Birthers. They annoy the living crap out of me.

Don’t get me wrong, I can understand some of the anger from their side; presidential candidates have a list of requirements they must meet to actually be president, and it would be a horrible travesty if candidates/presidents-elect aren’t being checked out for these criteria. However, let’s see how Obama measures up

1) At least 35 years of age: President Obama was born August 4, 1961, making him 48 years old.

2) A least 14 years as a resident of the U.S.: He lived in Indonesia for 3 years as a young child, but the rest of his life has been in the U.S. (oddly enough, his political career spans exactly 14 years this year).

3) Natural-born U.S. citizen: According to factcheck.org, his birth certificate is legitimate.

Bottom line, Barack Obama meets all the Constitutional requirements to be President of the United States. He’s not required to show his birth certificate to anyone that questions this. Can we please move on from this?

This story comes from the Denver Post. Basically, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is handing out the sticker above (click the pic for a larger image), via the website QueerTheCensus.org, that can be attached to the back of the census form envelope. From the website:

We know it’s a little clichéd – but here’s what we want to tell the census: We’re here. We’re queer. And we want you to ask us about it.

It’s crazy – the U.S. Census Bureau wants an accurate count of everyone in the country – but there’s no question in the survey that asks if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

You read that right: LGBT people are basically invisible in the survey that is supposed to reflect the diversity of America’s population – and that’s a big problem.

The data collected impacts issues critical to every American – like our health care, our economic stability, and even our safety. And when LGBT people aren’t counted, then we also don’t count when it comes to services, resources … you name it.

It’s past time to Queer the Census! Sign the petition at right to demand that the census ask the question and count everyone!

Don’t get me wrong, I see the reasoning behind this, but my beef is that it encourages bigger government. The Constitution says the people are to be counted. That’s it. This isn’t suppose to be an information-gathering exercise to determine government services; this is just to know how many people live here. What do age, gender, race, religion, income, sexual orientation, etc., have to do with that?

Dear Colorado-based Amazon Associate:
We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to inform you that the Colorado government recently enacted a law to impose sales tax regulations on online retailers. The regulations are burdensome and no other state has similar rules. The new regulations do not require online retailers to collect sales tax. Instead, they are clearly intended to increase the compliance burden to a point where online retailers will be induced to “voluntarily” collect Colorado sales tax — a course we won’t take.

We and many others strongly opposed this legislation, known as HB 10-1193, but it was enacted anyway. Regrettably, as a result of the new law, we have decided to stop advertising through Associates based in Colorado. We plan to continue to sell to Colorado residents, however, and will advertise through other channels, including through Associates based in other states.

There is a right way for Colorado to pursue its revenue goals, but this new law is a wrong way. As we repeatedly communicated to Colorado legislators, including those who sponsored and supported the new law, we are not opposed to collecting sales tax within a constitutionally-permissible system applied even-handedly. The US Supreme Court has defined what would be constitutional, and if Colorado would repeal the current law or follow the constitutional approach to collection, we would welcome the opportunity to reinstate Colorado-based Associates.

You may express your views of Colorado’s new law to members of the General Assembly and to Governor Ritter, who signed the bill.

Your Associates account has been closed as of March 8, 2010, and we will no longer pay advertising fees for customers you refer to Amazon.com after that date. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to March 8, 2010, will be processed and paid in accordance with our regular payment schedule. Based on your account closure date of March 8, any final payments will be paid by May 31, 2010.

We have enjoyed working with you and other Colorado-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.

Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

Now, I did a piss-poor job of using the affiliate program, so this isn’t exactly a loss I’ll notice. However, it’s unfortunate that the actions of the state government are harming the income of state residents. With Amazon leading the way, who will follow?

For some odd reason, people have more fear of Marijuana being used recreationally than they do other prescription drugs. I just don’t see it being any more of an epidemic.

Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of this.  Is it a case of “old habits dying hard?”  Has the propaganda of the last several decades been so successful it’s convinced people that no good can be found in Marijuana?  Is this a case of cities trying to ignore a state law passed by the people?

Whatever the reason, Marijuana use for medical purposes is legal, and cities need to recognize and respect this.

What, you say it’s hard to gauge when jobs are “saved?” No matter, that makes it easier to take credit!

Links:
About 1,000 jobs in Colorado are linked to federal stimulus (Denver Post)
Stimulus is not creating or “saving” jobs in Colorado (Colorado Libertarian Party Blog)

Now, I’m all for staying healthy and cutting down on polution (by personal choice, not some government mandate), but this feels a little frivilous to me.  How long will this put unemployed folks back to work?  Is an increase in bike lanes really going to increase tourism or attract more businesses to the Denver area?

The answer to all three questions is that it’ll be a marginal improvement at best.  So, then, why are bike lanes such a big deal?

Rep. Diana DeGette [D, CO-1] – yes
Rep. Jared Polis [D, CO-2] – yes
Rep. John Salazar [D, CO-3] – no
Rep. Betsy Markey [D, CO-4] – yes
Rep. Doug Lamborn [R, CO-5] – no
Rep. Mike Coffman [R, CO-6] – no
Rep. Ed Perlmutter [D, CO-7] – yes

On the off chance you don’t know your Rep., here’s a map of Colorado Congressional Districts:

Kudos to John Salazar for ditching the party line and representing his district properly! It’s amazing how few on both sides of the aisle do that nowadays.

The gist if this story from channel 7 in Denver is that a mobile home park in Boulder has raised rent by $75 a month, which is hurting the ability of those with a fixed income to remain there.

Now, I support the initial act of the residents, where they raised money themselves to help those that couldn’t afford the rate increase.  However, I disagree with their petition to the city to provide for these people.

Do I have no sympathy?  Hardly.

However, living somewhere for a few decades doesn’t entitle you to always live there.  Like it or not, sometimes life requires you to move to find housing you can afford; it just isn’t fair to any of the other taxpayers out there to require them to pay your rent to keep your current residence.  I can only hope that Boulder denies this request, but I’m not holding my breath.

A new favorite quote of mine:

“It’s amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people yourself is compassion.” – Penn Jillette

Colorado won’t refuse federal money coming to the state through the recently signed stimulus package.

Full Article

This should surprise nobody; the stimulus plan comes from the Democrats, Colorado is a blue state, you do the math.

I tip my hat to Bobby Jindal.