its coldest winter in decades.

They add that snow cover across the area is at its greatest since 1966.

Arctic ice cover has not only recovered, but it is thicker as well.

Whoops!

Ben DeGrow has more, and cautions against falling into the global warming/climate change fearmongering trap that brings things like Bill Ritter's "climate change plan".

After all, the scientists can't be wrong.

Roger Fraley has an update on the Antarctic ice sheet, which apparently is doing quite well.

Breaking: Fidel Castro Resigns

The beginning of the end for Fidel Castro:

Ailing leader Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president early Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying in a letter published in online official media that he would not accept a new term when the newly elected parliament meets on Sunday.

"I will not aspire nor accept—I repeat I will not aspire or accept—the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief," read the letter signed by Castro and published quietly overnight without advance warning in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma.

Michelle Malkin has a roundup--continuous updates and reactions at Babalu Blog--memeorandum has much more--Hot Air is prepping cigars for Fidel's impending exit--

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The BBC has dubbed Castro the "great survivor"

Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst 021808

Freedom Folks has this week's edition.

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Trailer

Winter Forecasts Wrong For Second Year Admit "Experts"

Blaming the failure of their predictions to match what actually has transpired on--wait for it--"global change":

Dry-winter forecasts were flat wrong this year for much of Colorado and the Southwest, and weather experts say they're struggling to understand why the snow just keeps falling.

Some forecasters blame climate change, and others point to the simple vicissitudes of weather. Regardless, almost everyone called for a dry-to-normal winter in Colorado and the Southwest — but today, the state's mountains are piled so thick with snow that state reservoirs could fill and floods could be widespread this spring.

"The polar jet stream has been on steroids. We don't understand this. It's pushing our limits, and it's humbling," said Klaus Wolter, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Whoops! So climate and weather conditions are 1) more difficult to predict, and 2) humans still haven't figured out a precise way of measuring or modeling the extremely complex systems that produce the droughts, floods, storms, etc. that we face each year.

Shocker.

Apparently, even historically predictable occurrences like El Niño and La Niña can still show a potentially wide range of variability in terms of outcome, as they did this year:

Wolter and NOAA both forecast a drier-than-average winter in most of Colorado. AccuWeather Inc. did the same, citing similar reasons: A La Niña weather system of cool, equatorial Pacific water had set up in the tropics last fall.

Generally, La Niña years bring dry and warm weather to Colorado in the fall and spring, and variable winters tend to be close to average.

La Niña winters have almost always brought droughtlike conditions to the Southwest, as the jet stream ferries storms farther north.

So, what the devil is causing the weather forecasters and climate "experts" to miss their predictions with an alarming rate? Why, "global change", of course!

Wolter said he's troubled that his and other long-range forecasts have been off two years in a row now.

Last year, experts predicted a wet year from Southern California across to Arizona and southern Colorado, because of an El Niño weather system of warmer Pacific water.

Instead, drought worsened in the Southwest, capped by a huge fire season in Southern California.

"So we have two years in a row here where the atmosphere does not behave as we expect," Wolter said. "Maybe global changes are pulling the rug out from underneath us. We may not know the answer for 10 years, . . . but one pet answer is that you should get more variability with global change."

This winter's forecasts were accurate in some areas of the country, Wolter and Reeves said: The Pacific Northwest has been slammed with precipitation, as predicted, and, even with snow expected overnight and today in Denver, it has been relatively dry along Colorado's Front Range.

You see, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.

"Global change" is Wolter's "pet answer". Take that one to your boss--"Sorry, sir, it's that damned global change!"


Just some of the tons of "global change" that have fallen on Colorado this winter

Colorado Department Of Higher Education Targets Free Tuition Bill For Decorated Veterans

**Update--Combat veteran tuition waiver opponents like David Skaggs called for in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants just last year

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"We have an obligation to care for our veterans"--Rep. Rafael Gallegos, sponsor of the free tuition bill for decorated combat veterans



Sick. Just sick--the Colorado Department of Higher Education aggressively trying to kill the tuition bill through back-door channels:

The Colorado Department of Higher Education has quietly called on lobbyists for the University of Colorado system to persuade lawmakers to kill a bill that would grant free tuition to decorated combat veterans.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito, sailed through the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a 9-2 vote last week. But opponents say the state's colleges and universities can't afford it.

In an e-mail Monday to two dozen Capitol lobbyists, Cathy Wanstrath, a lobbyist for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, laid out a plan to kill the measure when it is heard by the Appropriations Committee on Friday.

"I think you all agree we need to kill this bill, and (the Colorado Department of Higher Education) has been happy to take the lead," according to the memo obtained Tuesday by the Rocky Mountain News. "However, we need your help in the next couple of days to count the votes to kill it in committee."

Gallegos said that Wanstrath already had contacted him.

"I understand we're talking about money here," he said. "I have done my best to explain the benefits of this. We have an obligation to care for our veterans."

The provisions of the bill:

HB 1068

The bill would provide free state tuition to individuals who were legal Colorado residents at the time of the military action for which they received the Purple Heart or a higher combat service medal. Veterans also would have to meet the one-year state residency requirement prior to enrolling at school.

Making excuses for an inability to fund this program, David Skaggs scrapes the bottom of the barrel:

David Skaggs, director of the state Department of Higher Education, said that as a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, he has empathy for what veterans who have been decorated for combat action have gone through.

"Our position on this is taken with enormous regret because of this, but we simply have no idea what the price tag on that would be," Skaggs said.

The Legislative Council staff has said that accurate information does not exist on how many potential recipients might benefit from the bill.

But the staff noted that if 10 undergraduates took advantage of the tuition waiver at CU-Boulder for four years, it would cost the school $216,720.

A "hugely constrained" budget has no room for such a waiver, Skaggs said, adding that it also would force CU's medical school to waive its $25,000 tuition for each decorated veteran.

Well, with Ward Churchill on his way out, that should free up some money to fund the tuition waiver.

The free tuition for decorated combat veterans is a small price to pay in comparison to what these brave Americans paid for our freedom.

Here is the link to the Colorado Department of Higher Education, as well as the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Have a message for David Skaggs? (keep it polite)--executivedirector@cche.state.co.us

Mohammad Cartoon Reprint

Michelle Malkin reminds us on the second anniversary of the Mohammad cartoon outrage that a handful of jihadists have been arrested following their plot to assassinate Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist who drew this rendition of the big Mo:



SP joined dozens of other bloggers in reprinting the dreaded cartoons of blasphemy, and here is some of our coverage of those events two years ago:
Furor Over Cartoons Not Funny
There Is No South Park In Islam. . .

Douglas Bruce Refuses To Consponsor Resolution Honoring Military, Veterans

“That’s a man with no honor. He has no shame”--House Minority leader Mike May on Rep. Douglas Bruce' refusal to cosponsor a joint resolution honoring Military and Veterans Appreciation Day

Not simply content to kick a photographer for violating his own sense of "decorum", the classy, self-righteous Douglas Bruce--without explanation--refused to cosponsor a unanimous pro-military resolution:

Today he infuriated fellow lawmakers by being the lone legislator who refused to cosponsor a Joint House-Senate resolution honoring Military and Veterans Appreciation Day.

“Today we were honoring people who died for our country, who served our country, and Douglas Bruce is spitting in the eye of every veteran who served our country, and it’s a disgrace,” said Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. “I’m so angry I can’t even talk right now.”

Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genessee, said he’d never seen a colleague refuse to cosponsor the annual resolution.

“Some of our veterans have sacrificed all for their country,” Witwer said. “The least we can do is say thank you.”

Even Democrats were floored:

Democrats were also stunned and dismayed.

“I feel like I want to say to him what we used to say in the McCarthy era, ‘Have you no shame?’” said Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver.

“I think he truly believes he’s doing the right thing,” she said. “But I don’t think he realizes he’s out of step with everybody. He’s just different. What can I say?”

Bruce, who has succeeded in building bipartisan enmity, was thrashed by House minority leader Mike May, but without any result:

House minority leader Mike May, R-Parker approached Bruce immediately after he declined to co-sponsor the resolution: “I told him on a day when we honor those who have given such great sacrifice, that he can’t even put forth the effort to push the green button is disgraceful.

“That’s a man with no honor. He has no shame.”

Bruce is also getting slammed in the comments, and rightly so.

Boulder To Consider Impeachment For Bush, Cheney

Not to be outdone by other "intelligent" progressive cities, the People's Republic of Boulder--and Forbes' "Smartest City" in the USA--is set to consider a resolution calling for--wait for it--the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney:

Boulder's elected leaders are expected to decide next week whether to draft and vote on a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

For the past few weeks, activists have been showing up at Boulder City Council meetings, carrying signs, handing out "impeach" pins and asking City Council members to take up such a resolution. Similar measures have passed in cities across the country, including Detroit and Telluride.

Liz Robinson, one of the organizers of the effort, said people hoping to see impeachment proceedings have given congressional Democrats — who won a majority in the fall of 2006 — plenty of time to act.

But since they haven't, she said, locally elected officials should take up the slack.

"Whether or not it's the city's business directly, like potholes, I feel this affects all of us," she said. "We're the ones who are paying the taxes to support this administration's depredations, especially the war."

While such a resolution means very little outside of the People's Republic it will, however, allow the moonbats to be put "on record":

Impeachment proceedings would be worth doing even if they only put the last few months of Bush's eight years in office at risk, Robinson said.

"We need to send a message that this all matters to us, whether it's last-minute or not," she said.

Last year, Telluride voted for impeachment, but liberal Aspen's City Council had better things to do with their time. At least one Boulder City Council member agreed:

But City Councilman Ken Wilson said he's not on board. During a recent retreat, the City Council agreed to priorities ranging from fixing structural problems in the budget to doing better land-use planning.

That doesn't leave much time for issues over which the city doesn't have direct jurisdiction, he said.

"We did not identify national issues as a priority for work by council and staff. We are already seeing scheduling problems trying to address our priorities and the immediate needs of the city," he said. "Hours spent discussing national issues will reduce the amount of time we can spend on city issues."

Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst 021108

Freedom Folks has this week's edition of Blogs for Borders video blogburst.

Mark Steyn At CPAC

Video of Mark Steyn's eloquent defense of conservative principles and skewering of liberal shibboleths this past week at CPAC.

Snow In Colorado Exceeds Early Season Forecast For Second Straight Year

"I'm sticking with my forecast, except that I acknowledge I have some egg on my face"--Klaus Wolter, meteorologist affiliated with the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


Klaus Wolter, egg on his face

More like completely defied the weather forecasters' and climatologists' prognostications that called for a dry, warm winter:

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

The National Weather Service's "probability forecast" called for a drier than normal winter in southwestern Colorado. But as meteorologist Aldis Strautins of the National Weather Service in Grand Junction explains, probability is not cast in stone.

"When you're talking about climate and probability forecasts, saying that the probability is a little higher that it's going to be drier doesn't mean it still couldn't be a wet year. That's what's happened so far. You have a better chance of drier weather, but it's still possible you can get these other events. And the season's not through."

Of course, this isn't the first time that seasonal projections failed to adequately describe what would happen. Just remember last season's blizzard, which came on the heels of a similar three-month projection that also called for dry weather and little precipitation.

What was the prediction last November (11-27-07 to be exact)?

Mountain snowpacks are thin statewide — a quarter as deep as normal in southwestern Colorado — and weather forecasters are predicting a relatively warm, dry winter for most of the state.

The Gunnison River Basin reported snowpack levels 29 percent of normal Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the South Platte River Basin was at 57 percent of normal.

The next few months do not look a whole lot better.

"Oh, it's dry and grim," said Klaus Wolter, a meteorology researcher with the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder.
. . .
Wolter said this winter may disappoint those who love winter storms. "Everything seems to be shifted north this year," he said.

That's despite the strong La Niña weather system that has set up in the Pacific Ocean. La Niñas usually mean dry falls and springs and snowier-than-average winters in the mountains.

La Niñas occur when temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are lower than normal. That affects weather patterns around the globe and often brings extra moisture to Colorado in December or January.

"I don't see that happening this year," Wolter said. "The storm tracks are shifted north," along with the jet stream.

Ken Reeves, a senior meteorologist and director of forecasting for AccuWeather Inc., agreed with Wolter.

"There's going to be a tremendous amount of moisture firehosed up into the Pacific Northwest, and the question is, will any of that end up in Colorado's central mountains?"

"Right now, I think it probably won't get much closer than Utah, western Wyoming," Reeves said. "It is a possibility, but I don't see a spout of storms piling up snow there this year."
. . .
"I am very concerned that Colorado, which is essentially drought-free on the national drought monitor, might see regions of drought develop by spring," Wolter said.

Whoops!

In fact, getting the weather gurus to admit their models are flawed or that their forecasts are off is incredibly difficult, even in the face of countervailing evidence:

Forecasters are holding to their predictions of a dry winter for Colorado despite blasts of snow that have continued into mid-January and set snowpack records in the southwestern mountains.

Admitting that the string of major storms over the past six weeks caught him off guard, one top federal forecaster nonetheless said a strong La Nina effect is likely to keep the state mostly dry through March.

"I'm sticking with my forecast, except that I acknowledge I have some egg on my face," said Klaus Wolter, a meteorologist affiliated with the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Wolter said his prediction applied to the January-March period, not to December - a point he said he didn't make clear enough in media interviews. Even so, he said the string of big, wet storms running through the state late last year was historic.

"I certainly can't remember in 20 years of living here anything like that," he said. "I think we should count our blessings. We got lucky."

That "moisture pipeline," Wolter said, was fueled by the so-called Pineapple Express, a weather system with its origins near the Hawaiian tropics. But, he added, it is bound to dry up.

"The writing is on the wall," he said.

That was a month ago--mid-January.

The writing is on the wall--but the meteorologists/climatologists don't seem capable of reading it.

Local snowpack numbers are at impressive levels. More amazement:

7News Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson says in his 17 years here in Colorado, he cannot remember a more prolific snow season in the high country as they are seeing this season.

Forbes: Boulder "Smartest City" In The USA

It's a shame all the education in the world can't remove the moonbats' heads from you-know-where:

For the second straight year, Forbes.com has ranked Boulder as the smartest city in the USA.

Other Colorado cities may deride Boulder as the place that banned couches from porches and required landowners to get a permit to kill a prairie dog. Not Forbes.

"Boulder is one of the greenest cities in the United States, and the residents take advantage of the many outdoor recreational activities available to the students, professors and overwhelmingly young adult population," the magazine raved.

The rankings were based on the percentage of adults 25 and older with at least a bachelor's degree. In Boulder, 53 percent of adults do. Ninety-three percent graduated from high school and 4 percent have a PhD.

Most of the "smartest" cities happen to be college towns: Ames and Iowa City, Iowa; Lawrence, Kan., Corvallis, Ore.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Ann Arbor, Mich., and Cambridge, Mass. also made the top 10. Fort Collins, home to Colorado State University, was ranked 12th.

They sure do value education in the People's Republic. Too bad they don't place much emphasis on, you know, sanity or reality.

Victor Davis Hanson To Debate Ward Churchill At CU In April

Details are sketchy (scroll down, right side for "calendar of speaking events"), but we at SP are taking suggestions for debate titles (h/t LGF via Drunkablog):

April 2, 2008: Boulder, Colorado

Topic: Debate with Ward Churchill
Location: TBA
Info: TBA

Super Tuesday Postmortem: Colorado Caucus Results

Update (1:30 pm)--Note to Sen. McCain-telling conservatives to "calm down" is no way to build bridges with GOPers like those in Colorado ready to bolt from the party or simply sit on their hands

Update (1:00 pm)--Eye-rolling "Dems are nonpartisan, Republicans are conservative" caucus analysis of the day:

"Obama's that creative-society, nonpartisan, new-advocate-for-change Democrat that we like here," said Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli, pointing to former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, Sen. Ken Salazar and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Mitt Romney's win over John McCain, on the other hand, showed that Republicans were backing conservative, core-party values over more moderate views.

Update (12:00 pm)--Ben DeGrow links to the "trust but verify" scenarios that will offer McCain perhaps his only chance at mending fences with conservatives; more observations of "barely organized chaos" from Roger Fraley; Dem blogger Wash Park Prophet sees Democrat enthusiasm as providing coattails for Mark Udall and other Dem candidates this fall

Update (7:00 am)--voter turnout percentage, based on voter registration for each party and the closed caucus rules-13.6% of Democrats caucused vs. 6.4% of Republicans

Update (3:30 am)--record turnout in Colorado-8x for Democrats (120,000 in 2008 vs. 15,000 in 2004) and 65,000 Republicans

Initial thoughts--despite his Super Tuesday success, here are the image problems in a nutshell John McCain will face in the coming months in his quest to court conservatives in the GOP base (via the awesome Michael Ramirez):