Suzuki to defend ArenaCross Title

Thomas Ramette, the 2015 and 2016 Arenacross Pro Champion, has confirmed he and SR75 World Team Suzuki will return to AX in 2017 with a single-minded determination to once again lift the coveted AX Pro crown.

Whilst undoubtedly the most successful Pro racer and team in the four-year history of the ultra-competitive UK-based race series, Ramette and SR75 will be up against some stiff opposition next year. Both preceding Arenacross champions Adam Chatfield and Fabien Izoird are already signed up and chomping at the bit to get out on track to secure points, and a share of the significant prize fund. However, Ramette may have a slight advantage in that he is the only former series winner to return with the same manufacturer, team-mate and team set-up.

Ramette's smooth style and determined attitude served him well in the closely-contested, and often controversial, 2016 series, particularly as it reached the climax in London. He set out his stall at the opening round in Manchester back in January with an Arenacross racing masterclass to secure the first win of the year, and then went on to take a further four Main Event outright wins. Of the 11-round championship, the Suzuki pairing of Ramette and team-mate Cyrille Coulon enjoyed 10 podium finishes, confirming SR75 Suzuki as undisputed back-to-back Team Champions in the process.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Ramette kept himself pretty busy once the AX dust settled. Immediately after the final leg at Wembley, he jetted out to America to tackle the East Coast rounds of the gruelling AMA Supercross, prior to returning to Europe to contest, and win, a number of high-profile indoor and outdoor Supercross events. In the latest chapter of the Ramette success story, the likeable 25-year-old Frenchman was crowned King of Stockholm SX at the beginning of October, ahead of fast-charging Arenacross regulars Angelo Pellegrini, Jack Brunell, Izoird, Flo Richier and Matt Bayliss and, more recently, he added the King of Poland SX award to his bulging trophy cabinet.

Looking ahead to the 2017 Arenacross Tour, Ramette said; “It is cool to return to the series. I have had an amazing couple of years with my awesome SR75 Suzuki team and I look forward to getting back to the UK and the cool line-up of Arenas where we have enjoyed so many successful nights racing in front of the amazing UK race fans. Coming back to look for the 'threepeat' is something special and I do this with the professional respect it deserves. I will give it my all while having fun with some good racing and great pro class competition.”

Coulon said: “This series is a big favourite for me. I like the race and the track style sometimes suits my experience. I've had a great year with my SR75 Suzuki Team and I like to make good racing for UK fans with many great riders in this series.”

Delighted to continue with the winning partnership, Rob Cooper, Suzuki GB's Marketing Manager added; “Ever since winning this year's Arenacross Championship we fully expected to return in 2017 to defend the title with Geoff Walker and the SR75 Suzuki team. Last year was one of the most entertaining and explosive Arenacross tours the series has ever seen. It provided a great spectacle for the crowds and it was great to be a part of the show, and even better to come away having successfully defended the championship with Thomas Ramette. It was also fantastic to clinch the team championship for a second year in a row. Geoff puts together an extremely professional outfit, and in both Ramette and Cyrille Coulon we have two riders capable of fighting for the title again this year, and hopefully they can help deliver another team championship for Suzuki and the RM-Z450.”

With the return of all former Pro champs and a heady line-up of British Motocross talent, the 2017 Arenacross Tour promises to be intense. It all kicks off on Saturday January 7th at the Manchester Arena and will then travel to Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Sheffield and London.

For the latest news and to buy tickets, visit www.arenacrossuk.com

Tesla vs. Apple

By Keith Kohl Written Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Apple just shot itself in the foot. It looks like Project Titan, Apple's strongly rumored attempt at an autonomous car, is bust. The company recently announced that it would be killing the unofficial… Continue Reading →

Key ISIS threat in Europe identified

by Sebastian Rotella ProPublica, Oct. 19, 2016, 1:30 p.m. Almost a year after Islamic State terrorists killed 130 people in Paris, U.S. intelligence agencies have identified one of the suspected masterminds of that plot and a follow-up attack in Brussels.… Continue Reading →

Why is the US Green party so irrelevant - why are Greens irrelevant in the America

Read the whole story: http://northdenvernews.com/why-is-the...

With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both viewed negatively by a majority of Americans, why have no third-party candidates emerged as alternatives? Part of it certainly goes to the poor quality of the candidates on offer, but there are also deeper structural reasons.



U.S. Greens have won only a handful of state-level races, and have never won a congressional seat. Their greatest success came in 2000, when Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke won 2.7 percent of the popular vote in the presidential election. In contrast, West German Greens formed a national political party in 1980 and gained support in local, state and federal competitions. Joschka Fischer, one of the first Greens elected to Germany's Bundestag, served as the nation's foreign minister and vice chancellor from 1998-2005.

There is no easy way for the U.S. Green Party to emulate its German counterparts. Because the American political system makes it difficult for third parties to participate, Green Party candidates do not have opportunities to learn the trade of politics. They have remained activists who are true to their base instead of developing policy positions that would appeal to a broader audience. By doing so, they weaken their chances of winning major races even in liberal strongholds.



As a result, green ideas enter American political debates only when Democrats and Republicans take up these issues. It is telling that major U.S. environmental groups started endorsing Clinton even before she had clinched the Democratic presidential nomination over Bernie Sanders, who took more aggressive positions on some environmental and energy issues during their primary contest. And although Sanders identifies as an environmentalist, he sought the Democratic Party nomination instead of running as the Green Party candidate.



This suggests that running on a third-party ticket in the United States is still not a winning route to shaping a message aimed at a broad electorate. Instead, climate change, dwindling energy resources and growing human and economic costs from natural disasters will do more to promote ecological consciousness and political change in mainstream America than the radical rhetoric of the U.S. Green Party.

Nicky Hayden back to #MotoGP for Phillip Island

2016 World Champion Marquez and Repsol Honda Team en route to Australia. Nicky Hayden to replace Pedrosa Fresh from clinching the Riders' Championship at Motegi with Marc Marquez, the Repsol Honda team has packed up in Japan and is headed… Continue Reading →

How Lithuania helped run a secret CIA prison

A warehouse in a tiny Lithuanian village: the site of a CIA secret prison. Photo by Crofton Black Secret documents obtained by the Bureau prove that Lithuania helped the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) set up and run a “black site” for detention… Continue Reading →

American team rules off-road, wins International Six Days Enduro for first time in history #ISDE

The U.S. World Trophy Team dominated the 2016 International Six Days Enduro, the longest-running team world championship in motorcycling, winning the ISDE World Trophy for the first time. Held in Navarra, Spain, on Oct. 11-16, it was the 91st running… Continue Reading →

Sexual misconduct claims killing Trump candidacy #trump #hillary

  Hillary Clinton is currently ahead of Donald Trump by 12 points among voters likely to cast ballots in November.  This is up from the 4 point lead she had last month and marks a return to the large advantage… Continue Reading →

Stay Warm, Save Energy and Lower Your Utility Bill This Winter

By Nathaniel Sillin Do you turn the thermostat a notch higher or put on an extra sweater when it gets cold? It's a common household debate as family members try to maintain a balance between comfort and savings during the… Continue Reading →

Trump barely leads Clinton in Indiana; Bayh Maintains Senate Edge

INDIANA: PREZ CONTEST TIGHTENS; Democrat pulls ahead in governor's race West Long Branch, NJ – Indiana was never supposed to be competitive, even before Donald Trump tapped its governor as his running mate. The latest Monmouth University Poll throws those… Continue Reading →

As Denver Schools push another bond issue, a look back at a dysfunctional district

The face of corporate-style education reform efforts in Denver Public Schools is a human one. As scores of teachers are fired in Montbello, a lone teacher struggles against an increasingly means justify the ends system in a North Denver elementary… Continue Reading →

Alternative Dispute Resolution in North Carolina: A Primer

Alternative Dispute Resolution in North Carolina: A Primer

Rasmussen poll has Trump taking national lead

A new poll from Rasmussen say Donald Trump has rallied to take a lead in nationally polling over Hillary Clinton. The full results from Sunday night's debate are in, and Donald Trump has come from behind to take the lead… Continue Reading →

Machine learning by experimenting on us #machinelearning

BREAKING THE BLACK BOX by Julia Angwin, Terry Parris Jr., Surya Mattu and Seongtaek Lim, ProPublicaOctober 12, 2016 This is the third installment in a series that aims to explain and peer inside the black-box algorithms that increasingly dominate our lives.… Continue Reading →

Is the market ready to crash?

READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE: http://www.thecherrycreeknews.com/is-the-market-ready-to-crash
https://youtu.be/GukuL555KH0

There is something about the way humans are hard-wired - our brains seek to find patterns where none exist.

And for some reason, our brains need order and predictability.

Now, scientists say patterns please us. They reassure us that life is orderly, even though most of the time it isn't... we hate chaos!

One area where chaos exists - especially on a short-term basis - is the stock market.

I have no doubt that you've heard of “Black Monday” before today... it was a day I'll never forget.

Black Monday Memories...

On October 6, 1987, we had moved all of our clients' money out of the stock market and into money markets. Our indicators were telling us that the stock market was on the verge of a fall.

Thing is, we knew the risk was high, but we didn't know the magnitude!

Then on Friday, the last trading day before the crash, the stock market fell sharply - more than 4% on record volume.

Yet something just didn't sit right, even though we were safely in cash.

On Monday morning, October 19, 1987, at 8:00 a.m., I was driving to my office in New York City. Financial news was still in its infancy back then, so basic updates were only given twice an hour.

By the time the NYSE was open, all global markets were plunging, and the DJIA along with them. The tape was running late and couldn't keep up with the order flow, so by the time the last trade was printed, the stock was already down even further.

It was pure panic... and it hit Wall Street hard.

By the end of the day, the Dow was down a record 508 points, or 22.6% in one day!

For the next few weeks, newspapers ran the price chart of the Dow in October 1987 and overlaid the price charts from the great stock market crash in 1929.

Every day, every wiggle and jiggle on the chart was similar to the 1929 chart - with media pundits calling for another Great Depression.
Look, I want you to forget the fact that the market was completely different in 1929 than it was in 1987 - people wanted to see patterns where none existed!

In fact, newspapers continued to make that comparison, even as the current chart stopped falling and stabilized.

Soon, the comparison to 1929 was dropped, and the primary reason for the sharp decline of the October 1987 crash had little to do with the economy and more to do with a form of “portfolio insurance” that institutional investors used to hedge their portfolios.

Here We Go Again…

Just the other day, an analyst at Citibank overlaid the current chart of the S&P 500 with the chart of the index in 1987... and guess what?

It looked like a perfect copy because history was repeating itself again!


Of course, all sorts of reasons were given for why one should be concerned about the stock market now: concern regarding European banks, a polarizing U.S. election, central banks removing some of the economic stimulus, and recent volatility in gold and oil prices.

But just because the pattern looks similar doesn't mean the stock market is going to crash.

Remember, humans have a need to find patterns in a world of chaos - this is just one of those times.

Instead of wasting time looking for patterns, intelligent investors continue to sift through the stock market and find stocks that are trading for pennies on the dollar.

Is the Market Ready to Crash?

By Charles Mizrahi Written Tuesday, October 11, 2016 There is something about the way humans are hard-wired - our brains seek to find patterns where none exist. And for some reason, our brains need order and predictability. Now, scientists say patterns… Continue Reading →

Examining wiki Whisperer plus Reviews

I'm about to expose you a few of the most effective backlinks on the planet. I will show you how to get them on need. As video online marketers we have to always push ourselves to greater levels-- thankfully we can do this a lot simpler than a lot of Outsiders comprehend.



Grab YOUR Bonus HERE



Wiki Whisperer is a tool that I categorize as an advanced video marketing tool although it's simple to run and comprehend and has nothing directly to do with videos. In brief what it does for us is discover ultra effective backlinks Opportunities. Google enjoys Wikipedia and if you have direct backlinks from Wikipedia and Google automatically trust and treats you as an authority so it's for real experts in video marketing. Exactly what the software does for us is offers us domains that have direct links from Wikipedia pages where the domain has actually expired and can be gotten for the cost of a regular domain.



If you don't actually comprehend the worth of Wikipedia backlinks do a Google search on it. You'll see that individuals provide it as a service will charge you from sixty to a hundred dollars per backlink and with the wiki whisper software you're able to get those backlinks for less than 10 dollars plus because you own the domain. You're able to essentially multi-purpose those domain level backlinks on a much larger scale than those services are offering a much greater expenses so we're able to rapidly attain our objectives from a video ranking point of view when you're desiring to rank for a massively hard keyword rather of buying a number of fiber gigs to obtain a huge variety of trash backlinks that just helped a bit invest that ten dollars on a domain and use a single link that provides more power and authority that 10s of countless those silly little profile backlinks that everybody else is using sort of like having the power of a huge PBN, except at a fraction of the cost and with a lot more instant authority and trust from Google.



Video markers need to find every edge we can get. The software provides us that edge-- get the software application and join the ranks of elite video online marketer all over the world. Together will rule the video marketing landscape. All right now-- let's walk through the software together so that you can see and comprehend the procedure. Wiki whisper is not just powerful it's also great enjoyable to have fun with I constantly discover cool little surprises.



So, let's walk through whatever and I'll get you up to speed. Your campaign name is your own individual identifier. It permits you to quickly pull up arise from previous project as all of your projects are conserved into a folder in your documents directory called wiki whisper. Your settings tab this is where your personal settings are gotten in. The software will not run until all the fields in the settings are occupied with your individual details: your name, your email your MOZ credentials and your license is all that's needed. Simply click the Save button you have two kinds of search options keywords and metrics. A lot of beginning level marketers will adhere to the keyword version since the software will find offered backlinks there in some way associated to your keywords. Just enter your keyword into the keyword area and run it. Utilizing the keyword search will always return fewer outcomes than the metrics browsed, I'm using the metrics option will get you a more comprehensive level of outcomes. This is something advanced users are going to be more comfy with because we understand that when it concerns wiki backlink it is really the page authority of the wiki page that is the real driving force for the results that we're after. When using the metrics alternative you do not need to go into any keywords. That choice doesn't utilize keywords at all. When it comes to your domain and page Authority settings, the higher you set any of these numbers, the lower number of results will be retrieved. It is fantastic if you want to be laser targeted on one particular thing, considering that it does all the filtering for you on the fly. The downside of filtering is that you can extremely quickly filter out some fantastic discovers that you have not even thought about before. Personally, I don't use the little sliders at all. I don't drink at all online. I'll leave them all set to a minimum, so it returns the absolute most outcomes. Which obviously indicates I'm presented with a lot more options. I can't inform you the number of times, I have run throughout remarkable metric sets that I would have never ever believed of however were surprisingly effective. One other note-- there's a lot going on behind the scenes in the software application and it's utilizing multi-threading thoroughly because of the multi threading the activity area simply can't maintain. So it might look like at some points the software application stuck, however it isn't really simply leave it alone and let it keep running as long as there's a little blue wave the image that's going on here the software application is doing what it's expected to do. So I'll say this once again simply to be clear, if you think the software application is stuck, it isn't really simply leave it alone let it do its thing. Now as far as where it's waiting I'm going to go on and open up one that I've done prior to so as you see the software application has actually provided me the domain it's offered me the statistics. It's offered me everything that I require in order to decide on whether I desire to buy that domain and use it as a back link. As far as any other settings that this requires that's all fully covered in the in the official tutorial that you'll get after you've made your purchase.





We'll there you go. We just took an appearance at a single tool that can be utilized to rank for the hardest keywords on the world and do it with ease. Our goal is huge seepage of high-impact niches and this software takes us there there's a world of chance readily available with this program aside from obtaining back links that permit you to rank for hardcore competitive keywords can also start offering service to obtain other individuals with the Wikipedia backlinks and likely make a little fortune. Of course you can likewise construct entire high-power PBNs, usage for yourself or offer on locations like Flippa for massive earnings.



Let's face it. This single software application tool opens chances that the majority of individuals will never ever even understand exist. wiki-whisperer-reviews-and-bonusesRight this moment you have a huge benefit in the market from numerous viewpoints, due to the fact that you can use it to create several income streams beginning instantly.



So now you get to choose do you keep doing what you're doing or you come with us. Join our group of elite level online marketers where we really rank on demand for anything we desire. I think you should join us and take pleasure in the greatest levels of video

marketing rank power. Rates for this software will just get greater from here. This is definitely the most affordable cost you'll ever get for and if you ask around a bit, you'll discover it whenever I do a cost increase on my software application, stringent rate boosts can be found in one-hundred-dollar increments, so right now is truly the best time you can obtain a copy of this program.







Be sure thoroughly read and explore the rest of the info on this page, so that you're able to make a really informed buying decision.



Purchase with our link, and we'll work with you for your next news jack or launch jack development.

Saudis talk with Russia to cap oil production - peak oil

By Christian DeHaemer The news is out today that Russia is yet again in talks with Saudi Arabia to put a cap on oil production. This moved oil prices up 2.5%. Brent is now at $53.27 a barrel. There's a good… Continue Reading →

Laura E. Gómez named Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professor

Laura E. Gómez, Ph.D., professor of law, sociologist and educator, has been named Metropolitan State University of Denver's 2016 Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professor.

The professorship, which will be celebrated Oct. 10-12, continues a 19-year tradition of bringing renowned Latino and Latina scholars, artists and community leaders to the University. Gómez's research spans the fields of law and society, critical race theory and the sociology of race.

“Many Americans may not fully understand how racial categories are socially constructed in the United States and what it means for the ways we articulate our own identity and perceive others,” said Chalane E. Lechuga, Ph.D., assistant professor of Chicana/o Studies and chair of the Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship Committee. “Gómez will shed light on how this process has played out for Mexican-Americans in the late 19th century and was reinforced by the ideology of Manifest Destiny.”

Gómez was appointed interim dean of the UCLA College's Division of Social Sciences in June 2016. She is a professor at UCLA School of Law, where she served as vice dean from 2013 to 2015. She was the co-founder and the first co-director of the UCLA's Critical Race Studies Program. Gómez received an A.B. from Harvard in Social Studies, a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University.

She has taught courses in constitutional law, criminal law, civil procedure, race and American law, and law and society.

Her published work has appeared in journals including the Law & Society Review and the Annual Review of Law and Social Science. She is the author of three books: “Misconceiving Mothers: Legislators, Prosecutors and the Politics of Prenatal Drug Exposure” (1997), “Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race” (2007), and “Mapping 'Race': Critical Approaches to Health Disparities Research” (2013, co-edited with Nancy López). She was recognized as one of Hispanic Businessmagazine's 100 Most Influential Latinos of 2011.

Gómez's work complements the Castro Professorship mission by challenging cultural perceptions and encouraging alternative perspectives, and contextualizes law within discussions of race, gender and class.

Founded in 1997 to foster multiculturalism, diversity and academic excellence at the University, the professorship honors civil rights activist and MSU Denver graduate and instructor Richard T. Castro, who served five terms in Colorado's House of Representatives. For more information on the professorship, visitwww.msudenver.edu/castro.

Free community events open to the public include:

Monday, Oct. 10

Welcome Reception 5-8 p.m.

Casa Mayan, 1020 9th St., Auraria Campus

Tuesday, Oct. 11

Keynote Address 11 a.m.

Nuestros Destinos: (Re)Claiming Space, Identity, Power

Luncheon and Book Signing 12:15 p.m.

St. Cajetan's Event Center, Auraria Campus

Community Panel Symposium 5-8 p.m.

Contemporary Manifest Destinies: Gentrification, Cultural Conflict and Negotiation in Denver's Historically Chicana/o/Mexicana/o Communities

Highland Tap and Burger, 2219 W 32nd Ave, Denver CO 80211

Panelists in addition to Gómez:

· Debora Ortega, Ph.D., panel moderator, is a professor of social work and the director of the University of Denver's Latino Center for Community Engagement and Scholarship, an interdisciplinary group of faculty members who participate in scholarship, research and service to benefit the Latino community.

· Jaime Guzman, M.A., panelist, is currently attending the University of Denver, pursuing a doctorate degree in communication studies with an emphasis on critical intercultural communication. He received his M.A. in communication studies from California State University, Los Angeles, with an emphasis in rhetoric. His current research is focused on gentrification.

· Lisa Calderón, M.L.S., J.D.,panelist, is the director of the Community Reentry Project, an initiative of the City of Denver's Crime Prevention and Control Commission, where she supervises six staff who work on behalf of formerly incarcerated persons for their successful reintegration back into the community. She is an adjunct faculty member for CU Denver's Ethnic Studies department and has taught in academia for more than 15 years in the areas of women's studies, sociology and criminal justice.

· Arturo Jimenez, J.D., panelist, is an immigration attorney for his own firm, specializing in spouse visas, immigration reform, deportation defense, naturalization and citizenship, victim visas, temporary protected status and work permits. He is a former Denver Public Schools board member and director of District 5, which includes North and West Denver, Downtown, the Golden Triangle, Globeville, Elyria and Swansea.

·

Make every dollar count with your charitable contributions

By Nathaniel Sillin Deciding to make a charitable contribution can arise from a desire to help others, a passionate commitment to a cause or the aim to give back to a group that once helped you or a loved one.… Continue Reading →

Cory Gardner and Mike Coffman call on Trump to step aside

Two of Colorado's highest profile Republicans, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and GOP Congressman Mike Coffman, have called on their party's presidential nominee to step aside following a leaked 2005 recording of Donald Trump bragging about assaulting women.

If Donald Trump wishes to defeat Hillary Clinton, he should do the only thing that will allow us to do so – step aside. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/hadKP4gIrr

- Cory Gardner (@CoryGardner) October 8, 2016

Friday evening, Coffman released this statement.

“For the good of the country, and to give the Republicans a chance of defeating Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump should step aside. His defeat at this point seems almost certain. And four years of Hillary Clinton is not what is best for this country. Mr. Trump should put the country first and do the right thing.”

Coffman is in a tough re-election campaign against Democratic Sen. Morgan Carroll. During his campaign he has distanced himself from Trump, saying he would “stand up” to him if he became president, and Democrats have hounded him for not saying whether or not he will vote for his party's presidential nominee.

Carroll quickly responded to Coffman's statement.

“Calling on Trump to step down but still being open to voting for him is simply a profile in poll-watching and political self-preservation,” she said. “Attacks on a Gold Star family, mocking a disabled reporter, threatening physical violence on his opponent, and calling Mexicans rapists and murderers wasn't enough to lose Coffman's support. But now, with a month to go before Election Day, Mike Coffman is looking out for one person- himself.”

Republicans in the past 24 hours have severed their support for Trump after The Washington Post reported comments the reality TV star and real estate mogul made in 2005 with Bill Bush who at the time worked for Access Hollywood. Trump bragged to Bush about how being a celebrity allowed him to do what he wanted to women, and about his attempts at having sex with an unnamed married woman.

From The Post:

“And when you're a star, they let you do it,” Trump says. “You can do anything.” “Whatever you want,” says another voice, apparently Bush's. “Grab them by the p-y,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”

Reaction to the leaked recording was swift, with Trump's words appearing on today's front page of The New York Daily News. Trump issued a videotaped apology and dismissed his remarks as locker room banter.

More Colorado reactions:

So we're not appalled that @realDonaldTrump ripped off small business folks left and right but the P word is the straw? WTF? #coolitics

- Lynn Bartels (@lynn_bartels) October 8, 2016

Cory Gardner backed Trump against counsel not to. Pretty quick here withdrawing endorsement –> https://t.co/aRYsRHwWlt

- Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) October 8, 2016

Official Position on Donald Trump: pic.twitter.com/ZRKDnvte5e

- Darryl Glenn (@DarrylGlenn2016) October 8, 2016

 

Got to give credit to the good Senator from Yuma. Said "assault" and did not go with the wife/daughter reference. https://t.co/msQcg7N8a8

- Nancy (@rellimycnan) October 8, 2016

Trump said he will not step aside.

“I'd never withdraw,” Trump told The Washington Post. “I've never withdrawn in my life.”

Photo by Gage Skidmore for Creative Commons on Flickr.

The WSBA's 2016 APEX Awards: Award of Merit - Matthew H. Adams

This award is the WSBA's highest honor and is given for a recent,
singular achievement. It is awarded to individuals only - both lawyers
and non-lawyers.

Keefe: Profile of an opioid addict

Keefe: Profile of an opioid addict

DougCo school voucher lawsuit can expect extended Supreme Court delay

The parties involved in Douglas County School District's private school voucher lawsuit have been waiting since last December to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear their case. Now, it looks like they'll have to wait even longer.

Nina Totenberg, who covers the Court for National Public Radio, said Tuesday that the eight-member Court, which has still not filled the vacancy left by the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia, is likely to avoid highly controversial cases until after another member is appointed. That means the Court may make not make a decision whether to even hear the voucher lawsuit until next year.

In 2011, the DougCo school board - then comprised of seven conservative board members - voted to allow district residents to obtain taxpayer-funded vouchers for their children that could be used for any private or religious school, even if the school wasn't in Douglas County. Two years later, Taxpayers for Public Education, a nonprofit formed to fight the voucher program, filed a lawsuit against the policy, claiming it was illegal for taxpayer funds to pay for private and religious education.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the voucher program, called Choice Scholarship, was unconstitutional because the Colorado constitution prohibits school districts from aiding religious schools.

Last December, the district decided to appeal the decision to the nation's highest court.

The district went back to the drawing board earlier this year, eliminating religious schools from the scholarship program and renaming it the Choice Pilot Program. But that earned the district two more lawsuits: One, from Taxpayers for Public Education, criticized the use of taxpayer money for private schools; another, from a coalition of religious schools, challenged the district's blocking such schools from receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers. The latter was rejected by a federal judge in June; the former was put on hold in August on order of a Denver District Court judge.

On Monday, Education Week described the DougCo voucher lawsuit as one of the top education cases before the court during a term that “may be the most significant in years” with regards to K-12 education. It's one of two cases the Court could decide in the coming year on the issue of vouchers.

But Totenberg says the Court is likely to remain one justice short for most of the 2016-17 term, and that's bad news for those hoping for a speedy ruling on the controversial voucher case.

That appointment a new Supreme Court Justice is tied up in the presidential election. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he would not allow a Supreme Court nominee to be voted on by the Senate until the next president is sworn in.

If the Court, which is tied 4-4 ideologically, were to take up the voucher lawsuit and remain deadlocked at 4-4, the Colorado Supreme Court's decision would stand.

 

Photo by NCinDC, via Creative Commons license, Flickr

WATCH: Unaffiliated and third party candidates for U.S. Senate debate

Four non-major-party candidates running for U.S. Senate in Colorado squared off in a debate Wednesday evening in Pueblo.

Colorado arts advocate Paul Noel Fiorino and middle-class champion Dan Chapin are running as unaffiliated candidates, which means they are not registered as members of a political party and they collected the 1,000 signatures necessary to make the Nov. 8 U.S. Senate ballot. Don Willoughby is a write-in candidate, and Arn Menconi, a social justice advocate and former Eagle County Commissioner, is the Green Party's nominee.

One theme that emerged from the nearly two-hour debate, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Pueblo and Pueblo Community College, was how much the four candidates actually agree on the issues discussed.

All four fire from somewhere left of the center, and all but Willoughby agree that climate change has a man-made component. Willoughby believes atmospheric pressure might have more to do with a changing environment, but says humans need to do a better job at taking care of the planet.

The candidates took shots at media for not covering them, explained what it's like campaigning as an under-the-radar underdog and shared their views on policy, from the U.S. banking system and healthcare to how to deal with a national heroin epidemic. They also talked about money in politics and their positions on a handful of Colorado ballot measures.

“How uncomfortable are we prepared to be right now tonight?” asked one candidate when it came to talking about support for a ballot measure that would allow terminally ill patients to obtain medication to end their lives.

Asked who he supports for president this year, Fiorino said, “I feel as an unaffiliated I don't want to affiliate with those two,” and chose to keep his choice to himself. Menconi supports his party's nominee Jill Stein. An earlier supporter of Bernie Sanders, Chapin said he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton, saying “It's way past time in this country to put a woman in charge.” Willoughby said he's likely to write in Sanders or vote for Stein.

Watch the forum, moderated by The Colorado Independent's Corey Hutchins:

 

 

Taking an innovative first step

It might be tempting to say Project Helping, founded by Justin Kruger, was the winner of The Innovators Society's first Pitch Showdown on Sept. 30. After all, the organization did win the $50,000 ...

Guided Missile Destroyer John Paul Jones heads out to sea

The USS John Paul Jones heads out to sea from San Diego

USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) is the third Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer and the first ship of the class homeported on the west coast. She is named after American Revolutionary War naval captain John Paul Jones. She was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The ship is currently part of Destroyer Squadron 23, and administratively reports to Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific.


NDT YT URLS
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdTP8H_t0yYr1zUzYx0RA5w?sub_confirmation=1

http://www.youtube.com/c/NorthdenvertribuneNet

https://www.youtube.com/c/CherryCreekNewsDenver/?sub_confimation=1
https://www.youtube.com/c/CherryCreekNewsDenver/

https://www.youtube.com/account_advanced


http://www.youtube.com/c/GueringreenDenver

The truth, the whole truth, the Trump truth

If there's anyone who appreciated Mike Pence's performance last night, it had to be Colorado's own Cory Gardner.

It was about 15 minutes into the debate that I wrote a note to myself that Pence is pulling a Cory. It was about 15 minutes later that I underlined it. At some point, I'm pretty sure I added an exclamation point or maybe even two. And now you know how punditry gets done.

To pull a Cory, when you're presented with something that is obviously but inconveniently true,  you either straight-facedly deny that it's true or, if pressed, deny that the questioner has the facts right or, if pressed harder, simply answer a different question.

It's how Cory got to be Sen. Cory Gardner. It was brilliant, in its way, so long as truthfulness isn't a big issue for you.

But, to be fair, it was a slightly tougher haul for Pence, who didn't have to defend himself (I mean, at this point, what does it matter which disturbingly anti-gay bills Pence has signed as governor of Indiana?) but did have to defend his indefensible running mate and the long list of Trump's many absurdities and petty insults and cases of crowd-pleasing bigotry and cases of full-on misogyny. And that's before we even get to taxes.

Pence did his best. He calmly parried as Tim Kaine consistently interrupted. And he handled much of what Trump had said by shaking his head at the accusation, smiling incredulously and saying, in effect, in his best talk-radio voice, you'd have to think Trump was an idiot to believe he'd say things like that.

But, of course, it's all provable. And Trump is not an idiot. He's a demagogue, which is far worse. No one paying any attention at all doubted that Trump had said all those things – about abortion, about Miss Piggy, about nukes, about Putin – but if there were doubts, the Clinton campaign has already put out a pretty devastating fact-checking video matching every Pence denial with the relevant Trump utterance.

My favorite Pence move came when Kaine said that Trump was running an insult-driven campaign. “Ours is an insult-driven campaign?” Pence said, as if shocked by the notion. “I mean, to be honest with you, if Donald Trump had said all of the things that you've said he said in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said that half of our supporters were a basket of deplorables.”

Clinton did make a mistake – never insult the voters – but she also apologized. Meanwhile, Trump did say all the things that Kaine had charged him with saying. And if you're wondering how one candidate can get away with so much, check The New York Times's Upshot feature, which keeps a running list of people, places and things that Trump has insulted. Last I checked, it was 273.

And I wonder if The Times list included Trump's email sent during the debate, which, in Trump's trademark gratuitous style, said that “Kaine looks like an evil crook out of the Batman movies.”

The conventional wisdom is that Pence won the debate – and if you use the turn-off-the-volume test, it wasn't close – but it doesn't really matter. There are a couple of reasons for that. First, it's a vice-presidential debate, and they never matter. Not even Dan Quayle's I-knew-Jack-Kennedy debate mattered. Second, Pence may have helped himself in 2020, but he didn't do much for Trump in 2016. I mean, Pence called Putin “small and bullying,” and said the United States should meet Russian provocations with strength. Trump must have fallen out of his chair when he heard that about his favorite bare-chested dictator.

Further, Pence invented foreign policy for Syria that Trump had never mentioned before. Some were saying on Twitter – where you can trust everything you read – that Trump was upset that Pence spent less time defending Trump than he did in inventing a whole new running mate. The funniest thought is that Pence showed Trump how to attack Hillary Clinton on policy, on the foundation, on corruption. Does anyone – I mean, anyone – really think that Trump was taking notes on Pence's debate style?

If Pence contributed anything, it was, as some commentators noted, a pathway to a post-Trump GOP, in which the most obvious way forward is to pretend that the Trump interlude never actually happened. I'm sure Gardner would be glad to help lead the way there. We're only about five weeks away from Gardner denying that he ever supported Trump. And it may take a little longer, but Pence will soon be saying that he saw his role as someone to counter Trump on the off chance that the country would be crazy enough to elect him.

Kaine obviously had a terrible debate. He was supposed to be the attack dog, but that's not his strength, and talking over your opponent isn't the way to make the case. Just ask Trump, who, you may recall, constantly interrupted Clinton in their debate.

Actually, you don't have to ask Trump. All you had to do was be one of Trump's millions of Twitter followers. Here's what he actually tweeted the morning after the debate:

“The constant interruptions last night by Tim Kaine should not have been allowed. Mike Pence won big!”

Maybe he did. And yet, Trump still lost.

Flickr photo by DonkeyHotey

Unaffiliated and third party U.S. Senate candidates debate in Pueblo tonight

Voters in Colorado will see a crowded ballot for U.S. Senate this year. Eight names will appear with candidates representing third parties, qualified political organizations, and those not affiliated with a party.

You might have heard of incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet or Republican Darryl Glenn. Maybe you've seen Libertarian Lily Tang Williams debate Green Party candidate Arn Menconi. And perhaps, if you read The Colorado Independent, you know about the Unity Party candidate Bill Hammons.

But there are even more.

Dan Chapin, Paul Fiorino, and Don Willoughby will also be on Colorado U.S. Senate ballots that go out to voters Oct. 17.

Tonight at 7 p.m. in the Occhiato Theater in the Gorsich Advanced Technology Center on the Pueblo Community College Campus, those three unaffiliated candidates will attend a town hall-style debate with Menconi and Hammons.

The forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Pueblo and will be moderated by Corey Hutchins of The Colorado Independent.

“Unfortunately, Lilly Tang Williams had an emergency come up and has had to cancel,” said Vicki Lam of the League in a statement. “Michael Bennet's office called to say he had a conflict and could not attend.  We have not heard from Darryl Glenn.”

Click here for a map of the campus.

Photo by Cliff for Creative Commons on Flickr.

Supreme Court starts new term with more questions than answers

Washington (CNN)The Supreme Court will gavel in a new term on Tuesday with a thin docket of cases overshadowed by looming questions concerning the future tilt of the court.   The justices - still at reduced strength of eight -… Continue Reading →

Active Dem voters in Colorado overtake GOP for first time in at least 20 years

 

With two weeks until ballots drop in Colorado, new voter registration data show there are more active registered Democrats than Republicans here for the first time in at least two decades if not more.

According to the Oct. 1 figures from the Secretary of State's office, Colorado has 5,901 more active Democratic voters than Republicans statewide.

That's a big jump in just the past month.

In September, Dems were still trailing active registered Republican voters here by about 3,000. In the past 30 days they closed the gap - and then some.

Each month, the Secretary of State releases a data dump of voter registration figures. In July, the report made headlines because registered Democrats outpaced registered Republicans here for the first time in decades. But the caveat was that there were still about 8,400 more active Republican voters throughout the state than Democrats.

Within the past three months, Democrats have overtaken Republicans in both active and inactive categories.

“Active” voters are registered voters who have an address that the Secretary of State's office can confirm with a mailing. “Inactive” voters include voters who don't appear to live at the address the state has on record. “Both are eligible to vote,” says Secretary of State spokeswoman Lynn Bartels, but her office can't send a ballot to an inactive voter because officials know the address is wrong and ballots cannot be forwarded.

That's important because Colorado went to mail-in ballots after a change in state voting laws in 2013. This year will be the first presidential election in Colorado under the new vote-by-mail system.

Related: Colorado's first all-mail presidential election: Vote early and they'll leave you alone

As of Oct. 1, there were 1,171,067 registered active and inactive Democrats versus 1,147,064 Republicans - a difference of slightly more than 24,000. Colorado's largest voting bloc is still unaffiliated voters, who number 1.2 million.

Related: Are you one of Colorado's half million inactive voters? Here's how to find out.

Some of the credit for the state Democratic Party's high registration numbers might come from Hillary Clinton's Colorado campaign. According that effort's spokeswoman, Meredith Thatcher, the campaign has registered “thousands and thousands” of new voters in recent months, many of them on college campuses.

 

*A previous version of this post reported active Democratic voters outpaced Republican voters here for the first time in 20 years. CNN is reporting 30 years. The Secretary of State's office is doing some research, and we will update this when we hear back. 

Photo by David for Creative Commons on Flickr

Wiretap: Trump's tax bombshell, and the aftermath

It makes him smart

The biggest story in politics is the New York Times scoop on Donald Trump's 1995 tax returns and what they show about his business acumen and the probability that he used giant losses to pay no federal income tax for decades. Here, here and here are takes on how Donald Trump used the tax code to turn $900 million in losses into a giant tax shelter.

Genius!

Rudy Giuliani looks at the Times scoop on Trump's enormous business losses, his willingness to stiff the little guy, his $900 million tax avoidance and comes up with a one word description: Genius! Via the New Yorker.

Have at it

If you want to see the entire Jake Tapper-Giuliani smackdown, have at it. Via YouTube.

Moving on

Trump's plan to overcome his very bad week, capped by the tax-return story: To move away from the long-ago Clinton sex scandals and to concentrate on just how the Clintons made their money. Via the Washington Post.

Terrible, horrible

How bad was Donald Trump's week? This bad: An NBC News analysis figures it was the worst week any presidential candidate has ever had.

Lock her up

If you don't believe NBC, just check out Jenna Johnson's report in the Washington Post on Trump's Friday night rally in Mannheim, Pennsylvania, in which he suggested that Hillary Clinton may have cheated on Bill, imitated Clinton's pneumonia stumble and agreed with crowd that Clinton should be locked up. And that wasn't all.

Say again?

Jonah Goldberg on Parmenides's Fallacy and why he (sometimes, but only rarely) wishes Trump would win. Via the National Review.

Feel the Bern

Maybe the biggest winner in the Times bombshell was Mr. Inequality himself: Bernie Sanders. Via Politico.

Unbearably small

Jeffrey Goldberg: The unbearable smallness of Benjamin Netanyahu. Via the Atlantic.

Can Obamacare survive?

Obamacare is clearly struggling. How, and whether, it can be saved will be determined by the 2016 election. Via the New York Times.

Real men wear pink

Breast cancer, a disease generally associated with women, also impacts the lives of many men: Raymond Mencini, a breast radiologist at St. Anthony Hospital, diagnosed his wife with breast cancer seven years ago. Denver resident John Dye's