Ari Armstrong's Web Log (Main) | Archives | Terms of Use
Colorado News Miner 109
Gun insurance, GOP, demons, prayer, a media fib, school violence, cops acting badly, river water, trans-related measures, liquor restrictions, and more.
Copyright © 2024 by Ari Armstrong
April 5, 2024
Gun Liability Insurance: As you might expect, Dave Kopel finds serious problems with the bill in question: "HB24-1270 allows the police to demand that anyone, anywhere, anytime hand over a copy of their homeowner's insurance. Because people normally do not carry their homeowner's insurance policy on their person in public, the opportunities for police abuse are nearly limitless."
Maher Blasts Williams: Kelly Maher (edited slightly): "Today [April 4] I filed an FEC complaint against Dave Williams and the Colorado GOP for using the state party as his congressional slush fund. I hope this weekend in Pueblo delegates hold Dave accountable for his behavior."
Demons: Quentin Young: "If you believed far-right rhetoric, you'd think America is swarming with demons. . . . [People who use such rhetoric] intend to cast opponents not as adversaries in a political contest but as enemies fit only for destruction. They are out to demonize those who don't agree with them and create an environment in which abuse and violence are permissible, even necessary." Young reviews several Colorado examples. Related: Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama called Democrats "a Satanic cult."
Prayer in the Legislature: Again I agree with Quentin Young: "Prayer is the first formal activity that occurs in both the House and the Senate most mornings that the Legislature is in session. . . . [I]t implicates everyone present in a ritual of faith, and it infuses the Legislature with the biases of religion. The practice is offensive. It's anathema to secular lawmaking, and it violates the church-state separation that goes back to the country's founding, at least in spirit if not in law." If the legislature wants to have a moment of silence for personal prayer, meditation, or reflection, fine.
Heidi Ganahl's Fib: Heidi Ganahl, who ran one of the worst campaigns for governor in Colorado history, recently founded the garbage publication Rocky Mountain Voice. It so happens that the editor of the Voice also was, until his resignation, the president of the board of the Colorado Press Association. For details, read Corey Hutchins's review. The problem is that Ganahl blamed Governor "Polis and his media thugs" for an article by Erik Maulbetsch for the leftist Colorado Times Recorder (which has published several op-eds of mine despite me not being a leftist progressive). Ganahl's claim is false. Hutchins reports: "The Colorado Times Recorder’s founder, Jason Salzman, said in an email that Polis is not involved in funding the site's work 'or supporting it in any way that I know of—directly or indirectly—either now or ever.' (Because the outlet does not disclose its progressive donors we have to take his word for it.) He added that Ganahl hasn't donated either, and described any accusation 'that Polis was involved in the creation of the CPA/Brian Porter article' as 'both not true and crazy.'" These days about all establishment Colorado Republicans have are lies and conspiracy mongering.
School Violence: CEA via Melanie Asmar: "Nearly a third (32%) of CEA educators who participated in the survey experienced physical abuse by a student in the two years prior to taking the survey."
Graywater: If people want to recycle their graywater, I see no problem with that. I also don't see much use in it.
Cops Acting Badly: John Aguilar: "Authorities in Cañon City arrested a Windsor police officer Monday on a series of domestic violence charges, including stalking, second-degree burglary and harassment." John Aguilar: "Six sworn officers in the Glendale Police Department have been cited for violating department policy in the handling of evidence, with charges from one criminal case dropped as the result of officers' actions." Ellis Arnold: "A jury has found a former Cherry Hills Village police officer guilty of possessing child pornography." Katie Langford: "A former Edgewater police sergeant [was] indicted for unlawful sexual contact and witness retaliation." Katie Langford: "A Denver police officer charged with harassing his ex-girlfriend followed her around, implied he could interfere with her Child Protective Services case and threatened to file anonymous reports about her boyfriend after the woman reported him to police, according to an arrest affidavit." Stephanie Butzer: "A former detention deputy has been arrested after he allegedly inappropriately [sexually] contacted a female inmate, the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office said." Colleen Slevin: "An Aurora police officer used excessive and unreasonable force in the 2021 arrest of a Black man, pointing his gun at his head, repeatedly hitting the man in the head with a gun and strangling him for 39 seconds, a prosecutor said." Such stories do not exactly instill confidence that police departments are consistently getting the best of the best!
Colorado River Water: According to a Nature article (hat tip the Sun), "Irrigated agriculture accounts for 52% of overall [river water] consumption . . . and 74% of direct human consumption . . . of water from the Colorado River Basin. . . . [C]attle-feed crops (alfalfa and other hay) are the dominant water-consuming crops dependent upon irrigation water from the basin. . . . Those crops account for 32% of all water consumed from the basin, 46% of all direct water consumption, and 62% of all agricultural water consumed."
Anti-Trans Ballot Measures: Proposals were rejected because they supposedly defy the single-subject rule. A critic might be forgiven for thinking that "non-single subject" in this context means "whatever the Title Board doesn't like." Still, these measures, pertaining to gender-affirming care and sports, were bad. Another measure, approved for the ballot, "would require that public schools notify parents if a student says they identify as a gender other than what they were assigned at birth." That's fine.
Anti-Trans Primary Link: Cecelia Espenoza is running against Rep. Tim Hernández in the Democratic primary. Logan Davis: "Espenoza's campaign accepted the help and support of a Denver woman named Ellen Daehnick. Last weekend, Daehnick hosted a fundraiser for Espenoza. When a flier for the event started circulating online on Monday, though, eyebrows were raised. People recognized Daehnick, not just from her work as an online anti-trans gadfly, but from her appearance at the state capitol to testify against trans-friendly legislation." It would be pleasant if the Democrats would replace Hernández, but this is not the way.
Liquor Restrictions: Marianne Goodland: "House Bill 1373 would convert liquor licenses for about 30 mostly large chain grocery stores that allow them to sell beer, wine and spirits to being able to sell just beer and wine." This bill would violate the rights of the store owners in question and is naked special-interest politicking.
Mines and Oil on Federal Lands: Jason Blevins: "The Biden administration removed nearly a quarter-million acres of federal land across three Colorado counties from mining and energy development for the next two decades." It's so weird how government-controlled lands become so political.
Tattered Cover: The bookstore is for sale.