Mount Virtus

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

Ben on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About Ben
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Writer / Editor For Hire
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
  • Archives
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust
  • The Westfield Gardener
Home Archives for General

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Bias or Bunkum?: Post Editors Dupes for Education Unions

There's nothing wrong per se with the Denver Post printing this guest opinion piece by Kevin Welner of the Think Tank Review Project. Writes Welner: I co-direct a new project that reviews the quality of reports issued by such think tanks. We just finished our first year of reviews, and the results were awfully depressing. So to brighten our spirits, we decided to make lemonade by issuing the 2006 Bunkum Awards in Education. The Bunkum Awards recognize and celebrate the dubious accomplishments of think-tank reports over the past year. In 2006, 13 such reports were reviewed by independent scholars commissioned by our Think Tank Review Project. These reviewers were asked to scrutinize the reports and write brief reviews for the project … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Spell-Blogged

Editor's Note: This post is officially certified to be free of any spelling errors. Spelling geeks of the world, unite! Our event is now officially a phenomenon. The 79th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee finals takes over the primetime airwaves tonight on ABC (8-10 PM Eastern, 7-9 PM Central & Mountain). Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined the event achieving such status and acclaim. Yesterday's rounds whittled down the record-size field of 275 to fewer than 100 as 4th-round action picks up live on ESPN at Noon Eastern (10 AM Mountain). Colorado's Kayla Hudson is still in the mix. For the primetime finals, 10 to 15 competitors should be left standing. The question is: how many Americans will be watching? No, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, Sports and Leisure

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Good Grief

One too-cute Associated Press reporter, writing about the American Illiteracy Council's advocacy of "simplified spelling" or "moron-o-speak," thinks the balanced approach to the story requires writing every other paragraph in the absurd and improper style. Take this brief section, for example: Those in favor of simplified spelling say children would learn faster and illiteracy rates would drop. Opponents say a new system would make spelling even more confusing. Eether [sic] wae [sic], the consept [sic] has yet to capcher [sic] th [sic] publix [sic] imajinaeshun [sic]. Shucks, I wonder why. My imagination tends not to be captured by people who have lost the capacity to communicate clearly and to spell simple words. Buried … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General, Random and Miscellaneous

2/7/2026 By Ben 4 Comments

Post vs. Beauprez: Round 3,273

It can never hurt to rehash and reprise the theme of hypocrisy in the MSM, especially some of our friends at the Denver Post. It almost looks like the Ritter campaign has contracted out its public relations services. Joshua has it spot on: In the Denver Post's case, they don't llike whistleblowers who leak to Republican campaigns. Of course, they're more than happy to report on the reaction of the Perlmutter campaign to a story planted by that campaign in the Post itself. The Post ridicules Beauprez's claim that his source is courageous, even as it campaigns for federal shield laws for journalists. It states that Beauprez's source leaked for partisan political purposes, even as it defends the New York Times for publishing information … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Everett Makes Ballot

The Colorado Secretary of State's office has validated Senate District 22 Republican candidate Justin Everett's petition signatures, with an astonishingly high certification rate - 1,297 of 1,354 submitted signatures were accepted, or 95.8% (compared to about 80 percent for rival Kiki Traylor)! One big reason for that is Justin personally acquired more than half the signatures himself by going door-to-door to meet voters: truly grassroots! Here is an excerpt from his official announcement: After speaking with voters in our district, it was clear that our message of immigration reform, improving the educational opportunities for our children and practicing true fiscal responsibility represents the opinions of our community. Now we’re … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Legislators Listen

Your state legislators listen from time to time - even some of the Democrats. Four Democrat state senators followed Ron Tupa (D - Boulder)'s lead and voted in favor of referring a Defend Colorado Now-type measure to the ballot for November: But after his vote, four Democrats then switched their "no" votes to "yes." They were Betty Boyd, of Lakewood; Ken Gordon, of Denver; Moe Keller, of Wheat Ridge; and Lois Tochtrop, of Thornton. "It seemed like the right thing to do," said Boyd. But Capitol observers noted that Boyd faces probably the toughest Senate contest in November, squaring off against Rep. Matt Knoedler, R-Lakewood. Several polls show Republicans and Democrats alike are fed up with illegal immigration and want … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben 10 Comments

Senate 22: Liberal Viciousness, Emptiness, Deceit

Coming under fire recently, conservative Republican state senate candidate Mike Kopp has found himself engaged in a fierce political battle that wasn't anticipated a few months ago. Senate District 22 in southern Jefferson County has a significant edge in Republican voter registration. But ever since the distinguished Army veteran and father of three edged out appointed incumbent Kiki Traylor in a tough primary vote, a race that should have been safely in the Republican column is now in play. Smelling blood and hoping for an upset victory, Democrats set their big gun targets on Mike and have not let up, hoping to put their candidate Paula Noonan on top. Besides the usual bag of cheap dirty tactics (e.g., stealing campaign signs), … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Kopel on Immigration

The Independence Institute's Dave Kopel took the major local media to task for their coverage of last week's immigration rallies in his Saturday column for the Rocky Mountain News. In one memorable passage, he specifically criticizes local media for their choice of terminology: Even more deceptive is the media phrase "undocumented worker." The term is inaccurate, because illegal aliens usually do have documents, albeit fraudulent ones. "Undocumented worker" is an euphemism used by those who want to avoid mentioning that the worker in question has entered and remained in the United States unlawfully and has procured a job unlawfully, often via criminally forged documents. If the newspapers are going to continue using "undocumented … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Ouch: Bad Day for Holtzman

Two breaking news stories this afternoon for a quick read: Associated Press, "Colorado Candidate Fined for Illegal Ads" Rocky Mountain News, "Holtzman Not on Ballot" For Marc Holtzman, this would have to qualify for the classic definition of "bad day." The latter article suggests a serious disagreement about the judgment that the gubernatorial candidate didn't have enough signatuers on his petitions to qualify him for the November election. While he turned in 21,000 signatures (expecting a certain margin of invalid markings, of course), keep in mind that candidates for statewide office have to gather 1,500 Republican registered voter signatures from each Congressional district, and the Denver Democrat stronghold of the 1st CD … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Taking Both Sides on Education?

Kiki Traylor, a Republican candidate in Senate District 22, may have some explaining to do. While it is clear she has raised much more money recently than her two party rivals - conservative alternatives Justin Everett and Mike Kopp - one source of funding gives cause to raise some eyebrows among political insiders. On June 19, the small donor committee for the teachers union - the Colorado Education Association (CEA) - contributed $1,000 to Taylor's campaign. (To see for yourself... 1. Go to the Secretary of State Campaign Finance page 2. Click "Search Committee Reports" 3. Execute a search for Public Education Committee 4. Scroll down to click on "Data-Entered Reports" 5. Click on the most recent report dated 6/28/06 6. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 177
  • 178
  • 179
  • 180
  • 181
  • …
  • 228
  • Next Page »

Inside

  • About Ben
  • Archives
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • The Westfield Gardener
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Writer / Editor For Hire

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

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
  • The Colorado Observer

National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
  • Hot Air
  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
  • TownHall
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Weekly Standard
  • World Magazine

Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • 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
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
  • Mike Anderson
  • Mullings
  • Professor Bainbridge
  • Right Thinking
  • Right Wing News
  • Right Wing Nuthouse
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Talking Points Memo
  • Virginia Postrel
  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
  • Sharper Iron

Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
  • Colorado Republican Study Committee
  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
  • Free Republic
  • Heritage Foundation
  • Jefferson County Republican Party
  • Mackinac Center for Public Policy
  • Mark Steyn
  • Michael Medved
  • Rush Limbaugh

Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
  • Bob Agard
  • Colorado Charter Schools
  • Colorado Peak Politics
  • Colorado Pols
  • Colorado Right
  • Conservative Libertarian Outpost
  • Coyote Gulch
  • Ed Is Watching
  • Free Colorado
  • Jeff Crank Show
  • Mark Hillman
  • Patient Power
  • PirateBallerina
  • Protein Wisdom
  • Reagan Girl
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 1.0 (Archive)
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 (Archive)
  • Rossputin
  • Stop the ACLU Blog
  • The Spot (Denver Post)
  • We Stand Firm

Other Sites

  • Technorati
  • Word Press

Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
  • The Business Word
  • The Daily Blogster
  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

Copyright © 2026 RSS Feed · WordPress · Log in