by Mark Smiley | Jun 24, 2018 | Editorials
Plato
In the 4th century BC, Plato wrote the highly influential treatise The Republic. Plato was no fan of democracy — either direct democracy where every eligible citizen would have the opportunity to vote on legislation or representative democracy where eligible citizens would vote on representatives who would in turn vote on legislation. He postulated that the best system would involve rule by “philosopher kings.”
He envisioned that a special class of people be given a specific education, available to few, which would include men and women as philosopher kings and queens. Out of this collective elite only the most virtuous and capable would become rulers. They would live simply and rule benevolently for the common good.
While his treatise has been widely read and praised for over two millennium no one has actually sought to institute rule by “philosopher kings,” at least until now. Here in Colorado we have begun to adopt a form of rule by philosopher kings that would have thrilled Plato.
Federal District Court judges in many ways resemble Plato’s ideal. They have a very specialized education (law) that is available to only a few. They live simply as federal court judges presently make only $169,300 annually. Like kings they are appointed for a life tenure. Among this class of philosophers (i.e. lawyers) federal district court judges are chosen by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the US Senate for their purported knowledge and virtuousness.
In Colorado we have seven regular philosopher kings (with one present vacancy) and five senior philosopher kings. They are almost evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans and include both men and women as desired by Plato.
To placate the Colorado masses, we have both pretend direct and pretend representative democracy but that is largely window dressing. Any time the masses do something egregiously stupid any of our philosopher kings can change it for the good of all of us.
Back in 2006 the Colorado hoi polloi in their atavistic ignorance and bigotry voted to have “their” state constitution define marriage as union of a “man” and a “woman.” Luckily philosopher king Judge Raymond P. Moore struck down that ridiculous bit of direct democracy as his legal wisdom was recognized as being correct in the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Obergefell v. Hodges.
Do not think that a dutiful philosopher king like Raymond Moore bothers himself with simply hotly contested issues. Recently in the case of Holland v. Williams he went after another bit of voter approved idiocy concerning campaign state finance reforms. In his wit and wisdom Moore decided he didn’t like the fact that private attorney generals (everyday citizens) could just bring claims against candidates or their campaigns without the claims being vetted by someone so he struck that provision down as unconstitutional.
It was the perfect case for a modern philosopher king where the plaintiff, Tammy Holland, and the defendant, Secretary of State Wayne Williams, both adamantly disliked the campaign finance laws in Colorado and so neither argued for it. Moore refused other parties who do support the campaign finance laws from entering into the case. What is so cool about the case is that since both plaintiff and defendant don’t like the law neither will appeal Moore’s decision to the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit so that Moore’s ruling can’t and will not be reviewed by anyone.
The best thing about being a ph
Judge Moore
ilosopher king like Moore is you can be as lazy as you want to be at times. Moore was too special to say how you vet the campaign finance complaints, just somebody should do it.
Secretary of State Wayne Williams is widely viewed as an establishment Republican hack who protects at any cost other establishment Republicans like Bob Beauprez and Walker Stapleton. He has now declared that he will simply do all the vetting of any complaints himself. Obviously, the voters of Colorado did not want politicians like Williams being the gatekeeper, but who cares what the voters want. The philosopher king can’t be bothered to decide and in in his absence the politically avarice Williams fills the void.
Other Colorado federal judge philosopher kings have also been active in their benevolent rule. In order to be placed on the primary ballot in Colorado, Colorado statutes provide one of the ways to obtain a sufficient number of signatures is to have petition gatherers who are Colorado residents. Six-term Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn could not be bothered with getting Colorado residents for petition gatherers and he was in danger of not making the ballot. First, he went to state court and lost all the way up, including the Colorado Supreme Court.
Luckily Federal District Court Ju
Judge Brimmer
dge Phillip Brimmer somehow decided that having Colorado residents collect signatures was a stupid idea that he didn’t like so voilá, he declared it unconstitutional and the Republican Congressman was back on the ballot.
Federal District Court Judge William J. Martinez recently decided he didn’t like parts of Amendment 41 which made it harder to change the state constitution by voters. He simply found significant portions of the constitution amendment to be unconstitutional.
These are but a few of many wonderful decisions by Colorado’s federal district court judges that make it clear dem
Judge Martinez
ocracy is largely a thing of the past here in Colorado.
Mark Twain sagaciously declared: “If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.” We here in Colorado can vote and approve directly or through the legislative process anything we want, but it really doesn’t matter. We have evolved into a form of Plato’s ideal of rule by philosopher kings. Hopefully our experiment will continually be improved upon and we can dispense with the cost and annoyance of the pretend direct and representative democracy. We can then just directly petition our philosopher king federal district court judges to direct all aspects of our lives. It has taken almost 2,500 years to recognize that we need to live under the rule of philosopher kings as outlined by Plato but we here in Colorado have finally gotten it right and it will only get better and better over time.
by Peter Boyles | Jun 22, 2018 | Blasting with Boyles
Conspicuous by his absence, our Governor John Hickenlooper, like Dorothy in Kansas, leaves Colorado and magically appears in Turin, Italy. He, along with 130 other invitees, attended the 2018 Bilderberg Meeting.
It goes without saying how unique this gathering is and how significant it is that our Governor had been invited. Dean Singleton, Denver’s answer to Charles Foster Kane, has long told me, “Peter, John Hickenlooper is running for the President of the United States.”
Now we have long beaten up Denver’s hard-charging corporate mainstream media. Here, wrestling fans, is another glaring example. The governor literally disappears and wasn’t even hiking the Appalachian Trail or visiting relatives in Argentina. He was tapped, as they say, to appear in a super secret meeting of the corporate crown heads, movers and shakers, financiers and overall fat cats who created the E-U, the Euro, and apparently helped pick Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, gave a run to Hillary Clinton, and as far back as we know, both of the Bushes, Jimmy Carter and almost every American president into the middle part of the ’50s with the exception of Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump who were never invited to the meeting.
Our evidence is a true journalist ambush video of John Hickenlooper in the Turin airport behaving like a cat in the sandbox (see photo). He continues to say he has no comment and he has no comment and furthermore no comment. This is because when you agree to go to the Bilderberg Conference there’s a set of rules you agree to and they are called the Charthouse Rules. If you agree to go you agree not to talk — ever. My personal opinion is he’s been sheep-dipped, he’s knelt and kissed the ring. He appears in the beauty pageant without having to wear a bathing suit. He is the only obscure U.S. governor, remember Bill Clinton, to attend this year’s super secret conference.
The Bilderberg Conference was formed in 1954. They met in the Netherlands in the Bilderberg Hotel. The meeting was initially called for by evil Prince Bernard and David Rockefeller. Every note, every scrap of paper, who attended, all those notes were burned. They have followed that procedure ever since. Tight security, no one gets in and no one gets out.
So what did our very own John Boy agree to? Apparently the number one issue the Bilderbergs dealt with is the rise of populism in Europe. As you know the Hungarians, Italians, Slovakians, British, Austrians, and Germans have had enough of being overrun by illegal immigrants, control of their economies and being told they are not any nationality or ethnicity but rather they are all simply Europeans. Sound familiar? Hickenlooper is, of course, open borders advocate, citizen of the world and all around good guy, and friends with Norm of Arabia.
Even if the fellows all got together for a game of Texas Hold ’Em it would be worth mentioning in The Denver Post or by sport coat boy on Channel 9. Chuck and Julie, and I, did it on the award-winning 710 KNUS, and a little mention by Joey Bunch in Colorado Politics. I don’t know folks, as I say oftentimes, “maybe it’s just me.” But that slippery little dickens and his new missus, by the way, is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. He says in the video he paid for his own trip. What do you want to bet?
So let’s see what happens next. Can you close your eyes, put your hands over your ears, take a deep breath, and say President John Hickenlooper? Gee, I wonder who would be the Secretary of State? Jared Polis if things go to hell in the fall?
It’s clear to see, Colorado we have arrived. Keep an eye on the skies.
— Peter Boyles
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | Glendale City News
by John Arthur
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
GLENDALE, CO – MAY 21: Saint Marys vs Lindenwood during the USA Rugby College 7’s National Championships at Infinity Park on May 21, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
GLENDALE, CO – JUNE 3: Life West vs Raleigh at Infinity Park on June 3, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
Tournament play has long been a staple at Infinity Park, the Glendale venue hosting some of the largest and most prestigious competitions in the country. Known as RugbyTown USA, Glendale has been a hotbed of national rugby activity for more than a decade. Starting in mid-May, tournaments returned again to the nation’s first rugby-specific stadium, kicking off with the USA Rugby Collegiate 7s National Championships. June 2-3 will see the USA Rugby Club National Championship competition, and August 24-26 Infinity Park’s signature annual event will again be in Glendale: RugbyTown 7s.
An increasingly popular rugby discipline, participation in Sevens play skyrocketed following the 2009 announcement of its return to the 2016 Olympic Games. A variant of rugby union play, Rugby Sevens is a faster-paced version of the sport, with smaller teams and considerably shorter game duration. Instead of the usual 15-player teams playing 40-minute halves, Rugby Sevens features seven players to a team and seven minute halves. The abbreviated game play places an emphasis on conditioning and endurance, and means that an entire tournament can be played over the course of a weekend.
In mid-May, Infinity Park hosted the USA Rugby Collegiate Sevens National Championships for the second year running. Founded in 2011, the tournament has consistently drawn the nation’s best young talent, producing competition at the highest level. 2018 saw the return of reigning Division I Men’s and Women’s sides from Lindenwood University, traveling from St. Louis, Missouri, to compete. Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20, 2018, more than 40 teams from colleges across the nation
GLENDALE, CO – AUGUST 27: Ramblin Jesters vs Fiji (Savu Water) during RugbyTown 7’s at Infinity Park on August 27, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
gathered to vie for National titles in Men’s and Women’s Division I and II play. With teams from Arkansas to Arizona, California to North Carolina, it was truly a national gathering.
June 2-3 will see the next round of tournament action at Infinity Park, as the 2018 USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club National Championships come to town. Featuring club finals for Women’s Division I and II, as well as for Men’s Division I, II, and III teams, the tournament will decide the top amateur rugby talent in the United States. The USA Rugby Club structure divides the nation into two conferences: East and West. Within each conference are four distinct competitive regions (Pacific North, Pacific South, Frontier, and Red River in the West, and Atlantic North, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southern in the East). The winners of each region advances to the semifinals, which took place May 19-20. The winners of those matches move on to compete at Infinity Park in June.
Every year, summer rugby in Glendale concludes with a bang: Infinity Park’s signature annual event, the RugbyTown 7s (RT7s) Tournament. Attracting scores of teams from every corner of the globe, as well as representative teams from every branch of the U.S. Military, RT7s provides Glendale spectators a taste of rugby’s universal appeal and expansive international presence. Last year’s tournament attracted thousands over three days of play, and with the emergence of professional rugby in 2018 stoking the U.S. fan base, promises to be larger still this August. Alongside the fast-paced competition, attendees will get to enjoy Glendale’s Bruises and Brews Beer Festival, a recent tradition that pairs Colorado’s craft brewers and distillers with the sport of rugby.
Augmenting the already exciting professional debut of the Glendale Raptors, tournaments at Infinity Park offer rugby fans another outlet for exploring the sport — enjoying top-tier play at the collegiate, club, and international level. In addition to the tournaments scheduled this year, fans can look forward to the Major League Rugby semi-finals, a double-header that will take place at Infinity Park on June 30. Long the epicenter of rugby in the United States, Glendale’s professional, club, and tournament play means that in 2018, more than ever before, the city is truly RugbyTown USA.
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | Feature Story Bottom Left
by Mark Smiley
Gold Medal: The Bull & Bush accepted the Gold Medal for their Big Ben Brown Ale at the 2018 World Beer Cup award ceremony on May 3, 2018. Photo © Brewers Association
Bragging Rights: Gabe Moline, Master Brewer at the Bull & Bush is proud of the recent Gold Medal for Big Ben Brown Ale. He now boasts the best brown ale in the world until the next competition in 2020.
The Bull & Bush Brewery, a staple in Glendale for 47 years, competed in the 2018 World Beer Cup in Nashville, Tenn., and brought home the Gold Medal in the English Brown Ale category at the May 3, 2018, ceremony. It is the fifth World Beer Cup Gold Medal the Bull & Bush has won since they started brewing beer in 1997.
“What’s really important is winning consistently,” said Erik Peterson, co-owner of the Bull & Bush. “Winning an award on a consistent basis is huge.”
“There are a lot of guys in that room just wanting to get something,” said Gabe Moline, Master Brewer at the Bull & Bush. “Everybody works hard on their beers.”
The World Beer Cup is sponsored by The Brewers Association (BA), the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American craft brewers. The ceremony which is held every two years is the largest competition to date; the awards were presented at the conclusion of the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America® at Music City Center in Nashville.
Breweries from 15 countries received medals and the average number of beers entered per category was 82 (up from 69 in 2016). In 2018, 295 judges came from 33 countries and 72% of the judges came from outside the United States. 28% of the judges came from the U.S. On top of that, there were 101 categories of beer in the competition.
8,234 beers from 2,515 breweries entered the competition. Brewers were allowed to enter four beers. The Bull & Bush faced competition from over 90 other breweries and after not winning any medals for the other three beers entered, they knew they had one more chance at a medal before being annou
Best in the World: The Big Ben Brown Ale has been brewed at the Bull & Bush for almost 20 years. It picked up a Gold Medal at the 2018 World Beer Cup in Nashville.
nced the winner of the Gold Medal.
“The competition is getting so big and any kind of award is truly stunning anymore,” said Peterson. Since winning, requests have come in from tap houses to carry the gold medal beer. Big Ben Brown Ale is bottled and sold in local liquor stores.
For more information on the World Beer Cup, visit worldbeercup.org and for the Bull & Bush, visit bullandbush.com. Their brewery is located in the village of Glendale at 4700 Cherry Creek Drive South.
