by Mark Smiley | Jul 22, 2016 | Editorials, Feature Story Middle Left
by Bob Gardner
Coloradans: Would you like all your health care decisions for the next three years to be made by 15 unelected government bureaucrats? That’s what Amendment 69, which has qualified for this fall’s ballot, would mandate.
Before you answer, here’s a few additional facts to help you decide.
These 15 “trustees” — a fancier word for bureaucrats, by the way — would get to say which procedures and which drugs would be covered by insurance and which ones wouldn’t from 2017 until 2020. How would they get that power? Amendment 69 makes it illegal for any other health insurance company to do business in the state of Colorado. And when those companies are all gone, all decisions about any kind of payment to anyone in the health care system fall under the thumb of those unelected trustees.
They’d get to decide how long you should have to wait in the emergency room, how many months your elderly mother should have to wait for hip replacement surgery, and what treatments for your kids will and won’t be paid for.
If you don’t like the sound of that system, you should know there’ll be no opting out. If you’re wealthy, you could pay for health care from your pocket. Otherwise, your family’s care exists solely at the whim of the 15 bureaucrats.
Don’t like it? Move to Nebraska if it’s enacted. Because if we Coloradans go down this road, there’ll be no appeals, no flexibility and no choice in health care in our state.
It gets worse.
In 2020 at the latest, Amendment 69 says we’ll hold statewide elections to replace the 15 appointed bureaucrats with 21 elected bureaucrats.
That’s right — we’ll have giant campaigns across Colorado every other year to pick new health care czars. “A vote for me is a vote for liver transplants!” or “Two nose jobs in every house — vote for me!” An unending buzz of negative TV ads about how the trustee candidate’s evil opponent is trying to take away childbirth reimbursement or how their vote backed up back surgeries.
Sounds ridiculously unappealing, doesn’t it?
Obamacare’s been bad enough — its promised savings cruelly turning into a 13.4 percent average rate increase this year — but Amendment 69 will make things much worse. Its ironclad regime of single-payer health care for every resident of the state, without exception, would almost double Colorado’s state taxes overnight. It imposes an immediate 10 percent across-the-board payroll tax that would cost Coloradans a jaw-dropping $25 billion in additional taxes on top of the $27 billion the state already levies. And the whole system is specifically designed to exist outside of TABOR limits that control state and local government taxation in Colorado.
So who’s behind this nonsense?
Great question. Colorado State Sen. Irene Aguilar has been identified as one of the “leaders” of the campaign, but the funding sources are much more shadowy, with a Boulder psychologist, a Littleton physician, a Denver attorney, and a Fort Collins retiree being identified as collectively donating more than $140,000 to the cause.
Why those four people would have such a burning passion to control our health care isn’t clear to me.
What is clear is that we shouldn’t let them.
The net effect of this disastrous plan would be to drive state taxes through the roof, kill job creation (and likely most economic growth) in Colorado, and institute health care rationing for all Coloradans. All at the hands of a mysterious group of health care ideologues who’ll do their bidding through a shadow “health care Legislature” with literal power over life and death decisions.
Even Gov. John Hickenlooper was caught on tape saying he “can’t imagine there’s any chance (Amendment 69) will pass,” and noting that some large companies considering moving their headquarters to Colorado have put their plans on hold with Amendment 69 even on the ballot. It would make our state singularly economically uncompetitive and hurt the very people it claims it would help.
Just like Obamacare before it, Amendment 69 is an attempt to sell a bill of goods — sweet-sounding words about universal coverage, better benefits, and cost savings from efficiencies driven by an all-seeing, all-knowing government.
And it will turn out just as badly in the end. The difference is that Amendment 69 is a disaster we can all prevent from happening this fall at the ballot box.
Bob Gardner is a Colorado Springs attorney and former Colorado state representative.
This editorial was originally printed in the Colorado Springs Gazette.
by Mark Smiley | Jul 22, 2016 | Valley Gadfly
Summer’s sky is in full bloom. Puffy white clouds — those feather canyons in the sky — are everywhere. Joni Mitchell’s lyrics depict them thus, “Rows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air.” August is when you’re authorized to be laid-back, stretch out on the grass and scrutinize those hovering palettes of heavenly clouds.
In meteorology, a cloud is a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals of water and various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above us.
Here are our last month of summer puffy, unearthly choices for shopping, dining and entertainment to keep you partly cloudy, with low humidity and hints of fall:
3 With cloud cover blocking out the sun most days, set up a neighborhood block party during Denver Days through Aug. 7. Plan a picnic, social event or service project around town. Information: 720-865-9090.
3 Soak up time in the shade with friends and fellow workers at Cherry Creek North’s Food & Wine, Aug. 13, 6-9 p.m. Information: 303-606-7332.
3 Enjoy cloud cooled Wednesday evenings through Aug. 17 listening to music at the Shady Grove Picnic Series. Information: 303-777-1005.
3 You’ll be in the clouds when your duck wins the Hope Floats fundraiser at Lowry’s Great Lawn Park Aug. 20, 11 a.m. information: 303-928-7100.
3 Take cover in the garden-level Grind Kitchen with a new American menu plus craft cocktails, homemade sodas & beer. Information: 720-749-4158.
3 Pick a shady spot to live adjacent to Sloan’s Lake in new row homes for sale with a cool community garden on site. Information: 303-934-9091.
3 Chill under cloudy skies for the yearly ice cream social plus rock & roll in the Rose Garden Plaza on Havana Aug. 23, 6 p.m. Information: 303-360-7505.
3 See Lowry Foundation’s Artists In August show beneath the shady Wings Over The Rockies Aug. 27, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Information: 303-344-0581.
3 Brews will be brewing in the shade for you to taste during the Bruises + Brews Beerfest at Infinity Park, Aug. 27, noon-4 p.m. Event features tastings from 15 Colorado breweries including Comrade Brewing, honored at the 2016 World Beer Cup. There will also be live music and three distilleries. Plus there’s certain to be cloud cover for watching the international 7s rugby action. Information: Glendalebeerfest.com.
Clouds soak up sun’s solar rays during the day and allow the evening to buzz with delightful aroma. Like a grapevine-covered trellis, they keep us tucked under shaded cover so we can enjoy cool strolls. Cloud cover allows us to enjoy a picnic with a bottle of wine and the scent of sun-kissed flowers as we wait for those magnificent sunsets.
On a representative August day in the Cherry Creek Valley the sky is partly cloudy 34 percent of the time, and mostly cloudy or overcast 40 percent of the time.
To be sure clouds and cloud cover block the sun and help keep us cool. But like our assumptions about Valley weather, Mitchell’s lyrical and poetic finale articulates our August outlook best: “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now. From up and down, and still somehow it’s cloud illusions I recall. I really don’t know clouds at all.”
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
by Mark Smiley | Jul 22, 2016 | Feature Story Bottom Left
“For the record I don’t date any women under the age of 18,” I said that jokingly after she dropped the “you sound like a pedophile” comment on me after I said, “I feel like I raised three or four women in their late 20s and early 30s when I was in a relationship with them.”
If you have no idea what I’m talking about right now you should catch up by reading Part 1 of “I Keep Getting Older and the Girls Keep Getting Younger,” which can be found on the GCCC website, www. glendalecherrycreek.com. For those of you caught up let me continue with Part 2.
So there we are, the tension in my condo was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Truthfully I didn’t know what to do. Should I calmly explain why I said, “I feel like I raised three or four women in their late 20s and early 30s when I was in a relationship with them?” Should I try to lighten up the conversation and make a last- ditch effort to try and salvage what was left of an already horrible date? Or should I just simply boot her rude loose-lipped mouth out of my home?
Before I tell you what option I chose I want to cover a couple of things. First, I was talking to a friend about this date days later and told him how she called me a pedophile after I explained why I generally date women younger than myself. My friend’s response to the interaction that my date and I had was something like this. “Even if she truly felt that way regarding your preference in the age of the women you date why wouldn’t she just say, this date isn’t working for me and excuse herself, rather than resort to name calling?” I mean after all, she and I don’t know each other well enough to vomit out rude, name-calling comments.
I happen to agree with my friend. If you are at the point on a first date to where you feel you need to be verbally abusive to the other person you should probably just move on and save your bad mouthing breath for someone who has to put up with your rudeness.
Now let me explain why I said, “I feel like I raised three or four women in their late 20s and early 30s when I was in a relationship with them.” Side note: I would have been happy to offer her the following explanation on our date if she hadn’t insulted my with the pedophile comment which ended up being a conversation killer. We can debate this all day long if you want but I believe nature has shown a pattern where men enjoy the company of younger women and women enjoy the company of men older than themselves. If you don’t know this dynamic, ask somebody.
With that said there are some obvious generational gaps and life experiences that the younger woman has not gone through yet. In my experience when I have been in relationships with women younger than myself I can’t help but offer my thoughts and advice when I see her going through something I have already experienced. This is a tricky one because I firmly believe people need to make their own mistakes in life but it’s hard to stand by tight lipped and idle when the decisions they make can affect your life because your lives are attached by being in a relationship.
Personally I can’t stop myself when it comes to trying to help someone avoid disaster if I can help it. Unfortunately by doing so the relationship dynamic turns into more of a parenting feel. Which brings us full circle back to the comment I made, “I feel like I raised three or four women in their late 20s and early 30s when I was in a relationship with them.” I may be crazy but I think that statement is a completely reasonable summary of my experiences looking back at a few of the relationships I’ve been in with women younger than I.
Now let me tell you about the end of the date from hell. I felt trapped in my condo and I wanted her to leave but being the gentleman that I am I continued to try and make the best of it. The problem is she didn’t want the same. I had the feeling from her continued name calling and belligerent attitude that she was enjoying the opportunity to have me cornered and seemingly hammer me with the frustration with what I can only guess are her issues with men. Luckily I have to wake up early to do morning radio so I tried to wind this nightmare down and used the excuse of needing to go to bed in order to pull the plug on this miserable evening.
What did I learn from this date? Well let me tell you…
- No first dates at your home!
- Keep the conversation light. No past relationship talk, don’t talk about religion or politics and most importantly never, never ever ever ever, never ever call a stranger names. If you start to feel you want to, be the bigger person and excuse yourself.
- Finally, keep it classy. Not every date is going to be a home run. But how you conduct yourself will follow you from date to date. If one date sours you, don’t bring it to your next date. Stay even.
That’s it for this month. I hope my telling this date story will spark a real conversation in your life with someone. If you have a comment about any of this month’s article I encourage you to send them to the Chronicle. Who knows, they may publish it. Until next month, date with class.
Your pal, Sheik
by Mark Smiley | Jun 24, 2016 | Editorials
Super Heroes And Comic Book Characters Filled The Convention Center
by Megan Carthel
While over 100,000 attendees found some of their favorite celebrities and characters, a handful of goers found love at the 5th Annual Denver Comic Con. This year the event paired with PrideFest, as both took place over the same weekend. LGBTQ programming took place on Friday and included panels such as LGBT Comics you should be reading and topics like how young adult literature with queer themes can disrupt norms, and how to add diversity to comics, sci-fi and fantasy. The main event was on Sunday, when a group wedding ceremony, open to couples of all backgrounds, took place. Sam Fuqua, executive director of Pop Culture Classroom, the non-profit that puts on Denver Comic Con, said the ceremony was the perfect way to end the three-day celebration of geeky fun.
“I just think it was beautiful. It represents everything we try to promote at Denver Comic Con and in our year-round work — diversity, pop culture, creating a welcoming space for personal expression of many kinds,” Fuqua said. “Whoever we are, whatever we do, wherever we come from, whoever we love, we can just be ourselves and be together with people who like what we like. I think that’s a lovely thing.”
Ten couples promised their vows in front of an audience in the Bellco T
heatre as Wonder Woman’s rope united their hands. The ceremony was ordained by Andy Mangels, author and co-author of over 20 fiction and non-fiction books including Star Trek, Roswell, Iron Man and Star Wars. Mangels is also an activist in the gay community. He said being the minister for 10 couples from all backgrounds was an amazing feeling.
“In today’s world, we have only recently been able to have LGBT marriages, and to have a marriage that reflected all parts of all couples — that reflected their passions in life, and their passions for each other, it didn’t matter if those passions were for same-sex or opposite-sex, love is love,” Mangels said.
The geek-themed ceremony was Star Trek punny and genuinely touching as each couple said their written vows to their partners. The couples were as diverse as their costumes.
Tonya Smith found her “perfect player” over five years ago. With Rachel, the Ruby to her Sapphire, by her side, the two expressed their love for each other. Rachel and Tonya dressed as characters from the cartoon Steven Universe, a show about a boy who uses his magic gem powers with other super heroes. In the show, Ruby and Sapphire are fused together, much like Rachel and Tonya.
The Smiths have been married for five years, but wanted to renew their vows.
“We’ve been wanting to have a real ceremony for a long time, and it’s just been an issue of having the money to do that. When this came up, it seemed
perfect because not only could we have the ceremony, but it could be the way we wanted it to be — chock full of all the nerdiness we could ever hope for,” Tonya said.
Tonya and Rachel, who is transgender, wanted to renew their vows with Rachel as her true self, something Mangels believes to be the cornerstone of any marriage.
“I think that with any marriage, it’s about knowing to not look to change the person you’re with. You didn’t fall in love with them to change them. You fell in love with them because you liked what they were,” Mangels said. “So for any marriage to be a good long-term marriage, is to be supportive of who each of us is.”
Tonya said this time around, the ceremony was much more meaningful. When they were married five years ago, the couple went to the court house without a ceremony — something they say is more like just going to the DMV, not very ro
mantic.
“This felt so much more real,” Tonya said.
“It was pretty good,” Rachel said. “Just to know that it was more formally acknowledged in that respect.”
The couple has struggled in the last few years, from Rachel’s transition, to being homeless and living out of a hotel, and going through a discrimination lawsuit — all with two young boys. Rachel and Tonya were looking to rent an apartment in Golden Hill, but were denied by Deepika Avanti, the landlord.
Avanti allegedly wrote in an email to the couple stating the reason for denial of housing was the “uniqueness” of their relationship.
“Your unique relationship would become the town focus, in small towns everyone talks and gossips, all of us would be the most popular subject of town, in this way I could not be a low profile,” Avanti wrote.
Tom Warnke, media relations director at Lambda Legal, the law firm handling Rachel and Tonya’s case, said no court date has been set yet. In the Motion for Summary Judgment submitted on June 16 to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, Lambda Legal cited the series of emails Avanti sent Tonya and Rachel reiterating her concerns about how their “uniqueness” would impact her reputation. In a press release by Lambda Legal, the firm states the emails are “clear evidence” Avanti discriminated against Rachel and Tonya on the basis of sex and familial status, in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, and on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status, in violation of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.
Despite of their struggles, the couple has fought their way to get to the loving and stable place they are now, much like their characters Sapphire and Ruby.
“Things were so unsure and so chaotic for so long and so unstable, that now we have stability in our housing and financially, and with each other, with my identity and all that stuff and it’s just like black and white, day and night.”
Rachel describes the past few years as the scene from Pirates of the Carribean when Johnny Depp’s Character Jack Sparrow steps onto land as his ship is slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Tonya, Rachel and their two sons, K
evin and Isaac, are now on land and have a solid foundation with jobs they love, housing, and each other — and a geeky wedding was the icing on the cake.
“This was a good way to acknowledge that, yes we’ve gone through a lot of crap together and come out the other side better for it and because of each other,” Rachel said.
by Mark Smiley | Jun 24, 2016 | Featured Stories & Advertisers
