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Home Archives for 2008

Archives for 2008

12/31/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

A Month-by-Month 2008 Stroll Down Mount Virtus Memory Lane

It's the last day of 2008, and time for a quick month-by-month retrospective. The following are posts I've selected as the best posts for each month: January: Why did Ritter Leave Worker Protections Out of His Order? February: Getting the Whole Story Behind Ritter's Climate Action Plan March: High-Ranking Democrat: Property Tax Hike Not Just for Schools April: What Was All That Money Doing in Ritter's Inaugural in the First Place? May: Colorado Dems Fail to Lead or Take Responsibility, Irony Lost on Dead Guvs June: Bill Ritter, Tax Increases, Unions, and the Colorado Supreme Court July: Majority of Coloradans Don't Think Bill Ritter is Doing a Terrible Job August: It's Official: Colorado Government 100% Unionized, Thanks to Bill … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, Commemorative, Cultural Conservatism, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics

12/30/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio Year in Review Tonight at 9 PM

Tune in at 9 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the seventh edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. The year-end episode will take a look back at some of the big stories of 2008 and feature a discussion about Israel's current military campaign against Hamas. Don't forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight’s show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, General, My Life, National Politics, World Events Tagged With: Blog Talk Radio, episode, Hamas, Israel, Mount Virtus, podcast, Rocky Mountain Alliance, year-end

12/26/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Christmas Roundup, Light Blogging Here at Mount Virtus Until 2009

It was nice to take a couple days off blogging to celebrate Christmas. Around the house we have a 2-year-old who definitely was interested in getting "more" presents but also who is just beginning to see that Christmas is mainly about the Savior's birth. She sat still to hear one of us read a version of the biblical Christmas story 5 different times over the 2 days. Good times. Memorable times. Around here we hear a lot of the toddler rendition of "Away in a Manger". She also has a fairly decent grasp on "Joy to the World." Other songs she doesn't sing but likes to request: Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday to Jesus. Last night, after we baked the cake for Jesus' birthday (a first-time tradition for our family), we had to explain that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, General, My Life, National Politics, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: 2-year-old, 2009, Away in a Manger, biblical, birth, blogging, Blue Ribbon Committee, cake, Christmas, Christmas story, eating, Family, football, friends, girl, good times, governor's office, Happy Birthday, hard to grasp, House, interview, Jesus, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, Ken Salazar, logic, out of the box, presents, reading, recommendations, rumor, Savior, sleeping, songs, tradition, U.S. Senate, usual sense, version, writing project

12/26/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rocky Mtn News Features Providence Bible Church, Denver’s Newest

The cover of the Christmas Day edition of the Rocky Mountain News featured a story on two churches - Denver's oldest and Denver's newest. The latter is the Providence Bible Church. Several years ago I met the eventual pastor and co-founder of Providence, Jason Janz, and have since agreed to be a prayer partner for the growing church. I am excited to read the updates of this exciting ministry that Jason sends out. It's a blessing to see more attention brought to this work:Providence Bible Church is a multiethnic congregation launched 12 weeks ago in Five Points. Using the media-savvy instincts of his generation, Pastor Jason Janz, 35, spent early donations on creating a DVD to tell Providence's story. The one-time rebel knew what kind … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, My Life Tagged With: Christmas Day, churches, co-founder, congregation, Denver, donations, DVD, Jason Janz, ministry, multiethnic, New Testament, pastor, prayer, Providence Bible Church, Rocky Mountain News, worshippers

12/23/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio Episode 6 Tonight: Jim Pfaff

Tune in at 9 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the sixth edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Confirmed co-hosts are Joshua Sharf and El Presidente. The guest will be Jim Pfaff, Colorado state director of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and keeper of the site Opinion Times. Topics of discussion will include AFP Colorado's new report "Keeping Colorado Competitive". Don't forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight’s show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Americans for Prosperity, Blog Talk Radio, co-hosts, Colorado, El Presidente, Jim Pfaff, Joshua Sharf, Keeping Colorado Competitive, Mount Virtus, Opinion Times, podcast, Rocky Mountain Alliance, widget

12/23/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Rollie Heath Wants to Use Economic Downturn to Kill TABOR

It only took seven weeks after the voters of Colorado said no to a statewide proposal that would have gutted the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) - a proposal pushed by a campaign that heavily outspent the opposition - for the Democrats to be back at it again. From today's Denver Post:Rollie Heath, a Boulder Democrat elected to the Senate, said that as lawmakers grapple in the coming session with cutting as much as $600 million from the budget because of declining revenues, they should also look at TABOR, a revenue-capping provision of the state's constitution. The state is in a timeout from TABOR's tax-revenue limits, but that timeout expires in 2010, when Colorado will have to begin refunding to taxpayers any revenue it collects … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Amendment 59, Boulder, budget-cutting, campaign, Colorado, Democrats, Denver Post, eventuality, flexibility, foresight, lawmakers, limit, opposition, Referendum C, revenue, Rollie Heath, shortfall, state constitution, state government, state senate, statewide proposal, TABOR, tax limits, taxes, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, taxpayers, timeout, voters

12/22/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

This is Christmas: Our 2-Year-Old Serenades Us with “Away in a Manger”

Okay, we're light on the politics here for a little while. It's too close to the sacred celebration of Christmas, and most people are completely tuned out anyway. Last night, the older Virtus girl (still nearly 2 months shy of her 3rd birthday) gave us a remarkably clear and *almost completely accurate rendition of "Away in a Manger"--the first verse lyrics with a little melody, anyway. Little things like that show the spirit of Christmas is growing in our household. So much to be thankful for (yes, we ARE rich), and many extra blessings beside. Fancy presents are nice (but overrated--if I see one more of those annoying Lexus commercials, I think I'll scream), though there aren't as many of them this year. Baked goodies I can rarely … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Away in a Manger, baked goodies, blessings, Christmas, Family, fancy presents, friends, household, Lexus, price tag, rich, spirit, thankful

12/21/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Cary Kennedy: Protecting Coloradans from Open Government

In an editorial today that could herald the great advance of Colorado's upcoming legislative session, the Denver Post lauds a proposal by Rep. Don Marostica (R-Loveland) and Sen. Mike Kopp (R-Littleton) that would place the state government's check register online. Marostica made a similar legislative proposal in 2007, but was shot down with a ridiculous $2 million fiscal note from legislative staff. (Cost money? It's much more likely to save taxpayer money.) One line from the Post editorial jumped off the page when I read it:Marostica again plans to sponsor a bill to create just such a site, and treasurer Cary Kennedy has supported the plan in theory, but wants some citizen protections in place. [emphasis added\ Uh, what? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Cary Kennedy, check register, Colorado, Democrat, Denver Post, Don Marostica, drive a stake in the heart, editorial, election, fiscal note, great advance, in theory, lauds, legislative session, legislative staff, Mike Kopp, online, open government, proposal, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, Transparency, treasurer, YouTube video

12/21/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrat Moe Keller Happy to Spend Your Money While Spending is Good

Hey, Colorado, guess what? Leave the Democrats in charge in your state for too long, and taste the fruits of bad fiscal judgment. Witness this Face The State story about my own state senator:Audio from April 3 uncovered by Face The State reveals Sen. Moe Keller, a Wheat Ridge Democrat and chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee, optimistically arguing that Colorado’s economic future is a bright one, even though Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted on that same day the country was headed into a recession. "We do not have a projection from our economists that we are going into a fiscal train wreck," she said. Moe Keller and her fellow Democrats at the State Capitol are just happy to spend your money while the spending is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: bad fiscal judgment, Ben Bernanke, Bill Ritter, chairwoman, citizens, Colorado, Democrats, Denver, Denver Post, economic downturn, economic forecasters, economists, Face the State, Federal Reserve, fiscally conservative, gamble, Grand Junction, Joint Budget Committee, Josh Penry, legislative session, legislative staff, Long Bill, minority leader, Moe Keller, overly optimistic, policies, power, predicted, priorities, rainy day fund, recession, Republicans, sensible, smarts, special interests, state, State Capitol, state leader, state senator, taxpayer dollars, Wheat Ridge

12/20/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

In Memory of Jim Cannon: Celebrating a Blogger’s Life and His Savior

Earlier this week brought the sad news that my friend Jim Cannon, one of the founding members of the Rocky Mountain Alliance, had passed into eternity. Many tributes have been written. Yesterday was Jim's memorial service. The family asked me to share a few words about Jim on behalf of the bloggers. Here it is (with links added, where appropriate): … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: active outreach, alarm, bloggers, camaraderie, charitable groups, compassion, complaints, concern, courage, danger, distress, encouragement, eternity, eulogy, Family, friend, grateful, hospital, indomitable spirit, inspired, Jim Cannon, laugh, letter-writing campaigns, memorial service, men in uniform, military, on duty, overseas, Rocky Mountain Alliance, sad news, sailors, sense of humor, serious heart, servicemen, smile, soldiers, Soldiers' Angels, special bond, tributes, trite things, tsunami

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • AI-Enhanced Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of Teen Innovation
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
  • Common Learning Disabilities in Children
  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

Colorado News

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National News and Politics

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  • Reason
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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
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  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
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Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
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Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
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Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
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Colorado Blogs

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Other Sites

  • Technorati
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
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  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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