Scott McInnis and his D.C. Mentality

by The Lone Front Ranger

Gubernatorial Candidate Scott McInnis is in favor of the expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. That sounds like a very pro-military position, doesn’t it? Most of us in Colorado are proudly pro-military. But at what cost?

Congressman McInnis says this is about “jobs, jobs, jobs”, but he is putting himself in charge of picking winners and losers. Who determines that a military job is more important than a rancher’s job? A true conservative would let the market decide, and not use the force of the Federal Government to anoint one over the other. But the Congressman is not a true Conservative.

Instead, he travels the state of Colorado using a “cow-camp” as a prop to prove his rural roots, while throwing farmers and ranchers under the bus. McInnis is saying that to oppose expansion is to oppose the military. That is an insult to all military-loving people who also understand that our military protects, among other rights, our right to our private property.

Congressman McInnis’s position has even caused the Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition (PCEOC), a non-partisan organization, to oppose his candidacy. His Washington D.C. mentality goes against the western philosophy of less government intervention, less government intrusion, and less government influence.

McInnis has said that the Federal Government is not talking about condemning property in order to expand Piñon Canyon. But they have used condemnation in the past to acquire property. Then, on July 30, at an Armed Services Committee hearing, Secretary of the Army John McHugh would not comment on whether expansion would proceed “not using eminent domain”. McHugh didn’t answer, “under the rubric of not wanting to make a promise I can’t keep”. Is it any wonder there is no trust? Unless private property owners can be assured that eminent domain is off the table forever, then that threat will remain for these farmers, ranchers and other residents of the area.

Congressman McInnis is on the wrong side of small government, the wrong side of private property rights, the wrong side of conservatism, and he is on the wrong side of this issue.

“Who Do You Trust?”
by John Alexander Madison
October 26, 2009

The internet…thank you Al Gore. You invented the internet, right? In some regards it is a blessing and in others a curse. Daily e-mails with family and friends are an easy, convenient and instant way to stay in touch. And many interesting messages include those which pay tribute to fallen military heroes or those who have faced overwhelming obstacles and life-threatening challenges only to beat the odds. They are certainly uplifting and a tribute to the human spirit and individual faith. The problem is which should you believe…which messages do you trust?

PART I
Even if you aren’t a sports fan this recent message is very interesting and the question asked is which professional organization are these facts referring to, the National Football League (NFL) or the National Basketball Association (NBA)?

STATED FACTS: 36 have been accused of spousal abuse; 7 have been arrested for fraud; 19 have been accused of writing bad checks; 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses; 3 have done time for assault; 71 (repeat 71) cannot get a credit card due to bad credit; 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges; 8 have been arrested for shoplifting; 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits; and, 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year.

Does this describe the NFL or the NBA? Do you give up? It is, of course, a trick question. While the statistics for the NFL and NBA were not offered (and they could very well match or exceed these,) the above scenario belongs to the 535 members of the United States Congress, the same group of ‘idiots’ (per the e-mail message) that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line. If these are “facts” regarding members of the United States Congress “who do you trust” becomes a very legitimate and fair question.

Well, as I said…this one is interesting, perhaps accurate and certainly thought provoking.

PART II
Here’s another e-mail which has been widely circulated and attributed to Andy Rooney.

DID YOU KNOW? As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view ... it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!

DID YOU KNOW? As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.

DID YOU KNOW? As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see on the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit a display of the Ten Commandments!

DID YOU KNOW? There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.

DID YOU KNOW? James Madison, the fourth president, known as 'The Father of Our Constitution' made the following statement:'We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.'

DID YOU KNOW? Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.

DID YOU KNOW? Fifty-two of the fifty-five founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.

DID YOU KNOW? Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law an oligarchy…the rule of few over many.

How then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for more than 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?

This widely circulated e-mail ends with the following message:

Let’s send this message around the world and let the world see and remember what this great country was built on and the values our Founding Fathers envisioned for our new nation. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, it is very hard to understand why there is such a fuss about having the Ten Commandments on public display or having “One nation, under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just (politely) tell the other 14% to Sit Down and SHUT UP!!!

Regarding sending this message around the world, how about we start by sending this message to the Commander-in- Chief (a/k/a Chief Narcissist) at the White House and every member of Congress?

EPILOGUE
You are kidding right? In answering the question “Who Do You Trust?” the choice is Congress or GOD?

Well, having 'In God We Trust' on our money AND KEEPING IT THERE sounds like a darn good idea to me. How about you?

I was asked to send this on if I agreed (or delete if I didn't.) Now it is your turn, because I just did.




(Bonus question) Depending on your age you may remember a 1950’s late afternoon television program called “Who Do You Trust” featuring announcer Ed McMahon. Who was the star of the show? Answer: Johnny Carson.

The Pińon Canyon Dilemma

By Range Rider

As the next year’s elections approach, politicians are on the prowl for issues to champion for publicity and vote-getting purposes. Such is the case with the proposed Pińon Canyon expansion, where some prominent politicians have seized this issue from the standpoint of economic development and insisted that the Army’s request for more land must be accommodated because of the potential for job creation and the importance of the U.S. military to the state of Colorado.

In the dialogue, some valid points are raised. The state of Colorado benefits greatly from the presence of Fort Carson, the Air Force academy and other military installations in the state. In fact, these entities account for $1.6 billion in the state’s economy. The Army has demonstrated their willingness to work constructively with the residents by whittling down the number of acres required to expand the training range from 418,000 down to 100,000 . The expansion of the training ground is important to the mission of the Army, and Coloradans are generally very supportive of the U.S. armed forces and their mission.

However, the residents remember that the Army seized the original 214,000 through the right of eminent domain. The scars from that acquisition still remain and contribute to the defensiveness of landowners when the issue is raised. In addition, although the expansion will create more jobs, the growth will more likely benefit Fort Carson and the surrounding area, almost a hundred miles away. The Pińon Canyon area, unlike Fort Carson, will also have to suffer the impact of the expansion in terms of increased noise and decreased desirability of the area in general. These folks are in danger of losing their homestead and may have to find a new start and potentially a new way of life. They deserve to be heard and have a choice.

There is no solution that will satisfy everyone involved. However, to assume there is no possible compromise is short-sighted. While ranchers are now protected by HB 1317 that prevents Colorado from selling state land to the Army, there may be some landowners who would be willing to accept a reasonable offer to sell their property. These individuals should not be denied the opportunity to offer their acreage for sale to the Army. It’s possible there might be enough interested parties to enable the Army to obtain the land they need for expansion when coupled with the available state land.

The Army would help their cause by making a greater effort to explain the need for the expansion, what other options have been considered and frankly discuss the ramifications for the area in relation to increased traffic, noise, and loss of land and water rights.

It is not helpful to have politicians creating a polarizing environment. The emotions stirred up by the one-sided or incendiary views of some politicians do nothing to advance the process. The residents of Pińon Canyon have the right to carefully review the factual information pertaining to the situation and make a rational decision regarding the interests of their families and community. Range Rider thinks the politicians should get off their high horses and work together to help find a solution.

“Inexcusable”
by John Alexander Madison
October 20, 2009

Our federal government is officially out of control and the arrogance of the Obama administration and members of the Democrat Party in control of Congress is growing by the day.

First it was the characterization of American citizens participating in tea parties as “mobs” when they organized protests of what seem to the inevitable forcing feeding of a national health care program. Then, all summer long, millions of citizens attending town hall meetings expressed outrage over never-ending government bailouts, out of control spending, one stimulus package after another, promises of skyrocketing costs for energy and healthcare, and the federal government’s takeover of major segments of the American economy…only to be largely ignored.

Then, just yesterday, senior Obama administration officials took to the airwaves on Sunday “news programs” to accuse Fox News of pushing an unbalanced and one-sided agenda, just days after the administration singled out the Fox network as being a mouthpiece for the Republican party.

"A lot of their news programming, it's really not news. It's pushing a point of view," the President’s senior adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week." And your point, David, is what? Even if true, please explain to me, Mr. Mouthpiece (er, Axelrod) what agenda has NBC, MSNBC, CNN, CBS and others promulgated for the past three decades? For those who haven’t been paying attention these so-called news networks have been very successful in enabling the secular progressive (socialist) agenda of the Democrat party.

Then came the piling on, first from the poster boy of ethical Chicago politics, Rahm Emanuel:: "The way we -- the president looks at it and we look at it, is, it is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective," Emanuel added on CNN's "State of the Union."

"What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party," opined White House Communications director Anita Dunn on CNN. "They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is." Anita, you jest, right, CNN? (But at least she got the taking points right.)

Since President Obama has appeared on all of the other Sunday talk shows except "Fox News Sunday," it is quite clear who is writing the talking points…none other than BHO himself.

Karl Rove said on Fox News Sunday “It's undignified for the president of the United States to be doing (this)." He added that it is the administration's practice to attack its critics full-throttle. Since it appears that the Fox network is walloping its competition one wonders if the White House just doesn’t get it.

It is an act of desperation for Obama and his minions to single out and attack Fox
News. But in doing so, they are again insulting the American public…the silent majority. But that can be expected from the Chicago-trained politicians now in control of Washington. While their tactics may have been successful in 2008 their success will not last.

Warning: In February 2009, the Obama Administration stated it had no intention of bringing back the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine, a policy developed in 1949 in an attempt to ensure that all coverage of controversial issues by a broadcast station be balanced and fair. But don’t be fooled. The Obama Administration, in just eight months, has become well known for saying one thing and doing quite another. So while ‘His Obamaness’ is saying “no return to the Fairness Doctrine” we are seeing on a daily basis his administration’s efforts to silence one source of “fair and balanced” reporting because he perceives it to be unsupportive of his agenda.

Whether Fox News supports the Obama administration’s agenda or not is for you to decide (I report, you decide), but one thing is certain…President Obama cannot tolerate anyone questioning his brilliance nor his march toward socialism, so he is intent on silencing Fox News.

As Bill O’Reilly might say, respectfully, “Wise up Mr. President”

EPILOGUE
Americans are angry. But anger will not win the day. My advice is don’t get mad, get even!

You know what you have to do. Keep holding peaceful tea parties to express your outrage with the direction of our country; kept the pressure on all elected members of Congress at local town hall meetings and through letters and telephone calls; and work to defeat every Member of Congress who has supported the Obama agenda (Democrat or Republican).

For the November 2010 General election we must nominate and support fiscally conservative/responsible candidates for Congress. We need to elect Americans who believe in preserving individual freedoms; the limited role of government; a strong national defense; traditional family values; the sanctity of human life; local control of our schools; and a free-market economy.

English writer John LeCarre once said “If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.”

While we might wish that President Obama would do nothing for a while, since our nation cannot afford more bailouts, more stimulus plans, or his national healthcare ambitions…we, the silent majority, cannot afford to do nothing! The time to act is now.

Footnote: It should be noted that a mere 21.9% of the U.S. population elected the Obama-Biden ticket in November 2008 (66.89 million out of an estimated population of 305 million.) And then there are those ‘annoying’ U.S. county maps which show an overwhelming majority of counties voted for the Republican Presidential nominee in 2000, 2004 and again in 2008. Someone suggested if we can just convince Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City to secede from our union, we can take our country back. Short of that happening, we’ve got work to do.

Angry Noreen!

By Haners


I remember when I used to be jealous. And I mean jealous. I remember a time when I still played with action figures, and my best friend had the coolest Darth Vader figurine that I wanted. Instead of working out some sort of trade or exchange I held it against him and acted like a jerk for a little while. It seemed like the right thing to do when the highlight of your day was waking up in the morning and realizing you didn’t wet your bed last night.

Barry Noreen may not wet his bed anymore [source needed] but it’s evident by his last article that he still deals with jealousy issues like a child. Considering the fact that the Gazette’s readership is dropping faster then the population of Detroit, I can only assume you didn’t read Noreen’s snarky rant about how Jeff Crank shouldn’t have an opinion about some local races.

After reading the article, a couple of things become clear. For starters, Noreen has to be intensely jealous of Jeff Crank to lash out the way he did. This is understandable. Crank has a radio show (even if it runs at an un-godly hour on a Saturday morning), ran for Congress, and has a major voice in the issues of the day; the sort of things that reporters wish they had. Also Noreen apparently believes that a) opinions only matter if your name is Barry Noreen, b) former political candidates have no community involvement, and c) being employed by a media outlet should disqualify you from having an opinion (see “a” for the sole exception). Obviously this is completely detached from reality and so I’d like to give Mr. Noreen a couple of life tips…

#1. You Don’t Have To Be a Gazette Opinion Writer to Have an Opinion

Stay with me for a second, Noreen. I know it’s hard to believe, but sometimes people who aren’t on the Gazette’s dwindling payroll have opinions about community matters. Sometimes people actually have experience in matters that give them a perspective that others may not. So despite your disbelief that someone would actually want to know what a failed Congressional candidate may think about local races, it actually happens. I’ve been asked my opinion too. Don’t be so upset that no one gives a rip about yours.

#2. Having an Accurate View of Yourself is Important

Noreen, you mocked Crank for adding a humble “touch” by saying that Crank would “never presume that you should consider my personal endorsement”. I say humility is a good thing and we shouldn’t make fun of it. To mock humility is a sign of pride. Let’s have a well grounded view of ourselves. I write commentary on internet that my mom doesn’t even read and your paycheck comes from people who want the weekend coupons and lining for their bird cage. Let’s not get an over-inflated sense of ourselves, ok?

#3. If No One Responds, See if You’re Alone…

In an attempt to paint a compelling picture that no one cares about what Crank thinks, you asked for a show of hands. When no one responded, you assumed you had proved your point. Since Dean Toda was probably doing some real reporting somewhere and Carol McGraw was busy writing the next Tom Harold press release, you probably didn’t think to look if anyone actually heard your question. Next time you say something and no one responds, make sure you check your surroundings. I’m just sayin’.

“Inexcusable”
by John Alexander Madison
October 19, 2009

Our federal government is officially out of control and the arrogance of the Obama administration and members of the Democrat Party in control of Congress is growing by the day.

First it was the characterization of American citizens participating in tea parties as “mobs” when they organized protests of what seem to the inevitable forcing feeding of a national health care program. Then, all summer long, millions of citizens attending town hall meetings expressed outrage over never-ending government bailouts, out of control spending, one stimulus package after another, promises of skyrocketing costs for energy and healthcare, and the federal government’s takeover of major segments of the American economy…only to be largely ignored.

Then, just yesterday, senior Obama administration officials took to the airwaves on Sunday “news programs” to accuse Fox News of pushing an unbalanced and one-sided agenda, just days after the administration singled out the Fox network as being a mouthpiece for the Republican party.

"A lot of their news programming, it's really not news. It's pushing a point of view," the President’s senior adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week." And your point, David, is what? Even if true, please explain to me, Mr. Mouthpiece (er, Axelrod) what agenda has NBC, MSNBC, CNN, CBS and others promulgated for the past three decades? For those who haven’t been paying attention these so-called news networks have been very successful in enabling the secular progressive (socialist) agenda of the Democrat party.

Then came the piling on, first from the poster boy of ethical Chicago politics, Rahm Emanuel:: "The way we -- the president looks at it and we look at it, is, it is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective," Emanuel added on CNN's "State of the Union."

"What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party," opined White House Communications director Anita Dunn on CNN. "They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is." Anita, you jest, right, CNN? (But at least she got the taking points right.)

Since President Obama has appeared on all of the other Sunday talk shows except "Fox News Sunday," it is quite clear who is writing the talking points…none other than BHO himself.

Karl Rove said on Fox News Sunday “It's undignified for the president of the United States to be doing (this)." He added that it is the administration's practice to attack its critics full-throttle. Since it appears that the Fox network is walloping its competition one wonders if the White House just doesn’t get it.

It is an act of desperation for Obama and his minions to single out and attack Fox
News. But in doing so, they are again insulting the American public…the silent majority. But that can be expected from the Chicago-trained politicians now in control of Washington. While their tactics may have been successful in 2008 their success will not last.

Warning: In February 2009, the Obama Administration stated it had no intention of bringing back the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine, a policy developed in 1949 in an attempt to ensure that all coverage of controversial issues by a broadcast station be balanced and fair. But don’t be fooled. The Obama Administration, in just eight months, has become well known for saying one thing and doing quite another. So while ‘His Obamaness’ is saying “no return to the Fairness Doctrine” we are seeing on a daily basis his administration’s efforts to silence one source of “fair and balanced” reporting because he perceives it to be unsupportive of his agenda.

Whether Fox News supports the Obama administration’s agenda or not is for you to decide (I report, you decide), but one thing is certain…President Obama cannot tolerate anyone questioning his brilliance nor his march toward socialism, so he is intent on silencing Fox News.

As Bill O’Reilly might say, respectfully, “Wise up Mr. President”

EPILOGUE
Americans are angry. But anger will not win the day. My advice is don’t get mad, get even!

You know what you have to do. Keep holding peaceful tea parties to express your outrage with the direction of our country; kept the pressure on all elected members of Congress at local town hall meetings and through letters and telephone calls; and work to defeat every Member of Congress who has supported the Obama agenda (Democrat or Republican).

For the November 2010 General election we must nominate and support fiscally conservative/responsible candidates for Congress. We need to elect Americans who believe in preserving individual freedoms; the limited role of government; a strong national defense; traditional family values; the sanctity of human life; local control of our schools; and a free-market economy.

English writer John LeCarre once said “If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.”

While we might wish that President Obama would do nothing for a while, since our nation cannot afford more bailouts, more stimulus plans, or his national healthcare ambitions…we, the silent majority, cannot afford to do nothing! The time to act is now.

Footnote: It should be noted that a mere 21.9% of the U.S. population elected the Obama-Biden ticket in November 2008 (66.89 million out of an estimated population of 305 million.) And then there are those ‘annoying’ U.S. county maps which show an overwhelming majority of counties voted for the Republican Presidential nominee in 2000, 2004 and again in 2008. Someone suggested if we can just convince Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City to secede from our union, we can take our country back. Short of that happening, we’ve got work to do.

From the Desk of
JEFF CRANK

Over the last week I have been asked so many times which candidates I support in the local school board races. While I have not had the opportunity to talk with every candidate, I have spent several hours reviewing the races in four of our largest districts.

While I would never presume that you should consider my personal endorsement, I have spent some time reviewing candidate questionnaires, newspaper articles and candidate web pages to determine who I believe would make the best school board members. There may be good candidates out there beyond those I have listed below.

I have chosen to endorse in these races because of the unprecedented activism that I have seen by those on the left who have chosen to get engaged in our local school districts. This year social activists, unions, and anti-reform zealots have put forth an effort to take over local school boards like never before.

Given this, I felt the need to publish a list of candidates who will have our children and their best interests in mind. I’ve sent you this email and will post this list on www.jeffcrank.com. Below is a list of candidates for school board that I support:

School District 2:
Deborah Hendrix

Rick Price

Linda Pugh

School District 11:

Albert Loma

School District 20:

Catherine Bullock
Mark Smith

School District 49:
Donahue Quashi

Danielle Lindorf

Christopher Wright

Please make sure you vote!

Jeff


These recommendations are mine personally and do not reflect any endorsement by Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Prosperity Colorado, KVOR 740 AM or Citadel Communications.

Follow Up:

You my want to read Barry Noreen's column in the Gazette about my recommendations: http://www.gazette.com/news/crank-63860-thanks-noreen.html

I'm not quite sure why he felt the need to write this column. If he doesn't want my opinion, he doesn't need to listen to it. I would venture more people are interested in my opinion than in his, and maybe that is a problem for him? Or that more people listen to my radio show than read his column. But it seems strange for him to waste column inches on my opinion for local school board. Let me know what you think.

A Fork in the Trail

By Range Rider

Sometimes it comes down to a simple choice. Like a fork in the trail, when, once taken, it’s hard to double back. America is at a fork. So is Colorado.

The fork in our trail is just up ahead, with the 2010 elections. Talk is that most folks like the choices we’ve been making. Word is the trail poses little risk to the average Joe, and we’ll get what we need to get down the path at little or no cost. At least that’s what they say.

At the fork ahead, we can go left or right. The left fork leads to where government, unions and interest groups look out for us and where equality of opportunity is transformed effortlessly into equality of outcome. It leads downhill, an easy path where most of us become average Joes, except the elite ones who overlook the trail and tell us the answers we want to hear and what to do.

It’s also the fork where America becomes just another member of the world community, “leading” by yielding its national interest for the greater global good, but getting nothing in return other than a Nobel peace prize awarded to encourage our downward path.

For Colorado, choosing the left fork again means more of the same overspending by the state legislature and poor decision-making at the Governor’s mansion. But this time we’ll have more unfunded federal mandates and higher Medicare costs.

The right fork leads uphill, a much harder path that requires both individual effort and a caring community. It’s a trail where each of us does our best, but not all will reach the top. But along the way, we all get stronger for the effort.

Nonetheless, it is well worn by generations of Americans who pursued their dreams, guided by enlightened self-interest, free from the cumber of the unintended consequences of misguided government intervention.

It ‘s the path that so many immigrants have come to climb, and that so many wait to come to climb. It’s the trail that makes America great, yes, even exceptional in the eyes of those who see clearly. Where the average Joe and Jane have a shot at the brass ring of his or her choice, reap the reward for the risk and effort, and along the way elevate the lives of others. Where innovation and creativity thrive, lifting the quality of life of countless people across the globe.

When the time comes, Range Rider will take the right fork and head back up the trail, hungry for the path to freedom. Ride with me!

"The Real Thing"
by John Alexander Madison
October 12, 2009

Do you remember the circa 1970’s era of great songs which included Mama Cass Elliot’s “(There’s a) New World Coming;” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water;” Diana Ross’ “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough;” The Beatles’ “Let It Be;” Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World;” and “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)” by… hmm, whose song was that?

It was The New Seekers who performed the original recording as an advertising jingle for The Cola-Cola Company…because we all knew (or learned) that Cola-Cola WAS the “real thing.” Together, with the Hilltop Singers, they gained international fame by re-recording the song as a full-length pop hit in 1971.

The “real thing” came to mind for many once again on September 12, 2009 when the winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize passed away at the age of 95 in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Norman Ernest Borlaug was an American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate who has been deemed the father of the Green Revolution. Borlaug was one of only six people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. He was also a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's highest civilian honor for a foreign citizen.

Norman Borlaug was born on a farm near Cresco, Iowa on March 25, 1914. After completing his early education in his hometown, he went on to study forestry and plant pathology at the University of Minnesota, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees and completed his doctorate in 1942. After two years as a microbiologist with the DuPont de Nemours Foundation, he took on the challenge of leading the wheat improvement efforts of the Cooperative Mexican Agricultural Program, sponsored by the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation.

In 1964, he was appointed director of the Wheat Research and Production Program at the then newly established International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) near Mexico City. This position allowed him to expand his teaching mission. His scientific knowledge found expression in a humanitarian mission: developing improved grain varieties to feed the hungry people of the world.

During his time in Mexico, he developed semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties. He shared his immense knowledge of research and production methods with thousands of young scientists from all over the world, "seeding" agricultural production in their home countries with new ideas and new productivity.

A practical, energetic, hands-on researcher, he worked in the fields alongside farm workers, students, and interns, sharing his knowledge as well as the labor of producing food crops. During the mid-20th century, Dr. Borlaug and his colleagues perfected a dwarf wheat variety that could produce large amounts of grain, resist diseases, and resist lodging - the bending and breaking of the stalk that often occurs in high-yielding grains. Under Dr. Borlaug's guidance, this new wheat was planted with great success, using modern agricultural production techniques, not only in Mexico, but also in India and Pakistan. In subsequent years, the wheat was planted in nations in Central and South America, the Near and Middle East, and Africa.

As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply.

Despite having received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 - and, over the years, honors and recognitions from universities, governments, and organizations worldwide - he remained a deeply humble and practical man who has been as productive after winning this major honor as he was before. Hailed as having saved more lives than anyone else in the history of mankind, Dr. Borlaug cites as one of his most prized tributes the naming of a street in his honor in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico - the site of some of his earliest research projects.

He became a Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at Texas A&M University in 1984, at the age of 70. Norman E. Borlaug will long be remembered as the plant scientist who did more than anyone else in the 20th century to teach the world to feed itself and whose work was credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives and, by some estimates, over one billion. Yes, one billion lives saved by Dr. Norman Borlaug, who can easily be referred to as THE REAL THING!

Better than teaching the world to sing, he taught the world to eat.

EPILOGUE
It might be somewhat embarrassing for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner to be acknowledged in the same article as Dr. Norman Borlaug. But I won’t hesitate to do it anyway.

On October 9, 2009 United States President Barack Hussein Obama was declared the winner of this formerly prestigious award accompanied by a $1.4 million check. It has been reported that nominations for the award were due within a fortnight of President Obama’s inauguration in January so one can only conclude that the once prestigious Nobel Peace Prize has officially been renamed the Nobel Rhetoric Prize. Before and since his inauguration President Obama is best known for his flowery speeches and creating trillions of dollars in U.S. debt.

As one Ivy League scholar immediately observed the Nobel Peace Prize “has been diminished forever.” Of course, that may have already happened when Jimmy Carter (2002) and Al Gore (2007) were named previous winners.


(Biographical background of Dr. Norman Borlaug from the Norman Borlaug Foundation).

Ethics and Cow Camps

-With both, you need to be careful where you step

By The Lone Front Ranger

There are two news items under my skin today, one serious and one simply annoying.

First, the serious one:

Governor Ritter has ignored a 1999 Executive Order, signed by former Governor Bill Owens. The purpose of this Executive Order is to “provide standards by which the conduct of all who serve in the Executive Department of the State of Colorado can be measured”. This Executive Order includes a requirement to file a Conflicts Disclosure Form each year. In the 3 years of this Governor’s administration, only one of his required staff and department executives has done so. Only one.

So what did the Governor do upon having this serious omission brought to his attention? Did he require his staff and department heads to go back and fix this problem? Did he document in their personnel files that they had neglected to meet the requirements of an Executive Order? Did he conduct an audit of the Chief of Staff’s office to determine how such an important task was overlooked for 3 years? Maybe apologize to the citizens of the State of Colorado for his oversight and lack of transparency? Any accountability? Isn’t this what we would expect from any regulated business?

Even if this is the first time you have seen this story, you can guess the answer is “no”. Governor Ritter has done none of this. Instead, he has superseded and replaced the 1999 Executive Order with one of his own, similarly worded, with no requirement that anyone in his Administration go back and complete the disclosure for the missing years. This is unacceptable behavior from Colorado’s Chief Executive. Ritter must be defeated in 2010. An ethical man would have made this right.

Second, the annoying one:

I am closely following the Gubernatorial primary on the Republican side. Back in July, Republican candidate, Congressman Scott McInnis began talking about the Ritter car tax increase as the “Speed Trap Tax”, and complaining about having to spend an extra $100 to register his “cow-camp wagon”. A cow camp, also referred to as a sheep camp, is a type of ranch vehicle. Initially, I was annoyed that McInnis was simply using this “cow camp” as proof that his wife is from a ranching family and proof that he may not really be a million-dollar-a-year lobbyist – which he is. But further, the new fees had been passed earlier in the year, had been the subject of a contentious legislative fight in Denver, had been in the news for months, had generated thousands of letters to various elected officials at the Capitol, and has affected nearly everyone in Colorado. And McInnis started complaining about it only when the fee hit him personally, not as a matter of principle.

Then today, as McInnis is in the midst of the re-launch of his campaign, there is this report in the Vail Daily that details his campaign stop in Edwards:

“After the event, the candidate gave tours of his solar-paneled sheep camp, which was parked outside Rick & Kelly's American Bistro. The 20-foot sheep camp — a trailer where ranchers sleep while they care for livestock on pastures — symbolizes McInnis' opposition to the state's late-vehicle registration fee, he said. McInnis said he was slapped with a $100 fee for the trailer, which he said had expired plates because it was being built on blocks.”

I don’t want a Governor who can’t let go of a personal slight, OR, doesn’t know when a prop has run its course. Please, Congressman, when do you let go and not fixate on this? If you think this is an isolated incident (and that I am just easily annoyed) and not an actual character flaw, check out the Congressman’s melt-down on The Caplis and Silverman Show in August:

http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/29876/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/29876/636/richmedia/MCINNIS_ANGRY_IN_INTERVIEW_081209.mp3

Do you want either of these men as your Governor?

“Twenty Five Answers”
by John Alexander Madison
October 5, 2009 (12:05 a.m.)

Q. Should Roman Polanski be extradited to the U.S. and be fully prosecuted for raping a thirteen year old in 1977 when he was 44 years old? (Yes)

Q. Is Barack Obama respected more by our enemies than our allies? (Yes)

Q. Considering the circumstances, do you feel sorry for Dave Letterman now that he has become a victim? (No)

Q. Can you name ten dishonest politicians? (Yes…Pelosi, Dodd, Reid, Rendell, Frank, Biden, Specter, Kerry, Corzine, and Gore.) Bonus question: Could I name more? (Yes)

Q. Do you believe President Obama traveled to Copenhagen expecting to take credit for Chicago being awarded the 2016 Olympic Games? (Yes)

Q. Who said “I wake up some mornings hating me too.” (Rahm Emanuel)

Q. Should the prison for enemy combatant detainees at Guantanamo Bay be closed? (No)

Q. Will the passage of Obamacare be the undoing of Senate Majority “Leader” Harry Reid? (One can only hope)

Q. What do Janeane Garofalo, Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Martin Sheen, Bill Maher, NBC News, William Baldwin, Katie Couric, Michael Moore, the 2009 Congress, and radical Islam have in common? (They are trying to destroy America, the most generous nation in the history of the world)

Q. Should the United States increase the number of troops deployed to Afghanistan? (Yes)

Q. Is it true that Colorado Governor Bill (as in I never met a spending bill I did not like) Ritter signed a bill removing the Property Tax Homestead Exemption for senior citizens in 2009? (Yes)

Q. Within the perspective of the millennium is global warming a reality? (No)

Q. At 2009 consumption levels, how many years of known coal reserves are there in the United States? (Over 350 years)

Q. How much natural gas is estimated to exist in Colorado’s Roan Plateau? (Enough natural gas to heat over 13 million homes for 15 year; Colorado could receive over $175 million/yr in royalties and bonus bids from Roan production. By some estimates, Garfield County would receive up to $57 million/yr for the next 20 years…from gas, oil and minerals.)

Q. Will the Denver Broncos make the playoffs this season? (Yes) Will they will the Super Bowl? (If I knew that I’d be calling Las Vegas)

Q. Who said “Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of”? (Benjamin Franklin)

Q. Will unemployment top 10% this year? (Yes. Thanks, Mr. President)

Q. Should the criminal trial decision “not guilty by reason of insanity” be changed to “guilty, but insane”? (Yes. The question of innocence or guilt in a criminal case should be the outcome of any trail…the sanity of the accused should only be an issue in the sentencing phase)

Q. Is it true that 1 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste are discharged into US waters annually? (No, the number is more than 1.2 trillion)

Q. Is it true that 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life? (Yes)

Q. What is the most popular sport in the world? (Football. Really? Yes, a/k/a, soccer…most watched, most played, most revenue generating)

Q. It is true that many of the colonies that formed United States of America in 1776 were settled by men and women of deep religious convictions who crossed the Atlantic Ocean to practice their faith freely…and that more than 75% of our citizen's have been Christians throughout our history? (Yes)

Q. Is there hope for America? (Always)

EPILOGUE
Bonus Question: As ineffective and inexperienced as President Obama has proven to be in only his first nine months in office should he resign, allowing Joe Biden to become President AND, thereafter, should Congress name Nancy Pelosi as our Vice President…placing her one heartbeat from the Presidency? (No, she is close enough already at #3)

The Real Hope for America

By Range Rider

Much of what gets posted to blogs tends not to be uplifting. Get ready to sit tall in the saddle. Below is the essay I was asked to review for a young man I know who is applying to for Officer Candidate School. He has a college degree from a good school, is in his mid-20's, has work experience, and other choices he could pursue. I could not think of a single edit or improvement:

Why I Want To Be a US Army Officer

My experience with terrorism began not in 2001 with the attacks of September 11th, but in 1990 when I was issued a gas mask in anticipation of a missile attack. Not long after I received my mask I was awoken in the middle of the night by the piercing whine of an air raid siren. My family had done a few drills to prepare so I instinctively jumped out of bed and ran to my parents’ bedroom which had been sealed in advance. There my mother and father frantically helped me to strap on my mask before putting on their own.

We sat in the room staring at each other and listening to our own loud and rhythmic breathing until the television announced that Tel Aviv was no longer threatened. We repeated this process many times and luckily the Iraqi Scuds were relatively ineffective. But the idea that we had to fear a poison gas missile attack not despite, but rather because we were innocent civilians left an indelible impression on me.

I am thankful for the fact that I will always have that memory because it serves as a constant reminder of the forces against which Americans must battle. Whether organized as a government or as a federation of religious fanatics, there are aggressive, belligerent people who aim to do us harm. They dwell in the far reaches of the world and it is there that we must go to protect our nation. I, for one, feel unquestionable responsibility to fulfill that duty. To that end, it is my aim to lead men in combat in service to my country.

With that goal in mind I have taken it upon myself to refine my leadership ability, to improve my physical fitness, and to hone my language skills. Those are the conscious steps I have taken, and yet I feel as if I were born to serve my country. I have been blessed with a strong moral core and meticulous attention to detail. My parents put me on a path to the Army by instilling me with those traits, yet also helped me in unwitting ways. My father's heritage brought me to Tel Aviv. My mother's family, with a tradition of military service as old as this nation, instilled in me the patriotism and humble sense of duty that form the backbone of my life.

I am thankful for the opportunity to invest myself in a noble and necessary cause. It is not so much a matter of choice, as I could not, in good conscience, sit idly by while my countrymen fight. It would be a profound honor to serve that cause in the uniform of a United States Army officer.

Take heart... American values are alive and well in our young!

Before the Spin: Q3 Fundraising by Haners

Happy first day of October! With the start of a new quarter, we will begin seeing the fundraising totals for candidates across the state and country trickle in. These numbers will obviously be an indicator of strength or weaknesses for candidates in competitive races, so these numbers will be scrutinized heavily. Along with that scrutiny will come spin from various camps, and before that happens I wanted to offer some observations.

Gubernatorial Race

All three of the Republican candidates have the chance to make big statements with their quarter’s fundraising reports. For McInnis, posting big numbers will help mute the rumblings about the campaign’s less than stellar rollout and the increasing narrative that he is beatable despite his early advantages. Penry would be staging a huge coup if he is the either the leader or a close second in fundraising, and would have to be considered the front-runner. While no one (not even Dan Maes) expects Maes to lead in fundraising if he so much as posts somewhat decent number he is a) in a position to make his case if McInnis and Penry start tearing each other to pieces, b) be more justified in staying in the race period, and c) would earn some much needed free press.

Of course, all of these numbers will be compared to Ritter’s posting which will also be important. The best case scenario for Republicans is for both major candidates to be close with whatever Ritter posts. If McInnis and Penry are close in fundraising numbers but both have outraised Ritter, Republicans should get together and celebrate (before promptly contributing more money to one of them) and Ritter will be seriously damaged. If Ritter raises much more than both candidate, we could see the narrative switch to one that while Ritter may be vulnerable he is far from being defeated. If Ritter and one of the Republican candidates are close, expect the national parties to get more involved earlier as that will be a sign that this will be much more competitive than 2006.

US Senate

This next quarter is far more important for Buck and Frazier then for Jane Norton. Given that Norton has only been in the race for a couple weeks, neutral observes are going to give her a pass if she comes in a bit behind, but if she raises about the same or more then Buck or Frazier in a few weeks then they did in a whole quarter, they’re in for a major embarrassment. If Buck and/or Frazier took things seriously this quarter and out perform their previous numbers (and Norton is behind) there will be more justification for them to stay in the race. In short, they have much less room for error with this quarter’s fundraising.

I fully expect that Bennet will far outpace anyone on our side, and thus won’t change anything too much.

State Treasurer

Can Stapleton pull off another huge fundraising quarter? He’s in the driver’s seat right now and will stay there if JJ Ament has a disappointing quarter. It’ll be harder for him to stay in the race if Stapleton continues to open up a huge lead on the fundraising front.

Secretary of State

If Gessler posts another disappointing fundraising quarter (12k last quarter) then one of two things will happen. 1. Nancy Doty will view Gessler as beatable or jump into the race, or 2. Scott will be viewed as the sacrificial lamb and will get even less attention then he has to date. The first scenario is admittedly unlikely as Doty has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Scott McInnis, and I doubt that Doty will jump into this race until she knows where she stands for the Lt. Gov nod. Either way, Scott isn’t even in the driver’s seat for his own primary; despite the fact he’s the only one in it. Sorry Scott.