This was Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention. He ended up being the star of the show. If he wins his senate race for the state of Illinois, he will be the only black in the senate. Doesn't that seem crazy to you? The only one? Well, that's according to Fox News, who also overlooked the fact that he is multiracial, but it still is crazy.
BARACK OBAMA: On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant.
But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place; America which stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before. While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor he signed up for duty, joined Patton's army and marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through FHA, and moved west in search of opportunity.
And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or "blessed," believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential. They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with pride.
I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted -- or at least, most of the time.
This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. And fellow Americans -- Democrats, Republicans, Independents -- I say to you tonight: we have more work to do. More to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that's moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour. More to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears, wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits he counted on. More to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her, who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn't have the money to go to college.
Don't get me wrong. The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks, they don't expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don't want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or the Pentagon. Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can't teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice.
In this election, we offer that choice. Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. That man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and sacrifice, because they've defined his life. From his heroic service in Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he has devoted himself to this country. Again and again, we've seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available. His values and his record affirm what is best in us.
John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he'll offer them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren't held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never be the first option.
A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, 6'2'' or 6'3'', clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga.
A belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper -- that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.
Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a mill worker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!
In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!
Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do -- if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you and God bless you.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
My Quick Movie Ratings
Maybe coming soon:
The Manchurian Candidate
The Village
Harold & Kumar Go to Whitecastle
Skins
Mystic River
Recently viewed:
The Last Samurai: It took me forever to watch this because of my occasional anti-Cruise bias and just not being in the mood although I knew I'd like it when I saw it. I did, and it was indeed quite good. But it is one of those long movies that can feel long. Ken Watanabe is great, clearly deserving his Oscar nomination! The political points in the film come across fluidly. Enjoyable romance side-story that involves virtually no physical contact - very refreshing. Recommended: 8 out of 10
Around the World in 80 Days: I don't know if Jackie Chan could be in a movie and I wouldn't like it. I find him very appealing on screen. This story is a bit weak, as was The Medallion. However, it still has charm and charisma. A very weird (creepy) cameo by Gov. Schwarzenegger. A nice family film. Recommended, 7 out of 10.
Hidalgo: This is really a story about a man and his horse. If you take it that way, it is an alright film. The stereotypical portrayal of Arabs is annoying and almost destroys the movie. I wasn't sure, but early in the film the hero tosses a coin, and it appeared to be a modern coin and not period. At that very moment, I knew it was going to be a fluff film. Viggo looks good as a cowboy, but no way passes as part native. The race itself is entertaining and is why I can barely recommend the film, but the other aspects make me feel a bit guilty for doing it. The race itself never existed, so the real counterpart of the hero was quite a story teller. However, he really did save some wild mustangs. Recommended, 6 out of 10.
The Terminal: Tom Hanks continues to have good taste. The real story this movie is based on is much more tragic; an Iranian fellow spent 16+ years in the Paris terminal, first for paperwork problems and later for mental reasons. A refreshing story line with interesting characterizations. However, I did not like Catherine Zeta Jones' character. Navorski can do better. Recommended 7 out of 10.
The Thief of Time: Adam Beach and Wes Studi are perfect for their roles in the Hillerman novels. While this is one of the best Leaphorn/Chee books imho, it is the weakest of the three films PBS has made so far. Not that it was terrible, but the previous two were definitely better. The actors have all noticeably gained weight, probably due to the schedule - this one just came out this summer and the previous one came out around the end of 2003. Adam Beach does a fine job of displaying Chee's circular Navajo thought processes and Wes Studi makes a perfect thoughtful, logical detective. Graham Greene makes a good showing as the slimy slick Nakai, but I still think his best role was in Thunderheart. Recommended, 7 out of 10
I, Robot: Loosely follows the Isaac Asimov books. Good Sci-fi/action, fairly intelligent, a few slow scenes. Open ending. Warning: Will Smith full nudity briefly in early scene. Will Smith carries this as far as the real live actors go. Everyone else is stiff like Aldous Huxley Brave New World types or like the folks in Gattica. Recommended, 7 out of 10
Bourne Supremacy: Almost fully deviated from the books. Great action. Plot less detailed and characters less full than first film. Another fantastic car chase scene, arguably better than the one in the first movie. Some people in the audience applauded at the end of this film; if you get into it, it can take you on a thrilling ride. But, if you're not in the mood to pay attention and focus throughout, wait. Recommended, 8 out of 10
A Cinderella Story: Hilary Duff is cute, story is cute, all is cute. Light story and plot, typical of the genre. But still an enjoyable film; not the type that would make an adult totally gag. Recommended, 6 out of 10
Spiderman 2: Tobey Maguire was perfectly cast for this role. The second film is as good or better than the second. Stays true to its comic book origins. Wonderfully complex relationships and twists typical of good comic books. The villain is a bit odd, but that is also comic bookish. Will Spidey's best friend, upon learning his father's secret, forgive Spidey or follow in his father's footsteps? Stay tuned for #3, most likely. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
13 Going on 30. Potentially cute idea totally falls flat as does Jennifer Garner. This one is a bomb with a few amusing moments. Avoid unless you must see Garner or Mark Ruffalo on the big screen. Not Recommended, 3 out of 10.
Chronicles of Riddick: Sequel to Pitch Black. Must see for Vin Diesel or Karl Urban fans or people needing a sci-fi fix. Develops a very complex, unique science fiction world. Dialogue is a bit Schwarzenegger-like in several places, and in general that is the weakest point of the film. But as long as you like science fiction this movie is still entertaining and better than most of the movies played on the sci-fi channel. You will particularly enjoy it if you liked the Riddick character in Pitch Black. Ending leaves opportunity for another film as equally unique and complex as this one. Recommended, 7 out of 10.
Troy: The film to see beautiful people. This is a very good looking film, and the looks will draw you in. Only loosely follows Homer's epic. Excellent battle choreography and cinematography. Paris and Achilles both come across as human, complex characters. Poor Hector! And, is Burseis a tramp to let love trump her devotion to her god? Or, is love good enough reason for anything, even cowardice or lack of the warrior's ideal of honor, as other parts of the film suggest? Not as great a film as it had the potential to be, but still entertaining. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Raising Helen: Kate Hudson is still cute as can be, but the chemistry between she and John Corbett (Northern Exposure, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is nonexistent. She had much more going on on screen with Matthew McConaughey. The whole priest thing is just weird. The story line with the kids is just okay. Not Recommended. 5 out of 10.
ScoobyDoo 2: I haven't seen the first. But this one was lots of fun and enjoyable for all ages. Recommended, 9 out of 10.
Mean Girls: Formulaic and predictable story line, but Hilary Duff is quite good at her genre. The script has a lot of humor. Recommended, 7 out of 10.
Garfield: A not funny movie. Boring and dull. Jennifer Love Hewitt fails again at script selection in my book. Not recommended, 2 out of 10.
Memento: A plot line that develops backward. If you're into novel independent film and into thrillers, you'll like this. You need to be a bit patient at the start. Recommended, 6 out of 10.
Runaway Jury: A good classic thriller. A bit deviated from the book. Not a lawyer film per se as many of other filmations of his books have been. John Cusack shines in this as he also did in Identity and Grosse Point Blank. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Amelie: One of my favorite all-time foreign films, in French with subtitles. Like most foreign films, it has a quiet start so requires a bit of initial patience, but this is a wondeful feel-good type of film. Recommended, 9 out of 10.
Run, Lola, Run: Another foreign film great. It is a novel plot development, similar to Memento in that sense. Arguably Bourne Identity star Franka Potente's best role. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Invader Zim: Not a film, but DVD release of cartoon series. If watched from the beginning episode, this is a very funny show. Recommended: 7 out of 10.
Butterfly Effect: Highly disturbing, very dark story, but firmly establishes Ashton Kutcher as a real actor. I have to give that to him, to my initial surprise. The concept of the film makes it a must for sci-fi fans, but make sure you're ready for the darkness of this film. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Well, I think that is most of what I've seen recently, at least that comes to mind.
The Manchurian Candidate
The Village
Harold & Kumar Go to Whitecastle
Skins
Mystic River
Recently viewed:
The Last Samurai: It took me forever to watch this because of my occasional anti-Cruise bias and just not being in the mood although I knew I'd like it when I saw it. I did, and it was indeed quite good. But it is one of those long movies that can feel long. Ken Watanabe is great, clearly deserving his Oscar nomination! The political points in the film come across fluidly. Enjoyable romance side-story that involves virtually no physical contact - very refreshing. Recommended: 8 out of 10
Around the World in 80 Days: I don't know if Jackie Chan could be in a movie and I wouldn't like it. I find him very appealing on screen. This story is a bit weak, as was The Medallion. However, it still has charm and charisma. A very weird (creepy) cameo by Gov. Schwarzenegger. A nice family film. Recommended, 7 out of 10.
Hidalgo: This is really a story about a man and his horse. If you take it that way, it is an alright film. The stereotypical portrayal of Arabs is annoying and almost destroys the movie. I wasn't sure, but early in the film the hero tosses a coin, and it appeared to be a modern coin and not period. At that very moment, I knew it was going to be a fluff film. Viggo looks good as a cowboy, but no way passes as part native. The race itself is entertaining and is why I can barely recommend the film, but the other aspects make me feel a bit guilty for doing it. The race itself never existed, so the real counterpart of the hero was quite a story teller. However, he really did save some wild mustangs. Recommended, 6 out of 10.
The Terminal: Tom Hanks continues to have good taste. The real story this movie is based on is much more tragic; an Iranian fellow spent 16+ years in the Paris terminal, first for paperwork problems and later for mental reasons. A refreshing story line with interesting characterizations. However, I did not like Catherine Zeta Jones' character. Navorski can do better. Recommended 7 out of 10.
The Thief of Time: Adam Beach and Wes Studi are perfect for their roles in the Hillerman novels. While this is one of the best Leaphorn/Chee books imho, it is the weakest of the three films PBS has made so far. Not that it was terrible, but the previous two were definitely better. The actors have all noticeably gained weight, probably due to the schedule - this one just came out this summer and the previous one came out around the end of 2003. Adam Beach does a fine job of displaying Chee's circular Navajo thought processes and Wes Studi makes a perfect thoughtful, logical detective. Graham Greene makes a good showing as the slimy slick Nakai, but I still think his best role was in Thunderheart. Recommended, 7 out of 10
I, Robot: Loosely follows the Isaac Asimov books. Good Sci-fi/action, fairly intelligent, a few slow scenes. Open ending. Warning: Will Smith full nudity briefly in early scene. Will Smith carries this as far as the real live actors go. Everyone else is stiff like Aldous Huxley Brave New World types or like the folks in Gattica. Recommended, 7 out of 10
Bourne Supremacy: Almost fully deviated from the books. Great action. Plot less detailed and characters less full than first film. Another fantastic car chase scene, arguably better than the one in the first movie. Some people in the audience applauded at the end of this film; if you get into it, it can take you on a thrilling ride. But, if you're not in the mood to pay attention and focus throughout, wait. Recommended, 8 out of 10
A Cinderella Story: Hilary Duff is cute, story is cute, all is cute. Light story and plot, typical of the genre. But still an enjoyable film; not the type that would make an adult totally gag. Recommended, 6 out of 10
Spiderman 2: Tobey Maguire was perfectly cast for this role. The second film is as good or better than the second. Stays true to its comic book origins. Wonderfully complex relationships and twists typical of good comic books. The villain is a bit odd, but that is also comic bookish. Will Spidey's best friend, upon learning his father's secret, forgive Spidey or follow in his father's footsteps? Stay tuned for #3, most likely. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
13 Going on 30. Potentially cute idea totally falls flat as does Jennifer Garner. This one is a bomb with a few amusing moments. Avoid unless you must see Garner or Mark Ruffalo on the big screen. Not Recommended, 3 out of 10.
Chronicles of Riddick: Sequel to Pitch Black. Must see for Vin Diesel or Karl Urban fans or people needing a sci-fi fix. Develops a very complex, unique science fiction world. Dialogue is a bit Schwarzenegger-like in several places, and in general that is the weakest point of the film. But as long as you like science fiction this movie is still entertaining and better than most of the movies played on the sci-fi channel. You will particularly enjoy it if you liked the Riddick character in Pitch Black. Ending leaves opportunity for another film as equally unique and complex as this one. Recommended, 7 out of 10.
Troy: The film to see beautiful people. This is a very good looking film, and the looks will draw you in. Only loosely follows Homer's epic. Excellent battle choreography and cinematography. Paris and Achilles both come across as human, complex characters. Poor Hector! And, is Burseis a tramp to let love trump her devotion to her god? Or, is love good enough reason for anything, even cowardice or lack of the warrior's ideal of honor, as other parts of the film suggest? Not as great a film as it had the potential to be, but still entertaining. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Raising Helen: Kate Hudson is still cute as can be, but the chemistry between she and John Corbett (Northern Exposure, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is nonexistent. She had much more going on on screen with Matthew McConaughey. The whole priest thing is just weird. The story line with the kids is just okay. Not Recommended. 5 out of 10.
ScoobyDoo 2: I haven't seen the first. But this one was lots of fun and enjoyable for all ages. Recommended, 9 out of 10.
Mean Girls: Formulaic and predictable story line, but Hilary Duff is quite good at her genre. The script has a lot of humor. Recommended, 7 out of 10.
Garfield: A not funny movie. Boring and dull. Jennifer Love Hewitt fails again at script selection in my book. Not recommended, 2 out of 10.
Memento: A plot line that develops backward. If you're into novel independent film and into thrillers, you'll like this. You need to be a bit patient at the start. Recommended, 6 out of 10.
Runaway Jury: A good classic thriller. A bit deviated from the book. Not a lawyer film per se as many of other filmations of his books have been. John Cusack shines in this as he also did in Identity and Grosse Point Blank. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Amelie: One of my favorite all-time foreign films, in French with subtitles. Like most foreign films, it has a quiet start so requires a bit of initial patience, but this is a wondeful feel-good type of film. Recommended, 9 out of 10.
Run, Lola, Run: Another foreign film great. It is a novel plot development, similar to Memento in that sense. Arguably Bourne Identity star Franka Potente's best role. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Invader Zim: Not a film, but DVD release of cartoon series. If watched from the beginning episode, this is a very funny show. Recommended: 7 out of 10.
Butterfly Effect: Highly disturbing, very dark story, but firmly establishes Ashton Kutcher as a real actor. I have to give that to him, to my initial surprise. The concept of the film makes it a must for sci-fi fans, but make sure you're ready for the darkness of this film. Recommended, 8 out of 10.
Well, I think that is most of what I've seen recently, at least that comes to mind.
And if Owens were Democrat?
Initiative would alter presidential vote count
By KYLE HENLEY - THE GAZETTE
DENVER - A citizen initiative to reform how Colorado votes in presidential elections could affect who sits in the White House next year.
If it had been in effect four years ago, President Al Gore might be seeking re-election.
A citizens’ group submitted 130,000 signatures Friday to the Secretary of State’s Office to put an initiative on the ballot that would alter the way Colorado allocates Electoral College votes in presidential contests.
Instead of winner-take-all, the votes would be awarded proportionately.
The measure, called the Colorado Electoral College Reform Initiative, would put Colorado on the leading edge of U.S. election reform.
The Electoral College, rather than the popular vote, is what determines presidential races.
Each state receives a set number of electoral votes based on the size of its congressional delegation. Colorado has nine Electoral College votes.
Colorado is one of 48 winner-take-all states.
President Bush won 51 percent of the vote here in 2000 and walked away with the state’s Electoral College votes.
“Proportional representation is a more democratic method of selecting electors and provides a truer portrait of Colorado’s political composition,” campaign manager Rick Ridder said.
If the proposed change had been in effect for the 2000 election, when eight votes were at stake, Bush would have received five of Colorado’s Electoral College votes and Gore would have picked up three.
Gore would have won the national election with 269 electoral votes to Bush’s 268. Bush won 271-266.
Maine and Nebraska split Electoral College delegates, although in a different manner than is proposed in Colorado. In those states, the presidential winner in each congressional district gets an electoral vote.
Backers of the measure want it to have an impact quickly.
If the measure passes, it would go into effect immediately and be in play in the race between President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry.
“When something needs correction, why would you wait until four more years for it to go into effect?” said campaign spokeswoman Julie Brown. “We believe this needs fixing now.”
About 68,000 signatures from valid Colorado voters are needed to put an initiative on the statewide ballot.
Election officials will spend the next few weeks verifying signatures to see whether the measure will earn a spot on the November ballot.
The Colorado Republican Party will lead the opposition if the initiative makes the ballot. The GOP, which has a registration advantage in Colorado, usually carries the day.
If the proposal takes effect, presidential candidates won’t bother to campaign in Colorado because they’ll be assured a mixed result in the state, Gov. Bill Owens said.
“If that passes, Colorado will cease to be a factor in the presidential campaigns of the future,” Owens said. “If we do this . . . we simply have given up the leverage we have as a relatively small state.”
CONTACT THE WRITER:
1-303-837-0613 or
khenley@gazette.com
Copyright 2004, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information. All rights reserved. Contact us.
By KYLE HENLEY - THE GAZETTE
DENVER - A citizen initiative to reform how Colorado votes in presidential elections could affect who sits in the White House next year.
If it had been in effect four years ago, President Al Gore might be seeking re-election.
A citizens’ group submitted 130,000 signatures Friday to the Secretary of State’s Office to put an initiative on the ballot that would alter the way Colorado allocates Electoral College votes in presidential contests.
Instead of winner-take-all, the votes would be awarded proportionately.
The measure, called the Colorado Electoral College Reform Initiative, would put Colorado on the leading edge of U.S. election reform.
The Electoral College, rather than the popular vote, is what determines presidential races.
Each state receives a set number of electoral votes based on the size of its congressional delegation. Colorado has nine Electoral College votes.
Colorado is one of 48 winner-take-all states.
President Bush won 51 percent of the vote here in 2000 and walked away with the state’s Electoral College votes.
“Proportional representation is a more democratic method of selecting electors and provides a truer portrait of Colorado’s political composition,” campaign manager Rick Ridder said.
If the proposed change had been in effect for the 2000 election, when eight votes were at stake, Bush would have received five of Colorado’s Electoral College votes and Gore would have picked up three.
Gore would have won the national election with 269 electoral votes to Bush’s 268. Bush won 271-266.
Maine and Nebraska split Electoral College delegates, although in a different manner than is proposed in Colorado. In those states, the presidential winner in each congressional district gets an electoral vote.
Backers of the measure want it to have an impact quickly.
If the measure passes, it would go into effect immediately and be in play in the race between President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry.
“When something needs correction, why would you wait until four more years for it to go into effect?” said campaign spokeswoman Julie Brown. “We believe this needs fixing now.”
About 68,000 signatures from valid Colorado voters are needed to put an initiative on the statewide ballot.
Election officials will spend the next few weeks verifying signatures to see whether the measure will earn a spot on the November ballot.
The Colorado Republican Party will lead the opposition if the initiative makes the ballot. The GOP, which has a registration advantage in Colorado, usually carries the day.
If the proposal takes effect, presidential candidates won’t bother to campaign in Colorado because they’ll be assured a mixed result in the state, Gov. Bill Owens said.
“If that passes, Colorado will cease to be a factor in the presidential campaigns of the future,” Owens said. “If we do this . . . we simply have given up the leverage we have as a relatively small state.”
CONTACT THE WRITER:
1-303-837-0613 or
khenley@gazette.com
Copyright 2004, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information. All rights reserved. Contact us.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Home!
I am so glad to be home. Alhumdooleluh. I've had enough traveling for the time being. Feeling a bit ill, probably from the traveling stuff. Back to work Monday. I sure feel like I've been working all this time. Well, I guess I have been, mostly. I'll try to catch up on blogging comments, e-mails, etc., over the next several days, insha'allah.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Copper Mountain
Just checking in. I haven't been able to get much computer time until now. The conference is going well, I am learning some things that should be useful for the coming school year, insha'allah. We are staying in a great condo. Went geocaching yesterday with a few members of my local; they enjoyed it a lot and so did I. I should be home sometime tomorrow, insha'allah.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
i
Why is i supposed to be capitalized? Why not You, They, We, He, etc.? It seems so conceited. I don't like to capitalize my name, either,...
The Bourne Supremacy
is good. Nothing like the book, but still a great way to spend a couple of hours. I think primarily because of its deviation from the books, the second movie has a shorter, or less-detailed, plot than the first. But still a good one. Also, and I wouldn't have thought it possible, the car chase scene in the second out does the first, which had already ranked as the best car chase scene i'd ever seen.
Bush and I agree on one thing: Lance is Awesome
Sportview: Armstrong's Win Stuff of Legend
By JIM LITKE
AP Sports Columnist
PARIS (AP) -- On the toughest stretch of road, during the toughest stage of what is arguably the toughest sporting event in the world, Lance Armstrong put the hammer down and roared toward the top of L'Alpe d'Huez. It was a move of such breathtaking power that most of his rivals would have had trouble matching it while driving a car, let alone pedaling a bike.
It was also the stuff of legend.
It was Muhammad Ali floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee; Tiger Woods devouring Augusta National with his "A" game; Michael Jordan eyeballs-level-with-the-rim at his gravity-defying best; Jim Brown hauling a scrum of would-be tacklers into the end zone; Babe Ruth calling his shot.
Take your pick, since the easiest way to start an argument in any sports bar the world over is to do just that.
"Top three athletes of all time, without a doubt, and maybe even higher," said Bud Greenspan, the venerable documentary filmmaker of countless Olympics.
On Sunday, at the end of bicycle racing's version of the Super Bowl, the 32-year-old Texan rolled into the French capital on what amounted to a ceremonial lap to claim an unprecedented sixth Tour de France title. The five-deep crowds packing both sides of the Champs-Elysees shouted, stomped and whistled their approval as Armstrong - easy to pick out in the leader's distinctive yellow jersey - zoomed by in the middle of the technicolor blur.
But it was four days earlier, as crowds nearly twice that large lined the road that ended at a ski station 6,070 feet above sea level, that Armstrong secured the win and cemented his place in the galaxy of the world's greatest athletes.
On an ascent that's so steep it is classified as "hors categorie," literally, "out of category," Armstrong rose up on his pedals and averaged - averaged - 14.5 mph. The feat crushed his opponents' spirits and paved the way for Armstrong to ride past the quartet of cycling's five-time Tour champions - Eddy Merckx of Belgium, Miguel Indurain of Spain and local heroes Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil - and begin a fresh chapter in the 101-year history of the race.
"It's special to stand on arguably one of the most famous boulevards in the world and have your own national anthem played. And to have it done six times," Armstrong said, "is incredible."
The man is a dynasty. There's no arguing that, even if he doesn't return for a seventh bid. His wins have all come in a row, and at an age when all the other cycling legends were done dominating the Tour.
Sales of Trek bicycles, the brand Armstrong rides, have tripled since he won his first title in 1999 and the $10,000, carbon-fiber, 24-carat, gold-leaf-adorned model he rode onto the Champs-Elysees won't hit the stores for another few months. Similarly, Armstrong has forced millions of TV viewers back in the States to zap through their cable menus and find the Outdoor Life Network.
And how's this for an impact: He's even given the Post Office something to finally crow about.
---
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
By JIM LITKE
AP Sports Columnist
PARIS (AP) -- On the toughest stretch of road, during the toughest stage of what is arguably the toughest sporting event in the world, Lance Armstrong put the hammer down and roared toward the top of L'Alpe d'Huez. It was a move of such breathtaking power that most of his rivals would have had trouble matching it while driving a car, let alone pedaling a bike.
It was also the stuff of legend.
It was Muhammad Ali floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee; Tiger Woods devouring Augusta National with his "A" game; Michael Jordan eyeballs-level-with-the-rim at his gravity-defying best; Jim Brown hauling a scrum of would-be tacklers into the end zone; Babe Ruth calling his shot.
Take your pick, since the easiest way to start an argument in any sports bar the world over is to do just that.
"Top three athletes of all time, without a doubt, and maybe even higher," said Bud Greenspan, the venerable documentary filmmaker of countless Olympics.
On Sunday, at the end of bicycle racing's version of the Super Bowl, the 32-year-old Texan rolled into the French capital on what amounted to a ceremonial lap to claim an unprecedented sixth Tour de France title. The five-deep crowds packing both sides of the Champs-Elysees shouted, stomped and whistled their approval as Armstrong - easy to pick out in the leader's distinctive yellow jersey - zoomed by in the middle of the technicolor blur.
But it was four days earlier, as crowds nearly twice that large lined the road that ended at a ski station 6,070 feet above sea level, that Armstrong secured the win and cemented his place in the galaxy of the world's greatest athletes.
On an ascent that's so steep it is classified as "hors categorie," literally, "out of category," Armstrong rose up on his pedals and averaged - averaged - 14.5 mph. The feat crushed his opponents' spirits and paved the way for Armstrong to ride past the quartet of cycling's five-time Tour champions - Eddy Merckx of Belgium, Miguel Indurain of Spain and local heroes Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil - and begin a fresh chapter in the 101-year history of the race.
"It's special to stand on arguably one of the most famous boulevards in the world and have your own national anthem played. And to have it done six times," Armstrong said, "is incredible."
The man is a dynasty. There's no arguing that, even if he doesn't return for a seventh bid. His wins have all come in a row, and at an age when all the other cycling legends were done dominating the Tour.
Sales of Trek bicycles, the brand Armstrong rides, have tripled since he won his first title in 1999 and the $10,000, carbon-fiber, 24-carat, gold-leaf-adorned model he rode onto the Champs-Elysees won't hit the stores for another few months. Similarly, Armstrong has forced millions of TV viewers back in the States to zap through their cable menus and find the Outdoor Life Network.
And how's this for an impact: He's even given the Post Office something to finally crow about.
---
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Leaving Again
Well, tomorrow insha'allah I'm off to the union training conference thingy in Copper Mountain. My friend Katie from work is driving. I haven't done much since I've gotten back except develop a bit of a cold. So I laid around a lot. The weather matches my health - it is cold and drizzly out. Today I do have some errands I have to run before I leave, though, and some chores around the house, and I have to re-pack.
Missing you all!
Missing you all!
Friday, July 23, 2004
Home - warning: image intensive blog
Yesterday we left Moab and drove to Glenwood. Saw a few interesting signs in Utah on I-70: "Eagles on Highway" and "Dust Storm Speed Limit 35 mph". Not much else to see on that stretch.
Glenwood is another yuppyish town. Bigger and more commercial than Moab. But not as hot. Moab ended up getting to 103 degrees at 7pm Wednesday night when we went to dinner. At Glenwood everything cost more. We went to see Glenwood Caverns - a cave tourist thing that you reach by riding a tram up the side of a mountain. Doc Holliday is buried here, but we didn't go to his grave. My great grandparents on my dad's mom's side lived here and we saw their houses.
Today we drove home from Glenwood. We went through Aspen over Independence Pass and then into Buena Vista and home. Lots of ranchers are keeping Buffalo these days in South Park and I tried to take a few pictures.
I'll share here a few of the pictures, in chronological order - if you want to see more, I have plenty, just let me know. I'm off again Monday for the union conference thingy until next Friday. Hopefully mom and I are going to see Bourne Supremacy tonight.
This is a collared lizard at Hovenweep - we saw several of these on the trip, mostly in Utah.
This is part of the Square Tower Ruins in Hovenweep.
One of those funny small-town road signs. Aztec, New Mexico.
Man-made stairs up a canyon wall in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
Part of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco. This pueblo is huge and has over 650 rooms, many much larger than this one shown here. About 30+ rooms were destroyed in the 1940's when a huge part of the canyon wall fell down.
Newspaper rock on the way into Canyonlands. The darker images are the older ones - the oldest are from about 2000 B.C. Look under the wagon wheel shape for a good look at some of the older ones; can you see it?
Guess why they call it Arches National Park?
From the best part of Glenwood Caverns.
The coldest part of the trip - Independence Pass, 49 degrees. Mainly this is here just to put a picture with me in it. :)
The buffalo near Buena Vista. This one is cropped a lot - we had to take the pictures through a fence and I cropped out a tiny piece between fence wires. This herd had a few hundred buffalo in it.
Thanks for reading/viewing/commenting/tagging!
Glenwood is another yuppyish town. Bigger and more commercial than Moab. But not as hot. Moab ended up getting to 103 degrees at 7pm Wednesday night when we went to dinner. At Glenwood everything cost more. We went to see Glenwood Caverns - a cave tourist thing that you reach by riding a tram up the side of a mountain. Doc Holliday is buried here, but we didn't go to his grave. My great grandparents on my dad's mom's side lived here and we saw their houses.
Today we drove home from Glenwood. We went through Aspen over Independence Pass and then into Buena Vista and home. Lots of ranchers are keeping Buffalo these days in South Park and I tried to take a few pictures.
I'll share here a few of the pictures, in chronological order - if you want to see more, I have plenty, just let me know. I'm off again Monday for the union conference thingy until next Friday. Hopefully mom and I are going to see Bourne Supremacy tonight.
This is a collared lizard at Hovenweep - we saw several of these on the trip, mostly in Utah.
This is part of the Square Tower Ruins in Hovenweep.
One of those funny small-town road signs. Aztec, New Mexico.
Man-made stairs up a canyon wall in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
Part of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco. This pueblo is huge and has over 650 rooms, many much larger than this one shown here. About 30+ rooms were destroyed in the 1940's when a huge part of the canyon wall fell down.
Newspaper rock on the way into Canyonlands. The darker images are the older ones - the oldest are from about 2000 B.C. Look under the wagon wheel shape for a good look at some of the older ones; can you see it?
Guess why they call it Arches National Park?
From the best part of Glenwood Caverns.
The coldest part of the trip - Independence Pass, 49 degrees. Mainly this is here just to put a picture with me in it. :)
The buffalo near Buena Vista. This one is cropped a lot - we had to take the pictures through a fence and I cropped out a tiny piece between fence wires. This herd had a few hundred buffalo in it.
Thanks for reading/viewing/commenting/tagging!
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Arches/Moab
Today we're in Moab. We have a much nicer hotel. We left Cortez this morning around 8. On our way here we stopped at Lowry Pueblo, about 20 miles North of Cortez. It is about nine miles off the highway and is part of the National Monument called Canyon of the Ancients. It is an unmonitored site - no rangers there watching you. It has a painted kiva that they have tried to preserve since it was excavated in the 1930's. However, there is basically nothing left of the paint - they preserved some of it in a museum, but it is still cool that you can walk in there for free, alone, no one bothering you, and get down in a covered kiva, etc.
Then we got back on the road (491) until just past Monticello, where we made the turn-off to Canyonlands National Park. It is a huge park, and dad decided we didn't really have time for it. On our way in, however, it was starting to look really beautiful. We did stop to see Newspaper Rock on the road into the park - now that was quite impressive. It is a rock just off the rock on the canyon wall that has that black patina on it and it is literally covered with petroglyphs - probably thousands of them. And they date from all different periods - some as old as 2000 B.C., and newer ones on top of those - including ones made by Utes after 1540 - because they show them hunting on horses. I did take a few pictures to show you later.
After seeing the Petroglyphs, we went on to Moab, got our hotel room and had lunch. We stopped for a cache that I found at the north end of Moab - a real one. I also managed to do a virtual cache this morning because I saw a barber pole and my parents were getting gas so I had time to get the coordinates for that locationless cache.
After lunch, we headed up to Arches National Park. It is literally just a few minutes out of Moab. We did the whole thing in a few hours, basically. If you want to spend more time, there are plenty more hikes to do, camping, and jeeping. Given the money and time and people who would do it with me, I'd be interested in doing some more challenging, longer hikes and even the jeeping. My dad just isn't up for that stuff so our hikes have been short. You can get the feel for Arches without hardly leaving your car. It was a $10 entry fee, more than all the other parks we've been to this trip. I thought it was nice, but my favorites still have to be back at Hovenweep and I liked Newspaper Rock. There are some hikes through the Canyon of the Ancients that I'd like to try some day, and I'd like to do Canyon de Chelly and Navajo National Monument some day, too - more stuff like that. It was REALLY hot today - right now it is about 100 degrees, it was up to 102 when were coming back from Arches. So it was a bit hot for hiking; we did just a little, and took some pictures. Today was a pretty good road trip day - three stops with interesting things to see and logged some miles. If I win Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, I think it would be cool to take like an 8-week roadtrip through wherever - mostly the southwest as I am partial to it - and do all that hiking and camping stuff.
Mom's swimming in the hotel pool now. If it weren't for the hijab thing I'd probably join her. Dad's drinking beer and watching TV. This trip would've been much more enjoyable if he didn't drink and smoke so much and was a little bit nicer of a person. But, it was still a good trip. He was upset today that, this being Utah, he had to buy his liquor for the evening from the state liquor store and they don't have domestic beer. So he bought 12 of these British beers and some other 24 ounce bottle of beer to get him through until tomorrow night. Yuck.
Tomorrow we're leaving Moab - which is a nice little town - a bit yuppyish but still nice, and heading on to Glenwood Springs. Apparently there are some caverns to see there. Then Friday we're supposed to come home.
Saw some rocky mountain sheep today and tried to get a picture of those, too.
Take care!
Then we got back on the road (491) until just past Monticello, where we made the turn-off to Canyonlands National Park. It is a huge park, and dad decided we didn't really have time for it. On our way in, however, it was starting to look really beautiful. We did stop to see Newspaper Rock on the road into the park - now that was quite impressive. It is a rock just off the rock on the canyon wall that has that black patina on it and it is literally covered with petroglyphs - probably thousands of them. And they date from all different periods - some as old as 2000 B.C., and newer ones on top of those - including ones made by Utes after 1540 - because they show them hunting on horses. I did take a few pictures to show you later.
After seeing the Petroglyphs, we went on to Moab, got our hotel room and had lunch. We stopped for a cache that I found at the north end of Moab - a real one. I also managed to do a virtual cache this morning because I saw a barber pole and my parents were getting gas so I had time to get the coordinates for that locationless cache.
After lunch, we headed up to Arches National Park. It is literally just a few minutes out of Moab. We did the whole thing in a few hours, basically. If you want to spend more time, there are plenty more hikes to do, camping, and jeeping. Given the money and time and people who would do it with me, I'd be interested in doing some more challenging, longer hikes and even the jeeping. My dad just isn't up for that stuff so our hikes have been short. You can get the feel for Arches without hardly leaving your car. It was a $10 entry fee, more than all the other parks we've been to this trip. I thought it was nice, but my favorites still have to be back at Hovenweep and I liked Newspaper Rock. There are some hikes through the Canyon of the Ancients that I'd like to try some day, and I'd like to do Canyon de Chelly and Navajo National Monument some day, too - more stuff like that. It was REALLY hot today - right now it is about 100 degrees, it was up to 102 when were coming back from Arches. So it was a bit hot for hiking; we did just a little, and took some pictures. Today was a pretty good road trip day - three stops with interesting things to see and logged some miles. If I win Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, I think it would be cool to take like an 8-week roadtrip through wherever - mostly the southwest as I am partial to it - and do all that hiking and camping stuff.
Mom's swimming in the hotel pool now. If it weren't for the hijab thing I'd probably join her. Dad's drinking beer and watching TV. This trip would've been much more enjoyable if he didn't drink and smoke so much and was a little bit nicer of a person. But, it was still a good trip. He was upset today that, this being Utah, he had to buy his liquor for the evening from the state liquor store and they don't have domestic beer. So he bought 12 of these British beers and some other 24 ounce bottle of beer to get him through until tomorrow night. Yuck.
Tomorrow we're leaving Moab - which is a nice little town - a bit yuppyish but still nice, and heading on to Glenwood Springs. Apparently there are some caverns to see there. Then Friday we're supposed to come home.
Saw some rocky mountain sheep today and tried to get a picture of those, too.
Take care!
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Chaco
Well we had a change of plans. We realized it would be too much driving to do both Canyon de Chelly and Petrified in one day. So we were going to do just de Chelly or Chaco and the websites we found had more detail about Chaco stuff to see so that's the one we did. We got a bit of a late start because we had to go buy stuff at Wal-mart and then driving down 550 from Durango the map wasn't exactly detailed enough. Apparently to stay on 550 down to Chaco you have to get off it somewhere and get back on like 20 miles later. So it took us a little while to figure that out. People in Farmington seem to be very bad at giving directions. So, if you get lost there, ask three people, and average their responses and you'll probably get close to where you wanted to be.
Once we were back on track, the drive to Chaco was through the Navajo Reservation. The turn-off from 550 was about 30-45 minutes of gravel road. We ate lunch there with Subway we packed (cool thing - they open at 8 down here for all us tourists). Then we went and looked at some of the ruins there. Most are just a quarter mile or so from the road. We saw some petroglyphs and Pueblo Bonito, a 600+ room ruin. By then, dad was petering out and worried about getting back "home" so we left after a few hours there. But, we'd seen the basics of what was there. The buildings were well constructed and large and in a slightly different style than those we'd seen earlier. They have cool night astronomy programs there that we obviously didn't stay for, but some guy had his telescope set up to look at the sun and we could see its sunspots and prominences.
We took a slightly different route back to see if it was any shorter; instead of coming back to Durango, we went over to Shiprock from Farmington and up 666 to Cortez, which, by the way, is not actually labelled 666, nor 160 as it is on the maps, it was labeled 491. We have noticed a few other little mapping aberrations like that. For example 261 on the maps is 161 according to the Utah road signs coming out of Aneth. And then the whole get off 550 to stay on it stuff, too.
Chaco was good, but personally Hovenweep had a cooler feel to it. There are more ruins and bigger ruins and maybe even better built ruins at Chaco, but the way Hovenweep looked and the nice, quiet walk and everything puts it on top in my book.
Tomorrow we're heading up to Canyonlands and planning to stay the night in Moab. (me)
Today, the wind blew a little which helped to keep it around 90 Degrees instead of 100 Degrees - more pleasant temperatures felt by all. We drove down through Durango. Very pretty country side - I can see why so many people choose to live there. We didn't like getting lost, we didn't like the passenger seat driving or comments on my driving skills, or the wash board roads but there was plenty to like in its place. The village is quite interesting and it is surprising at how much of it is still in place. Apparently, more than 30 room were wiped out in 1941 by huge boulders that fell off of the mountain side. It surprised me that the rest of the village wasn't demolished due to what I think would have been ground shaking. The Weatherills, who discovered Chaco and Mesa Verde are buried in poorly kept graves at the site near Pueblo Bonito in Chaco. The ruins in this area are the oldest by far and were built @850 A.D. - 1300 A.D. While most other locations were built @1170-1270. You would really need to be in dire straits to make the pilgramage from Mesa Verde to Chaco to pick up supplies to take back home to the family. Chaco is purported to be the center of it all - trading, etc. I'd hate to have been the Indians who had to walk that distance and carry back the tribes' supplies. They had extensive trade routes that included shells from the Coast, Macaws and copper bells from the Yucatan. (Mom- almost grumpy but not :))
Yeah, we're here taking a "break" from dad now.....
Not sure I'll have internet at the next stop. If so, I'll try to blog, but if not, I guess it'll be Friday, insha'allah.
Once we were back on track, the drive to Chaco was through the Navajo Reservation. The turn-off from 550 was about 30-45 minutes of gravel road. We ate lunch there with Subway we packed (cool thing - they open at 8 down here for all us tourists). Then we went and looked at some of the ruins there. Most are just a quarter mile or so from the road. We saw some petroglyphs and Pueblo Bonito, a 600+ room ruin. By then, dad was petering out and worried about getting back "home" so we left after a few hours there. But, we'd seen the basics of what was there. The buildings were well constructed and large and in a slightly different style than those we'd seen earlier. They have cool night astronomy programs there that we obviously didn't stay for, but some guy had his telescope set up to look at the sun and we could see its sunspots and prominences.
We took a slightly different route back to see if it was any shorter; instead of coming back to Durango, we went over to Shiprock from Farmington and up 666 to Cortez, which, by the way, is not actually labelled 666, nor 160 as it is on the maps, it was labeled 491. We have noticed a few other little mapping aberrations like that. For example 261 on the maps is 161 according to the Utah road signs coming out of Aneth. And then the whole get off 550 to stay on it stuff, too.
Chaco was good, but personally Hovenweep had a cooler feel to it. There are more ruins and bigger ruins and maybe even better built ruins at Chaco, but the way Hovenweep looked and the nice, quiet walk and everything puts it on top in my book.
Tomorrow we're heading up to Canyonlands and planning to stay the night in Moab. (me)
Today, the wind blew a little which helped to keep it around 90 Degrees instead of 100 Degrees - more pleasant temperatures felt by all. We drove down through Durango. Very pretty country side - I can see why so many people choose to live there. We didn't like getting lost, we didn't like the passenger seat driving or comments on my driving skills, or the wash board roads but there was plenty to like in its place. The village is quite interesting and it is surprising at how much of it is still in place. Apparently, more than 30 room were wiped out in 1941 by huge boulders that fell off of the mountain side. It surprised me that the rest of the village wasn't demolished due to what I think would have been ground shaking. The Weatherills, who discovered Chaco and Mesa Verde are buried in poorly kept graves at the site near Pueblo Bonito in Chaco. The ruins in this area are the oldest by far and were built @850 A.D. - 1300 A.D. While most other locations were built @1170-1270. You would really need to be in dire straits to make the pilgramage from Mesa Verde to Chaco to pick up supplies to take back home to the family. Chaco is purported to be the center of it all - trading, etc. I'd hate to have been the Indians who had to walk that distance and carry back the tribes' supplies. They had extensive trade routes that included shells from the Coast, Macaws and copper bells from the Yucatan. (Mom- almost grumpy but not :))
Yeah, we're here taking a "break" from dad now.....
Not sure I'll have internet at the next stop. If so, I'll try to blog, but if not, I guess it'll be Friday, insha'allah.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Hovenweep and Four Corners
Today was cool! The Indians have become better architects since Mesa Verde. Several ruins remain. Hovenweep is in an out of way place so very few tourists to compete with. Saw a leapord lizard, regular lizard and green collar lizard, bunny, gray squirrels and a vulture hawk. The journey (hike) took approximately 1 & 1/2 hours. We followed the yellow brick road, aha! - seriously, the rangers were nice enough to lay out a path with stones on each side of the path leading us to where we needed to go to. The scenery was quite different. Mostly bush plants, sage, mormon tea, and grasses. We drove through an area that must have been bordering the desert - there wasn't much growing there - yuck and hot! (From Mom)
The drive to Hovenweep was about an hour from Cortez, just inside Utah. Once you leave Cortez, there is nothing the whole way there except the Ismay Trading Post. I really wish I had gotten a picture of it because it is one of those things you just have to see. It was a building literally falling apart - the facade was basically nothing anymore except chickenwire with some old plaster. Inside was very dingy and dusty and there you could get various odds and ends - candy bars, canned goods, string, shoelaces, car parts, etc. No gas or other services. It was run by an old geezer type fella who lived there.
Hovenweep was really beautiful - out in the middle of nowhere, hardly anyone there. My favorite thing on the trip so far. Very peaceful, just as good as Mesa Verde in terms of the ruins - in fact these were better preserved and built. At the ranger station you get a map and then walk the two or so mile trail down into the canyon and around the canyon rim to see the ruins. Nice, fun trail; you can get close to the ruins, with occasional shade to battle the impressive heat.
After Hovenweep, we drove down to Four Corners. The only town on our way was the ultra-impressive Aneth. This is a Navajo "village" of about fifty homes with bright red, green, or blue roofs, otherwise factory-style homes. One church and one gas station with gas marked up to 2.09/gallon.
Four Corners is just as I remember. Nice, standard tourist fare. I got a virtual cache at the monument and we bought some Indian jewelry there - best prices anywhere, basically.
I took pictures of some lizard and ruins at Hovenweep and a few others here and there to share hopefully when I get back.
Tomorrow we're supposed to do a lot of driving - to Canyon de Chelly and Petrified National Monument and then back to Cortez for our last night here in this town.
Bye for now!
The drive to Hovenweep was about an hour from Cortez, just inside Utah. Once you leave Cortez, there is nothing the whole way there except the Ismay Trading Post. I really wish I had gotten a picture of it because it is one of those things you just have to see. It was a building literally falling apart - the facade was basically nothing anymore except chickenwire with some old plaster. Inside was very dingy and dusty and there you could get various odds and ends - candy bars, canned goods, string, shoelaces, car parts, etc. No gas or other services. It was run by an old geezer type fella who lived there.
Hovenweep was really beautiful - out in the middle of nowhere, hardly anyone there. My favorite thing on the trip so far. Very peaceful, just as good as Mesa Verde in terms of the ruins - in fact these were better preserved and built. At the ranger station you get a map and then walk the two or so mile trail down into the canyon and around the canyon rim to see the ruins. Nice, fun trail; you can get close to the ruins, with occasional shade to battle the impressive heat.
After Hovenweep, we drove down to Four Corners. The only town on our way was the ultra-impressive Aneth. This is a Navajo "village" of about fifty homes with bright red, green, or blue roofs, otherwise factory-style homes. One church and one gas station with gas marked up to 2.09/gallon.
Four Corners is just as I remember. Nice, standard tourist fare. I got a virtual cache at the monument and we bought some Indian jewelry there - best prices anywhere, basically.
I took pictures of some lizard and ruins at Hovenweep and a few others here and there to share hopefully when I get back.
Tomorrow we're supposed to do a lot of driving - to Canyon de Chelly and Petrified National Monument and then back to Cortez for our last night here in this town.
Bye for now!
Sunday, July 18, 2004
MESA VERDE
Today we went back in time and visited America's past @1300 A.D. The Indians who lived in these ruins were wise and efficient with their resources. The scenery in itself is quite different too. Some of the forests are recovering from fires, while other sections are green and vibrant. Saw a couple of deer but if the truth were known there were probably more of them watching us. We saw chipmunks, a lizard, a small green bird that we think might have been a swallow and a hawk soaring above the canyon lands - quite awesome. I was surprised at the large number of European people who were visiting the ruins - I'm guessing French and German. I Love the dialect of the French people - it always sounds so sexy. (From Mom.)
We visited the Balcony House in Mesa Verde and took the tour of it. Our tour guide was pretty good. He told us how the people who lived in the cliff dwellings mostly did so between 1200 and 1300 A.D. They were Pueblo Indians who farmed on the fertile mesa tops. They moved into the cliff dwellings as they dealt with ecological problems with drought and deforestation. Eventually, a 20+ year drought led them to leave and settle in other Pueblos throughout the Southwest - when the Spanish arrived a few hundred years later, there were 100 Pueblos, and now there are 19 left.
We climbed tall ladders and crawled through small holes. The cliff dwellings were really clever in that they were often the locations of natural springs - water seeps from the top of the mesa down through the sandstone to a shale layer and then seeps out. Other parts are dry and protected from rodents, etc., and so are good for storing grain.
Tomorrow we're supposed to go to Four Corners and Hovenweep.
We visited the Balcony House in Mesa Verde and took the tour of it. Our tour guide was pretty good. He told us how the people who lived in the cliff dwellings mostly did so between 1200 and 1300 A.D. They were Pueblo Indians who farmed on the fertile mesa tops. They moved into the cliff dwellings as they dealt with ecological problems with drought and deforestation. Eventually, a 20+ year drought led them to leave and settle in other Pueblos throughout the Southwest - when the Spanish arrived a few hundred years later, there were 100 Pueblos, and now there are 19 left.
We climbed tall ladders and crawled through small holes. The cliff dwellings were really clever in that they were often the locations of natural springs - water seeps from the top of the mesa down through the sandstone to a shale layer and then seeps out. Other parts are dry and protected from rodents, etc., and so are good for storing grain.
Tomorrow we're supposed to go to Four Corners and Hovenweep.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
We're Here
Winding winding winding.... if you like riding on roads that wind and the curves take turns breaking to the left and then to the right every couple of blocks, then you'll enjoy the road trip to Cortez, Colorado. Lots of pretty scenery, especially between Montrose and Gunnison Colorado. We left the rain in Colorado Springs, had a few dark clouds here and there and a few sprinkles but mostly hot and sunny. (written by my mom!)
The drive took about eight hours including stops for lunch, gas, etc. The motel we're staying at, if you hadn't guessed, has a computer in the lobby for guests to use. :)
So at least for the four nights we're here I should be able to write something now and then about the day's events. Tomorrow we're scheduled to go to Mesa Verde. Stay tuned.
The drive took about eight hours including stops for lunch, gas, etc. The motel we're staying at, if you hadn't guessed, has a computer in the lobby for guests to use. :)
So at least for the four nights we're here I should be able to write something now and then about the day's events. Tomorrow we're scheduled to go to Mesa Verde. Stay tuned.
Friday, July 16, 2004
We had a bit of rain today!
I took these pictures from my front porch about an hour ago.....
The power was down for awhile but now it is back up so I can share them with you!
There was a flash flood warning, and some very close lightening. But now, the rain has stopped. Hopefully this means my grass won't die while I'm away. :)
The power was down for awhile but now it is back up so I can share them with you!
There was a flash flood warning, and some very close lightening. But now, the rain has stopped. Hopefully this means my grass won't die while I'm away. :)
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Sandals
I was thinking about the shoes. When I was high school, I had this Geology and Astronomy teacher names Ms. Stroud. She used to wear sandals with colored socks and a knee-length skirt. I thought it was sooooo funny to see her with sandals and socks; we laughed about it to ourselves. And now, here I am, wearing sandals with socks. I think it looks a little better with pants or jilbab than the knee-length skirt, though, and I'm not so wild with the colors, I think. I notice a lot of hijabis wear open feet, though; but as far as I am aware all the marjes' risalahs say to cover, so I do. I even bought toba socks on ebay from Japan - they have a toe because they wear the sandals with the flip-flop style all the time so I could wear those shoes, too, because they don't work so well with regular socks. But the toba socks are black and that doesn't always look so great. It would be better if I found white ones, but apparently they usually only come in black....
Getting Ready
Well, Saturday, insha'allah, my parents and I are heading off to Cortez, Colorado to begin a vacation. We're supposed to be back here sometime Friday July 23, and then that Monday I am up to Copper Mountain for the union thing until Friday the 3oth. I'm excited, a little worried about my pets (birds and a neighborhood cat who 'adopted' me; my brother's kids are supposed to take care of them but I know they'll just be stopping in quickly once a day), nervous about spending a week in the same hotel room with my parents, already experiencing pre-withdrawal pains from the Internet, and a little sad about knowing when I come back, summer is over and it is back to work for me the next week.
My friend from work Laura is finally back from Virginia. She did a cache with me that is near her house the other day and I've gone ferret shopping with her this week. She had a pet ferret who fell ill with a mysterious ailment and eventually had to sleep and now is looking for a new one. She's looking for a size 16/18 Indian-style tunic with a nice embroidery pattern around the neck. In a nice color, maybe a purple or red or blue and about mid-thigh or maybe knee length. So if you see any, let me know. Did I ever mention Sister Scorpion was down here last weekend to watch a Tony Hillerman movie and Zoolander? She liked my house. Oh yeah, I must've mentioned it, because there was the comment about the mac & cheese with hotdogs. :)
I still feel like I have a lot to get done before leaving. I think it is manageable if I get my act together, insha'allah. Yesterday I got the emissions, oil, and tire rotation done on the Saturn. The emissions guy was really politely funny and nice, so I'll probably go back to him; he talked to me about my hijab and about my high school - we went to the same one, but he graduated when I was born. And I bought a pair of Payless shoes that I could wear for work; they're kind of a sandal with a bit of a heel and dressy enough/comfortable enough for work. And cheap, hence the Payless thing.
I may audioblog while I'm on the trips, but I'm not sure if/when. So please do check in now and then, and feel free to chat on the haloscan or tagboard in my absence. I'll try to post one or two more times before leaving, insha'allah.
My friend from work Laura is finally back from Virginia. She did a cache with me that is near her house the other day and I've gone ferret shopping with her this week. She had a pet ferret who fell ill with a mysterious ailment and eventually had to sleep and now is looking for a new one. She's looking for a size 16/18 Indian-style tunic with a nice embroidery pattern around the neck. In a nice color, maybe a purple or red or blue and about mid-thigh or maybe knee length. So if you see any, let me know. Did I ever mention Sister Scorpion was down here last weekend to watch a Tony Hillerman movie and Zoolander? She liked my house. Oh yeah, I must've mentioned it, because there was the comment about the mac & cheese with hotdogs. :)
I still feel like I have a lot to get done before leaving. I think it is manageable if I get my act together, insha'allah. Yesterday I got the emissions, oil, and tire rotation done on the Saturn. The emissions guy was really politely funny and nice, so I'll probably go back to him; he talked to me about my hijab and about my high school - we went to the same one, but he graduated when I was born. And I bought a pair of Payless shoes that I could wear for work; they're kind of a sandal with a bit of a heel and dressy enough/comfortable enough for work. And cheap, hence the Payless thing.
I may audioblog while I'm on the trips, but I'm not sure if/when. So please do check in now and then, and feel free to chat on the haloscan or tagboard in my absence. I'll try to post one or two more times before leaving, insha'allah.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Good news for Hijabis
I enjoy hearing some good news once in awhile....
Livingstone attacks French headscarf ban
Conference hears London mayor denounce legislation outlawing the hijab in schools, and attack 'demonisation of Islam' by parts of press
Faisal al Yafai
Tuesday July 13, 2004
The Guardian
Ken Livingstone yesterday hosted the first conference of a campaign to safeguard the right of Muslim women to wear the hijab or headscarf, and declared the ban in French schools the most reactionary proposal since the second world war.
London's mayor also railed against the "demonisation" of Islam in some British newspapers - and warned that in his second term he would examine whether media organisations' recruitment policies reflected the diversity of the community.
He was addressing the Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (known as Pro-Hijab), which holds that the right to wear the headscarf is a fundamental aspect of religious freedom.
It was formed after the French government banned pupils at state schools from wearing obviously religious symbols, including the headscarf, the Jewish skullcap, the Sikh turban, and prominent Christian crucifixes.
The issue is not confined to France. Several German states are to ban teachers from wear ing headscarves, and last month the European court of human rights rejected appeals by a Turkish student barred from attending Istanbul University medical school because her headscarf violated the official dress code.
"The French ban is the most reactionary proposal to be considered by any parliament in Europe since the second world war," Mr Livingstone told a packed City Hall. "I am determined London's Muslims should never face similar restrictions. It marks a move towards religious intolerance which we in Europe swore never to repeat, having witnessed the devastating effects of the Holocaust."
The Pro-Hijab organisation was only formed in February but its conference was heavily over-subscribed. More than 250 people from 15 countries packed the assembly chamber.
Abeer Pharaon, coordinator of Pro-Hijab, gave a forceful speech on what she called a worrying trend developing across Europe.
"The governments of some of these countries have claimed that they are protecting Muslim women from being forced into wearing the hijab," she said. "They think we are weak and controlled by our husbands and fathers. I assure you we are not. We are liberated, highly educated."
Her words were echoed by Sarah Joseph, a British convert who insisted the hijab was a symbol of choice. "The scarf is just a scarf," she said, "not a ball and chain."
Pro-Hijab had hoped the conference would not be overshadowed by the appearance of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the cleric criticised for his comments on homosexuality and suicide bombing.
In the morning a handful of protesters gathered outside. But media attention appeared to increase his popularity. He got a standing ovation when he entered, and Mr Livingstone devoted some of his speech to defending him. He invited the cleric back to London in October, adding that the invitation was bound to anger the Sun.
Dr Qaradawi called the French ban "a step backwards" and said wearing the hijab was a matter of equality. "Plurality is a universal phenomenon," he said. "Why do we think in our social life that one way should predominate? Is that civilisation?"
Supporters of the French ban have said banning religious symbols maintains the French state's historic principle of secularism. But opponents argue that the way the ban is drafted appears to target Muslim symbols.
Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss professor of philosophy, said the French were not racist but afraid of "the new visibility" of Muslims.
"It's a question of negative perception, psychological rejection," he said, adding that it was vital that Muslims explained Islam "as we are living it".
Livingstone attacks French headscarf ban
Conference hears London mayor denounce legislation outlawing the hijab in schools, and attack 'demonisation of Islam' by parts of press
Faisal al Yafai
Tuesday July 13, 2004
The Guardian
Ken Livingstone yesterday hosted the first conference of a campaign to safeguard the right of Muslim women to wear the hijab or headscarf, and declared the ban in French schools the most reactionary proposal since the second world war.
London's mayor also railed against the "demonisation" of Islam in some British newspapers - and warned that in his second term he would examine whether media organisations' recruitment policies reflected the diversity of the community.
He was addressing the Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (known as Pro-Hijab), which holds that the right to wear the headscarf is a fundamental aspect of religious freedom.
It was formed after the French government banned pupils at state schools from wearing obviously religious symbols, including the headscarf, the Jewish skullcap, the Sikh turban, and prominent Christian crucifixes.
The issue is not confined to France. Several German states are to ban teachers from wear ing headscarves, and last month the European court of human rights rejected appeals by a Turkish student barred from attending Istanbul University medical school because her headscarf violated the official dress code.
"The French ban is the most reactionary proposal to be considered by any parliament in Europe since the second world war," Mr Livingstone told a packed City Hall. "I am determined London's Muslims should never face similar restrictions. It marks a move towards religious intolerance which we in Europe swore never to repeat, having witnessed the devastating effects of the Holocaust."
The Pro-Hijab organisation was only formed in February but its conference was heavily over-subscribed. More than 250 people from 15 countries packed the assembly chamber.
Abeer Pharaon, coordinator of Pro-Hijab, gave a forceful speech on what she called a worrying trend developing across Europe.
"The governments of some of these countries have claimed that they are protecting Muslim women from being forced into wearing the hijab," she said. "They think we are weak and controlled by our husbands and fathers. I assure you we are not. We are liberated, highly educated."
Her words were echoed by Sarah Joseph, a British convert who insisted the hijab was a symbol of choice. "The scarf is just a scarf," she said, "not a ball and chain."
Pro-Hijab had hoped the conference would not be overshadowed by the appearance of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the cleric criticised for his comments on homosexuality and suicide bombing.
In the morning a handful of protesters gathered outside. But media attention appeared to increase his popularity. He got a standing ovation when he entered, and Mr Livingstone devoted some of his speech to defending him. He invited the cleric back to London in October, adding that the invitation was bound to anger the Sun.
Dr Qaradawi called the French ban "a step backwards" and said wearing the hijab was a matter of equality. "Plurality is a universal phenomenon," he said. "Why do we think in our social life that one way should predominate? Is that civilisation?"
Supporters of the French ban have said banning religious symbols maintains the French state's historic principle of secularism. But opponents argue that the way the ban is drafted appears to target Muslim symbols.
Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss professor of philosophy, said the French were not racist but afraid of "the new visibility" of Muslims.
"It's a question of negative perception, psychological rejection," he said, adding that it was vital that Muslims explained Islam "as we are living it".
Monday, July 12, 2004
Weekend Update (Not SNL)
As an aside, who do you think did the best Weekend Update? I'm think it was Dennis - what's his last name again?
Anyway, Saturday I worked on graduate school stuff most of the day and then went up to Denver in the evening for Samah Rizvi's graduation party. It was held in the church where they meet for Dua Kumayl. There were lots of people there! Sr. Karima was there and we ended up talking to each other quite a bit since we were the only two there I think whose native language is English. But I also met Sr. Maryam, young sister of Br. Omid Nejad. He came over at her age and made a life for himself and now she and a brother are doing the same. She is working and going to school to get her diploma and then insha'allah on to college Her brother that she is with is doing the same, but working two jobs. Since the brother has two jobs, she gets to do all the housework stuff. She seems to be a very sweet girl and I liked meeting her.
I also had an adventure with my parents in trying to take care of a paper wasp nest growing on the back of my house. I told my parents about it a few weeks ago when it was the size of my fist. My dad came down to try to take care of it this weekend and by then it was too big to fit in a suntea jar that he brought for it. He also had a can of spray paint stuff to burn it, but he was pretty worried about getting stung by a horde flying out of the burning inferno. So I got on the internet and found some sage advice: go buy a can of spray designed to deal with wasp nests! Mom went and bought the can. It was pretty cool stuff - it sprays from 25 feet away and hits the nest. It tore up the next a bit and started getting rid of wasps immediately. I think I should be able to take down the nest today, so I might try to do that. I do feel a bit guilty about killing wasps but on the other hand it seemed dangerous to have them outside my kitchen window.
Sunday Sister Scorpion came down for the evening and watched Zoolander and Thief of Time, the new Tony Hillerman movie on PBS. I enjoyed having company. And I even did my version of cooking; macaroni and cheese with halal hot dogs cut up in it. And diet soda.
Today I have a 700 page paper to write and a 3000 (!) page paper to write that are both due today. Ugh. But these are the last big assignments in these classes; the classes end Wednesday. I'm getting a bit of a late start because I couldn't sleep last night and didn't fall asleep until after fajr time (around 4-5 a.m.). But I figured out what is causing it. I've had this problem a few times this summer and I know it is because of the divorce stuff. I get to thinking about it and get upset and then I can't sleep. It is also from sitting in front of the computer too much. Sayyed Hejazi I guess has delivered my case to Shaykh Shafiq Hudda. So we'll see how it goes from now.
Now one has found the cache I hid last week yet. One relatively new cacher like myself did look for it, but he went in the dark. I imagine then that it will be found soon. I've run out of close caches to go find - they're all in the city now or involve 5 mile mountain bike rides or hikes up Cheyenne Mountain - so they require more time now and/or are stuff I probably shouldn't do alone. My friend Laura is supposed to be back later this week, though, so I am looking forward to seeing her and maybe we'll do one before summer is over; I found a few near her house. And maybe we'll start going to the gym together again. I think I've gained a few pounds this summer.
Saturday my parents and I leave for a vacation to the Four Corners area. We have four nights in Cortez, then one in Moab and one in Glenwood then back home. We hope to do Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, Four Corners monument and other stuff in that area, then a day trip down to Petrified Forest, then up to Arches and Canyonlands near Moab and home. I'm a little anxious about spending a week in the same room with my parents, particularly my dad; I am sure there will be some challenges but hopefully we'll have a good time. I know there is one cache at the entrance to Mesa Verde, and I can do a virtual cache at the Four Corners monument. That's enough for me.
Then I'll be back probably Friday July 23 sometime. I leave again on Monday (I think, I haven't heard a lot of updates) for a Monday through Friday union training thingy at Copper Mountain. Insha'allah I start teaching a two week SAT prep course at Sylvan the following Tuesday August 3 and that Thursday I start my next graduate school class. The second week of August I also have some work to do for New Teacher Orientation and Association Representative Training related to the union. The next week is back to school August 16. There's a lot of stuff I want to plan and think about for the classes I'm teaching, but it may just have to wait until we're officially back.
I have a lot of reading I still want to do this summer. Lots of Islamic books waiting and a few novels I started and need to finish. I still want to finish the last Bourne book before the second movie comes out in a couple weeks. Maybe I'll take it with me on vacation.
Anyway, Saturday I worked on graduate school stuff most of the day and then went up to Denver in the evening for Samah Rizvi's graduation party. It was held in the church where they meet for Dua Kumayl. There were lots of people there! Sr. Karima was there and we ended up talking to each other quite a bit since we were the only two there I think whose native language is English. But I also met Sr. Maryam, young sister of Br. Omid Nejad. He came over at her age and made a life for himself and now she and a brother are doing the same. She is working and going to school to get her diploma and then insha'allah on to college Her brother that she is with is doing the same, but working two jobs. Since the brother has two jobs, she gets to do all the housework stuff. She seems to be a very sweet girl and I liked meeting her.
I also had an adventure with my parents in trying to take care of a paper wasp nest growing on the back of my house. I told my parents about it a few weeks ago when it was the size of my fist. My dad came down to try to take care of it this weekend and by then it was too big to fit in a suntea jar that he brought for it. He also had a can of spray paint stuff to burn it, but he was pretty worried about getting stung by a horde flying out of the burning inferno. So I got on the internet and found some sage advice: go buy a can of spray designed to deal with wasp nests! Mom went and bought the can. It was pretty cool stuff - it sprays from 25 feet away and hits the nest. It tore up the next a bit and started getting rid of wasps immediately. I think I should be able to take down the nest today, so I might try to do that. I do feel a bit guilty about killing wasps but on the other hand it seemed dangerous to have them outside my kitchen window.
Sunday Sister Scorpion came down for the evening and watched Zoolander and Thief of Time, the new Tony Hillerman movie on PBS. I enjoyed having company. And I even did my version of cooking; macaroni and cheese with halal hot dogs cut up in it. And diet soda.
Today I have a 700 page paper to write and a 3000 (!) page paper to write that are both due today. Ugh. But these are the last big assignments in these classes; the classes end Wednesday. I'm getting a bit of a late start because I couldn't sleep last night and didn't fall asleep until after fajr time (around 4-5 a.m.). But I figured out what is causing it. I've had this problem a few times this summer and I know it is because of the divorce stuff. I get to thinking about it and get upset and then I can't sleep. It is also from sitting in front of the computer too much. Sayyed Hejazi I guess has delivered my case to Shaykh Shafiq Hudda. So we'll see how it goes from now.
Now one has found the cache I hid last week yet. One relatively new cacher like myself did look for it, but he went in the dark. I imagine then that it will be found soon. I've run out of close caches to go find - they're all in the city now or involve 5 mile mountain bike rides or hikes up Cheyenne Mountain - so they require more time now and/or are stuff I probably shouldn't do alone. My friend Laura is supposed to be back later this week, though, so I am looking forward to seeing her and maybe we'll do one before summer is over; I found a few near her house. And maybe we'll start going to the gym together again. I think I've gained a few pounds this summer.
Saturday my parents and I leave for a vacation to the Four Corners area. We have four nights in Cortez, then one in Moab and one in Glenwood then back home. We hope to do Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, Four Corners monument and other stuff in that area, then a day trip down to Petrified Forest, then up to Arches and Canyonlands near Moab and home. I'm a little anxious about spending a week in the same room with my parents, particularly my dad; I am sure there will be some challenges but hopefully we'll have a good time. I know there is one cache at the entrance to Mesa Verde, and I can do a virtual cache at the Four Corners monument. That's enough for me.
Then I'll be back probably Friday July 23 sometime. I leave again on Monday (I think, I haven't heard a lot of updates) for a Monday through Friday union training thingy at Copper Mountain. Insha'allah I start teaching a two week SAT prep course at Sylvan the following Tuesday August 3 and that Thursday I start my next graduate school class. The second week of August I also have some work to do for New Teacher Orientation and Association Representative Training related to the union. The next week is back to school August 16. There's a lot of stuff I want to plan and think about for the classes I'm teaching, but it may just have to wait until we're officially back.
I have a lot of reading I still want to do this summer. Lots of Islamic books waiting and a few novels I started and need to finish. I still want to finish the last Bourne book before the second movie comes out in a couple weeks. Maybe I'll take it with me on vacation.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Friday, July 09, 2004
Aerial View of My House
Achieved using a program called Terrafinder and entering gps coordinates for my location. It finds public record topographic maps and aerial photos quickly. I remember you can do this by address, too, somewhere online, but without the all-important little red dot.
Cache Approved
The First-to-Sign cache was approved. :) For you locals, it is located "in or near" Widefield park. A virtual cache I was working on wasn't approved; I need to change it to a traditional cache, perhaps a micro cache. So I think I'll try to take care of that in the next week and see how that goes. You can look the approved on up on geocaching.com but I don't think there'd be much to see.
I hope he makes it...
I like when people break records, usually, so I hope he makes it.
Armstrong Falls at Tour, Then Recovers
By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press Writer
ANGERS, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong recovered from an early fall and finished in a pack behind stage winner Tom Boonen of Belgium in the Tour de France on Friday.
Armstrong, trying for a record sixth straight Tour title, was thrown from his bike but not hurt in a crash involving a number of cyclists about 20 minutes into Friday's sixth stage, a 122-mile run from Bonneval to Angers.
But the fall didn't derail Armstrong's bid for another Tour title.
He quickly got back in the race and, with help from his U.S. Postal Service teammates, caught up with the pack. He was not seriously hurt, but appeared to have a scrape on his right leg.
The spill was the first of this Tour for the 32-year-old Texan and came a day after he said he was worried about crashing.
"In this race, I'm always scared, always nervous," he said. "The last two or three days for me, personally, have been really, really nerve-racking.
"It's a stressful race."
Boonen won a sprint finish Friday, speeding past Cofidis' Stuart O'Grady of Australia and T-Mobile rider Erik Zabel of Germany. Thomas Voeckler of France retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.
American Tyler Hamilton, a former teammate of Armstrong who now rides for Phonak, blew a tire, but caught up with the main group near the 36-mile mark.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Armstrong Falls at Tour, Then Recovers
By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press Writer
ANGERS, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong recovered from an early fall and finished in a pack behind stage winner Tom Boonen of Belgium in the Tour de France on Friday.
Armstrong, trying for a record sixth straight Tour title, was thrown from his bike but not hurt in a crash involving a number of cyclists about 20 minutes into Friday's sixth stage, a 122-mile run from Bonneval to Angers.
But the fall didn't derail Armstrong's bid for another Tour title.
He quickly got back in the race and, with help from his U.S. Postal Service teammates, caught up with the pack. He was not seriously hurt, but appeared to have a scrape on his right leg.
The spill was the first of this Tour for the 32-year-old Texan and came a day after he said he was worried about crashing.
"In this race, I'm always scared, always nervous," he said. "The last two or three days for me, personally, have been really, really nerve-racking.
"It's a stressful race."
Boonen won a sprint finish Friday, speeding past Cofidis' Stuart O'Grady of Australia and T-Mobile rider Erik Zabel of Germany. Thomas Voeckler of France retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.
American Tyler Hamilton, a former teammate of Armstrong who now rides for Phonak, blew a tire, but caught up with the main group near the 36-mile mark.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Raid rumors
Raid rumors worry Hispanics
By LISA MARTØNEZ - THE GAZETTE
Rumors of raids by immigration authorities this week have many Hispanics fearing they’ll be detained or deported.
People have stayed home from work, and Hispanic businesses have had fewer customers. Leaders in the Hispanic community are trying to find out whether the rumors are true.
Immigration officials said no raids have happened in Colorado Springs, according to the Mexican Consulate in Denver.
That hasn’t kept people, even those who are in the country legally, from being scared to go out.
Stories have spread during recent days of officers arresting immigrants at work, in Wal-Mart parking lots and at roadside checkpoints.
The rumors began last Friday, the same day the Colorado Springs Police Department was conducting a DUI checkpoint near where the raids reportedly happened.
Ana Santiago, who has lived legally in the United States for three years, was one of only two customers Thursday at Centro Latino. Centro Latino offers income-tax help and immigration services to Spanish-speaking clients.
A native of Chiapas, Mexico, Santiago and her husband got their taxes prepared in the almost-empty facility at 2822 E. Pikes Peak Ave.
Her friends and family have stayed indoors since they heard about possible roundups on a Spanish-language station this week, she said.
“They are scared,” Santiago said in Spanish. “I am scared.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church received about 50 phone calls this week from people asking whether the roundup rumors are true. The stories they told of roundups were secondhand, volunteer Vic Galvan said.
Still, many of them didn’t go to work this week, he said.
“I don’t know if it was a joke, but it affected a lot of people,” Galvan said.
The Mexican Consulate began to hear reports about the raids in Colorado Springs last Friday.
Wednesday was the worst, when people said others were grabbed and taken away in vans, said EvaLuz GarcÙŠa-Burgos, the consulate’s spokeswoman.
Phone calls were not returned from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security that deports people to their home countries. John Good, supervisor for the department in Colorado, also did not return phone calls.
“We really don’t know what is happening,” GarcÙŠa-Burgos said. “We are very puzzled about it.”
The consulate is investigating the reports and will take appropriate action, she said. She did not discuss details of possible actions.
The consulate hasn’t heard of raids in the state.
To pick up an illegal immigrant, immigration officials first need a warrant, GarcÙŠa-Burgos said. They cannot simply barge into a home and take someone into custody, she said.
If they are here illegally, they are transported to Aurora’s holding facility until it’s decided whether they will be deported to their home countries, she said.
“They are so afraid,” GarcÙŠa-Burgos said. “Some people are not at work because of this. It is very sad.”
By LISA MARTØNEZ - THE GAZETTE
Rumors of raids by immigration authorities this week have many Hispanics fearing they’ll be detained or deported.
People have stayed home from work, and Hispanic businesses have had fewer customers. Leaders in the Hispanic community are trying to find out whether the rumors are true.
Immigration officials said no raids have happened in Colorado Springs, according to the Mexican Consulate in Denver.
That hasn’t kept people, even those who are in the country legally, from being scared to go out.
Stories have spread during recent days of officers arresting immigrants at work, in Wal-Mart parking lots and at roadside checkpoints.
The rumors began last Friday, the same day the Colorado Springs Police Department was conducting a DUI checkpoint near where the raids reportedly happened.
Ana Santiago, who has lived legally in the United States for three years, was one of only two customers Thursday at Centro Latino. Centro Latino offers income-tax help and immigration services to Spanish-speaking clients.
A native of Chiapas, Mexico, Santiago and her husband got their taxes prepared in the almost-empty facility at 2822 E. Pikes Peak Ave.
Her friends and family have stayed indoors since they heard about possible roundups on a Spanish-language station this week, she said.
“They are scared,” Santiago said in Spanish. “I am scared.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church received about 50 phone calls this week from people asking whether the roundup rumors are true. The stories they told of roundups were secondhand, volunteer Vic Galvan said.
Still, many of them didn’t go to work this week, he said.
“I don’t know if it was a joke, but it affected a lot of people,” Galvan said.
The Mexican Consulate began to hear reports about the raids in Colorado Springs last Friday.
Wednesday was the worst, when people said others were grabbed and taken away in vans, said EvaLuz GarcÙŠa-Burgos, the consulate’s spokeswoman.
Phone calls were not returned from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security that deports people to their home countries. John Good, supervisor for the department in Colorado, also did not return phone calls.
“We really don’t know what is happening,” GarcÙŠa-Burgos said. “We are very puzzled about it.”
The consulate is investigating the reports and will take appropriate action, she said. She did not discuss details of possible actions.
The consulate hasn’t heard of raids in the state.
To pick up an illegal immigrant, immigration officials first need a warrant, GarcÙŠa-Burgos said. They cannot simply barge into a home and take someone into custody, she said.
If they are here illegally, they are transported to Aurora’s holding facility until it’s decided whether they will be deported to their home countries, she said.
“They are so afraid,” GarcÙŠa-Burgos said. “Some people are not at work because of this. It is very sad.”
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Cache idea - Share your Thoughts
Okay, so I'm working on a new cache idea. I have a deck of flash cards that each is a map and fact sheet about the U.S. states and territories. One card per state or territory. And, I'm going to try to pick up a small world map somewhere, probably a fold-up one, because I haven't found country flash cards. The idea is to make this a small cache that people come to and mark on it where they are from. I was thinking maybe that all people would put a dot on the map where they are from if it isn't marked yet, sign a log, and if they are the first person from a state, they get to sign the state card, too. So the cache would have a goal: to get all the state cards signed, and as many dots from all over on the map as possible. I'd probably sign the Colorado card myself and take a picture of it to put on the website and show folks what they're supposed to do. I need to find a good, secure hiding place that isn't too hard to reach. So I'm open to ideas on working out the kinks, etc.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Frederick Douglass Independence Day Speech-Excerpt
Fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that the dumb might eloquently speak and the lame man leap as an hart.
But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.
Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that the dumb might eloquently speak and the lame man leap as an hart.
But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.
Disgusting: Followup
Penalty uncertain in accidental release of sewage
THE GAZETTE
It could be weeks before the state health department decides what penalty, if any, Colorado Springs Utilities will receive for an early Saturday morning spill that sent 62,000 gallons of partially treated sewage sludge down two creeks that flow into the Arkansas River.
Meanwhile, health department spokesman Christopher Dann said health hazards from the accidental release ease with each day.
"We are not sampling (the water), and I don't expect that we will," Dann said Tuesday. "The event is three days old, flows within the waterways are high, and I understand you had rain afterward. We believe dilution and natural biodegradation makes the danger level low."
The city-owned utility on Tuesday was investigating how the spill occurred.
THE GAZETTE
It could be weeks before the state health department decides what penalty, if any, Colorado Springs Utilities will receive for an early Saturday morning spill that sent 62,000 gallons of partially treated sewage sludge down two creeks that flow into the Arkansas River.
Meanwhile, health department spokesman Christopher Dann said health hazards from the accidental release ease with each day.
"We are not sampling (the water), and I don't expect that we will," Dann said Tuesday. "The event is three days old, flows within the waterways are high, and I understand you had rain afterward. We believe dilution and natural biodegradation makes the danger level low."
The city-owned utility on Tuesday was investigating how the spill occurred.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Stupid UOP SSL Encryption and Mozilla Thunderbird!
Did that get your attention because it was meaningless to you?
I am currently a little annoyed. My graduate school, University of Phoenix (UOP), changed its setup for our online classes in the middle of my current classes. Now the classes are SSL encrypted. SSL = secure sockets layer, but I don't really know what that means. Anyway, we had to change accounts. So I had to go into my mail program, Entourage, and change my account setup manually, changing the server and marking the SSL stuff and so on. Doesn't work, despite following directions. So, I have to call tech support seeing as I have a paper due today. I spend several minutes on hold and then I spend about an hour on tech support. There is some glitch so that the new setup doesn't work with certain people's Entourage programs - with no apparent knowledge of why it works for some but not others. So I had to download a new program that it will work with and setup everything anew with it. That program being Mozilla Thunderbird. This program sucks compared to Entourage. It is slower, it doesn't allow me to truly save login and password info for newsgroups so I have to type that it about 50 times a day, and it crashes whenever I try to view a window from another program and other various as-yet-undetermined reasons. But I did get my paper turned in.
Have a nice day. :)
I am currently a little annoyed. My graduate school, University of Phoenix (UOP), changed its setup for our online classes in the middle of my current classes. Now the classes are SSL encrypted. SSL = secure sockets layer, but I don't really know what that means. Anyway, we had to change accounts. So I had to go into my mail program, Entourage, and change my account setup manually, changing the server and marking the SSL stuff and so on. Doesn't work, despite following directions. So, I have to call tech support seeing as I have a paper due today. I spend several minutes on hold and then I spend about an hour on tech support. There is some glitch so that the new setup doesn't work with certain people's Entourage programs - with no apparent knowledge of why it works for some but not others. So I had to download a new program that it will work with and setup everything anew with it. That program being Mozilla Thunderbird. This program sucks compared to Entourage. It is slower, it doesn't allow me to truly save login and password info for newsgroups so I have to type that it about 50 times a day, and it crashes whenever I try to view a window from another program and other various as-yet-undetermined reasons. But I did get my paper turned in.
Have a nice day. :)
Monday, July 05, 2004
Bluestem Prairie Open Space
Okay, I changed my mind. I'm having fun with the camera, so here are some pictures I took today at Bluestem Prairie Open Space. One of the caches that Sister Soljah and I hid is located in this preserve.
If you look closely, there is an antelope in this picture. :)
Just a beautiful view!
The white pelicans - marvelous birds.
If you look closely, there is an antelope in this picture. :)
Just a beautiful view!
The white pelicans - marvelous birds.
For your Blog Enjoyment and my Amusement
I added a books-being-read section to the side bar underneath the tagboard. allconsuming.net . Some books can't be added as they have to be in amazon's directory, I believe, and a fair number of Islamic books aren't. But enjoy!
Sunday, July 04, 2004
July 4th
Well today was a holiday here - 4th of July a.k.a. Independence Day. My aunt holds a family picnic at her house every year on the 4th. I did not succeed in getting any good pictures there. It rained but everyone still had a good time; some people probably too much. The kids were playing with water guns in the rain. Then we set off fireworks at my parents' house - that is a big family tradition. Nothing to do with patriotism, it is just fun. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.
I doubt I'll have many photo entries in the blog again for a little while even though there were many these past few days.
I doubt I'll have many photo entries in the blog again for a little while even though there were many these past few days.
Disgusting
People will get upset about this, but pumping it into the ground is better? Yet what alternative is there when you put people together in these large cities?
Sludge pollutes Fountain Creek
By PAM ZUBECK - THE GAZETTE
Colorado Springs Utilities officials are warning people to steer clear of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River for several days after 62,200 gallons of sludge spilled Saturday morning.
Sludge — the treated solids remaining from wastewater treatment — began leaking into Sand Creek near Las Vegas and Wabash streets about 1 a.m., said Utilities spokesman Steve Berry.
Sand Creek joins Fountain Creek about a half-mile east of the overflow site. Fountain Creek, in turn, flows into the Arkansas River near Pueblo.
The leak, due to workers’ failure to close a valve on the 14-inch pipeline after working on an improvement project, was discovered at 8:30 a.m. when workers were alerted by line pressure indicators.
Sludge is piped several miles south of Colorado Springs and injected into the ground.
Authorities cautioned against allowing children or pets to play in the water or with toys that have been in the water.
People who come in contact with the water should wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water. Also, anyone with open wounds exposed to the water should contact a doctor about receiving tetanus/diphtheria shots.
Berry said the warning remains in effect until discontinued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which was notified of the spill Saturday morning.
“We don’t know until we talk to them how long they’ll want this (warning) to continue,” Berry said.
Cleanup was tricky, Berry said.
“We can’t get heavy equipment into Sand Creek because you basically sink, so typically what we do is we rely on nature to take its course in the waterway” through dilution.
Utilities notified the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment and downstream users, including the city and county of Pueblo.
Sludge pollutes Fountain Creek
By PAM ZUBECK - THE GAZETTE
Colorado Springs Utilities officials are warning people to steer clear of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River for several days after 62,200 gallons of sludge spilled Saturday morning.
Sludge — the treated solids remaining from wastewater treatment — began leaking into Sand Creek near Las Vegas and Wabash streets about 1 a.m., said Utilities spokesman Steve Berry.
Sand Creek joins Fountain Creek about a half-mile east of the overflow site. Fountain Creek, in turn, flows into the Arkansas River near Pueblo.
The leak, due to workers’ failure to close a valve on the 14-inch pipeline after working on an improvement project, was discovered at 8:30 a.m. when workers were alerted by line pressure indicators.
Sludge is piped several miles south of Colorado Springs and injected into the ground.
Authorities cautioned against allowing children or pets to play in the water or with toys that have been in the water.
People who come in contact with the water should wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water. Also, anyone with open wounds exposed to the water should contact a doctor about receiving tetanus/diphtheria shots.
Berry said the warning remains in effect until discontinued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which was notified of the spill Saturday morning.
“We don’t know until we talk to them how long they’ll want this (warning) to continue,” Berry said.
Cleanup was tricky, Berry said.
“We can’t get heavy equipment into Sand Creek because you basically sink, so typically what we do is we rely on nature to take its course in the waterway” through dilution.
Utilities notified the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment and downstream users, including the city and county of Pueblo.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Renaissance Festival
Mom and I went to the Renaissance Festival. It is quite fun, but it is also unbelievable how much money goes into that place in just a day. Admission, food, games, rides, tips, wares.... I got a small leather purse for $28 - mom bought it for me. I plan to use it for holding camera/gps/wallet/keys/batteries. I told you I'd try to get pictures, so here are a few. Not necessarily the best or most representative pictures of the fair - for example, no jousting pics of pics of other shows, or the best costumes, etc. But it gives you the idea if you've never been.
1. The King and his court just walking around the kingdom.
2. The raptor exhibit
3. The purse.
Friday, July 02, 2004
The Rodeo Came to Town
Playing with pics again. Rodeo arrived today. Maybe I'll get some pics of the Renaissance Festival and 4th of July, too.
Bat
Ooh, forgot to tell you: at that last cache I saw this cool bat - it was speckled brown and tan, on the side of a tree, sleeping. Cool!
Caching
I found four caches today and couldn't find a 5th one.
Three were virtuals: Uncle Willy's fountain, Tesla's laboratory, and IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial - all near downtown or in downtown Colorado Springs. The 4th was a really neat idea: This guy has hidden Altoids can log-only caches in libraries and the clues take you to the appropriate Dewey Decimal number. The caches are located near books that are honoring particular explorers. There are two more at other libraries I'll do another day.
The one I didn't find was also really neat. The gps just takes you to the parking lot of this trail in the middle of nowhere (literally). Then, you're supposed to go at night and use a flash light to find reflectors and go from one to the next to the cache. I did it during the day and found the reflectors well enough - but maybe I missed the last one or else I missed the cache at the last one. They aptly called it the reflectors cache. I felt like a dummy for not finding it, though, as everyone else who has looked has found it. I got tired of looking and thinking about it, though.
Three were virtuals: Uncle Willy's fountain, Tesla's laboratory, and IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial - all near downtown or in downtown Colorado Springs. The 4th was a really neat idea: This guy has hidden Altoids can log-only caches in libraries and the clues take you to the appropriate Dewey Decimal number. The caches are located near books that are honoring particular explorers. There are two more at other libraries I'll do another day.
The one I didn't find was also really neat. The gps just takes you to the parking lot of this trail in the middle of nowhere (literally). Then, you're supposed to go at night and use a flash light to find reflectors and go from one to the next to the cache. I did it during the day and found the reflectors well enough - but maybe I missed the last one or else I missed the cache at the last one. They aptly called it the reflectors cache. I felt like a dummy for not finding it, though, as everyone else who has looked has found it. I got tired of looking and thinking about it, though.
checking in
Several news articles are posted in my blog these past few days. On the home front, I'm working on planning a trip with my parents that we're taking in a few weeks. I'm looking at Mesa Verde/Four Corners/ Hovenweep, Canyon de Chelly, Petrified National Forest, and maybe Canyonlands - depends on time and money. Tomorrow if the weather holds out mom and I are going to the Renaissance Festival - see earlier post for the link if your interested. And Sunday is the annual event at my mom's sister's house, followed by fireworks, if all goes according to plan.
Saddam's Hearing
You'll probably find this humorous:
The hearing went like this:
Judge: Are you Saddam Hussein al-Majid?
Saddam: Yes
Judge: Were you born on 28 April, 1937?
Saddam: Yes Judge: Are you the former president of Iraq?
Saddam: I am the current president of Iraq
Judge: Were you leader of the Ba'ath party and head of the armed forces?
Saddam: Yes. Can you introduce yourself?
Judge: I am the judge of the investigative court
Saddam: Do you represent the American coalition?
Judge: I represent the Iraqi people ... You have the right to examine witnesses and documents
Saddam: Everyone here knows this is a theatre carried out by Bush the criminal to win the election
Judge: You are charged with seven crimes [Lists them, ending with invasion of Kuwait]
Saddam: How can you charge me with this? You are an Iraqi and everyone knows Kuwait is part of Iraq
Judge: This is not a trial. I am a prosecuting judge investigating
Saddam: I carried out these acts in my capacity as president of Iraq
Judge: You have a right to defence attorneys
Saddam: According to the Americans I have millions of dollars in Geneva so I should be able to afford one
Judge: Do you have anything else to say?
Saddam: In Kuwait I was defending the Iraqi people from those Kuwaiti dogs who wanted to turn their women in to 10-dollar prostitutes
Judge: Do not use that language in this court. Will you now sign this document listing your rights?
Saddam: No
Judge: Let it be recorded that he has not signed. You are dismissed from the court.
©2004 Associated New Media
The hearing went like this:
Judge: Are you Saddam Hussein al-Majid?
Saddam: Yes
Judge: Were you born on 28 April, 1937?
Saddam: Yes Judge: Are you the former president of Iraq?
Saddam: I am the current president of Iraq
Judge: Were you leader of the Ba'ath party and head of the armed forces?
Saddam: Yes. Can you introduce yourself?
Judge: I am the judge of the investigative court
Saddam: Do you represent the American coalition?
Judge: I represent the Iraqi people ... You have the right to examine witnesses and documents
Saddam: Everyone here knows this is a theatre carried out by Bush the criminal to win the election
Judge: You are charged with seven crimes [Lists them, ending with invasion of Kuwait]
Saddam: How can you charge me with this? You are an Iraqi and everyone knows Kuwait is part of Iraq
Judge: This is not a trial. I am a prosecuting judge investigating
Saddam: I carried out these acts in my capacity as president of Iraq
Judge: You have a right to defence attorneys
Saddam: According to the Americans I have millions of dollars in Geneva so I should be able to afford one
Judge: Do you have anything else to say?
Saddam: In Kuwait I was defending the Iraqi people from those Kuwaiti dogs who wanted to turn their women in to 10-dollar prostitutes
Judge: Do not use that language in this court. Will you now sign this document listing your rights?
Saddam: No
Judge: Let it be recorded that he has not signed. You are dismissed from the court.
©2004 Associated New Media
Isn't Colorado's "Make My Day" Law Grand?
Son takes justice into own hands
By DEEDEE CORRELL - THE GAZETTE
The burglars had hit two nights in a row.
They took big stuff: a refrigerator, stove, Jacuzzi tub.
Other valuables remained, and Tim Bannister figured they’d show up again at his parents’ vacant house on North Ellicott Highway.
He decided he’d be waiting.
At 2 a.m. Tuesday, a van rolled up.
This time, the suspected thieves didn’t get away.
Bannister emptied his 9 mm handgun at the van after the burglars spotted him and allegedly yelled they’d shoot him.
El Paso County sheriff’s deputies arrested Tim Webster, 40, and Robert Patterson, 45, on suspicion of second-degree burglary.
They are being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center, each on $10,000 bail.
No one was living in the house in the 12400 block of North Ellicott Highway in Calhan in eastern El Paso County.
Bannister, 22, said he and his brother stopped by the house Saturday and saw the door was open and some appliances were gone.
Family members called to report the burglary Sunday, sheriff’s deputies said.
Bannister said his father checked the house Monday morning and found more items missing.
“We just figured they’d be coming back again,” he said. “Criminals are stupid.”
Bannister, his brother, Travis, and their friend, Julian Archuleta, began waiting for them at 9 p.m., parked outside the brothers’ grandfather’s house next door.
Five hours later, at 2 a.m., they spotted the van.
“They drove by a couple of times,” he said. “We knew what they was doing.”
Bannister said they waited until the van parked in the driveway and two men went inside.
“We ran over there,” he said. “I tripped on some rocks and made a bunch of noise.”
Alerted, the burglars ran from the house and jumped into their van. One of them shouted, “Shoot ’em, just shoot ’em,” Bannister said.
Bannister said he started shooting, aiming for the van’s tires and radiator.
Sheriff’s officials said the bullets struck the windshield, right front fender and passenger side glass.
Bannister said his friend ran up, hit one of the suspects with a baseball bat, dragged him from the van and ordered him to sit still.
“The other dude took off running and called the cops on us,” he said. “He said he was trying to look for an address and some crazy guys started shooting at them.”
Deputies interviewed all of them before arresting Webster and Patterson.
Bannister will not be charged because he was acting in self-defense, sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Clif Northam said.
One of the suspects said he got glass in his eye from a bullet striking the windshield, but no other injuries were reported.
Patterson was convicted in 2002 of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to three years probation, court records show.
Webster was convicted in 1993 of driving under the influence. He was arrested last year on suspicion of being a habitual traffic offender, but that case has not been resolved.
Bannister said his parents were glad to hear the news, even though their stolen property hasn’t been recovered.
“They was happy we caught the guys,” he said.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0285 or
dcorrell@gazette.com
By DEEDEE CORRELL - THE GAZETTE
The burglars had hit two nights in a row.
They took big stuff: a refrigerator, stove, Jacuzzi tub.
Other valuables remained, and Tim Bannister figured they’d show up again at his parents’ vacant house on North Ellicott Highway.
He decided he’d be waiting.
At 2 a.m. Tuesday, a van rolled up.
This time, the suspected thieves didn’t get away.
Bannister emptied his 9 mm handgun at the van after the burglars spotted him and allegedly yelled they’d shoot him.
El Paso County sheriff’s deputies arrested Tim Webster, 40, and Robert Patterson, 45, on suspicion of second-degree burglary.
They are being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center, each on $10,000 bail.
No one was living in the house in the 12400 block of North Ellicott Highway in Calhan in eastern El Paso County.
Bannister, 22, said he and his brother stopped by the house Saturday and saw the door was open and some appliances were gone.
Family members called to report the burglary Sunday, sheriff’s deputies said.
Bannister said his father checked the house Monday morning and found more items missing.
“We just figured they’d be coming back again,” he said. “Criminals are stupid.”
Bannister, his brother, Travis, and their friend, Julian Archuleta, began waiting for them at 9 p.m., parked outside the brothers’ grandfather’s house next door.
Five hours later, at 2 a.m., they spotted the van.
“They drove by a couple of times,” he said. “We knew what they was doing.”
Bannister said they waited until the van parked in the driveway and two men went inside.
“We ran over there,” he said. “I tripped on some rocks and made a bunch of noise.”
Alerted, the burglars ran from the house and jumped into their van. One of them shouted, “Shoot ’em, just shoot ’em,” Bannister said.
Bannister said he started shooting, aiming for the van’s tires and radiator.
Sheriff’s officials said the bullets struck the windshield, right front fender and passenger side glass.
Bannister said his friend ran up, hit one of the suspects with a baseball bat, dragged him from the van and ordered him to sit still.
“The other dude took off running and called the cops on us,” he said. “He said he was trying to look for an address and some crazy guys started shooting at them.”
Deputies interviewed all of them before arresting Webster and Patterson.
Bannister will not be charged because he was acting in self-defense, sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Clif Northam said.
One of the suspects said he got glass in his eye from a bullet striking the windshield, but no other injuries were reported.
Patterson was convicted in 2002 of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to three years probation, court records show.
Webster was convicted in 1993 of driving under the influence. He was arrested last year on suspicion of being a habitual traffic offender, but that case has not been resolved.
Bannister said his parents were glad to hear the news, even though their stolen property hasn’t been recovered.
“They was happy we caught the guys,” he said.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0285 or
dcorrell@gazette.com
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Advantages of Living Outside the City
Growing up in unincorporated El Paso County had a big annual advantage: setting off fireworks. I have very fond memories of many summer hours spent playing with fire. And blowing things up. Pop bottle rockets were the best - but you had to go to Wyoming to buy those and I guess they were illegal. They sure are fun, though. I don't view the 4th with any particular patriotism, it isn't about red, white and blue in my family; it is all about family and fireworks. I don't think anyone in my family is particularly patriotic - probably mostly my mom, and probably I'm the least - I think I'm the most cynical about the government.
Fireworks legal in county, but not inside city limits
By DENNIS HUSPENI - THE GAZETTE
Colorado Springs residents face the yearly fireworks conundrum this week.
Fireworks stands annually pop up around city borders like sparks from a fountain, and city residents might think it’s OK to use them in their yard or street.
It’s not.
Since 1974, the city of Colorado Springs has banned all fireworks, even seemingly innocent ones such as sparklers or black snakes.
It’s legal, however, to sell, possess and use those fireworks in unincorporated El Paso County — and this year in Teller County.
So city residents can buy them legally on one street corner, but once they cross into city limits, they’re breaking the law.
“We have maps here” showing the city limits, said Nancy White, operator of the Collins Fireworks stand near South Circle Drive and Interstate 25. “We put signs up (with rules), but most people know.”
They know, but they just might not care — as evidenced by the scores of fireworks city po- lice and fire investigators confiscate every year.
The same rules apply to most of the larger cities in El Paso and Teller counties.
Cities banning all fireworks include Fountain and Woodland Park. Manitou Springs police and fire officials did not return calls Wednesday to explain the law there.
Cripple Creek and Monument are a more lenient and allow fireworks that don’t explode or leave the ground, as per Colorado state law.
That means no pop-bottle rockets, Roman candles, M-80s or firecrackers (such as Black Cat) that explode.
It’s also illegal for vendors to sell fireworks to anyone under 16 years old.
Penalties for violating the cities’ no fireworks laws could include a big fine — as much as $1,000 — and as long as a couple of months in jail. Police and fire investigators admit, though, they confiscate fireworks rather than hand out citations.
“In reality, we don’t write that many complaints,” said Lt. Rafael Cintron of the Colorado Springs Police Department. “We’ll do the verbal warning and confiscate them.”
City Fire Marshall Brett Lacey said there’s more to worry about than a citation. Someone could get hurt or property could get damaged.
“If any fires occur at someone else’s property . . . and damages a house for like $30,000, you’re on the hook for that,” Lacey said.
Attitudes seem a little more relaxed this year toward fireworks since a week of rain has soaked the ground and trees.
Teller County lifted all fire restrictions Wednesday, according to the Teller County Sheriff’s Department.
Pike National Forest officials also lifted fire bans there, which include Bureau of Land Management lands.
Fireworks, however, are always illegal on state or federal forest land.
“We don’t have a problem with people shooting off (legal) fireworks in the county,” said Jim Reid, El Paso’s deputy fire marshal. “As long as they do it within the law, it’s not a big issue.”
Some quick safety tips for those who legally can use fireworks: Have a fire extinguisher or water supply nearby; keep away from trees, grasses or structures; adults should light fireworks for children under 16; and follow directions and only light one at a time.
One last thing:
“Folks should have lots of fun,” Reid said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Copyright 2004, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information. All rights reserved. Contact us.
Fireworks legal in county, but not inside city limits
By DENNIS HUSPENI - THE GAZETTE
Colorado Springs residents face the yearly fireworks conundrum this week.
Fireworks stands annually pop up around city borders like sparks from a fountain, and city residents might think it’s OK to use them in their yard or street.
It’s not.
Since 1974, the city of Colorado Springs has banned all fireworks, even seemingly innocent ones such as sparklers or black snakes.
It’s legal, however, to sell, possess and use those fireworks in unincorporated El Paso County — and this year in Teller County.
So city residents can buy them legally on one street corner, but once they cross into city limits, they’re breaking the law.
“We have maps here” showing the city limits, said Nancy White, operator of the Collins Fireworks stand near South Circle Drive and Interstate 25. “We put signs up (with rules), but most people know.”
They know, but they just might not care — as evidenced by the scores of fireworks city po- lice and fire investigators confiscate every year.
The same rules apply to most of the larger cities in El Paso and Teller counties.
Cities banning all fireworks include Fountain and Woodland Park. Manitou Springs police and fire officials did not return calls Wednesday to explain the law there.
Cripple Creek and Monument are a more lenient and allow fireworks that don’t explode or leave the ground, as per Colorado state law.
That means no pop-bottle rockets, Roman candles, M-80s or firecrackers (such as Black Cat) that explode.
It’s also illegal for vendors to sell fireworks to anyone under 16 years old.
Penalties for violating the cities’ no fireworks laws could include a big fine — as much as $1,000 — and as long as a couple of months in jail. Police and fire investigators admit, though, they confiscate fireworks rather than hand out citations.
“In reality, we don’t write that many complaints,” said Lt. Rafael Cintron of the Colorado Springs Police Department. “We’ll do the verbal warning and confiscate them.”
City Fire Marshall Brett Lacey said there’s more to worry about than a citation. Someone could get hurt or property could get damaged.
“If any fires occur at someone else’s property . . . and damages a house for like $30,000, you’re on the hook for that,” Lacey said.
Attitudes seem a little more relaxed this year toward fireworks since a week of rain has soaked the ground and trees.
Teller County lifted all fire restrictions Wednesday, according to the Teller County Sheriff’s Department.
Pike National Forest officials also lifted fire bans there, which include Bureau of Land Management lands.
Fireworks, however, are always illegal on state or federal forest land.
“We don’t have a problem with people shooting off (legal) fireworks in the county,” said Jim Reid, El Paso’s deputy fire marshal. “As long as they do it within the law, it’s not a big issue.”
Some quick safety tips for those who legally can use fireworks: Have a fire extinguisher or water supply nearby; keep away from trees, grasses or structures; adults should light fireworks for children under 16; and follow directions and only light one at a time.
One last thing:
“Folks should have lots of fun,” Reid said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
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