Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

Ben on Social Media

Home Archives for General

By Leave a Comment

Independence Institute Event Tonight: Persecuted Ethiopian Journalist Speaks

Yesterday I was privileged to meet Ethiopian journalist and scholar Habtamu Dugo. He shared a small part of his story with me. As one who like most Americans easily can take for granted the freedoms we enjoy, I was humbled by his steadfast courage, gracious modesty, and passionate eloquence. This evening Habtamu will be speaking at the Independence Institute:A persecuted reporter and academic, Mr. Dugo will share his experiences exposing human rights abuses in Ethiopia, restrictions on freedom of the press and what happens when a journalist dares to defy the brutal Ethiopian government. Mr. Dugo will join us for a reception at the II offices on Tuesday, April 22 at 5:30 p.m., followed by his presentation and Q&A at 6 p.m. RSVP for … [Read more...]

By 1 Comment

Formal Complaint Filed in Bill Ritter’s $300,000 Campaign Finance Violation

The Denver Post reports today the latest in Gov. Bill Ritter's campaign spending problems:The complaint, from Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, prompts the process for reviewing campaign-finance violations. Without the complaint, it is unclear whether the Secretary of State's Office could have begun a formal inquiry. "There are some very specific rules you've got to follow," Lambert said of campaign-finance laws. "This seemed to violate at least several of them and needs to be investigated further." Last week, Ritter, a Democrat, announced that his former campaign manager, Greg Kolomitz, wrongly used inaugural funds to pay off more than $200,000 in campaign debt and also overpaid himself by about $83,000. At the least, Bill … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Blogger Exposes CNN Agenda Journalism on Penn State Campus

On the eve of the most crucialest of all crucial votes in this media-obsessed rollercoaster of a Democrat presidential showdown - also known as the Pennsylvania primary - I wanted to turn attention to a major example of in-your-face media bias provided in coverage of the event. Warner Todd Huston, someone I met at Samsphere Chicago, exposed the verbally abusive bias of CNN's Rick Sanchez on the Penn State University campus:CNN contacted students in several political clubs at Penn State to arrange for the interview and two weeks ago their cameras and crews arrived at the university to film the segment with the on-air personality. 21-year-old journalism student Chelsea Brown, though, was less than impressed by Sanchez’ bellicose … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

RTD vs. The American Dream

Via the Independence Institute's (disclosure: where I work) Property Rights multimedia page, here is the "East Denver Story" of Daniel Gallegos, whose family's property was confiscated by the Regional Transportation District (RTD) at well below fair market value: The video is also up at The Property Rights Project blog (along with links to Gallegos' speech and other key documents), at the Caldara blog, at the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Open Market blog, and at Rocky Mountain Right. … [Read more...]

By 1 Comment

Sharing Samsphere Link Love

Promoted with more updates: El Presidente has posted some key video excerpts, and (under imaginary threat of compulsion) here is a post written by one of Jon Caldara's minions. Follow-ups on Samsphere Denver: - Brad Jones' Buzz at Face The State - Bob Agard - Randy Ketner, Night Twister If you were at Samsphere Denver and posted on the topic, but I overlooked you, please drop an email or a comment with a link to your post, and I'll put it up. … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Dr. Jay P. Greene, Blogger

It is my pleasure to share the following notice with my readers: Dr. Jay P. Greene, head of the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform and Manhattan Institute scholar, one of the sharpest minds in the world of education policy, has started a blog under his own name. In only a few days Jay already has provocative posts up on the proximity of teachers union headquarters to state capitols, comparisons of sexual misconduct data on male public school teachers vs. male Catholic priests, and more evidence of the myth on K-12 education spending. ( As he explains on the introduction page, all views expressed on the blog are his, and not necessarily those of the respective institutions for which he works.) I would invite you to … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Sure Signs of a Colorado Democrat

Mark Hillman has a great post on "You Must Be a Colorado Democrat" if:If you think taxing marriage will reduce child abuse, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you plan to pay for new programs with revenues from the oil and gas boom but then punish oil and gas companies with higher taxes and ridiculous regulations, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you believe illegal aliens should get a break on college tuition but decorated veterans should not, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you believe it’s OK to require a photo ID to buy beer or cigarettes but not to vote, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you believe businessmen and women are motivated by greed but labor union bosses are not, you must be a Colorado … [Read more...]