We toured the museum yesterday. Each of these cars represent a story of a legendary racer or engineer or team who made a milestone in racing or automotive history. They’re owned by Bill Smith, founder of Speedway Motors in Lincoln, Nebraska, and these pictures only scratch the surface of his collection there.
the bomb
the clueless Left
Ezra Levant shares his, and other Sun News experiences dealing with professional anti-oil protesters.
Lincoln, UNL
The Circus is back in town
Anti oil & gas activists are still playing fast and loose with the facts, and now they’ve brought in more activists from other counties to muddy the waters and escalate the circus atmosphere of BOCC meetings. [Read more…]
Akron vicinity
disconnected reasoning
From an 8/8/2013 letter in the Elbert County Sun:
Note that Mr. Brown does not dispute that operational conflicts with COGCC rules exist in the proposed Elbert County Oil & Gas regulations that he helped write. Apparently he’s accepted the reality of the COGCC warnings from the May 14th study session.
But look at his first construction above – the county should pass the oil and gas regulations, thereby cause an economic grievance to a developer, and then discover through litigation whether the state has subject matter jurisdiction on the question of COGCC regulatory occupation of the field. Doesn’t this sound like the much ridiculed Pelosi construct of having to pass the bill in order to find out what’s in it? Do all Democrats think this way?
But let’s move on. Brown next admits an answer to the above conundrum – “let’s assume the state has the legal capacity to file such a lawsuit,” thereby begging a question of what he hoped to achieve in his setup. But let’s not get lost in the weeds as Brown pivots to his next construct – that if the county and Commissioner Rowland consider a given regulatory issue to be a surface matter, while the state considers that same regulatory issue to be an operational matter within its regulatory domain, then the state has “no basis for a lawsuit.” What?
According to Brown, all a county need do is decide that something is within their jurisdiction, and that decision somehow binds the COGCC to go along – unless the COGCC decides not to, and instead puts an operator into a process of asking the BOCC for a waiver.
Let’s see, is that a waiver from the county regulation, or is that a waiver from the COGCC regulation. Mr. Brown doesn’t say, but surely a county that has the power to redefine operational conflicts into surface matters, and thereby remove the basis for a COGCC lawsuit, must also have the power to excuse compliance with COGCC regulations when it sees fit to do so.
Where do counties get such power over the state? In the imagination of Mr. Brown is where. I don’t think Mr. Rowland is the one confused here. But I do worry that Mr. Brown’s “logic” will appear persuasive to people not prepared for such deceptive reasoning.
After weaving his magical brew, Mr. Brown closes with an appeal to Mr. Rowland’s ministerial vanity. Good grief. Is there no panderingly offensive depth to which Brown won’t sink?
B_Imperial
Limon lightning this evening
data on Islam
October 27, 2010 10:00 AM Age: 3 yrs
Towards a Curriculum for the Teaching of Jihadist Ideology aims to provide an introduction to the intellectual infrastructure of the jihadist phenomenon and the process of radicalization, and to furnish materials for a textbook primer to what is still largely an ideological terra incognita for the western reader. It is designed for the use of academics, security professionals, policy-makers and the general reader alike.
The work sets out in its introductory chapters to highlight common errors in the perception of jihadism and of its causes by looking at the problem from the point of view of the jihadist sympathizer. It details the ideological infrastructure of the movement through an examination of the texts – many of which have yet to be made available in English. The study argues that the meticulously composed doctrinal and cultural works form the life-blood and intellectual infrastructure of the Jihad and in quantity and range amount to an entire educational program, one that is constructed to reconfigure a Muslim’s self-image and identity.
It sets out to demonstrate how jihadism is in essence a religiously construed movement in something more than its externalities, and illustrates the emphasis the jihadist thinkers place on the importance of doctrinal propriety, an emphasis that outweighs by far the attention given to matters of strategy and tactics. The study argues that it is the strength of the intellectual underpinning (something which is too often underestimated) that affords the jihadist movement its resilience by providing it with what amounts to a doctrinal ‘safe haven’ that frames and justifies the conflict. Importantly, the work highlights that the resilience of jihadism stems from its claim to doctrinal authenticity and pedigree within the Islamic tradition. The analysis demonstrates how this authenticity derives from the jihad’s incunabulum within the absolutist, reductionist methodology of the Salafist tendency, and traces how the development to activism and Jihadi-Salafism occurred progressively, in step with constant insistence on its authenticity to the tradition. It also underlines the basic doctrinal features of jihadism, and illustrates the interpretation given by the muj?hid?n and their sympathisers to current reality, to the course of history and the salvific nature of the struggle, which they consider themselves to be waging. It is by understanding jihadists’ points of departure on their own terms like this that light can be shed on why they behave the way they do, both in the Muslim heartlands and beyond.
The ‘Curriculum’ section discusses the teaching of jihadism to date in academic institutions and outlines the problems that ensue from current reticence to give the subject the depth of treatment that it merits. As a template for the Curriculum it takes the examples of curricula and recommendations circulated by Jihadis themselves on the Internet, and thus reflects the jihadists’ own prioritization of materials and authors. In so doing, the study demonstrates the true ‘cyberweapon’ role of the web, which is as a publisher and distributor of texts. The examination of the jihadi curricula also confirms the strong doctrinal bias, indicating where for the muj?hid?n the centre of gravity of the jihad actually lies. The sample texts of the Curriculum are collected and categorized according to subject and purpose and commented upon in detail, in order to explain the world view of the jihadists and illustrate how they explain and justify their acts in religious terms using an exclusively logocentric reasoning.
Lastly, the work’s conclusions emphasize the need to avoid making assumptions based on old analytical habits, to study the wealth of open source information available on the ideology – which should be taken seriously and at face value – and to understand that the ‘Jihad’ is primarily a re-education endeavour and therefore very much a war of ideas. It calls for the improvement of both the quality and spectrum of research and analysis, preferably through a multi-disciplinary approach that can accommodate the return of the religious dimension to international affairs.
Ulph_Towards_a_Curriculum_Part1
an August welcome
colorful evening
Dr. Joondeph of Colorado Retina Associates saved my eyesight again today by closing a retinal tear in a brief in-office laser procedure, so I could see images like these tonight.
(click to enlarge)
B_Imperial
science and democracy
New Plains advertised a webcast about fracking from the Union of Concerned Scientists. See below.
Science. Scientific method. Hypothesis, experiment, evidence, contingent proof, repeatability.
Democracy. Majority rule, the common good, enforced equality, regulatory bureaucratic control.
There’s nothing scientific about democracy. Democracy is about controlling people. Science is about understanding nature. Why link the two?
Because you want to enforce specific outcomes under the pretense of scientific authority. And what outcomes do the Union of Concerned Scientists want to enforce? Look at their web site . . .
- Global Warming – The Earth is warming and human activity is the primary cause.
- Clean vehicles – We must act now. Our cars and trucks consume more oil than all other sources combined. America’s reliance on oil threatens our health, economy, and environment—and the costs and risks will only intensify as oil becomes more difficult and expensive to acquire.
- Clean energy – Renewable energy resources like wind and solar power generate electricity with little or no pollution and global warming emissions—and could reliably provide up to 40 percent of U.S. electricity needs within the next 20 years.
The list goes on. No nukes, sustainable this and that, one Pollyanna “solution” after another. I respect that we all have free speech and we can say whatever we want in America, for the most part. But the left is just so fundamentally unserious on so many of these issues.
Imagine what problems could be solved in the world if the half of humanity with their heads up their democratic collectives were actually engaged in real solutions.
Imagine what politically correct effluvia they’ll issue about fracking on Thursday.
The hardest part about being a conservative is the constant challenge of countering seductive fantasies with the “opportunity cost” of real accomplishments that could have been made, had they not been crowded out by bovine scatology.
Take my commissioner, please.
The Elbert County Planning Commission rubber-stamped an oil & gas zoning regulation that would have put the county in conflict with state COGCC regulations, making grounds for litigation in the grey area of Colorado county vs. state authority to legally occupy a regulatory field. Had those regulations passed, it wouldn’t have taken long for an aggrieved party, no doubt with supporting briefs from Jerry Dahl, to come along and tie the county up in an expensive lawsuit with the state.
After listening to interminable hours of environmentalists on the oil and gas edit committee and their audiences haggle through various entrapment schemes to stymie oil and gas development, I believe that litigation was always their unspoken objective. They never intended to facilitate oil and gas development, regardless of how safe, how environmentally benign, how well planned it could be, or, and this one really chaps my butt, how much good faith they professed.
Before Larry Ross became Commissioner Ross, he and his wife were part of that clamor for oil and gas regulation. As the letter below demonstrates, the big picture from the elected office window has done little to objectify his views.
As head of the planning commission, Grant Thayer should have had the fortitude to stand against the liberal majority who proceeded without regard to the expressed COGCC warnings about operational conflicts. In doing the only honorable thing, however, he neglected to mention his own culpability, and instead dumped on the BOCC. Maybe he’ll man up on that issue someday.
If all this wasn’t bad enough, the planning commission can only be expected to issue findings even further removed from objective reality under the leadership of staunch leftists Crisan and Brown, champions of the envious, redistributors of all things appurtenant to land, holders of the door handles to Elbert County, closed tightly behind the last ones to successfully make it out here.
The movie Pleasantville comes to mind — the black and white part.
B_Imperial
RE: Thayer Resignation
Dear Editor [West Elbert County Sun, 7-18-2013],
It is with deep regret that I have accepted the letter of resignation of long time Elbert County Planning Commission Chairman Mr. Grant Thayer.
Mr. Thayer has faithfully served the people of Elbert County for over a decade accomplishing a great deal to provide a land use planning and zoning framework and leadership for our nine member Planning Commission. Grant has my most sincere gratitude.
Grant Thayer is a highly accomplished petroleum geologist. Mr.. Thayer has been the CEO of two oil companies and the COO of another. Grant is also a tremendous steward of the land having placed thousands of his acres into conservation and wildlife trusts and utilizing best practices in ranching and farming.
Mr. Grant Thayer brought all this ability and selfless dedication to the process of developing for Elbert County an oil and gas regulation that is practical and workable for our citizens, the state and the industry.
Mr. Thayer stated in his letter the following: “It appears that the motion by Commissioner Schlagel and its subsequent passing that it is the intent of the BOCC to bypass the Planning Commission in drafting and recommendations of future county regulations.”
Our citizens should be concerned and alarmed when the Board of County Commissioners ignores and bypasses our Planning Commission on zoning issues of any kind.
An effective Planning Commission can protect us from land use decisions being made by a mere two County Commissioners and placing special interests above yours.
Best Regards,
Larry D. Ross, Elbert County Commissioner, District 3
Left wing vs. Right wing
Assuming that the terms “left wing” and “right wing” are pejorative toward the opposite side, about twice as much left wing propaganda exists as right wing propaganda. Also, “Obama” seems to be a leading indicator for left wing propaganda.
B_Imperial
Fighting the Ideological War
From an essay by Stephen Ulph, Islam and Totalitarianism: The Challenge of Comparison, in, Fighting the Ideological War, ed. by Katharine C. Gorka and Patrick Sookhdeo, 2012.
A conspiracy requires the existence of a constant enemy. If for Nazi Germany the role was filled by the Jews, in the case of the Islamists it is actually more than merely the Jew, it is the ewige Kafir, the eternal infidel. If the “enemy” defines those with an unclear sense of their own identity in the modern multi-faith pluralist environment, Islamist ideologues make ample use of the device to force the message of an eternal plot of disbelief against Islam. Beyond Jews, Christians and imperialists luring Muslims away from the true faith, the roster of enemies expands to the more sinister, internal conspirators: these are the liberal Muslim thinkers and the secularists. The al Qaeda affiliated al-Neda jihadi website provides us with the list and the commentary on elements that pull Muslims away from the true faith:
The Threat to Islam from Muslims
“Sometimes a hundred times worse than the hatred of the enemies of the nation, the Jews and the Christians” emanating from the leaders of Islamic countries and the clerics who serve them.The Secular Threat
“One of the greatest threats to the hegemony of Islam and the dominance of Shari’a is the American secularism that will be imposed forcefully on the region… The Islamic world will change from dictatorship to democracy, which means subhuman degradation in all walks of life.”The Threat of Those Who Abandoned the Islamic Tradition
Since secularism will be rejected by a large section of Muslims, the Zionist-Crusader coalition is encouraging major spiritual groups such as the Sufis, “who are mostly infidels” and believe in monism, pantheism, and re-incarnation and observe “conscience, inspiration, and other endless falsehoods.” Orders such as the Sufis “oppose Jihad and do not oppose the infidels.”The Threat of the Rational School
A “deadly seedling that maintains that Islam is not opposed to atheism, and that Islam must get close to the infidel and coexist with him.” A school of thought, planted by British imperialism and “established by Muhammad `Abduh and which maintains that logic takes precedence over the text [of the Quran].” This school “may become the first stepping stone to secularizing the region, because it is a mixture of secularism and Islam.”More intensive than Fascism, the plot in this case is nothing less than machinations of Satan against the Truth, and his exploitation of the enemies of Islam within the Islamic world for this purpose.
~
No matter how you slice it, Obama fits multiple infidel threat categories. Turns out it was never reasonable to expect he could become a peacemaker between Islamism and America.
B_Imperial
Regulators ignored COGCC
On May 14th, representatives from COGCC and COGA met with the BOCC, members of the CDS department, and Grant Thayer representing the proposed oil & gas zoning regulations and MOU, in a study session. The entire video is here:
COGCC and COGA raised a number of objections about the proposed zoning regulations as follows:
(Each of the links in this list starts the video at the relevant point. You might want to open them in a separate tab.)
- The MOU is a vehicle for you to negotiate things which you cannot mandate
- Operational conflicts in general
- The MOU is NOT the entire agreement for expedited CDS approval
- The community meeting requirements are redundant of state regulations
- If you want to have a completely duplicative process (with COGCC), you can
- Page 14 dust control measures with produced water. Operational conflict with COGCC rule 910.
- Hazardous material inventory statement undefined and potentially conflicting with COGCC.
- All weather surface on private property undefined. COGCC recommends this be in MOU. Fire Depts. want it regulatory. Not resolved.
- Disposal of produced water section thoroughly regulated by COGCC. Operational conflict.
- There is no presumption against open pit storage at COGCC. Operational conflict.
- COGCC regulates produced water pits used by multiple operators
- Permit time frame for removal of operational equipment conflicts with COGCC interim reclamation.
- Most counties are not using an MOU legal structure. Most rely on COGCC LGD interface.
COGA – “We’re not seeing this is the norm by any case.”
The proposed oil & gas zoning regulations and MOU, both dated May 10, 2013, were subsequently sent to the BOCC for approval without any of the above cited operational conflicts and other problems addressed.
As of this writing on 7-13-2013 they are still on-line at the county website at:
It would appear that Rowland and Schlegel paid attention this day, and Ross did not. Knowing that none of these concerns had been addressed in the draft documents, Rowland and Schlegel subsequently ruled on them in the only reasonable way they could have.
Why did the oil & gas edit committee and the CDS department not respond to the COGCC warnings?
Why did the planning commission accept documents they knew had been made obsolete by COGCC criticisms?
Why did the edit committee, the planning commission, and the CDS department, try to convince the BOCC to put Elbert County on a litigation collision course with the state?
Should there be wholesale changes in personnel in all of these groups?
How can the citizens of Elbert County trust future advice from the people currently operating these groups?
B_Imperial
applause, please.
When the BOCC announced at the June 26th meeting that only the zoning element of the proposed oil & gas regulations was on the table that day, many people in the room started to visibly shake. Speaker after speaker stood up to rebut severing consideration of the zoning from the MOU, the emotional barometer rising with each second on the clock.
No words were left unsaid, no constructs unexplored, no state vs. county vs. industry vs. the environment scenario went undiagnosed, in the attempt to convince the BOCC to reconsider and get that MOU back on the table.
So many bloody bodies piled up on the sword of the MOU that proceedings became a little farcical. At one point a wrestling match for the microphone almost broke out when Paul Crisan staked out turf next to the podium and the BOCC had to order him to stand down. He’s probably still smarting from that rebuke — like an ice bucket of cold water in the face.
After all, he’s one of the insiders! One of the hearty givers who seize the reins of power in the planning commission, or the oil & gas edit committee, or the water advisory board, or who faithfully show up as acolyte enabling audience for one of the law-giver groups. And these folks aren’t shy about heaping praise upon other members of the law-giving communities, which is to say, upon themselves. All of these committees have periodic rituals of mutual adoration that the uninitiated have to sit through.
Mind you, no one denies that the work is difficult, or that it doesn’t have value. But the question of value remains open. To listen to the ones puffing about their public service, the value is quite high. But all that puffing probably gets offset by the self-aggrandizement factor.
Even things like gold that have intrinsic value still trade at an objectively determined market value.
In the objective market for this round of oil & gas zoning regulations, it appears their value came up well short of their expectations. No amount of puffing could save it.
The oil & gas edit committee, the planning commission, the water board, the acolyte enablers, all of them gambled on a payoff that their self-fulfilling prophecy of an MOU would get anointed by a majority of the BOCC and given the force of law. They knew they had Ross in the bag and all they had to do was convince Rowland. Surely that was a done deal.
And what a victory it would have been! So strong was the allure of success that they ignored warning signs about operational conflicts from the Attorney General’s office. They’d considered all that and figured the risk of the County getting sued was worth the exposure. The COGCC, COGA and Jake Matter from the AG’s office all came out to talk some sense into the planners, and planners didn’t even bother to update their zoning and MOU proposals, so sure were they of the righteousness of their path.
And then it all came crashing down on the 26th. All that remained on July 10th was to hammer a few nails in the coffin, the patient already long gone. Who knew that Rowland would decide that the risk of the County getting sued was not something Rowland was going to gamble over on his watch?
Well, the name calling, the raising of procedural doubts, the personal disparagements, all of it is just kicking into gear. You don’t affront this bunch of professional do-gooders without paying serious blood money. They will have their revenge. People will pay dearly for interfering in their all important work of furthering the agenda.
They’ll never admit this failure was their fault. But it was. They overreached. They gambled. They shut out contrary indicators. They refused substantive inputs from industry and the state alike. They argued down reasonable opposing views. They made themselves more important than the truth. They put faith in their own club of mutual admirers over the objective reality that surrounds all of us. They gave into hubris. They were big fish in a small pond.
Someone didn’t get the memo and came along to drain the water.
No worries though. They’ll be back. The lure of power, and their lust for it, remain strong. Oh yes, they’ll definitely be back. And they’ll expect us to applaud.
B_Imperial
Left has myths about Weld
Assessed valuation is a gusher in Weld County
Property values hit $7.1 billion, among richest in state
 Weld County’s assessed value soars – Assessed value from 2001 to 2013 (in $billion). *This figure from Weld Assessor Christopher Woodruff is preliminary. Source: Weld County Assessor’s Office |
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Steve Lynn
Assessed property values in Weld County, long known for its affordable, rural lifestyle, have reached $7.1 billion this year, putting it on par with the wealthiest counties in metro Denver.
The increase in value is largely attributable to oil and natural-gas production, which makes up 55 percent of the county’s total assessed value, Weld Assessor Christopher Woodruff said.
“In terms of what’s driving the dollars, it’s oil and gas,” Woodruff said. “The other classes of property are not big enough or don’t change enough to make enough difference into the actual tax dollars that are paid.”
The largest increase came from the Wattenberg field, the area extending from north of Denver well into Weld County, which marks the sweet spot of Weld’s oil and gas drilling boom.
Assessed value for 2013 determines the amount of tax revenue the county’s more than 300 tax districts collect next year. The assessed-value figures are preliminary, but could increase in coming months. The county will certify this year’s values for the first time in August, with a final certification coming in December.
Last year’s assessed value in Weld reached $6.5 billion, netting $454 million in revenue for tax districts, including the county itself, junior colleges, schools, fire and water districts and others. Property tax revenue increased $71 million from the $383 million collected the prior year.
In 2012, oil and gas accounted for 52 percent of assessed value. Noble Energy Inc. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., two of the largest oil and natural-gas companies in the region, paid the county $148 million in 2012 property taxes, nearly one third of all the county’s tax revenue.
This year, agricultural assessed value rose 18 percent, but it only makes up 2 percent of total assessed value, Woodruff said.
In April, Weld was ranked No. 4 in total estimated assessed value at $6.8 billion, behind Denver, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties, according to a study from the state Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Property Taxation. Denver County ranked No. 1 with $11.3 billion in assessed value, well ahead of the others.
Of the top-ranked counties, however, Weld saw the largest percentage increase in assessed value of 4.9 percent.
Based on the new $7.1 billion figure, Weld’s assessed value growth rises to 9.2 percent.
“Some counties, such as Weld County, are growing dramatically,” said JoAnn Groff, the state property tax administrator, who also attributed the increase to oil and gas activity.
By contrast, Larimer County’s 2013 assessed value was estimated at $4.19 billion, up slightly from $4.13 billion in 2012.
The influx of tax revenue has helped keep Weld’s mill levy low. In 2001, Weld’s mill levy was 20.599; by 2006 it was down to 16.804, where it has remained.
Bill Jerke, a farmer and oil and gas consultant as well as a former state representative and Weld County commissioner, said the low tax rates have promoted economic prosperity.
“The overall wealth keeps going up, and as a result, the tax rate goes down,” he said. “It winds up making us more attractive. … You can live in a home or have a business in Weld County and have the property taxes be quite a bit cheaper than they would be across the county line.
“It’s a continuation of the wonders oil and gas have been bringing us.”
Foreclosure filings drop 54 percent in Weld County
Foreclosure filings were down 50.5 percent in Colorado metro counties during May 2013, falling year over year to the lowest level recorded during May in any year since the Colorado Division of Housing began collecting monthly totals in 2007. In Weld County, foreclosure filings dropped 54.7 percent from 139 to 63. Foreclosure auction sales in Colorado’s metropolitan counties were down 25.4 percent in May this year compared to May of last year, falling from 965 to 720, according to a report released Wednesday by the Colorado Division of Housing. Over the same period, foreclosure filings dropped from 2,249 to 1,113.
Unemployment Rate in Weld County, CO
leadership vs. litigiousness
Other polarities here:
- Republican vs. Democrat
- Rule of Law vs. Manipulation of Law
- Conclusive Decisionmaking vs. Adversarial Provocation
- Elected Representation vs. Aparatchik Subversion
The BOCC majority, in this case, prevented bad zoning laws from overtaking Elbert County. Let’s hope they continue to do so.
Rick Brown (4/2/2013) “Frankly at this point I don’t care what the state says.”
overreachers
C.R.S. 30-28-116. Regulations may be amended
From time to time the board of county commissioners may amend . . . any . . . provision . . . of the zoning . . . Any such amendment shall not be made or become effective unless the same has been proposed by or is first submitted for the approval, disapproval, or suggestions of the county planning commission. If disapproved by such commission . . . such amendment, to become effective, shall receive the favorable vote of not less than a majority of the entire membership of the board of county commissioners.
Over the past 2+ years, the Oil & Gas regulation edit committee, and its contributory audiences, were both heavily weighted with Democrats and environmentalists.
Last Spring, the Elbert County Planning Commission took the wholesale work product from this partisan group and passed it without objection.
In June, the BOCC offered to strike a middle ground with these forces by saving the zoning regulation component with minor language changes, and revamping the MOU into a more fair negotiation tool, one not repugnant to industry and COGCC regulations.
Democrat forces would have nothing to do with that compromise and spoke vehemently against it.
Democrat forces never intended to produce a workable process. They intended to create, and did create, a document to legalize a zoning process of interminable discretionary procedural delays — pretty much the same approach they used for the new zoning for Special Districts.
Apparently, the BOCC learned something from the Special District zoning fiasco.
At yesterdays’ oil & gas regulatory denouement, Mr. Blotter threw up a Hail Mary with another call for a moratorium — essentially the legal effect he and compatriots had intended to achieve with the zoning process they’d constructed over the past 2+ years.
The majority of the BOCC correctly realized that another turn on the planning commission merry-go-around, with zero assurances that the unelected planning commissioners would produce any kind of workable outcome, would just end up extending the debacle.
The majority of the BOCC realized that a substantial change in governing law must be arguably better than the status quo, and that on the working documents presented to them, and likely to be presented to them from the same people in the future, they could not make that case. Judging by the weak objections from Commissioner Ross, there indeed was no case to be made. And the majority knew that Elbert County already had plenty of regulatory protection in place under the COGCC’s legal occupation of the field, and Elbert County’s land use zoning under special use review.
The ones who came away from yesterday licking their wounds are the over-reaching planners who have now marginalized themselves — and that includes CDS employees, lawyerly code writers, the rubber-stamping planning commission poobahs, and the acolyte zombie enablers of this circus — into a boring predictable bunch of partisan hacks.
B_Imperial