The Colorado State Open Thread is designed to focus on issues of import and interest to folks interested in our square(ish) state. It doesn’t matter if you live here or not, if you’ve visited here or not, or whether you’ve heard of Colorado or not. Well, that last one may be important. As this is an open thread, please feel free to write in the comments anything you wish and I hope you can enjoy each other’s company.
Last week I wrote two diaries — the Open Thread, which started off with a photo that was likely showing a simple contrail (not chemtrail) out the back of a Japanese Air Line airplane flying from Tokyo to Dallas and passing over Colorado in the pre-dawn sky, and a diary about the ill health of Queen Elizabeth II and my thoughts about an immediate aftermath should she pass. Neither diary was well-received, and upon reflection I can understand that people were especially upset about the one of the Queen. I deleted that diary, and I think that may be the first one I’ve ever removed. What I put in that diary really wasn’t necessary and I apologize to you, my readers. As for the one on Chemtrails, I didn’t realize that was a sensitive subject for many readers (I have long been over them and I didn’t think there was still a group of people still getting upset about them since I haven’t seen them mentioned in years). I was wrong.
I also was wrong about my skill level with /snark, as people put comments in the diary thinking I was being serious. I left out a tag for “humor” and I apologized in a comment to the diary but I wish to apologize again here, since I do want to make it clear that I do not and have not had any belief in secret government plots to spread chemicals or other substances from airplanes to harm people like the conspiracy folks believe. There are very few things I do believe get spread from airplanes: cloud seeding to try and promote precipitation, chemical fire retardants and water to fight fires, fingerling fish to populate mountain lakes that can’t easily be populated by ground travel means, chemicals like malathion (is that still used?) and fertilizers and chemicals for crop dusting and trying to control insects. Other things spread from airplanes include many items of war, including troops, mines, bombs, missiles, napalm, well, you get the picture. Again, I apologize for writing poorly and getting readers upset.
Now, on to Colorado news.
Apparently, I missed one heck of a debate between candidate Adam Frisch, running as the Democrat, and Lauren Boebert, (R-CO3). I won’t mock CO3 because I don’t think they knew what they were getting when they voted her in in 2020. I just hope they don’t repeat the error this year. There have been a couple of articles published about the debate in my news aggregator. One was about the same topic as Pennyfarthing’s diary, but there was another one on a rumor that Boebert would quit Congress if a Fox News job was offered to her.
“My dream job is actually just being a mom of four boys and raising my goats,” the Republican representative from Colorado clarified. “That’s my biggest dream, but it’s an honor to serve the constituents of Colorado’s 3rd district, and I look forward to doing it a second time.”
I hope and pray that the voters from Colorado’s 3rd district will make her “biggest dream” come true.
Another article, longer, is at www.postindependent.com/… Boebert did make some jabs at Adam Frisch, but she made more at Nancy Pelosi, which prompted Mr. Frisch to clarify to her that he isn’t Nancy Pelosi and that his name is Adam Frisch. Some other comments:
Despite the obstacles, Frisch has made it clear he thinks he has a shot at winning, accusing Boebert of “angertainment” and “extremism.”
“You’ve failed us and are not doing the work,” Frisch said to Boebert. “You’ve consistently voted against the interests of our farmers and ranchers, our small business owners, our teachers and our healthcare workers (…) I’m curious, congresswoman, are you failing because you don’t care, because you can’t do the job, or because you can’t tell the difference between right and wrong (…) You’re not showing up, you’re shooting blanks when it comes to protecting the citizens and communities of our district.”
Frisch wasted no time when it came to taking shots at Boebert, mentioning the 39 pieces of legislation the congresswoman has either sponsored or cosponsored and how not one of them has passed the House, let alone gone on to become law.
Boebert claimed to have brought $340 million in federal funds to the district. I hope Frisch pointed out that she voted against every one of those dollars and that the funds were passed in spite of, rather than with the support of the Congresswoman. We should be getting our ballots in about a month, and then we can vote by mail or drop box after that up until November 8th (thank you, Democrats!)
I’ve been pleased to see a good commercial airing for Senator Bennet on the local Denver stations over the last few days. I saw one for Joe O’Dea — for more on him, you can view Laura Clawson’s diary. That commercial doesn’t mention abortion or any specific proposals the way Senator Bennet’s does.
There is a diary about a Republican running for the state House from the south metro area (roughly Cherry Hills Village and Englewood) who refused to take back a “mistake” in a tweet where she called blacks “chimps” but it’s OK because she’s Hispanic. Ugh!
On another note, having a Native American Secretary of the Interior has produced a positive change on federal lands, as about 650 geographical features on federal lands have now had their names changed to remove words offensive to Native Americans, including 28 such designations in Colorado. www.9news.com/...
“I feel a deep obligation to use my platform to ensure that our public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming. That starts with removing racist and derogatory names that have graced federal locations for far too long,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
The changes announced Thursday capped an almost year-long process that began after Haaland, the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency, took office in 2021. Haaland is from Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico.
***
The term originated in the Algonquin language and might have once simply meant “woman.” Over time, the word morphed into a misogynist and racist term to disparage indigenous women, experts said.
There are additional geographic points in Colorado that have either been or are in the process of being changed, including locations named after people who participated in the slaughter of the Native Americans including Mount Evans, just west of Denver.
It is named after former territorial Gov. John Evans (1862-1865), who authorized the murder of Native Americans in Colorado and was responsible for the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864, which ended with reportedly hundreds of Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women, and children killed, according to the Sand Creek Massacre Foundation.
The final note is about the upcoming season — the Rut! It is usually most famous for the elk, but the various members of the deer family (elk, deer and moose) all use this fall season to find and battle over the right to mate with females.
Elk Fest will be held the 1st and 2nd of October in downtown Estes Park. It’s a festival with all kinds of celebrations of the elk. There will be plenty of beautiful fall weather, and the aspen will be in full fall foliage around that time. Come up and have a good time. In the meantime, please enjoy the weather and please leave comments below. The floor is yours...