Anne Landman

Crazy Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Human rights, politics, Stupid Republicans, Trump Insanity

Trump tells murderous Filipino President Duterte he’s “doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem” in his country

by Anne Landman • May 24, 2017 • 0 Comments

A recently-released confidential transcript of an April, 2017 phone call from President Donald Trump to Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte reveals Trump praised Duterte, telling him he’s been “doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem” in his country.

President Duterte has had death squads gun down approximately 7,000 Filipino citizens in the streets of his country since June, 2016, in a systematic program of extrajudicial killings. Often the killers, many of whom reportedly received compensation for each person they killed, plant evidence to try to justify the killings.

Cell Tower to be Built in North Grand Junction Neighborhood Without Public Hearings

by Anne Landman • May 23, 2017 • 11 Comments

The spot where the proposed cell phone tower is to be located, in the field at 26 1/2 and G Roads, across the street from Holy Family School

If you live in the area of 26 1/2 and H Roads, a big change is coming to your neighborhood, and it may not be a change you’re going to like.

Verizon Wireless has submitted plans to the Grand Junction Planning Department to build a cell phone tower in a field right near the corner of 26 1/2 and H Roads, in the city-owned cornfield known as “Saccomano Park.”

Grand Junction Chamber Opposes Protections for Public and Environment from Drilling Hazards

by Anne Landman • May 20, 2017 • 1 Comment

Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce President Diane Schwenke and the Chamber’s Board oppose a legal ruling that protects Colorado residents from drilling hazards.

The Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce is squarely opposed to protecting Colorado residents’ safety when it comes to oil and gas operations, and is demonstrating this by siding with oil and gas companies in an ongoing court case filed by Colorado children who feel their health, safety and the environment are threatened by overly permissive drilling and fracking activity.

President Fires FBI Director Comey Amid Investigation of Trump Campaign’s Ties to Russia

by Anne Landman • May 10, 2017 • 0 Comments

Following is NBC’s coverage of President Trump’s firing of FBI chief James Comey yesterday, in the midst of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into Russia’s interference into the 2016 election to favor Trump, and the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.

Energy, politics

Daily Sentinel’s Coverage of Ray Scott’s Bill, SB 301, Differs Vastly from Coverage Around the State

by Anne Landman • May 2, 2017 • 2 Comments

CO State Senator Rep Ray Scott (R) seeks to hamstring Colorado Energy Office’s ability to promote renewables

Coverage differs vastly in newspapers around the state of a bill introduced by Colorado Senator Ray Scott (R), SB 301, pertaining to Colorado’s Energy Office. The bill seeks to fund the Energy Office, whose funding is set to end soon, but would also reduce the Energy Office’s ability to promote renewable energy. The headlines alone tell most of the story, but one quote from Ray Scott in the Colorado Springs Gazette stood out:

….”The Energy Office’s original focus on renewables may have been justified at the time, but times have changed,” Scott, from Grand Junction, said in a statement….

Also of interest was a quote in the Pueblo Chieftain from another legislator saying Scott’s bill would jeopardize about 40,000 jobs in the renewable energy sector:

State Senator Ray Scott’s Flawed, Nasty Source of Info on Climate Change

by Anne Landman • April 24, 2017 • 11 Comments

CO State Senator Rep Ray Scott (R), climate change denier and citer of foul-mouthed climate change denial author

Three days ago, Colorado State Senator Ray Scott (R-Dist. 7) posted a link on his blog to a Forbes article titled “’97% of Climate Scientists Agree’ is 100% Wrong.”

Scott posted the article as a way to tell his constituents who value the environment, “Ha! I told you so! Global warming is fake!”

The author of the article is Alex Epstein, who has a BA in philosophy from Duke University, but no scientific background. Epstein is a staunch, paid philosophical defender of the fossil fuel industry. His biggest claim to fame is a book he authored in 2014 called “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels,” which seeks to make a philosophical case for fossil fuel use, evidently because a valid scientific case for continued fossil fuel use can’t be made.

Hundreds Turn Out for Grand Junction’s March for Science

by Anne Landman • April 22, 2017 • 2 Comments

A crowd of about 900 people turned out for Grand Junction’s March for Science on April 22, one of about 600 such marches held across the globe on Earth Day to show support for scientific research and scientifically-derived information that enhances life.

The weather was clear, sunny, and around 70 degrees. The march started at the old R-5 High School at 7th and Grand, went east to 12th Street and then turned north to Lincoln Park, where an Earth Day celebration and festival was being held. The crowd was big enough to fill the sidewalks for most of the distance.

Reality Check: Does Your Political Affiliation Match Your Best Interests?

by Anne Landman • April 20, 2017 • 4 Comments

Here’s a question for Mesa County workers:

When was the last time your political party helped make your life better?

If you can’t think of anything, there’s a reason.

The dominant political party in our area has long been the Republican Party, but if you work for a salary or hourly wage, or have a small business, are registered as a Republican and think the Republican party has your best interests at heart, think again.

Daily Sentinel Completely Omits Coverage of G.J. Tax Day March

by Anne Landman • April 16, 2017 • 1 Comment

The small article to the left of the photo is the only “coverage” the Sentinel gave to a Tax Day march against President Trump keeping his tax returns secret from the American people, and it doesn’t even mention Grand Junction. The photo right is of a child at the Easter egg hunt at the Botanical Gardens. Almost 300 people marched through downtown in Grand Junction.

Sometimes, what newspapers don’t cover is as important than what they do cover.

Today’s Daily Sentinel is a case in point.

Hundreds of people marched in the streets of downtown Grand Junction on Saturday, April 15 yelling and protesting President Trump keeping his tax returns secret from the American people and claiming they don’t care, and the Sunday April 16 issue of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel carried no coverage of it at all. Zip. The only article in Sunday’s Sentinel about any Tax March at all was on page 3 of the first section, right below the “You Said It” column, and it mentioned Tax Marches held in Denver and Colorado Springs, but contained nothing at all about the big march in Grand Junction.

Activism, Crazy Republicans, Economics, Ethics, Grassroots advocacy, Lobbying, Secrecy

Grand Junction’s Tax Day March Dominates Downtown on the Day Before Easter

by Anne Landman • April 15, 2017 • 12 Comments

While some stayed home dying Easter eggs Saturday, almost 300 western slope citizens turned out for the national Tax March to demand Donald Trump make his tax returns public. Marchers gathered at Grand Junction City Hall and listened to speeches before starting off on a figure 8-shaped route through downtown that took them along Main Street, Grand Avenue and by the Post Office, where they mailed post cards to Trump saying they want him to release his taxes.

On January 11, 2017, Trump dismissed the idea that voters were interested in his tax returns, claiming the only people who care about his tax returns are members of the media. But he was proved badly wrong when on April 15, thousands of people in hundreds of cities across across the country took to the streets to demand he make his taxes public. An ABC News/Washington Post poll (pdf) released on January 16,2017 showed 74% of Americans want to see Trump’s returns.

How does Moab Feel about a “MOAB” Bomb Being Dropped on Afghanistan?

by Anne Landman • April 14, 2017 • 0 Comments

Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, the largest non-nuclear conventional bomb in existence

Moab residents are not happy that the name “MOAB” is being associated with the massive bomb the Trump administration dropped on Afghanistan yesterday.

The largest non-nuclear bomb in the United States’ weapons arsenal, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), nicknamed the “Mother of All Bombs” (MOAB). It was dropped yesterday, leading the acronym MOAB to be broadcast over national news repeatedly for the last 24 hours.

Asked about how Moab residents feel about the name of their town being associated with destruction, Moab City Councilman Kyle Bailey responded, “Mayor Sakrison and the Moab City Council sent a letter to Bush administration in 2003 protesting the association of the name [of this bomb] with Moab. Some people in Moab do like the association.” The city councilman sent a link to the February, 2003 BBC article about the mayor’s protest.

How About Letting the Rabble Decide What to Spend Their Own Tax Money On?

by Anne Landman • April 11, 2017 • 1 Comment

The way ballot proposals typically come about in Grand Junction, the Grand Junction Chamber, big local business owners and members of the Old Guard Republican Establishment (OGREs) conceive of some idea that benefits one or more established, successful businesses. They then try to convince people “our community is dying,”** promote this single idea as the only way to save the local economy, and portray it as the key to creating jobs. They may include language to the effect that their idea will also contribute down the line somehow to a project city residents really do want, like a community recreation center or more walking and biking trails.

Then proponents pool their money, hire a professional marketer to develop an ad campaign to make their idea look fantastic and then get their project on the next local ballot, where it gets trounced, because voters know it won’t really make their lives better as the bigwigs promised. Or voters go ahead and approve it only to see it never happen.

In a word, this method is a failure.

Cavalcade in Fruita: a Unique, Enchanting Local Entertainment Venue

by Anne Landman • April 9, 2017 • 4 Comments

Cavalcade at 201 E. Aspen in Fruita

It’s no secret that there are a few ways in which Fruita has been blowing the doors off Grand Junction lately. Their property values are increasing faster than those in G.J., they’ve got a fantastic rec center, they’ve attracted a young, fun, creative crowd by emphasizing outdoor activities and now there’s another little surprise that makes the place even more special.

It’s a wonderful little locally-owned, non-profit entertainment venue called Cavalcade, located on Fruita’s main drag, at 201 E. Aspen.

Rep. Scott Tipton Faces Upset Liberal Crowd at Montrose Town Hall

by Anne Landman • April 8, 2017 • 8 Comments

The western slope’s U.S. Congressional Representative Scott Tipton (R) faced a packed and overwhelmingly liberal/progressive crowd in the gymnasium at Montrose High School Friday evening, April 7, 2017, at his town hall meeting. Citizens came from Montrose, Crawford, Paonia, Ouray, Grand Junction and other locations. They asked Rep. Tipton about topics including where he stands on health care, why Congress is failing to recognize that the existing for-profit health care system isn’t working, why he hasn’t introduced any legislation to deal with climate change, where he stands on plans to de-fund the EPA, U.S. involvement in foreign wars without Congressional approval, the threatened end to student loan forgiveness promised to people who went to work in the public sector after graduation, the $3 million per weekend it costs taxpayers to protect President Trump on his golf trips to Mar-A-Lago, and more.

Overall, it appeared the audience was decidedly unhappy with Rep. Tipton’s responses, in which he stated that health care in the U.S. was a privilege, not a right, that he sided with big corporations and businesses and the oil and gas industry when it comes to climate change. When asked about the tremendous expense to taxpayers of President Trump’s many weekend golf trips to Mar-A-Lago, Rep. Tipton won howls of anger from the crowd when he said merely that the same protection was afforded to President Obama. There was plenty of booing and foot stomping in response to Rep. Tipton’s answers throughout the town hall. A lot of people came equipped with (and used) signs that said “Disagree” and “Answer the Question!”

Corruption, Crazy Republicans, Environment, Equal rights, Ethics, politics, Republicans violating laws, Stupid Republicans, Weird Grand Junction Stuff

In Case You Missed It: County Commissioners Officially Approve Collbran Landowner’s Illegal Activity

by Anne Landman • April 6, 2017 • 2 Comments

Colby Olford broke the law for years, then the Mesa County Commissioners caught up with him — and rewarded him for it.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported on March 15 that Mesa County’s three Republican County Commissioners publicly admonished a Collbran landowner for violating the law by hosting commercial events on his property for years without required permits.

Then they rewarded him by making his activities legal.

Central High Seniors Take Steps Toward Eliminating Religious Baccalaureate

by Anne Landman • April 3, 2017 • 3 Comments

Word is out that Central High School’s Senior Student Senate has voted to change the school’s annual baccalaureate from a religious event featuring a blessing by a pastor to a secular event featuring 3-5 minute speeches by students about what they are grateful for. By the time the Student Senate voted on the issue, it was too late to change the name of the event because the materials promoting it had already been printed, but they say next year the name of the event will be changed as well.

Tax Day March Planned in Grand Junction to Push Trump to Reveal his Tax Returns

by Anne Landman • April 2, 2017 • 1 Comment

Tax Day march planned in Grand Junction April 15

Activists are organizing a local tax day march on Saturday, April 15 in solidarity with a national effort to show President Donald Trump that Americans very much want him to reveal his tax returns.

The Trump administration poses unprecedented economic conflicts of interest to the office of president. People across the country are participating in Tax Day Marches to urge the president to make these potential conflicts visible, including pertinent documentation regarding foreign influences and financial interests which may confirm that President Trump is in conflict with the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Trump has insisted on keeping his tax returns secret. He is the first president in decades who has refused to make his tax returns public.

Undecided About Who to Vote for for City Council? Maybe Some Notes from the Candidates Forum March 23 Will Help

by Anne Landman • March 26, 2017 • 5 Comments

The City Council Candidate Forum March 23

For those who couldn’t attend the League of Women Voters City Council Candidate Forum last Thursday, March 23, at City Hall Auditorium, I am sharing my notes here. The notes are not a direct recording of what was said, but rather a synopsis. I wrote as fast as I could!

Names in boldface type indicate the incumbents. Jesse Daniels is challenging Norris for her seat on Council. At age 35, Daniels is the youngest candidate. Duncan McArthur is running unopposed, but you can write in a candidate you’d rather see in his Council seat. Duke Wortmann is a relocation consultant for Mesa Moving and Storage and is challenging incumbent Marty Chazen. Incumbent Rick Taggart is a former executive with Swiss Army Knife, and did not attend the forum, citing a previous engagement. Taggart is running against C. Lincoln Pierce for an At-Large seat on Council. For folks hoping Grand Junction will someday have a recreation/community center, two incumbents, Duncan McArthur and Phyllis Norris, both said clearly they were NOT in favor of building a public community/recreation center.

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