Recorder Online

ALEC and the United States of Oligarchy

admin — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:50:20 +0000

Today, ALEC Brings Lawmakers And Big Oil Together To Undermine Clean Energy

By Rebecca Leber on May 11, 2012

Today, behind closed doors in Charlotte, North Carolina, legislators from 15 states will meet with the oil and gas industry to discuss so-called “model legislation” as part of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The result could be laws that handicap renewable energy targets — while creating loopholes for fossil fuels, written directly by the oil and gas industry itself.

ALEC has faced backlash recently for its role in crafting Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws. Now the organization is taking the same secretive approach to kill renewable energy development across the country.

Oil and gas corporations have a very strong role in politics through groups like Americans For Prosperity, American Petroleum Institute, and, of course, ALEC. Four of the largest oil and gas corporations and two of the most profitable U.S. corporations overall, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP, sit on ALEC’s task forces. And so today, according to documents posted by Common Cause, representatives from these and other energy groups will discuss potential legislation that would undermine clean energy standards and limit regulations of polluting industries.

The agenda items illustrate ALEC’s objectives. Read More

The United States of Oligarchy

By Tracy Turner

There have been a lot of articles lately about the 15 corporations who have left ALEC, which is a good, positive thing. Perhaps it is pessimistic, but these are the companies still belonging to ALEC.

The link above gives you the full list of corporate ALEC members, aka the 1%, those who steal our democracy away with their money. Among the full list of ALEC members, these are perhaps the worst offenders: AT&T, Bank of America, BP, Chevron, Bayer, Exxon Mobil Corporation, General Electric Company, General Electric Company, Koch Companies Public Sector, Shell Oil Company and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Each of these companies has its own special place in hell. Who among us has not done business with most or all of these companies? They use our money to rob us of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Wouldn’t it be grand if people started boycotting these companies, writing their headquarters, etc? These are the ALEC companies that should be most targeted by people who want their government back.

There are other companies that buy our government, steal our democracy in other ways” These companies steal our government away from the sound of our voices… Their products pollute more than the big oil companies pollute” Every year, they kill more people than cancer kills. They are the top 20 defense contractors” The war-for-hire-mongers. The damage they do most is killing both our own troops, killing foreign nationals and keeping the country in a continuous state of war.

We the People …. under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people, for the people , shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln wrote these words and spoke them at the Gettysburg address. The words seem almost meaningless in 2012. … Read More

Bedrooms and Boardrooms

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Of Bedrooms and Boardrooms

By Robert Reich

The 2012 election should be about what’s going on in America’s boardrooms, but Republicans would rather it be about America’s bedrooms.

Mitt Romney says he’s against same-sex marriage; President Obama just announced his support. North Carolina voters have approved a Republican-proposed amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. Minnesota voters will be considering a similar amendment in November. Republicans in Maryland and Washington State are seeking to overturn legislative approval of same-sex marriage there.

Meanwhile, Republicans have introduced over four hundred bills in state legislatures aimed at limiting women’s reproductive rights — banning abortions, requiring women seeking abortions to have invasive ultra-sound tests beforehand, and limiting the use of contraceptives.

The Republican bedroom crowd doesn’t want to talk about the nation’s boardrooms because that’s where most of their campaign money comes from. … Read More

Kidney Disease in Cats and Dogs

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:13:12 +0000

Kidney Disease

By Dr. Mimi Elliott, DVM
Emergency Veterinary Intern

Kidney disease is a very common problem in our small animal population. It is more common in cats than dogs and can occur at any age, but more often in older animals. Your veterinarian will diagnose kidney disease in your pet by running two tests; the first is a blood test to see if kidney values are elevated (this is called azotemia), and the second is a urine test to see if the kidneys are working to concentrate the urine. If your pet’s urine is not appropriately concentrated, but kidney values are normal, he/she has lost 50% of kidney function. If the urine is not concentrated and the kidney values are elevated, your pet has lost 75% of kidney function. In cases of severe dehydration, it is possible for the kidney values to be elevated without true kidney damage or dysfunction. A stone in the lower urinary tract (urethra) can cause elevations in kidney enzymes.

If your pet’s diagnostics show kidney disease, your veterinarian will classify his/her illness as chronic or acute kidney disease/failure. The difference between the two is the severity of your pet’s clinical signs and the magnitude of the blood work changes. The therapeutic goal of chronic kidney failure is to slow the progression of the disease. The disease itself most often cannot be cured. Treatment may include a restricted protein and phosphorous diet, phosphorous binding medications, and subcutaneous fluids. These patients can often have subclinical urinary tract infections, so your veterinarian will likely recommend bloodwork, a urinalysis, and urine culture at least twice a year. Many of these patients remain stable and do well for many years.

Chronic kidney disease can be a result of a multitude of insults to the kidneys. These include toxins, infection, congenital abnormalities, cancer; kidney stones, etc.; stones or calcifications throughout the urinary tract are very common in our companion animals. Your veterinarian will likely want to run a number of tests to determine the cause of your pet’s kidney disease such as a urinalysis, urine culture, abdominal x-rays, and an abdominal ultrasound. Unfortunately, often times despite running these diagnostic tests, the underlying reasons for kidney disease cannot be determined.

Acute kidney failure can be caused by toxins, infectious diseases, or an insult to the kidneys when the patient is already in chronic kidney failure. This can include dehydration, urinary tract infection, high blood pressure, and many others. These patients are usually very sick and may have symptoms such as drinking/urinating more often, inappetance, weight loss, vomiting, lethargy, etc. Treatment for these patients often includes multiple days of hospitalization to flush the kidneys and balance electrolytes. It is possible to get patients out of acute kidney failure, but they may continue to have long-term kidney problem.

Kidney disease occurs frequently in dogs and cats. It is important to note that with treatment, these patients can often continue to have an excellent quality of life for a significant period. Yearly wellness exams with your veterinarian can help with early detection of kidney problems.

AMVS is a 24-hour veterinary facility providing specialty internal medicine, surgery, emergency and critical care, physical rehabilitation, pain management, and blood bank services for pets. They are located in Longmont at 104 S. Main St. For more information, go to www.AspenMeadowVet.com.

Obituary: Wendell Wayne Krause

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:01:39 +0000

BERTHOUD – Wendell Krause, 89, died Sun. Mar. 18, 2012 at the Pomeroy Care Center in Pomeroy, Iowa. Funeral services were held on Wed. Mar. 21 at Larson Weishaar Funeral Home in Manson, Iowa, with Rev. Mark Galbraith officiating. Wendell’s burial service will be held on Mon. May 14, at 10:00 a.m. at Foothills Memory Gardens north of Longmont.

Wendell Wayne Krause was born on May 25, 1922, at Garwin, Iowa. The son of Floyd and Mabel (Ankrum) Krause, graduating from Garwin High School in 1940. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942 until 1945 as a member of the 363^rd Infantry in Italy. Wendell was united in marriage with Maxine Holt on Sept. 14^,1945, at Marshalltown, Iowa, and returned to Garwin to farm. He managed lumber companies in Iowa and Loveland, Colorado before his retirement. His wife preceded him in death in 1997. He and Maxine resided near Berthoud, CO between 1978 and 1997. Wendell relocated to Pomeroy, Iowa in 1999. Wendell was a 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge #478, as well as a member of the AmVets.

Among his survivors are his daughters Rebecca (Dennis) Howrey of Pomeroy, Iowa; Patricia Ann Heth of Waterloo, Iowa; Cheryl Jo Krause of Florence, Italy; son Kevin Michael Krause of Steamboat Springs, Colorado; long time companion Darline Behrends and her family in Pomeroy; sister Winona Paustian of Garwin. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife.

May Star Night at the LTO

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:26:02 +0000

Public Star Night at the Little Thompson Observatory

850 Spartan Ave at Berthoud High School
(park east of the high school; directions are posted on the website, www.starkids.org).

The speaker for the evening will be Mike Hotka, a senior software engineer at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder and an intrepid amateur astronomer, Deep Sky Marine, JPL Solar System Ambassador and Dark Sky Ranger. He is also a volunteer at the LTO.

His talk will be on the discovery of the planet Neptune. Dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds, Neptune is the last of the hydrogen and helium gas giants in our solar system. More than 30 times as far from the sun as Earth, the planet takes almost 165 Earth years to orbit our sun. In 2011 Neptune completed its first orbit since its discovery in 1846.

The ice giant Neptune was the first planet located through mathematical predictions rather than through regular observations of the sky. (Galileo had recorded it as a fixed star during observations with his small telescope in 1612 and 1613.) When Uranus didn’t travel exactly as astronomers expected it to, two mathematicians, one from England and the other from France, working independently, proposed the position and mass of another as yet unknown planet that could cause the observed changes to Uranus’ orbit. Mike’s talk will discuss the astronomical mindset of the time, how the calculations were made and the race to have someone search for this undiscovered planet. Eventually the Frenchman convinced the German Observatory in Berlin to conduct a search. Neptune was found on the first night of searching in 1846. Seventeen days later, its largest moon, Triton, was also discovered.

For the past 8 years Mike Hotka has been a software developer at Ball Aerospace for ground support equipment for satellite communications and data up- and download protocols.

Before that he was an adjunct professor in astronomy at Front Range Community College in Westminster, a member of the technical staff at SUN Microsystems, AT&T/Bell Labs and Rockwell International/Alcatel Network Systems. He holds a BA in Physics & Computer Science, and MS in Computer Science and an MS in Mission Operations and Space Management.

Weather permitting after the presentation, visitors will be invited to look through the large telescope at various celestial objects.

Public star nights are held the third Friday of each month (except July, when the LTO is closed for annual maintenance). No reservations are necessary for these nights. Just come and join in for the talk and some observing afterwards.

If you have any questions, please call the observatory information line at 970-613-7793 or check the LTO web site at: www.starkids.org

Meinte Veldhuis, President, Little Thompson Science Foundation

United States on the road to Fascism?

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:46:25 +0000

The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

Free Inquiry

Spring 2003

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

For an commented version of Britt’s essay and how it applies to the United States, see the following article in Activist Post

14 defining characteristics of fascism: The U.S. in 2012

When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross. — Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here. (1935)

Editors note: The above quote attributed to Sinclair Lewis is an incorrect attribution. Who actually said it? For more on this often use quote visit shii.org “Fascism come wrapped in the flag“

They Thought They Were Free

By Milton Mayer

“They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-1945″,

University of Chicago Press. Reissued in paperback, April, 1981.

As Harpers Magazine noted when the book was published in 1955 (U. of Chicago), Milton Mayerâsextraordinarily far-sighted book on the Germans is more timely today than ever·ä

This crucial book tells how and why ‘decent men’ became Nazis through short biographies of 10 law-abiding citizens. An American journalist of German/Jewish descent, Mr. Mayer provides a fascinating window into the lives, thoughts and emotions of a people caught up in the rush of the Nazi movement. It is a book that should make people pause and think — not only about the Germans, but also about themselves.

But Then It Was Too Late

“What no one seemed to notice,” said a colleague of mine, a philologist, “was the ever widening gap, after1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing to do with knowing one is governing.

What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

“This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.

“You will understand me when I say that my Middle High German was my life. It was all I cared about. I was a scholar, a specialist. Then, suddenly, I was plunged into all the new activity, as the universe was drawn into the new situation; meetings, conferences, interviews, ceremonies, and, above all, papers to be filled out, reports, bibliographies, lists, questionnaires. And on top of that were the demands in the community, the things in which one had to, was “expected to” participate that had not been there or had not been important before. It was all rigmarole, of course, but it consumed all one’s energies, coming on top of the work one really wanted to do. You can see how easy it was, then, not to think about fundamental things. One had no time.”

“Those,” I said, “are the words of my friend the baker. “One had no time to think. There was so much going on.” “Your friend the baker was right,” said my colleague. “The dictatorship, and the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting. It provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway. I do not speak of your “little men”, your baker and so on; I speak of my colleagues and myself, learned men, mind you. Most of us did not want to think about fundamental things and never had. There was no need to. Nazism gave us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about – we were decent people – and kept us so busy with continuous changes and “crises” and so fascinated, yes, fascinated, by the machinations of the “national enemies”, without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. Unconsciously, I suppose, we were grateful. Who wants to think?

“To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it – please try to believe me – unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, “regretted,” that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these “little measures” that no “patriotic German” could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head.

“How is this to be avoided, among ordinary men, even highly educated ordinary men? Frankly, I do not know. I do not see, even now. Many, many times since it all happened I have pondered that pair of great maxims, Principiis obsta and Finem respice – “Resist the beginnings” and “consider the end.” But one must foresee the end in order to resist, or even see, the beginnings. One must foresee the end clearly and certainly and how is this to be done, by ordinary men or even by extraordinary men? Things might have changed here before they went as far as they did; they didn’t, but they might have. And everyone counts on that might.

“Your “little men,” your Nazi friends, were not against National Socialism in principle. Men like me, who were, are the greater offenders, not because we knew better (that would be too much to say) but because we sensed better. Pastor Niemoller spoke for the thousands and thousands of men like me when he spoke (too modestly of himself) and said that, when the Nazis attacked the Communists, he was a little uneasy, but, after all, he was not a Communist, and so he did nothing: and then they attacked the Socialists, and he was a little uneasier, but, still, he was not a Socialist, and he did nothing; and then the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on, and he was always uneasier, but still he did nothing. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something – but then it was too late.”

“Yes,” I said.

“You see,” my colleague went on, “one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even to talk, alone; you don’t want to “go out of your way to make trouble.” Why not? – Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.

“Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, “everyone is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there will be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to you colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, “It’s not so bad” or “You’re seeing things” or “You’re an alarmist.”

“And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can’t prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don’t know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.

“But your friends are fewer now. Some have drifted off somewhere or submerged themselves in their work. You no longer see as many as you did at meetings or gatherings. Informal groups become smaller; attendance drops off in little organizations, and the organizations themselves wither. Now, in small gatherings of your oldest friends, you feel that you are talking to yourselves, that you are isolated from the reality of things. This weakens your confidence still further and serves as a further deterrent to ö to what? It is clearer all the time that, if you are going to do anything, you must make an occasion to do it, and then you are obviously a troublemaker. So you wait, and you wait.

“But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and the smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked ö if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in “43″ had come immediately after the “German Firm” stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in “33″. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

“And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying “Jew swine,” collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in ö your nation, your people ö is not the world you were in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way.

“You have gone almost all the way yourself. Life is a continuing process, a flow, not a succession of acts and events at all. It has flowed to a new level, carrying you with it, without any effort on your part. On this new level you live, you have been living more comfortably every day, with new morals, new principles. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things that your father, even in Germany, could not have imagined.

“Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven’t done ( for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing). You remember those early meetings of your department in the university when, if one had stood, others would have stood, perhaps, but no one stood. A small matter, a matter of hiring this man or that, and you hired this one rather than that. You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair.

“What then? You must then shoot yourself. A few did. Or “adjust” your principles. Many tried, and some, I suppose, succeeded; not I, however. Or learn to live the rest of your life with your shame. This last is the nearest there is, under the circumstances, to heroism: shame. Many Germans became this poor kind of hero, many more, I think, than the world knows or cares to know.”

I said nothing. I thought of nothing to say.

“I can tell you,” my colleague went on, “of a man in Leipzig, a judge. He was not a Nazi, except nominally, but he certainly wasn’t an anti Nazi. He was just ö a judge. In “42″ or “43″, early “43″, I think it was, a Jew was tried before him in a case involving, but only incidentally, relations with an “Aryan” woman. This was “race injury”, something the Party was especially anxious to punish. In the case a bar, however, the judge had the power to convict the man of a “nonracial” offense and send him to an ordinary prison for a very long term, thus saving him from Party “processing” which would have meant concentration camp or, more probably, deportation and death. But the man was innocent of the “nonracial” charge, in the judge’s opinion, and so, as an honorable judge, he acquitted him. Of course, the Party seized the Jew as soon as he left the courtroom.

“

“And the judge?”

“Yes, the judge. He could not get the case off his conscience ö a case, mind you, in which he had acquitted an innocent man. He thought that he should have convicted him and saved him from the Party, but how could he have convicted an innocent man? The thing preyed on him more and more, and he had to talk about it, first to his family, then to his friends, and then to acquaintances. (That’s how I heard about it.) After the “44″ Putsch they arrested him. After that, I don’t know.”

I said nothing.

“Once the war began,” my colleague continued, “resistance, protest, criticism, complaint, all carried with them a multiplied likelihood of the greatest punishment. Mere lack of enthusiasm, or failure to show it in public, was “defeatism.” You assumed that there were lists of those who would be “dealt with” later, after the victory. Goebbels was very clever here, too. He continually promised a “victory orgy” to “take care of” those who thought that their “treasonable attitude” had escaped notice. And he meant it; that was not just propaganda. And that was enough to put an end to all uncertainty.

“Once the war began, the government could do anything “necessary” to win it; so it was with the “final solution” of the Jewish problem, which the Nazis always talked about but never dared undertake, not even the Nazis, until war and its “necessities” gave them the knowledge that they could get away with it. The people abroad who thought that war against Hitler would help the Jews were wrong. And the people in Germany who, once the war had begun, still thought of complaining, protesting, resisting, were betting on Germany’s losing the war. It was a long bet. Not many made it.”

– Milton Mayer

GOP men against protecting victims of abuse

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:48:16 +0000

31 GOP Men Don’t Think Domestic Abuse Victims Deserve Protection

by Jessica Pieklo

The Senate finally voted to renew the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) despite months of partisan wrestling over just who was deserving enough to be protected from domestic abuse.

In the end the renewal easily cleared the Senate on a 68-31 vote. 15 Republicans joined all members of the Democratic caucus in voting yes. Notably, the 31 Republicans who voted against renewing VAWA are all men.

The bill now heads to the House where Republicans are working on their own version of the bill. Read More

Light Sport Aircraft Expo

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:30:08 +0000

The Rocky Mountain Light Sport Aircraft Expos is coming to Front Range Airport on Saturday & Sunday, May 19 & 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) are the hottest new category of aircraft. These sporty two-seaters aircraft are uncomplicated and easy to fly and require only a Sport Pilot license pilot rating to fly. The Sport License requires fewer hours of instruction and the aircraft are less expensive to own or rent.

Come to the Expo and find out if Sport Flying is for you.

: Try a flight simulator

The Expo will feature aircraft from more than a dozen manufacturers plus flight schools, equipment providers and service providers. The day kicks off with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. but participants are welcome to visit any time before closing at 4 p.m. Speakers will be on hand to explain the Light Sport Aircraft category, provide information on how to earn a Sport Pilot license and many related aviation seminars.

Whether you are new to aviation or are a seasoned pilot, the Sport Pilot license and Light Sport Aircraft offer a more affordable flying experience. And of course it’s loads of fun. This is a great opportunity for every frustrated sky watcher to take control and join the ranks of those who call themselves Pilots. Join the adventure on May 19 & 20.

: An Evektor based at Erie, Colorado

The Expo is sponsored by the Colorado Pilots Association, the Voice of General Aviation in Colorado.

Front Range Airport is 6 miles southeast of DIA in Watkins, Colorado. (Directions). There’s plenty of free parking and free admission to the Expo.

For additional information about the event, contact Blanche Cohen at 303-755-1525 or blanche@acm.org. There are limited opportunities for members of the media to experience a ride in a Light Sport airplane before or after the Expo. Contact us for further information.

Click here for website

Berthoud Fire Calls: April-May 2012

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:17:55 +0000

Berthoud Fire Protection District

Incident activity for April & May 2012

Monday, April 2

BFPD responded to a motor vehicle accident on Garfield Avenue. This was a two-vehicle accident with minor damage to the vehicles. One occupant was injured, complaining of neck and back pain.

Tuesday, April 3

BFPD assisted a citizen on Bunyan Avenue.

BFPD responded to a medical for cardiac problems on Mountain Avenue. The patient was transported.

BFPD responded to a motor vehicle accident on West County Road 14. A single vehicle had left the roadway and hit a trailer. One person was transported.

Wednesday, April 4

BFPD responded to a medical call on North County Road 19.

BFPD assisted with a medical call on Callado Street . A man was transported.

Friday, April 6

BFPD assisted TVEMS with transporting a patient from Berthoud Living Center.

BFPD responded to a 100’ by 15’ grass fire on the shoulder of Interstate 25 at mile marker 249. The crew extinguished the fire and was unable to find the source of ignition.

BFPD responded to Interstate 25 at mile marker 250. A semi truck with a blown tire had spread debris across the roadway. The fire crew cleaned the debris from the interstate.

BFPD and TVEMS responded to a motorcycle accident on Interstate 25 at mile marker 251. The rider was injured and transported.

BFPD responded with TVEMS to a medical call on Second Street.

Saturday, April 7

: Tuxedo

The fire crew assisted with a horse that had fallen and was unable to get up on County Road 23E. The crews used hose lines from an Engine and placed it under the horses’ shoulder, then were able to pull the horse onto its feet. Tuxedo says, “Thank you for helping me. I would have been a goner without you.”

BFPD assisted with a medical call for a possible stroke on Second Street. The patient was transported.

BFPD responded to a smoke odor investigation in West County Road 2 area, and followed the smoke to Little Acres Drive. The smoke was coming from a ditch burn and was under control.

BFPD responded to a reported grassfire in the median of Interstate 25. A 20’x10’ grassfire was extinguished by the fire crew.

Sunday, April 8

BFPD responded to a report of a grass/wildland fire in the area of County Road 23 and West County Road 8. After investigation, the fire turned out to be on N. 83^rdStreet and Yellowstone Avenue in Boulder County. This was a large agricultural burn and was being monitored from a nearby field. The owners were asked to extinguish the fire due to the Boulder County burn ban.

BFPD responded to the area of W. County Road 2 and S. County Road 15. The crew found an illegal burn and the owners were told to obtain a burn permit in the future.

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical emergency at the Valley Dirt Rider track. The patient was transported.

Monday, April 9

BFPD assisted a citizen on 42nd Street whose lifeline alarm was malfunctioning.

BFPD responded to a fuel spill on Interstate 25 @ mile marker 250. A semi tractor-trailer was leaking fuel and there were approximately 20 gallons of diesel fuel on the interstate. Loveland Fire and a hazmat team also responded. The leak was stopped but 60 gallons had leaked out onto the shoulder of the road. The crews applied oil dry to the interstate spill. CDOT also responded with a sweeper truck. See article: Haz mat crews mop up I-25 fuel leak near Berthoud exit

Tuesday, April 10

BFPD responded with TVEMS to a medical call on 2^nd Street.

BFPD responded to a report of a possible fire in the area of N. County Road 23 and W. County Road 14. Loveland Fire also responded to the north of the area and nothing was found.

BFPD responded with TVEMS to a medical call at Berthoud High School.

BFPD responded to a medical call on Weld County Road 46. The fire crew assisted TVEMS with transporting the patient.

BFPD responded to a report of a tree smoldering from a ditch burn earlier in the day at the intersection of W. COUNTY ROAD 8 and N. COUNTY ROAD 19. A cottonwood tree was still smoldering and putting off moderate smoke and heat.

BFPD responded to a report of a grass fire from an earlier controlled burn on N. COUNTY ROAD 19. A small smoldering fire was found at the base of a cottonwood tree.

Wednesday, April 11

BFPD responded to a two-vehicle accident on Interstate 25 at mile marker 248. There was moderate damage to both vehicles and no reported injuries.

BFPD responded to a report of a person injured after being thrown off a horse on N. County Road 13. TVEMS evaluated the patient and the patient did not want to be transported.

Thursday, April 12

BFPD responded to a reported unattended fire on Gunn Ave. The fire crew extinguished the fire and informed the responsible party of the burn restrictions and the need to obtain a burn permit.

BFPD assisted a citizen who had accidentally locked her child inside her car while parked on Mountain Ave.

BFPD assisted Berthoud Police with a medical call on Common Drive.

Friday, April 13

BFPD responded with TVEMS to a medical call on Caballero Street. The patient was transported.

BFPD responded to a reported grass fire in the area of Yellowstone and Highway 287. The fire was a controlled burn.

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical call on Highway 287.

BFPD responded to Weld County Road 1 for a medical call. The patient was transported.

Saturday, April 14

BFPD responded with TVEMS to a medical call on Goosehollow Lane.

BFPD responded to a medical call for a child who sustained a head injury at Fickel Park. TVEMS took over the patient care.

Sunday, April 15

BFPD responded with TVEMS to the Valley Dirt Rider track for an injured rider.

BFPD responded to a medical call on 4^th Street. The patient was transported.

Friday, April 20

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical call on Bristlecone Court. The patient was transported.

Saturday, April 21

BFPD responded to a residence on Massachusetts where a carbon monoxide alarm had activated. The crew found a small amount of carbon monoxide present, which was traced to a faulty water heater exhaust flue. The gas to the water heater was shut down pending repairs.

BFPD responded to a motor vehicle accident on N. County Road 31 just south of the dam at Carter Lake. This was a single vehicle accident with moderate damage to the front end of the vehicle. Both the driver and the passenger were injured. One patient was transported.

Sunday, April 22

BFPD responded to a motorcycle accident at the Valley Dirt Rider track. The injured rider was transported.

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical call at the Berthoud Living Center. The patient complaining of abdominal pains was transported.

Monday, April 23

BFPD responded to the intersection of Weld County Road 40 and Weld County Road 13 to assist Johnstown Fire with an extrication from a single car rollover. The fire crew assisted with traffic control as the road was closed.

BFPD assisted a citizen with three stray horses found on Weld County Road 3. The crew was able to find the owners of the horses and assisted with moving them onto their property.

Tuesday, April 24

BFPD responded to the intersection of N County Road 23 and W County Road 10 for a reported wildland/grass fire. Berthoud and Loveland Fire thoroughly searched the area in all directions and were unable to locate a fire.

Wednesday, April 25

BFPD responded to a motor vehicle rollover accident on Fourth Street and Bunyan Avenue. Two vehicles were involved in the accident with one of the vehicles found on its top. There were no injuries reported.

BFPD responded to a reported grassfire a half-mile west of Interstate 25 at mile marker 249. This was a controlled irrigation ditch burn.

Thursday, April 26

BFPD assisted Berthoud Police with a medical call on Welch Avenue. A female was transported.

BFPD responded to an activated fire alarm on Fifth Street. The fire crew determined that the alarm had been activated by dust and smoke from the cutting of flooring for the house. The alarm company was notified to reset the alarm.

BFPD responded to a motor vehicle accident involving a single vehicle and two pedestrians. There were no reported injuries.

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical emergency on East Second Street.

Friday, April 27

BFPD responded to a reported grass fire on Interstate 25 @ mile marker 249. After searching the area the crew was unable to find a grass fire.

BFPD assisted Berthoud Police with a medical call on Mount Massive Avenue.

Saturday, April 28

BFPD responded to an accident at the Valley Dirt Rider track. A man had rolled his ATV and injured his hand. The rider was transported.

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical call at Fire Station 1. The patient was transported.

BFPD responded to Berthoud Peak Drive and High Mountain Drive for a vehicle accident. There were no injuries reported.

BFPD was notified of a possible structure fire on Meadowview Drive. This turned out to be a false alarm.

Monday, April 30

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical call at the Berthoud Living Center. The patient was transported.

Tuesday, May 1

BFPD responded to a motor vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 287 and County Road 8. This was a single car accident with no damages or injuries.

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical call on Willow Drive. The patient was transported.

Wednesday, May 2

BFPD responded to the Berthoud Living Center for a medical call. The crew assisted TVEMS with transporting the patient.

BFPD responded to a medical call for a person with seizures on Second Street. The patient was transported.

Thursday, May 3

BFPD assisted Johnstown Fire with a trash fire on the Interstate 25 frontage Road.

BFPD assisted with a medical call on S. County Road 15. The patient was transported.

Friday, May 4

BFPD responded to an out of control grass on Weld County Road 3. The field on fire covered an area of approximately 200 feet by 50 feet. The fire was spreading at a fast rate because of high winds. The crew attacked the fire from several positions and was able to get the fire under control. The responsible party did not have a permit and was advised of the permit process and possible fines.

BFPD responded to a motor vehicle accident on Interstate 25 at mile marker 249. There were no injuries reported.

BFPD responded to a two car accident on Interstate 25 at mile marker 248. There was minor damage to the vehicles and no injuries were reported.

BFPD responded to Interstate 25 at approximately mile marker 247.5. Two vehicles were located. Both vehicles had sustained minor damage. One female passenger was injured and transported.

BFPD responded to a grass fire along East County Road 4 and Weld County Road 1. A road grader emitting sparks onto the nearby ditch caused this fire. There were two separate blazes approximately 6 feet by 30 feet moving along the roadway. The crew extinguished both fires.

Saturday, May 5

BFPD assisted TVEMS with a medical call for a patient having seizures on Lakritz Street. The patient was transported.

Sunday, May 6

BFPD responded to the Valley Dirt Rider track for an injured motorcyclist. The patient was transported.

BFPD assisted TVEMS with lifting a patient at the Berthoud Living Center.

Obituary: Vicki L. Smith

admin — Sun, 06 May 2012 02:17:04 +0000

: Vicki L. Smith

December 25, 1953 – May 3, 2012

Vicki L. Smith of Berthoud died May 3, 2012 at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado. She was 58 years old.

She was born December 25, 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri to Jesse and Wilma Jean (Parker) Starns. Her family moved to Boulder, Colorado where she attended Boulder High School.

On October 9, 1988, she married James Smith in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They lived briefly in Longmont, and then moved to Berthoud.

Vicki was a project manager for IBM for many years, and transferred to AT&T along with her department.

Together Vicki and James loved to travel and enjoyed many vacations to wonderful places. She also enjoyed camping, fishing, boating, motorcycle riding and metal detecting. She was an excellent photographer and loved to take pictures. The love that she had for her puppies was unconditional.

Her parents have preceded her in death.

Vicki is survived by a loving husband, James of Berthoud, daughter Jessica Chisholm of Greenfield, Indiana; son Sebastian “Roy” Hunter of Merritt Island, Florida, step-daughter Jalene Welzig (Jim); sisters Donna Starns and Anna Marie Starns, half-brother Pat Mullen, and grandchildren Nicole “Jessica” Mullen, Casey Welzig (Chelsea), Cassy Welzig, Wyatt Welzig, Grace Welzig, and Faith Welzig.

Visitation 6:00-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel with family present to greet friends. Cremation will follow viewing at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel and Crematory. Memorial service will be held 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, at the Ahlberg Funeral Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the National Stroke Association can be sent in care of Ahlberg Funeral Chapel and Crematory, 326 Terry Street, Longmont CO 80501. Visit Ahlberg Chapel to share condolences with the family.