Every day is seeking to rise to the challenge, 'neath the shadow of the mighty Rockies.
Memorial Day 2008
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine. Today, pay your respects to a fallen soldier, sailor, airman, Marine - and to their loved ones still with us. And don't forget to thank the troops you meet for their service to us all. Happy Memorial Day! Other local Memorial Day written and visual remembrances from Michael at Best Destiny, Jim at Thinking Right, Joshua at View from a Height, and Rossputin. From farther afield, Maggie Thurber shares the history of Memorial Day, Fort Hard Knox posts the President's Prayer for Peace, and Chuck Muth recounts the … [Read more...]
Ethiopian Journalist Tells Story of His Persecution and Flight to U.S.
A month ago I made a very unique friend in Habtamu Dugo, the persecuted Ethiopian journalist who had just fled to the United States from the repressive regime in his homeland. Today, the Independence Institute has released a 5-minute video in which Habtamu tells his compelling story. More on the video at Jon Caldara's blog. … [Read more...]
Conflicted Interests Behind Lawsuit Against Online Charter School?
Face The State has an interesting story today about possible conflict of interest behind a school district's attempted lawsuit to get rid of an innovative online public charter school:An education official involved in a lawsuit against an online charter school and the state school board is acting with conflicted interests, say some of those impacted by the legal action. Critics charge that Michael Poore, the assistant superintendent for Colorado Springs School District 11 and chairman of Colorado's Online Learning Advisory Board, faces a conflict when it comes to his district's legal action against Hope Online Learning Academy and the Colorado State Board of Education. Specifically, they object to the fact that he has been permitted … [Read more...]
Ed is Watching
Why the cryptic title: Ed is Watching? It's the name of a new blog I've started contributing to as part of the Independence Institute's Education Policy Center. If you go there now, you'll already find posts up on charter schools, on Flunked: The Movie's Colorado debut, and on a new major school choice law in Georgia. From Jon Caldara's blog:Ed’s job is to keep an eye on, “… legislators, state officials, school boards, administrators, principals, teachers, and other people and groups that have an influence on public education in this great state.†So to get your daily education fix, check in with Ed and see what he has to say. Please stop by the site, bookmark it for regular visits, and tell all your friends! … [Read more...]
We Have a Problem…
If you're a limited government conservative and you want to stay informed, you really ought to be reading Jon Henke and company over at Q and O. I met Jon at Samsphere in Chicago: he has a wealth of blogging experience, key insights into strategic roles of new media, and a realistic, no-holds-barred view of the political landscape. Today, following off a Robert Novak column, he makes a point about the chronic, compulsive inability of many Congressional Republicans to get their act together on spending and fiscal issues, a point that is difficult to refute:Reelecting these guys is like sending Norm Peterson to lead an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. They're whipped by Democrats and by the public choice incentives. There's just no … [Read more...]
Bill Ritter and the Colorado Democrats’ Unauthorized Tax Hike Goes to Court
At long last, court hearings begin today in the case of Gov. Bill Ritter raising Coloradans' property taxes without a constitutional vote of the people. From the Denver Post:The freeze is estimated to bring in $117 million this year and $3.8 billion over a decade, up from an initial estimate of $1.7 billion when it was passed. Richard Westfall, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the two sides will call about 10 witnesses, likely including school finance experts, the state treasurer and school board members. Dreyer said Ritter is not expected to testify. "A lot of the discussion is going to be about addressing pretty esoteric points in the school finance act," Westfall said. The trial is scheduled to last a week. It will be … [Read more...]
Panning McCain’s Health Care Plan
Republican Presidential candidate John McCain was in town on Friday to lead a townhall discussion on his health care policy. Last week local health care guru Brian Schwartz previewed McCain's arrival with a lukewarm analysis of the candidate's plan to reform health care, summed up here:So this tax-credit idea, while sort of on target, is even more social engineering via tax policy, instead of undoing existing tax policy that has created the problem in the first place. Joshua Sharf, who saw the candidate in person, was left with a more favorable view of the tax credit proposal, but thought the good idea in McCain's policy was watered down with many bits of "nanny-state hectoring." Joshua also noted McCain's well-developed skills of … [Read more...]
Condolences to Avs Fans
Before the Wings-Avs series, I said I wouldn't write anymore about it until the series was over. Well, it's over... and how. Simply put, the Red Wings dominated. And this blogger smiled. My condolences to Constructively Reasonable. Your consolation will be having lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion. … [Read more...]
Don’t Think that Getting Rid of the Test Will Make the Problem Go Away
Nancy Mitchell in the Rocky Mountain News reports today about the Colorado Student Assessment Program:Colorado's $22 million testing program appears headed for replacement after more than a dozen years and scant evidence of improvement in recent results. In other words: Not enough kids are learning fundamental reading skills at the critical junction of 3rd grade. Therefore, some people say it's time to modernize and improve the CSAP, and others want to scrap testing and accountability altogether. The first group has the right idea, provided updating the state's assessment system is done correctly. The second group makes an absurd flight from logic. Imagine if the news story were about a state-funded auto emissions testing program in … [Read more...]
Would Katie Casey Still Want to be Taken Out 100 Years Later?
Obscure question: What special connection does the name Katie Casey have to baseball aficionados today? Well, it was 100 years ago today (May 2, 1908) that America's universal musical standard Take Me Out to the Ball Game was published. Jack Norworth penned the words; Albert von Tilzer the unforgettable melody. To clear up the connection, Norworth's and Van Tilzer's Tin Pan Alley creation was written to be sung by a young female character:Only a handful of fans realize that the two verses of the song are about Katie Casey (later changed to Nelly Kelly), a girl who was mad with baseball fever as she asked her young beau to take her to a ballgame rather than a show. This faint whiff of romance added to the song's success on vaudeville, … [Read more...]
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