Colorado River Water Proposal, Or What The Definition Of Is Is...

I'm signed up to receive announcements from Grand County, and here's one I received yesterday that made me chuckle:

Take a look at the subject line of the email:

Let's be clear... these are enhancements; not mitigation. And the difference is huge--especially when you're considering moulding public opinion! I'll define enhancements vs. mitigation and then give you an example of what's going on so you too understand the path Grand County's water is on.

"The Colorado River Proposal is so complex, Mr. Newberry can't explain it." 

Since we're talking water and habitat, the best place to go for a definition of the above words is the EPA itself. First, we have the definition of enhancement as it relates to wetlands and other features:

White House Caught In Another Lie

From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Update: Chronicle responds after Obama Administration punishes reporter for using multimedia, then claims they didn't
First, Vice President Joe Biden locked a reporter in a closet for hours, and now the White House is censoring free speech.

"Update: In a pants-on-fire moment, the White House press office today denied anyone there had issued threats to remove Carla Marinucci and possibly other Hearst reporters from the press pool covering the President in the Bay Area.


Chronicle editor Ward Bushee called the press office on its fib:


Sadly, we expected the White House to respond in this manner based on our experiences yesterday. It is not a truthful response. It follows a day of off-the-record exchanges with key people in the White House communications office who told us they would remove our reporter, then threatened retaliation to Chronicle and Hearst reporters if we reported on the ban, and then recanted to say our reporter might not be removed after all.


The Chronicle's report is accurate.


If the White House has indeed decided not to ban our reporter, we would like an on-the-record notice that she will remain the San Francisco print pool reporter.


I was on some of those calls and can confirm Ward's statement.


Messy ball now firmly in White House court."

I'm deeply concerned with the deteriorating actions of an increasingly brazen White House... Are you?

Replace The Monkeys | Winter Park

For the town of Winter Park, the following people are up for reelection in April of next year. Now is the time to really start thinking of who should reside in these spots. Clearing the bench is a good thing and does not reflect on the current leadership.

April 2012 election... Jim myers, Chris Seeman, Jimmy Lahrman, Katie Riemenschneider

West Slope Homebuilding Industry In The News

End of the second-home era for Aspen? (Aspen Times)

Garfield County, New Castle lead Western Slope growth (Aspen Times)

Builders in troubled Grand County subdivision plead guilty to multiple counts of theft (SkyHi News)


If Aspen is struggling, what about the rest of the resort areas in Colorado?

Video | Housing Starts At 60 Year Lows... For 33 Months!

Interview with Karl Case and Robert Shiller on Bloomberg TV. If you think housing in the U.S. is coming back, I've got some nice Louisiana swampland I'd like to run by you!

Artistic Savant | Simon Schubert

Simon Schubert

Some people have gifts that can only be described as divine... The above image was created by Simon Schubert, who makes intricate folds in a simple sheet of paper to create scenes of unimaginable complexity. Wow! Click here to see more...

Wal Mart Shoppers Running Out Of Money

Wal Mart's core customers--those living paycheck to paycheck--are running out of money.

From CNN:

"Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

I would imagine their customers are running out of money because they didn't get hired by McDonalds...

Would You Like Fries With That Rejection?

From Bloomberg:

"McDonald’s and its franchisees hired 62,000 people in the U.S. after receiving more than one million applications, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. Previously, it said it planned to hire 50,000."


One million applications? For part-time, minimum wage work? The United States is most certainly not in recovery.

Audio | Colorado River Cooperative Agreement Announcement

Listen to the full audio of the meeting at Devil's Thumb Ranch, including comments from Governor John Hickenlooper and Commissioner James Newberry. The Governor may be heard beginning approximately 16 minutes in.

 

Commissioner Newberry | Selling You Down The Fraser One Backroom Deal At A Time

Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., Governor Hickenlooper will be announcing a 'historic' agreement arrived at through private, back room dealings between elected officials, non-governmental agencies and private corporations.

Dubbed the 'Colorado River Cooperative Agreement,' local environmental activists think Commissioner Newberry, like a knight in shining armor, has been a champion of cool rivers and high flows for Grand County. He's versed with all the right language. Terms such as water temperatures, habitat preservation and mitigation roll off of his tongue like so many drops of spittle. The best part of the agreement? Your commissioner will most likely be retiring next year to pursue other avenues--presumably high-paying gigs involving West Slope water.

Replace The Monkeys | Town Of Granby

As in my previous posts, I'm listing the terms of our current leadership so people may begin to have a healthy and honest discussion about who best will serve our needs in the coming years. 


This is the list for the Town of Granby:

Replace The Monkeys | Town Of Grand Lake

When I look at the school ad hoc committee, I see a list of the organizations and their representatives in dire need of a shakeup. It is in that vein I asked each of the towns for election information so you may begin to think about who you think would best fill these positions as they come up for reelection.

Here is the election cycle for the Town of Grand Lake:

Replace The Monkeys | County Commissioners

Those of you who've been reading this blog know my stance on the current crop of representatives in Grand County.

The U.S. Constitution places term limits on our President. Currently, there are no provisions to limit terms for our commissioners, but that doesn't mean limits shouldn't be placed. One very effective way to limit terms is at the ballot box.

Two of our county commissioners' terms will be up for review during the 2012 election year, and right now would be a great time to begin thinking about the two people who will replace them.

Both District 1 (James Newberry) and District 2 (Nancy Stuart) will be available next year. Instead of waiting until the spring and summer of 2012, where plastic election signs will begin to sprout up like unnecessary weeds, we citizens should start to think about who we could send to represent the people of Grand County.

I've always thought people who aspire to occupy elected offices should be looked at with a healthy dose of skepticism. In fact, wouldn't it be amazing if we could elect people with a deep sense of duty to God and country; people who go begrudgingly into public office only out of a deep respect for the Republic and their fellow citizens?

Is it possible to start somewhere other than Democrat or Republican? Is it possible to look beyond party for once and really look more deeply at the issues facing our nation, state and county? Can we get beyond God, gays and guns and address the real problems in our society? I sure think so.

We have somewhere around 12,000 citizens over the age of 18 in this county... Who among them is worthy of holding a representative office? Who would you chose?

I'd love to start the debate now, so people can make a decision other than R or D when November 2012 rolls around. Who could we put in those two chairs? Imagine the possibilities.

Uranium Detected On West Coast | Fission Explosion At Fukushima

What's the difference between a detonation and a deflegration? Supersonic, baby!

Four School Districts Facing Emergency | Only One Declares

As a former flight instructor and commercial pilot, I learned early in my training that the difference between an incident and an accident is breaking any one of the links in the accident chain.

Many pilots fly to their deaths because they stay in an extended state of denial long after the facts show they need to take decisive action to address an anomalous situation. Something as simple as declaring an emergency can help put the pilot in the proper mental state to address the situation at hand. This action seems simple, but people rarely want to acknowledge they have lost control--even if only partially. This exact behavior is what we're witnessing with school districts across the country.

Below are four headlines. Which group of administrators would you want piloting your airplane?

Birth Certificate Issue Just Won't Die

I discussed President Obama's birth certificate issue a few days ago in a post titled, Obama's Birth Certificate | Ad Hominem Attacks. Now there's a new story about a Hawaii State Senator who raises a few questions of his own.

In a story from World Net Daily:

"The lone Republican in the Hawaii State Senate told a radio interviewer today he believes "the real issue" stopping Barack Obama from releasing his long-form birth certificate is something the president has to hide, perhaps even the name of his actual birth father.


Hawaii State Sen. Sam Slom further told the host of"Aaron Klein Investigative Radio"on WABC 770 AM in New York City that so long as Obama refuses to be transparent about his past, questions about the president's birth remain "...a legitimate issue."

Besides Obama's actual birth documentation, the president has refused to release his Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, Illinois State Bar Association records, baptism records and his adoption records."

Why the secrecy? What is so damning to a sitting president that he would see fit to spend millions of dollars keeping the above information secret? 

Video | 2011 Winter Park Spring Splash

Today I got front row seating for the 43rd annual Spring Splash at Winter Park ski area. I used an iPad to take all of my video and stills, edit the footage and publish to the web. What amazing hardware!
In fact, I'm sitting in Starbucks right now using the free wifi to bring this post to the world. Check out the video:

Replace The Monkeys

I was forwarded this post as part of an e-mail without attribution. Some digging found this piece to be created by Ron Thornton. I'm going to take the liberty of replacing the word 'Congress' with 'elected representatives' for a better idea of how to handle our local officials in the elections ahead.


Hat Tip To: Dave

"Monkey Psychology 101 By: Ron Thornton

If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage,

hang a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set of stairs

You've Been Robbed During The Greatest Theft In Human History

From Activistsandairplanes...

The greatest financial theft in the History of man By: Eric Odom



I have to warn you up front, this post is not at all optimistic. In fact, while writing this I’m feeling almost completely void of hope in the current structure of government in America.

Oh, Look Over There | Pres. Obama Targets Straw Man

From Zero Hedge:

"And for today's case of pure unadulterated idiocy:

• ( RTR ) 04/21 02:30PM OBAMA SAYS HAS ASKED ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CREATE TEAM TO "ROOT OUT" FRAUD, MANIPULATION IN OIL MARKETS THAT COULD HIT GAS PRICES
• ( RTR ) 04/21 02:31PM OBAMA, IN PREPARED REMARKS, SAYS TEAM'S FOCUS WILL INCLUDE OIL MARKET TRADERS AND SPECULATORS
• ( RTR ) 04/21 02:31PM OBAMA SAYS WILL MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE IN OIL MARKET IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR THEIR OWN SHORT-TERM GAIN

Number of mentions of the one true satanic culprit (Federal Reserve) for oil price explosion? Zero. For everything else there is scapegoating. And again. And again."

Video | Grand Adventure Balloon Ride

Last fall, I had an opportunity to go flying with Grand Adventure Balloons. As a commercial pilot and former flight instructor, I'd never been flying in a balloon. I'd always imagined flying through the treetops when I was a kid. I finally got to do it in a balloon:

Obama's Birth Certificate | Ad Hominem Attacks

ad ho·mi·nem/ˈad ˈhämənəm/Adverb

1. (of an argument or reaction) Arising from or appealing to the emotions and not reason or logic.

2. Attacking an opponent's motives or character rather than the policy or position they maintain.

 No matter where you stand on the issue of President Obama's birth certificate, the reactions of people in a position to put the matter to rest are concerning.

Donald Trump has been making the rounds calling into question the President's birth status. Many people think he's doing it as a publicity stunt to promote his television show. Publicity is publicity, right? That may be true, but what concerns me is how people are reacting to the issue.

From an article in the Hawaii News, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie has this to say about the certificate issue:

Don't Forget Japan Just Because Everyone Else Has

$81,442 Dollars A Day | Does Grand County Spend Too Much?

According to the 2011 budget, Grand County expects to spend $29,726,406 during the 2011 fiscal year.

That's a lot of money but without perspective, it's difficult to wrap my mind around. Smaller numbers are much easier to work with, so let's look at the budget compared to things we all understand:

1) Grand County has budgeted to spend $81,442 every single day of the 2011 fiscal year.

"Our county is consuming $56 every minute 7/365"

2) Our county needs to collect $6.78 a day, every day of the year from each of its 12,000 citizens. That's $47.46 a week; $189.84 per month per person!


3) Grand County needs to extract $2,477 out of each of its 12,000 citizens for the 2011 fiscal year. Park County, in contrast, will take $780 from each of its 16,762 citizens in 2011.

4) Our county government will consume $3393 every hour and $56.55 every minute of the 2011 budget year, day and night.

Remember Way Back In November...

When I said you'd be paying a dollar more per gallon of gas by February?

I was discussing our government and Bernanke's continued monetary insanity in the form of 'Quantitative Easing.' Here's a snippet of what I said then:

"More dollars in circulation — especially 600 billion more — causes their value to decline relative to goods and services. This means you'll get to pay more, as much as a dollar more per gallon of gasoline, in a few short months."(SHDN Letter to the Editor November 12, 2010)


I was pretty much spot-on with that prediction--not because I have a crystal ball, but because I understand how the goons in New York and Washington, D.C. operate, and I know where to look for the right information.

Where's That Recovery Everyone's Talking About?

From www.billshrink.com:

Click For Larger

"As the housing market sublimates, leaving the middle class to sink or swim in an arctic economic weather, people have been noticing trends. Food stamps have become a staple in many families’ lives, as has the stress between paychecks, and the fear of retirement without savings. Learn more in the infographic below, and find out if you are treading water better than most!"

Click the image to the left to see what the 'Recovery' looks like.

S&P Finally Puts U.S. On Credit Watch Negative

A dose of reality is finally sinking in on Wall Street... Let's see what Washington does with it:

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook for the nation's long-term debt Monday, even as it reaffirmed the agency's top-tier rating for the U.S. economy.

S&P maintained its 'AAA/A-1+' credit rating on U.S. sovereign debt, saying the nation's "highly diversified" economy and "effective monetary policies" have helped support growth."


You can't run nearly $2 trillion in deficits for long before your creditors start knocking at your door. This outlook gives the U.S. a one in three chance of being downgraded within two years if it doesn't get its fiscal house in order. I give it a 100 percent chance.

Have Some Fun | E-Flite Blade 120 SR Review

The E-Flite Blade 120 SR is a perfect first-time helicopter. For anyone who's been to a hobby shop and seen the much larger Align series or even the Blade SR or Blade 400, the 120 SR seems downright tiny. Even if you have the money for a larger machine, I would recommend saving it until you master the 120 SR. That decision not only saved me hundreds of dollars, but hours of frustration as well.

I live about two hours from my nearest hobby shop, so my decision to visit one involved a bit of work. I'm glad I did, because I never would have chosen the little 120 SR if I hadn't.

A Google search revealed quite a few hobby shops, but I chose one that had both a physical store and an online presence. Colpar Hobbies has two brick and mortar stores in the Denver metro area as well as an online store. This allowed me to shop prices before calling or walking in, and I enjoy that convenience.

Walking into the store, I was overwhelmed by the sheer selection of flying machines available to the RC enthusiast today. Because I was interested in helicopters, I immediately gravitated toward the Align T-rex 500 sitting on the counter. Even at rest, it's a bit intimidating due to its size. I quickly fell into conversation with Jeff, Colpar's resident helicopter expert.

Driving On Empty | Gas Prices Are Taking Their Toll

Fuel Prices in Fraser By: Reggie Paulk

With the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline surpassing $3.81 across the U.S., people are beginning to experience sticker shock at the gas pumps again.

Reminiscent of 2008, when average fuel prices in California hit an all-time high of $4.61 a gallon, the state is already seeing a $4.16 average at the pump--before the busy summer driving season is upon them.

With $60-$100 fill ups becoming the norm, drivers are pushing their fuel limits to the maximum:

"Nationally, AAA said the average had reached $3.815 a gallon, up from $3.739 a week earlier and $2.858 a year ago.

AAA is advising against the riding-on-empty strategy, which it said can wind up costing motorists a lot more money in the long run because of engine and mechanical problems that can arise when there is too little fuel in one's tank and when one runs completely out of gas.

Grand Elk Owners Association Doing Great | Homeowners Not So Much

You know things are worse than they seem when you start seeing advertorials in the newspaper. A case in point; The Grand Elk Home Owners Association (HOA) placed a half page ad on page two of the April 15 edition of the SkyHi Daily News that reads:

"Perceptions vs. Reality


Grand Elk has risen from the ashes of foreclosure"

The piece goes on to say the Grand Elk development is daisies and sunshine since the original developers were foreclosed upon.

With a majority of the 684 lots sitting empty with unused utility lines and weathered 'For Sale' signs, I'm sure this piece about the financial health of the HOA will bring prospective buyers in droves. A check of zillow.com reveals many of the existing sale properties have been listed for nearly two years.

The Con Of The Decade

Source: of two minds, Charles Hugh Smith

The Con of the Decade Part I
  (July 8, 2010)


The con of the decade (Part I) involves the transfer of private debt to the
public (the marks), who then pays interest forever to the con artists.


I've laid out the Con of the Decade (Part I) in outline form:
1. Enable trillions of dollars in mortgages guaranteed to default by packaging unlimited quantities of them into mortgage-backed securities (MBS), creating unlimited demand for fraudulently originated loans.

2. Sell these MBS as "safe" to credulous investors, institutions, town councils in Norway, etc., i.e. "the bezzle" on a global scale.

3. Make huge "side bets" against these doomed mortgages so when they default then the short-side bets generate billions in profits.

4. Leverage each $1 of actual capital into $100 of high-risk bets.

5. Hide the utterly fraudulent bets offshore and/or off-balance sheet (not that the regulators you had muzzled would have noticed anyway).

The Power Of Words

Thank You For Your Visits

Traffic Stats

I started Grand County Scoop two months ago Friday, and since then have began to receive quite a following. Nearly 32 percent of my visitors have spent between 20 minutes to over an hour, and a full 25 percent have spent more than an hour reading the various posts.

Minus return visits, 1061 unique visitors have come here since the middle of February--not an insignificant number. Assuming most of those visitors are coming from inside the county means that nearly 1 in 12 people in the county has at least visited once; with 25 percent of those staying longer than an hour. That's some reach!

Thank you!

Got Milk? It Might Be Prudent To Limit Your Intake

Arnie Gunderson was an expert witness for the Three Mile Island accident; meaning he's not some crackpot. When he says it can't hurt to limit your milk intake right now, you might want to take him seriously.

But don't take his word for it... Physicist Dr. Michio Kaku also has this to say about Fukushima:

School Solutions | Fraser Valley Charter School

I've been giving a lot of thought to what the 'Ad Hoc' school committee is trying to plan, and have come up with a few ideas of what might come out of their tax-storming sessions.

Given the current climate in Grand County--especially after Kremmling declined a committee invite--there are few options the committee may realistically consider. Until recently, I believe the organizations that make up the committee thought a tax question on the November ballot would be a done deal, and the school problem would be solved. This group think came after decades of voter buy-in, and did not take into account the obvious economic factors affecting our citizens. If given today, a sales tax initiative--wether an increase or a diversion of existing funds--would most surely fail.

I would hope the committee is considering other options, because if they throw a Hail Mary on taxes, they will look like complete fools if they don't get the votes. Not having a backup plan will ensure every elected official partaking of this charade will be forcefully ejected at the ballot box, if that's not already the case.

As it stands, the school district is not well positioned to weather another year under the current budget. The committee will most certainly come out with some considerable cuts to things that are politically unsavory in a ploy to get voter buy-in, but not long-term solutions. If they do what you would expect a political body of this nature to do, they'll set themselves up for a crisis coming into the 2012-2013 school year; which is next spring from a budgetary planning standpoint. No amount of 'community support' will be able to help at that point.

So, as my headline suggests, I have a possible solution that would work for both the Fraser Valley and Grand Lake Elementary schools should the "long-term" funding be turned down by voters.

School infrastructure is paid for separately from the East Grand School District general fund, so even when the schools are closed after next year, the buildings will continue to be taken care of. Empty buildings aren't necessarily a bad thing.

By law, the school district is required to allow charter schools to take over unused buildings. One plan I've heard tossed around is to bring the unused elementaries under the umbrella of the Indian Peaks Charter School charter. This could avoid months or years of red tape and get those buildings back in use teaching kids as quickly as possible. Indian Peaks Charter School has been in operation for nearly a decade, and has the expertise to make this work.

With three schools operating on a strict budget, there will be greater pressure on the district to shape up. Heck, with the great performance we're already getting out of the charter school, the community may even decide to do away with the school district altogether and have charter schools from K-12!

Fraser Valley Center (Alco) Apologizes For Sign

After posting earlier about the obnoxious new LED sign at the Alco shopping center, their management has issued an apology:

"To all Residents and guests of Fraser,

We wish to sincerely apologize for the new LED panel being left on Friday night. This was done accidentally through an error in judgment and will not happen again.

The sign is now on a timer and will be off at dusk every night. We are waiting on a photoelectric dimmer to be installed on the sign which will make it be no brighter then the existing signage already in place during the evening hours. This will allow the sign to remain on during the business hours of the plaza tenants. 

Our hope is to promote the local businesses to the numerous out of town visitors that may not be familiar with what services are offered here. It also will be available for community groups to use to promote various events. As with any new technology, we are learning exactly what the capabilities of the sign are and how to best use it.

Again, please accept our apology for any inconvenience this may have created. We would also like you to know that it is extremely important to us that this sign in no way impacts the environment or the lifestyle of our friends and neighbors here in Fraser.

Sincerely,

The Fraser Valley Center Management"

Hey, that seems like a plan to me. It looks like the the sign went rogue and they have since brought it under control. I didn't think that was a normal situation.

The Government IS The Economy

Today, the U.S. Federal Government is literally borrowing every dime, at interest, of supposed growth to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

Take a look at this chart:

Market-Ticker

The green line represents U.S. GDP after accounting for government borrowing to 'stimulate' the economy. Remove government borrowing today (blue line), and we immediately fall into a depression as represented by the red line.

What they've been hoping is that private growth would take over and replace government spending. That hasn't happened because the people that got us into this mess have all been bailed out and are still doing the same things that put us here. Until you see people going to jail; the bailouts stopped; and a gigantic contraction in the housing sector, nothing is going to improve.

Wonder how long this can continue? Longer than most people's attention spans, but not years.

Thanks For The Free Carriage House!

File this under the unf#@*ing believable category:

" Just two months before the Macks bought their fancy carriage house in Manhattan, Christy and her pal Susan launched their investment initiative called Waterfall TALF. Neither seems to have any experience whatsoever in finance, beyond Susan's penchant for dabbling in thoroughbred racehorses. But with an upfront investment of $15 million, they quickly received $220 million in cash from the Fed, most of which they used to purchase student loans and commercial mortgages. The loans were set up so that Christy and Susan would keep 100 percent of any gains on the deals, while the Fed and the Treasury (read: the taxpayer) would eat 90 percent of the losses. Given out as part of a bailout program ostensibly designed to help ordinary people by kick-starting consumer lending, the deals were a classic heads-I-win, tails-you-lose investment."(Rolling Stones Magazine)

Almost every American is complicit in the continued pillaging of our public coffers. Each and every one of us who goes about our daily business without so much as a peep is reaping the bounty we are sewing for ourselves and our posterity. The pain and suffering from deals like those above is not even being felt yet. Rest assured, it will be felt and it will hurt. 

Who Could Have Seen It Coming?

These people did--five months before the economy collapsed:



For those who think the economy is in recovery, nearing a recovery or coming back some day; I'm sorry to say you are misinformed.

Chernobyl; Meet Fukushima

"Japan has decided to raise the severity level of the accident at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to the maximum 7 on an international scale, up from the current 5 and matching that of the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, government sources said Tuesday.


The current provisional evaluation of 5 on the International Nuclear Event Scale by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, a body under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, is at the same level as the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979.


The decision comes after the release of a preliminary calculation on Monday by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, which said the crippled nuclear plant was releasing up to 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour at one point after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11."(Kyodo News)

Did you pick that yellow highlight up? That's 10,000 trillion disintegrations per hour, or about 40 million times more radiation than given off by the average human body. (Radiation and Life)
The world is trying to ignore Fukushima, but it is going to affect every single one of us, economically at least, in the coming months and years.

Update | Alco Shamed Into Being Good Neighbor

Just yesterday, I wrote about the obnoxious new animated sign Alco installed some time last week. Somebody must have been paying attention, because I went out at midnight last night to take some photos and videos to post and it was turned off!

As I was driving my kids to school this morning, I was surprised to see the sign was still off as we rounded the corner above Fraser. That thing must have caused quite a stink!

Like A Bad Neighbor, Alco Is There!

UPDATE: They apologized

I had a morning meeting in Denver yesterday, so I had to leave before the sun rose to make it on time. I live in Meadow Ridge, above the town of Fraser, and as I drove around the corner toward Fraser, my eyes were immediately assaulted by the most obnoxious light sign ever!

Reggie On The Fraser Strip

Sometime over the last few days, the Alco shopping center installed an animated color light sign. If you've ever been to Las Vegas, you'll get an idea of what this sign looks like in miniature form. If I were the owners of the La Azteca Mexican restaurant or the Rocky Mountain Chalet next door, I'd be up in arms--especially the Chalet.

Imagine traveling to Fraser after a long day of airport security and airplane food, checking into your room at the Chalet, pulling the covers back on your bed and getting ready for a peaceful night's--Crap! What is that? You throw open the curtains to see what that incessant multi-colored laser beam outside your room is. Fully expecting a UFO encounter, your disappointment turns to anger when you realize Alco is trying to sell you Coca Cola at midnight; after all of the businesses in the shopping center are already closed.

I don't know who on the Fraser town council approved this sign, but I'd expect they've already received a flood of legitimate complaints over it. Businesses should be left to their own devices in my opinion, but when their activities adversely affect the public, they've overstepped.

If you'd like a good laugh, stand on the top of Meadow Ridge before sunrise some morning. But be warned--you'll need your sunglasses!

Tube Wars In Fraser

Did anyone catch the story on 9News regarding the tube wars in Fraser?



I was at the Fraser planning meeting for the Byers Peak Ranch annexation, and I think it's clear that the Colorado Adventure Park is synonymous with Grand Park, which is managed by Mr. Clark Lipscomb. The owner of the Fraser Tubing hill, Rod Rodgers, had some pretty vitriolic comments regarding Mr. Lipscomb's business dealings.

Not that I agree with doing business this way, but the Colorado Adventure park operates much like a big box store. Come into a small town, undercut prices until you've killed the local businesses, and then raise prices to sustain your business. That's the Wal-Mart model so if you've shopped at a Wal-Mart and complain about the Adventure Park, not only are you a hypocrite; you are responsible for killing small businesses across America. You'd think Wal-Mart was the only big bad guy out there, but Target is actually competing quite well against them. Competition is a good thing.

Dose Of Reality | U.S. Vs. Greek Borrowing

From: It's Greek To Me

Any questions?

2008 | A Repeat

From cnbc.com

Three years ago, crude oil was trading nearly identical to what it it's trading at today. Back in the spring of 2008, Bear Stearns collapsed. Not many people knew the significance of that event.

In September of 2008, with crude prices hovering near $150 a barrel, Lehman Brothers collapsed. During the ensuing market crash, the U.S. experienced an electronic run on the banks that was on track to bring the banking system to its knees:

"On Thursday (Sept 18), at 11am the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the U.S., to the tune of $550 billion was being drawn out in the matter of an hour or two. The Treasury opened up its window to help and pumped $105 billion in the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn't be further panic out there.

If they had not done that, their estimation is that by 2pm that afternoon, $5.5 trillion would have been drawn out of the money market system of the U.S., would have collapsed the entire economy of the U.S., and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed. It would have been the end of our economic system and our political system as we know it."(Zero Hedge)
For the last two and a half years, the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB), FDIC, Congress, the President, big banks and Federal Reserve have been breaking the law and changing the rules in order to cover up the true cause of the depression we now find ourselves in.

We are very likely headed for another large crash. This time though, the bazooka in Hank Paulson's pocket has already gone off. Stagflation is raging, with the prices of everything needed to survive heading through the roof. Food, gasoline and clothing are all headed higher while the things people own---real-estate and other assets--are headed though the floor.

How long can they keep this charade up? I don't know, but time is definitely running out.

Fukushima Update | Worst Disaster of Modern Times

Get Ready For $4 Gas

Check out the price of crude oil today:

From CNBC

A little over a month ago, I posted a chart showing the correlation of crude price to the final price at the pump:

Click For Story

Back then, crude was trading under $100 per barrel. Gasoline demand is at its lowest point at this time of year, so look for pump prices to soar into the summer months. Don't say I didn't warn you!

60 Minutes On Mortgage Fraud | Better Late Than Never I Guess

It's pretty sad that it's taken 60 Minutes this long to address the issue of the rampant mortgage fraud that brought our nation to its knees and continues to threaten its very existence. I've known about this fraud for two years, and have been harping on our local county officials since last October over this very issue.  Watch the 60 Minutes clip, and then look at the evidence I sent the Sheriff and Grand County Commissioners regarding just this issue from bogus assignments in Grand County. If you'd like them to address this issue, I'd at least paste the link to this post in an e-mail to them to let them know you are concerned.

Below are five mortgage assignments found in the Grand County database. Please note the four signatures of the notary public in addition to one that's missing. Do they look the same to you? Click on the photos to enlarge. 

Teach A Man To Fish | Grand County Community Garden

No special districts; no mill levies; no tax increases; no wasteful spending. Finally, a community project I can get behind!

The Grand County Community Garden (GCCG) project was recently featured in the SkyHi News. I rarely agree with the way messages in the paper come across, but the GCCG embodies many of the values that help make communities stronger.

The GCCG website describes itself as, "...a part of Grand County's Colorado State University Extension office."(GCCG Website) It's an organization with education as its main focus. Teaching people how to grow their own food in the environment they inhabit is about as basic a necessity as you can provide.


 This video shows what GCCB is all about:




This spring, the project will be giving free classes on three dates: April 9th, 16th and May 14th. They will be held in both Fraser and Granby. I know I will be attending at least one.(Link)

Currently, there are community gardens in Kremmling, Hot Sulphur and Granby. Fraser is now on the list to participate in this effort, and I can only say that I am happy to see this kind of resource in our community. Having individual control over food supply is one of the most important elements of a free people, and this effort is a step in the right direction.

Bridging The Gap

Watch this video and meet me below:



This video is from a company that produces a skate board that behaves much like a snowboard. The young adults shown in the video don't care about government finance, elections or government. They realize their voices don't matter, and don't care about the process. They are just enjoying the present.

Ask most young adults about the issues, and they'll tell you they don't pay attention. They realize it's a rigged game, and it's a waste of time to even participate. Government in the United States is fundamentally broken. From town councils to the Presidency, ineptitude to outright fraud and corruption rule the day.

We now have a full-blown kleptocracy, which is defined as, "... a government subject to control fraud that takes advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats), via the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest service."(Wikipedia)


How else could you define our county government, who've managed to skim $14 million dollars off of their citizens without taking any steps to eliminate the tax? How else can you define a school district who holds property owners hostage to mill levies, gets into self-induced fiscal trouble, and has the gall to ask for more money? How else can you define a town council (Grand Lake) that illegally pledges $20,000 dollars to schools and then votes to increase water rates against the advice of their own experts? It is easy to see why young people don't give a shit. No matter what box you check at the ballot box, you get the exact same criminal element coming to steal ever more of the fruits of your labor.