It’s clear from Obama’s State of the Union address that he has ambitious plans for 2010 including health care reform, a new jobs bill, and financial regulation. All of these issues are desperately needed if our economy is going to fully recover. The middle class has been hit hardest by the economic downturn while Wall Street got a bailout.

Here’s a short summary of the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations the same status as private citizens under the First Amendment:

So let the corporations give millions, or even billions, to members of
Congress; it¹s their money, and they earned it. Besides, guys like Max
Baucus and Mitch McConnell have nice smiles, some hair, and say patriotic
sounding things. Even though the Supreme Court was crazy to rule that ³corporations are persons,² they were right to allow them to spend their money any way they wish.

Re: The Clean Air Act: Don`t weaken environmental progress by Erika Stutzman (1/20/2010) Thanks to Ms. Stutzman and the Editorial Board for their clear assessment of Sen. Murkowskis (R-AK) lobbyist-contrived effort to gut the Clean Air Act.

Vail. Blue Sky Basin. For those of you who don’t know, this is some of the best terrain Vail has to offer, also among the most dangerous. It was our second day back from vacation, we woke up early to hit the slopes and beat the crowds. Our destination, Blue Sky Basin. We just reached [...]

Kudos to the Camera for finally picking up the 315 year error in the IPCC report (’07 U.N climate report flawed). This story has been available on the internet since at least December 5th of last year (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8387737.stm).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently recommended a ban against the import of nine snake species commonly sold as pets. It’s about time. Captivity is often a death sentence for reptiles and in too many cases, for the people who “had” to have them as well.

I’m writing to give recognition to a truly wonderful program I experienced recently at the Boulder Public Library. Artist-In-Residence Kailin Yong offered the first in a series called ‘Morning Musical Meditation.’ Joined by two of Boulder’s finest musicians, Michael Stanwood and Jesse Mano, Kailin enveloped the audience with an hour of very compelling and contemplative acoustic music. It was a privilege to experience the creative process as demonstrated by these three musical artists. I left the event feeling uplifted and inspired. The Boulder Public Library is to be commended for presenting such innovative programming to the community.

Shutting the power down between 10:30 pm and 6:00 am in the dead of winter is not planning. It is a premeditated reckless act. Obviously the safety and well being of the residential customers is at the bottom of Xcel’s priority list. This should have been done during milder temperatures or at least in the daytime when people can be somewhere else.

As the center of the nation’s natural food movement, Boulder should be reeling over the president’s wife-sourcing of the childhood obesity epidemic.

Did you catch Justice Sam Alito’s Joe Wilson moment last night when he shook his head and said, “That’s not true” as the camera was on him? He was responding to President Obama’s statement about the Supreme Court decision that unleashes unlimited corporate spending on political campaigns. Obama stated, “[the Supreme Court decision] reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests—including foreign companies—to spend without limit in our elections. Well, I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities.”

Shame on you! The article entitled “Five tips for epic-ing in Boulder” was reckless, selfish and ill-informed. What next, an article in the Friday section encouraging IV drug-use, unprotected sex with strangers and drunk driving?

I’m tired of reading these ill-informed comments from City Council members about what a swamp the Hill Business District is.

I’ve read several news reports recently about scams in which someone poses as a representative of the U.S. Census Bureau and asks for money or personal and financial information. The scammers may attempt to dupe their victims via e-mailed questionnaires or by visiting in person.

On Sunday, January 24th, a friend and I were heading up Boulder Canyon towards Nederland when the clutch on her car stuck in the down position and she was unable to get the car in gear. We did our best to get off the road. The vehicle behind us stopped and the driver asked to help. Since we had no cell phone service, we asked him to please call AAA and get us a tow truck. Lo and behold, about an hour later the tow truck came and the car was towed. I never got his name and just want to say thanks. I hope he reads the Camera.

Your recent story on raising chickens in town neglected to mention that there is a very easy way to make sure you start out only with hens. They cost more than chicks but the small chicken “farmer” should only purchase point of lay hens, which will arrive at about age 17 weeks and begin laying eggs within four weeks. You should only purchase chicks if you do so in volume and live in the country with the idea of butchering the roosters and some of the hens. Hens will produce a satisfactory number of eggs for three to five years, so you do have to make plans for their “retirement.”

Quentin McKenna’s assertion (1/27/10) that emergency rooms have been legally authorized as primary health care providers is right on the mark except for one little thing.

Webster’s dictionary defines the word “pathological to mean: a person with behaviors that are, amoral, asocial, perverse and/or lack of sound judgment. A corporation is defined as a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. Its primary function is to generate capital with no liability risks to the investors. In effect a corporation has no conscience or ethical codes to follow, as does a person, although they often claim the same priveleges as a person when it suites their agenda. That agenda is to make money even if in the process it acts pathologically without concern for the well being of the citizenry.

Editor: Climate change is unlikely to imply the same thing for everyone — some regions will end up cooler. Because we’ve had ice ages in the past, some say, “So what?” A few others point to news reports of melting glaciers and the 1920s and 1930s, supporting their thesis that today’s earth scientists are crying wolf. I submit that the human race — the only species capable of affecting the entire planet’s physical environment for good or ill — should feel very fortunate to have received at least two warnings. If no attempt is made to abate meaningful negative change that is even remotely possible, then the arrival of an irreversible catastrophe would be an even more egregious pity and disgrace.

It’s time we stopped the charade on “Medicinal Marijuana”. It is either a drug with known potency, efficacy, safety, impurities and side-effects, or it’s simply a recreational drug. If the former, then for the sake of those who count on this drug to treat a variety of ailments, it should have the same level of quality assurance you get from any other prescribed, FDA approved, medicines.