The third annual Women’s March in Grand Junction on Saturday, January 19th, drew an enthusiastic crowd of about 2,000 liberal and progressive western slope residents who came out to support women’s rights, equality for women and gay, lesbian and transgender people, people of color and immigrant communities.
Crazy Republicans, Democracy, Economics, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Immigration, politics, Trump Insanity
Rep. Scott Tipton votes to continue government shutdown, keep federal workers unpaid
by • • 1 Comment
House Rep. Scott Tipton voted to keep inflicting financial pain on government employees to help President Trump extort American taxpayers for $5.6 billion to pay for a 2,000 mile wall between the U.S. and Mexico. (Chart courtesy of the Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction.)
The western slope’s House representative in Washington, D.C., Scott Tipton, voted AGAINST a bill on Jan. 6 to end President Trump’s shutdown for most federal agencies.
The bill, HR 265, passed the House by a wide margin — 243 to 183 — and would have funded most of the parts of government that are shut down, including food safety inspections, child nutrition programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program), rural utilities programs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Farm Credit programs and other crucial agencies and functions on which Americans depend.
Currently over 800,000 federal employees are furloughed or working without pay due to the shutdown, negatively impacting commerce across the country.
Activism, Children, Democracy, Environment, Grassroots advocacy, politics, Public health
Ridgway passes single-use plastic bag ban
by • • 2 Comments
Autumn Sagal, Indigo Krois, Elani Wallin and Maizy Gordon (Photo: Telluride Daily Planet)
On December 12 the Ridgway Town Council passed an ordinance (pdf) banning single-use plastic bags and urging residents to curtail their use of other single-use plastics like straws, single-use food take-out containers, coffee stirrers, soda bottles, disposable water bottles, eating utensils and food packaging.
The ordinance states single-use plastics have “severe negative impacts on the environment” on both a local and global scale, that they “contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, litter, atmospheric acidification,” and cause problems with water sources and harm wildlife. Ridgway’s Town Council also passed the ordinance to help reduce the amount of waste going into the town’s landfill.
Advertising, Ethics, Extremism, Harassment, Hate, Intolerance, Media, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
New form of harassment: weaponization of classified ads
by • • 13 Comments
Online version of the malicious Nickel ad
Utilizing a novel form of harassment, someone put a malicious classified ad in the January 3 edition of The Nickel Classified Ads saying our house was for sale “by owner” at a lowball price, and that there will be an open house Jan 11-13. Whoever placed the ad used our numeric street address and included a verbal description of our home. They did not include a phone number in the ad.
We found out about it after a realtor came to our house with the hard copy of the ad in The Nickel in hand and showed it to us.
Consumer advocacy, Deplorables, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Fake patriotism, Lies, politics, Propaganda, Stupid Republicans
Ray Scott deceives constituents by strategically omitting key info from social media post
by • • 2 Comments
Colorado State Senator Ray Scott tried to deceive his constituents in a recent Facebook post.
In the post, Scott pointed to a recent Denver Post article about how Colorado’s marijuana tax revenues are being used, and used the benefit of a sharply truncated headline and added an ominously intro to create the perception that the legislature is misusing marijuana funds. About marijuana tax money, Scott wrote, “If you thought it went to schools this will enlighten you”.
Below is Scott’s actual post (forwarded to me by a friend, because Ray Scott blocks me from his Facebook page):
Activism, Atheism, Diversity, Religion
Atheist billboard graces entrance to Grand Junction for Christmas
by • • 19 Comments
WCAF’s 2018 winter billboard in Grand Junction, up now in front of Hobby Lobby on I-70 business loop (on the board facing west).
The non-profit group Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers (WCAF) has a digital billboard up on I-70 Business Loop in front of Hobby Lobby and Chick-Fil-A for Christmas that says “Make Christmas great again. Skip church!”
The sign is a reminder that the holiday focus should be more on kindness, humanity and ethical treatment of others than on organized religion, which has been proving problematic lately, and to a horrific degree.
Safety, Security, Violence
Leon’s Mexican restaurant robbed
by • • 3 Comments
Leon’s Mexican Restaurant at 507 30 Rd. at I-70 Business Loop was robbed and vandalized sometime between closing last Wednesday night, 12/19, and Thursday morning, 12/20. The criminals broke into the restaurant, took money from the cash register, drank some of the restaurant’s vodka and other hard liquor, stole beer and vandalized the restaurant by cutting hoses on their soft drink machine and cutting the wires to the video surveillance cameras and stealing the cameras. Leon’s employees discovered the damage and theft when they arrived at work Thursday morning.
Leon’s is an unpretentious, single-location Mexican restaurant owned and operated by a hard-working local family that has been serving the community consistently great food for years. They have been at their location for many years and are known for their signature dish, their famous Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. Leon’s started as a little seven-table restaurant almost eighteen years ago. Most of their staff has been with the restaurant for many years and the family considers many of their customers friends.
If you know anything about the vandalism and theft from Leon’s, please call the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department right away at 970-244-3500.
Corruption, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Fake patriotism, Lies, politics
How Matt Soper can solve his problem (Hint: It’s not by staying silent.)
by • • 0 Comments
Matt Soper (right) and Yeulin Willett (left), who endorsed Soper to run for his seat in the Colorado House of Representatives
Republican Matt Soper has been oddly silent about the legal challenge to his residency requirement to serve as District 54’s House Representative in the state legislature.
Soper hasn’t responded to journalists’ questions about his residency, nor has he challenged the conclusion that he didn’t actually reside in District 54 for the required 12 months prior to the election. Reporters noted that Soper didn’t show up for freshman orientation at the Capitol last week, and a Colorado Public Radio reporter was unable to find him at freshman orientation this week. He isn’t answering phone calls or emails, and there’s no evidence he’s moved into the 10 Hartig Drive house that he claimed was his legal residence, even after he had the occupants of the house evicted as retribution for telling the Daily Sentinel Soper didn’t live there with them.
No one seems to be able to find Matt Soper, much less get a comment out of him about his predicament.
So does his radio silence indicate guilt?
Probably.
Uncategorized
Edwards formally challenges Soper’s residency and legality of his election to HD-54 seat
by • • 3 Comments
Former Palisade Town Trustee Dave Edwards filed a formal petition (pdf) yesterday with Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams and the state legislature officially disputing the legality of Matt Soper holding the Colorado House District 54 seat.
District 54 comprises the western portion of Delta County and much of Mesa County outside the boundaries of the City of Grand Junction.
Edward raised enough money to formally serve the petition directly to Soper and fund the bond that the Colorado Revised Statutes require be posted in such disputes. The bond money is apparently to help prevent frivolous challenges to election results.
In this case, the challenge is far from frivolous and could end Soper’s political career.
Uncategorized
Matt Soper’s legitimacy as Colorado House District 54 Representative is challenged
by • • 10 Comments
Former Palisade town trustee Dave Edwards is seeking to formally challenge the legitimacy of Matt Soper being seated as a Representative for Colorado House District 54.
Palisade is in House District 54.
Soper, a Republican, was elected to the HD-54 seat in November, but the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ran a series of articles before the election that charged that the residence Soper had listed on his official Candidate Affidavit was not his true residence. If it wasn’t, Soper may not have met the legal residency requirements to run in District 54.
To qualify for a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives, a candidate must have lived in the district for 12 months prior to the date of the election.
Corporations, Corruption, Elections, Ethics, Lies, Lobbying, Media, politics, Propaganda, Tobacco
What’s Up With That Pervasive, “Too Much Big Government” Theme?
by • • 1 Comment
An example of pictorial anti-government propaganda. Corporations have applied the anti-big-government theme for decades to avoid government regulation.
This column was originally published August 26, 2012. It was revised on 12-30-2016 and again on 11-26-2018 to include some new graphics. It’s explains how Americans came to hate our own government, and is still as true as ever.
We hear it everywhere, all the time, like a mantra.
Candidates, TV pundits and political ads tell us we have “too much big government!” Candidates portray virtually any attempt to regulate or tax any industry as a government intrusion into our lives. Candidates are always for “less government.”
What’s up with this pervasive, anti-government theme? How and why did so many self-professed “patriotic,” flag-waving, red-blooded Americans start hating their own government?
“Government intrusion” is a powerful propaganda theme that has been around for a long time, and it’s an argument big businesses often use to subtly manipulate public opinion. As with so many other corporate-derived propaganda tools, the anti-government theme originated largely with the tobacco industry, which has relied on it for decades to get its way in public policy.
Activism, Crazy Republicans, Elections, Ethics, Lies, politics
Limited time to submit complaints about Republican Matt Soper’s allegedly fraudulent address
by • • 4 Comments
Map of Colorado House District 54, which is all the light colored area. It includes most of Mesa County outside of the City Grand Junction and the western portion of the City of Delta.
Constituents in House District 54 have just 10 days after the election — this Friday, 11/16 — to submit complaints to the Colorado Secretary of State about whether Republican HD-54 candidate Matt Soper committed voter fraud and/or election fraud by listing his residential address as a house in which he didn’t live. Soper used an address at 10 Hartig Street in Delta for purposes of voting and qualifying to run for office in HD-54, even though he didn’t actually live at the address. Soper actually lived with his girlfriend on Clearview Drive in Delta, but told the Sentinel the 10 Hartig house was his home “in his mind.” Soper started listing the house as his residence in November of 2017, since a candidate must have resided in the District for 12 months in order to qualify to run for office in that district. The house actually belongs to Soper’s mother, who was renting it out to another family.
The Daily Sentinel reported extensively on Soper’s address controversy in multiple articles leading up to the election. After the articles were published, Soper quickly evicted the tenants who lived at the address where he had claimed to live so he could move into the house at the last minute. Three of the tenants are disabled, according to the Sentinel. Despite the controversy, Soper won the election.
HD 54 comprises everywhere on the above map that isn’t the green-colored center around the City of Grand Junction. If you live in HD 54 and want to submit a complaint about possible election and/or voter fraud by Mr. Soper, you’d better hurry. Following is a link to information on how to submit a complaint to the Colorado Secretary of State:
Advertising, Elections, politics
The Blue-ing of the Western Slope
by • • 8 Comments
Map shows the results of the Colorado governor’s race by county, based on data from the CO Secretary of State
An online interactive map breaking down the the 2018 governor’s race in Colorado by county shows that the western slope is nowhere near as conservative as the far eastern plains of Colorado. It also shows that the western slope has far fewer conservative counties than the eastern slope, and that Mesa County is no longer a “hard core red” county politically. That’s great news.
In Garfield County, adjacent to the northern border of Mesa County, the governor’s race was a dead tie between Jared Polis (D) and Walker Stapleton (R) at 48% to 48%. Pitkin, Gunnison, Ouray, San Miguel, San Juan, La Plata, Eagle and Summit Counties were all “blue” (went for Polis) in the governor’s race. There are only four hard-core “red” counties left on the western slope according to the map: Jackson, Moffatt, Rio Blanco and Dolores Counties. Votes for Stapleton from all of those five counties together totaled only a relatively meager 8,086. It’s good to see things changing around here, albeit slowly.
Lodging Tax will help the Progressive Left
As Grand Junction’s increased lodging tax takes effect, more money will be put towards marketing Grand Junction and it’s surrounding areas. More and more people from liberal areas will start noticing our area, moving here, and bringing their businesses here, and along with them more diverse political and religious viewpoints and more open minds. One business, Rocky Mounts, has already relocated to Grand Junction from Boulder, bringing about half it’s employees along with it. It also helps draw the right kind of attention to the western slope when the Grand Junction Economic Partnership promotes Grand Junction as “Boulder 30 years ago.”
So not only is Colorado once again solidly “blue” politically after the election, but thanks to the additional tourism tax we just voted in, we can expect the “blue-ification” of Mesa County to continue, and that’s welcome news for the growing and increasingly active progressive political left in our area.
Activism, Crazy Republicans, Democracy, Deplorables, Elections, Ethnic/Minority, Extremism, Hate, Intolerance, politics, Separation of Church and State, Trump Insanity, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Hate in Grand Junction, Halloween edition
by • • 49 Comments
This sign was placed on our lawn tonight, positioned facing the house. We were out to dinner and to Best Buy earlier in the evening and when we came back, the subdivision was filled with cars parked along the streets, indicating lots of out-of-area trick-or-treaters were in the neighborhood. The sign wasn’t there yet when we got home. When we got home, we left the front of the house dark and went to the back to watch TV. When I took the dog out for his last walk tonight just after 10:00 p.m., I found this sign placed on our lawn. We have political signs on our lawn for Chris Kennedy, Sen. D-7 and Tanya Travis, HD-55. But this looks pretty planned. If anyone has any tips about who did it, please contact me.
Democracy, Elections, politics
Sen. Ray Scott fails Project VoteSmart’s Political Courage Test
by • • 0 Comments
Sen. Ray Scott failed Project VoteSmart’s Political Courage Test
Project VoteSmart keeps track of incumbent legislators’ votes on issues and tries make candidates’ positions on issues easy to discern, like where they stand on healthcare, women’s rights, funding of education, how to deal with budgets, taxation, transportation and other issues. VoteSmart also has an excellent tool that allows you to match up your positions with candidates’ positions on a host of issues, so you can see which candidates most closely match your ideology.
VoteSmart also administers a “Political Courage Test” that measures each candidate’s willingness to answer voters’ questions.
Activism, Children, Crazy Republicans, Deplorables, Ethnic/Minority, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Hate, Human rights, Immigration, Intolerance, politics, Propaganda
Hate in Grand Junction on full display today at Mesa County Deplorables rally against refugees
by • • 16 Comments
People from central America on their thousand-mile foot trek to find a place where they can live in safety with their families. Vicious gang violence has become rampant in some central American countries, forcing families to flee.
An article in today’s Daily Sentinel says Mesa County Deplorables will hold a rally downtown today against the people who make up the “caravan” of central American refugees headed northward on foot towards the U.S. border to escape violence in their home countries. People joined the caravan and have been traveling together to protect themselves against violent attacks while en route to find a safer place to live with their families.
Who are the “Deplorables”?
Mesa County Commissioner John Justman is listed as a member of Mesa County Deplorables
“Deplorables” is a label many of President Trump’s supporters eagerly took on during the 2016 presidential campaign. The social media of “Deplorable” groups around the country depicts the group’s ideology as manifesting broad-brush disrespect towards people from other countries, objectification of women and an emphasis on the way women look rather than on their intellect, abilities or contributions. “Deplorable” ideology reflects feelings of superiority and an outright fear of people who are different physically, racially, sexually and ethnically from people within their own social circles.
Democracy, Economics, Elections, Energy, Environment, politics
AnneLandmanBlog Voter Guide, 2018 Mid-term elections
by • • 8 Comments
This guide lists AnneLandmanBlog’s recommendations on how to vote in the 2018 Mid-term election. The conclusions were reached by researching the issues, attending public events to educate voters about the issues, assessing incumbents’ records and candidates’ backgrounds, affiliations and public statements, considering personal assessments of candidates from trusted sources, reading and evaluating the arguments for and against the ballot measures in state’s “blue book,” reading the evaluations in the blue book of judges and justices, and by researching front groups active in promoting or fighting ballot measures where applicable, including the sources of funding for these groups. Primary importance is given on improving health and safety, protecting the environment, increasing fairness for voters and consumers, providing benefits to public education and making elections more competitive in the state.