It is tradition to make resolutions to improve oneself at the beginning of each New Year. I don’t know the duration of most resolutions, but I suspect that they are relatively short-lived. It is very difficult to break old habits. I’m 63, and in my lifetime I’ve only been mindful of two resolutions for an entire year.

In 2009, I looked at my closets and decided that enough was enough! I have four closets in Colorado and two closets in South Dakota that are full of clothes. Embarrassed by the obvious conspicuous consumption, and facing the rest of my life with a smaller budget as I retired, I resolved to buy no new clothes in 2009. I kept that resolution until summer, when I bought a hoodie at the Crazy Horse Memorial. I happened to be at my house in South Dakota when the Memorial was about to stage its largest ever blast on the mountain. My cousin and I decided to attend the blast, but we were not dressed for the occasion when the weather suddenly turned cold. Rather than being uncomfortable, I bought that hoodie. In an amusing twist of fate, I left it on the back of a chair in a casino in Deadwood the very next day, where it was forever lost, as was my money.

The second time I made a resolution that stuck was in 2011, when I made the same resolution. I’m not sure if it counts that I did buy one farmers market T-shirt because I liked the color blue and the contrast of the peach on that background. I felt so guilty that I gave the T-shirt to a friend of mine when I went to visit him in Denver shortly thereafter. Does it count if it isn’t for you?

It is a Latino tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve.  As I was buying grapes yesterday, the man at check-out commented that they were expensive. I agreed, but then told him that tradition demanded that I buy them. He then shared with me that his wife is Latina, and she eats 12 grapes at midnight, making a resolution with each one. Yikes! 12 resolutions, when it is hard to keep just one!

But then I started thinking. When I made my 12 resolutions for 2012 it went like this: I’ll eat healthy in January; I’ll eat healthy in February… Maybe it will be easier to keep resolutions that are in bite size pieces. Surly at least one will be kept!

Homework

Crazy Horse Memorial

It is already 2012 in some parts of the world, so Happy New Year!

In past years the end of year news was filled with a recap of the big stories of the year. This year the Iowa Caucus is so close to New Years Day that it seems the only news being reported is about the circus coming to town. Despite being a political junkie, I’m tired of a circus without elephants, tigers and bears. Clowns get old after a while, and can be downright scary.

The biggest story of the year was the rebirth of democracy. Time honored the protestor as their person of the year. There were protests that ended dictatorships all over the Middle East. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., protests in Wisconsin revived support for unions, and may bring down a wannabe dictator in 2012.

The Occupy movement showed up in cities all over the world, including small American towns and even right here in Grand Junction. People finally decided that enough is enough, and they challenged fee increases by banks and telecom companies, moving large corporations to rethink their policies. People are moving their money out of banks and into credit unions, believing that it is better to support local economies instead of economic dictators.

Going into 2012, I’m hopeful that Americans will work together to solve the problems of the nation. I’m hopeful that solutions will be informed by fact, rather than the hidden agendas of the economic dictators that have been keeping salaries low and clamoring to get rid of regulations that keep our air, water and soil clean and useful to humans.

I’m so hopeful about the future that my resolution for 2012 is to see more of it. I promised my doctor that my resolution would be to get back to counting carbs and exercising more. Jackson, my dog, will love that—he’s been feeling deprived of wide ranging poop sniffing. 

The future’s so bright I’ve got to wear shades!

Homework

BBC Reporting on the Start to 2012

Timbuk 3 The Futures So Bright

The New York Times is reporting this morning that the U.S. has signed a contract, worth almost $30 Billion, to deliver 84 new and upgrades for 70 old fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. Evidently this deal was hard fought in a Congress that is worried that the military equipment, which is destined to deter Iranian ambitions, could actually be used on Israel. Saudi Arabia is touting the deal as proof that their relationship with the U.S. is strong, despite disagreements over the Arab Spring.

To put this deal into perspective, in September of this year the New York Times reported that the worldwide arms trade totaled slightly more than $40 Billion in 2010, down from about $60 Billion in previous years.  Almost 1/5 of all arms sales originate in the U.S.

Some analysts see the Saudi deal as a message to the Iranians about their threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, a noted “chokepoint” for the transport of global oil. About 20 percent of the world’s oil floats through the Strait of Hormuz—about 16 million barrels each day. The U.S. also regularly demonstrates its muscle in the region by floating warships through the Strait.

I think I’m becoming an isolationist, and might even be out working for Ron Paul If I lived in Iowa. He’s as loony as they come, but at least he sees the folly of continuing to raid the U.S. Treasury to defend oil company investments.  Romney recently said that Paul was in the Dennis Kucinich wing of the Democratic Party. He is. Kucinich, who once proposed a Department of Peace to replace the Defense Department, and Paul frequently vote together against increases in military spending.

It may be time for Kucinich’s Department of Peace. It should have two missions: fund an all out effort to wean the U.S. from fossil fuels and buy back all the U.S. war machines that have been sold worldwide. It is folly to continue to sell war machines and not expect them to be used by the dictators to which they are sold. It is equally irresponsible to continue to spoon feed cash to those madmen through ever increasing oil purchases. That cash is more often used to wage war than it is to satisfy the needs of the citizens living under the thumb of dictatorships.

Homework

New York Times Story About $30 Billion Arms Deal

Chokepoints

Global Arms Sales

Americans for Department of Peace

By nature I am an optimist, so it was amusing this morning to have a story about how optimistic Democrats are about the coming year be the first thing to pop into my in-box. Then the second bit of news I came across was a story about Colorado asking the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug.

Moving the classification from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 2 would change how the drug is prescribed in Colorado, and allow it to be sold by pharmacies. At first I thought the world had gone topsy-turvey while I slept, because I couldn’t imagine Colorado’s Attorney General signing on to any lawsuit that would make it easier to use medical marijuana.

He didn’t. The letter representing Colorado’s position, which is joining forces with Rhode Island and Washington, came from Colorado’s Department of Revenue. That made a lot of sense given that Colorado has been using fees on both care-givers and marijuana card-holders to balance the state’s budget since Ritter was governor.

After reading the story, I’m wondering what took the Department of Revenue so long. Evidently the 2010 law, signed by Ritter, which set up marijuana regulations for Colorado required that the state ask the DEA to reclassify marijuana by January 1, 2012. It took them two years to write a letter!

Given that this letter was mandated by law, I’m now wondering why the letter didn’t come from the Attorney General. Could it be that this has been a political hot potato, and the last agency to catch the potato was Revenue? Did they issue the letter because they were the last agency with lights on, with everyone else gone for the holidays?

Homework

Democrats Are Optimistic

MSNBC Report on Colorado and Pot

Yesterday Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska announced that he would not run for reelection in 2012. Since he is a Democrat, TV pundits have been announcing the end of Democratic control in the Senate. Nelson was not dependable when it came to voting with his caucus, so my gut reaction was no big loss. Another local pundit cautioned to be careful what you wish for, essentially agreeing with all the pundits.

After reading that blog late last night, I decided the first thing I would do this morning was find out what Nate Silver had to say on the issue. The first thing he said was that polling on Senate seats isn’t robust enough to plug into his model, which was based on baseball models for predicting winners. If it were closer to Election Day, he would be more confident in his predictions.

Bottom Line, Nate Silver agreed with the TV Pundits that Democrats could very well lose the Senate in 2012. In reading his analysis, one race especially stood out for me—Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Warren, champion of the middle class and a Democrat, is running against Scott Brown in Massachusetts for the seat that belonged to Teddy Kennedy for six decades. Silver calls that race a toss-up, but puts it in the Republican column in his final prediction. According to a Reuters poll, which was conducted December 1 – 6, Warren leads Brown 49% to 42%. That is a seven point lead in a poll with a 5.3% margin of error. Given that the lead is outside the margin of error by 1.7 points, I would have placed the win in the Democrat’s column.

Unlike Nate Silver, I didn’t consider every other Senate candidate poll or the trends on a state by state basis in coming to my optimistic conclusion, but I’m predicting that, thanks to Elizabeth Warren, the Democrats will neutralize the loss of Nelson.

Homework

Nate Silver's Analysis

Reuters Poll

Elizabeth Warren Campaign Site

It is almost 2012, and elections are almost upon us. As soon as the party dresses are hung up, and the confetti and noisemakers are put away, people in Iowa will be going into their famed caucuses to choose who gets delegates to the GOP convention in Tampa Bay Florida.

Even though I haven’t written much about the GOP debates, it isn’t because I haven’t enjoyed the spectacle.  At one point I even tweeted that the GOP had been invaded by Ringling Brothers. The only candidates that might appeal to the independent voter never made it out of the basement. Gary Johnson got so frustrated with his lack of respect from the media and people responding to polls that he jumped from the GOP to the Libertarian party. Tim Pawlenty jumped off the bandwagon early on, perhaps because he has too much Minnesota Nice to enjoy mixing it up with the  crazies at the top of the polls. Jon Huntsman is hanging in there, but I suspect that he believes that his real chance will come in 2016.

The current front runners, with the possible exception of Romney, have enough crazy genes to provide any self respecting progressive with ample entertainment. 

Ron Paul’s aversion to anything gay has landed him in hot water, even with his college age supporters. As though that wasn’t enough, newsletters from decades ago have exposed the racist side of Representative Paul.  Paul’s history has plenty of additional entertaining facts: He ran as a Libertarian. He is anti-war. He was banned from Republican debates during the last presidential primary season.

And then there is the Newt: he wants to be the leader of the free world, but can’t even figure out how to get on the ballot in the state in which he votes. Newt’s ego is so big that he blames the “failed system” in Virginia for his lack of organization. When his entire campaign team resigned, the Newt said that he was so special he could get elected without a traditional campaign team. He even went so far as to say that he was destined to be president.

I don’t pretend to understand how Republicans think, but it is increasingly becoming apparent that Romney will be the GOP candidate, even though most of the circus has revolved around the concept of Anybody-But-Romney. My personal favorite Romney story during this run-up to the Iowa caucuses was when “I’m not a witch” Christine O’Donnell threw her support to Romney, then immediately damaged his credibility by saying that he hadn’t changed his mind since the last time he changed his mind. Priceless.

As a dyed in the wool Democrat, I’m equally at a loss to understand how independents think. Understanding independents is the key to winning elections in 2012, as they are the fastest growing voter group. Right here in Mesa County there are more independents than there are Republicans and there are more Republicans than there are Democrats. My theory has been that if one is over 50 and an independent it is because they are a disenchanted Republican, concerned because the party is too centrist. If one is under 30 and an independent, it is because they just don’t like labels of any kind.

Obama will in all probability win reelection. His approval numbers went up when he won the recent battle over extending unemployment benefits and a payroll tax holiday. They also went up after he got Bin Laden. Both of those fights will play prominently in his reelection bid. And he has the advantage of being a Democrat.

USA today recently reported on a trend that shows independent voters growing at the expense of both parties—more than 2.5 million people have left the two major parties. Despite the increases in independent voters nationally, there are still more registered Democrats who will be stepping into the voting booth. According to the same article, “Registered Democrats still dominate the political playing field with more than 42 million voters, compared to 30 million Republicans and 24 million independents.” In Colorado Democrats have lost the most and independents have gained the most.

Homework

Denver Post Story About Iowa Caucus

GOP Convention 2012

USA Today Story About Voter Registration

Typical greetings at this time of year are “Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men.” It is a lovely thought, but hardly reflects the reality of the $eason. Evidently the Pope was a little irritated with the commercialism surrounding Chri$tmas. His sermon at Christmas Eve’s Midnight Mass was a lecture on missing the point.

Anyone watching the news over the past few days was treated to scenes of people mobbing stores for a chance to pay way too much for a pair of sneakers. Some actually camped out over night for a chance to be the first to spend their hard earned cash on an overpriced pair of shoes. People were pepper sprayed as store security tried to control the mob. There were even reports of shots being fired.  If you missed those reports it is probably because you were stuck in a traffic jam outside of a shopping mall.

My Christmas has been very subdued, comparatively speaking. I have a large collection of Christmas CDs which I’ve been playing since the day after Thanksgiving. I have some favorites that I look forward to each year. I’m especially fond of Jimmy Buffet’s Christmas Album. Another favorite is Alligator Stomp, a Cajun rendition of some favorites. The new Carole King album is jazzy and fun.

My shopping was limited to two presents—a bottle of whiskey for my housemate, and a bottle of wine for my mother. One quick run to the liquor store, which was mobbed, and I was done. I saw my doctor this past week for my annual physical, and my blood pressure was 117/70. No stress here. Could I recommend more music and less shopping to the rest of you?

Happy Christmas! Merry New Year! Peace on Earth!

It has been interesting to watch the Middle East, and now Russia, protesting rigged votes and/or lack of access to the polls or the ability to vote for someone to truly represent the interests of the people. While that is going on in the rest of the world, Americans can’t seem to find any passion about voting, as evidenced by their failure to vote. Since 1960 in non-presidential election years, slightly less than 40% of registered voters actually vote. The result is slightly higher in presidential election years with a little more than 50% of registered voters turn out.

Given that background, it is probably no surprise that most of America is blissfully unaware of the frontal attack on voting rights that has been waged in 2011 by ALEC, GOP controlled state legislators and GOP governors. A couple of weeks ago, Erich Holder finally decided to lead a counter attack. It is interesting that his opening attack occurred in Austin, Texas—a state noted for playing fast and loose with voting rights.

In that speech, Holder made these comments (The entire speech is linked below, bold added by this blogger):

In 1965, when President Johnson signed the landmark Voting Rights Act into law, he proclaimed that, “the right to vote is the basic right, without which all others are meaningless.”

…despite our nation’s long tradition of extending voting rights - to non-property owners and women, to people of color and Native Americans, and to younger Americans - today, a growing number of our fellow citizens are worried about the same disparities, divisions, and problems that - nearly five decades ago - LBJ devoted his Presidency to addressing.

As Congressman John Lewis described it, in a speech on the House floor this summer, the voting rights that he worked throughout his life - and nearly gave his life - to ensure are, “under attack… [by] a deliberate and systematic attempt to prevent millions of elderly voters, young voters, students, [and] minority and low-income voters from exercising their constitutional right to engage in the democratic process.”

Since January, more than a dozen states have advanced new voting measures. Some of these new laws are currently under review by the Justice Department, based on our obligations under the Voting Rights Act.

…in October, the Justice Department objected to a redistricting plan in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where the map-drawer began the process by meeting exclusively with white officeholders - and never consulted black officeholders.

…in Texas, just two months ago, the Department argued in court filings that proposed redistricting plans for both the State House and the Texas Congressional delegation are impermissible, because the state has failed to show the absence of discrimination.

We need election systems that are free from fraud, discrimination, and partisan influence - and that are more, not less, accessible to the citizens of this country.

…we filed two statewide lawsuits to enforce the requirement that voter registration opportunities be made available at a wider variety of government offices - beyond just the local department of motor vehicles.

We’re also working to ensure that the protections for language minorities included in the Voting Rights Act are aggressively enforced. These protections now apply to more than 19 million voting-age citizens.

I’d like to highlight three areas where public support will be crucial in driving progress - and advancing much-needed reforms. The first involves deceptive election practices - and dishonest efforts to prevent certain voters from casting their ballots.

…we’ve seen all sorts of attempts to gain partisan advantage by keeping people away from the polls - from literacy tests and poll taxes, to misinformation campaigns telling people that Election Day has been moved, or that only one adult per household can cast a ballot.

…during his first year in the U.S. Senate, President Obama introduced legislation that would establish tough criminal penalties for those who engage in fraudulent voting practices - and would help to ensure that citizens have complete and accurate information about where and when to vote…  Senators Charles Schumer and Ben Cardin will re-introduce this legislation…

The second area for reform is the need for neutrality in redistricting efforts.

One final area for reform that merits our strongest support … All eligible citizens can and should be automatically registered to vote. … modern technology provides a straightforward fix for these problems … It should be the government’s responsibility to automatically register citizens to vote, by compiling - from databases that already exist - a list of all eligible residents in each jurisdiction.

…Election officials should work together to establish a program of permanent, portable registration - so that voters who move can vote at their new polling place on Election Day.

Let me be clear: voter fraud is not acceptable … making voter registration easier is simply not likely, by itself, to make our elections more susceptible to fraud. Indeed, those on all sides of this debate have acknowledged that in-person voting fraud is uncommon …

Homework

Voter Turn Out from 1960 thru 2010

Eric Holder's Speech on Voting Rights

Voting Rights Act of 1965

ALEC Exposed

ACLU on Voting Rights

Winter Solstice

Even though my Grandpa Konola’s birthday was December 15, I always remember him around the Winter Solstice. That’s because he was the first person to explain to me how the stars move in the sky, depending on what time of year it is, and how the earth revolves around the sun. I like remembering him when I celebrate the fact that we are rushing headlong into spring.

My grandfather was a very formal man. I don’t ever remember seeing him without a fedora hat, dress shirt, khaki pants, cardigan sweater and bolo tie, unless he was getting ready to go to work. He worked the same job for 50 years—running a hoist at the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota. The chair that he worked from was a lot like the command post occupied by Captain Kirk on the Spaceship Enterprise. The chair was larger than most chairs, sat on a pedestal, and was surrounded by controls.

But Grandpa didn’t spend his whole life in Lead. He was in the Navy, on a submarine in World War I. I was an adult before I gave much thought to that. Submarines were little more than floating tin cans during World War I. What was a man from South Dakota doing in the Navy in the first place, and what was he doing on such a dangerous ship? I never asked him that. But I do know that he was a navigator, which means that I should have listened a lot more closely to his lectures about the stars.

Douglas Bruce, Criminal

The father of the TABOR amendment was convicted yesterday of failing to pay taxes. I spent lots of time blogging about Bruce when he spent 30 days trying to avoid a summons from the court. It is no secret that Bruce hates paying taxes—that’s what his passion for the TABOR amendment was all about. He owns rundown rental properties in Colorado Springs that he doesn’t like spending any money on—whether it is for maintenance or for taxes. Aparently he has equal contempt for our judicial system.

The prosecutor in this case, Assistant Attorney General Robert Shapiro had this to say, “"If he persists in his contempt for the court system, we'll ask for the proper sentence... Mr. Bruce, for personal, selfish and narcissistic reasons, took advantage of our charitable-giving process. He was able to cheat Colorado for the better part of a decade."

Bruce, who could be sentenced to many years in jail, has said that he will appeal his conviction. Evidently he represented himself in the case, and jurors said that he might have been better served if he had sought legal counsel. He didn’t seem to know Colorado’s procedural rules, and frequently irritated the judge with his arguments. Legal mistakes on the part of the prosecutor are legitimate grounds for appeal; I’m not sure that contempt for law is.

Republicans Get Spanked by the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal, now owned by Rupert Murdoch, wrote an editorial chastising the GOP for their stance on the extension of the payroll tax holiday. I never thought I’d live long enough to see that day. Murdoch also owns Fox News, and is known for his anything goes style of journalism—in fact he’s in a lot of hot water in England over some of the practices at his papers.

The Winter Solstice is bringing a lot of joy to me! I have fond memories of my grandfather. Douglas Bruce is a convicted felon, who can’t vote while he is in jail. The Wall Street Journal thinks the GOP has been taken over by the Ringling Brother’s Circus. Quite a day!

Homework

Winter Solstice 2011

Douglas Bruce

Wall Street Journal Editorial

Murdoch's Legal Problems

One of the many things that tickle my funny bone is when the rabid right wing calls anything that might help ordinary Americans “socialist.” If the opposite of monarchy is socialist, I’ll buy it, but that isn’t the definition of socialist that I learned in school.  Today I’m sure that the socialist-phobic rabid right is apoplectic about those Blankety-Blankety-Blank-Blank European socialists.

The equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court in Europe ruled that a law imposing fines on airlines for the carbon they emit on flights to and from Europe is enforceable.  If an airline flies into any E.U.  airport they will be required to purchase a permit under Europe’s carbon trading program beginning January 1.

The European Climate Commissioner tweeted her comment: “After a crystal-clear ruling today, the EU now expects U.S. airlines to respect EU law as the EU respects U.S. law.”  I can hear the socialist-phobic rabid right already: “It’s bad enough that the Europeans have a Climate Commissioner, let alone that she would dare to presume that European Blankety-Blankety-Blank-Blank law was any where as good as U.S. law. Did I mention that the EU Climate Commissioner is a woman? She must be a Blankety-Blankety-Blank-Blank Feminazi.”

Europeans aren’t busy denying that climate change is real. Instead they have been busy implementing policies that might slow human emissions of carbon into the atmosphere. They actually have a Cap and Trade system. Shocking, I know. In Europe there is a cap set on allowable emissions from factories and power plants. If the cap is exceeded, the company responsible for the emission can buy the right to keep emitting carbon from other companies who are under their own cap. The result is that emissions from most sectors in Europe have fallen. The exception is the airline industry, where emissions have been trending up instead of down.

This is setting up a showdown with the U.S.  The GOP, which usually loves any program that allows the trading of financial products because their decidedly not socialist financial industry backers can collect fees on the trades, is against any Blankety-Blankety-Blank-Blank socialist Cap and Trade Program. They also deny that there is a problem with capitalist carbon emissions. In a move that will no doubt surprise the socialist-phobic rabid right, world renowned Blankety-Blankety-Blank-Blank socialist and Feminazi  Hillary Clinton urged the EU "to reconsider this current course" and re-engage with the rest of the world.

Homework

European Court Upholds Fines for Carbon Emissions by Airplanes

EPA Discusses Cap and Trade Programs

New York Times Discusses Cap and Trade Programs