Mountain West Microbrew: Chit chat and irrelevancy

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Probably a reason why a plurality of Republicans feel that an armed rebellion against the federal government will be necessary in the next fifteen years; any discussion about restrictions leads to the slippery slope argument and an inevitable repeal of the 2nd Amendment.

Which is a great fear-based marketing campaign to keep firearm sales brisk.

Yep.

And which is why any proposed mandatory 30-second discussion with a doctor before a 12 year old can get an abortion without telling her parents inevitably leads to a discussion about Republicans wanting to lock all women up barefoot in 12th century chastity belts.

It's great fear-based marketing to keep women voting for liberals.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

And which is why any proposed mandatory 30-second discussion with a doctor before a 12 year old can get an abortion without telling her parents inevitably leads to a discussion about Republicans wanting to lock all women up barefoot in 12th century chastity belts.

It's great fear-based marketing to keep women voting for liberals.

I thought the view of locking up all women barefoot in 12th century chastity belts had to do with shoving an ultrasound probe into a women's vagina and force them to listen to a fetal heartbeat?

Though we could draw a parallel between that and making gun ownership require one to look a condemned prisoner in the eyes before shooting them in the chest and watch the life drain out of them. That would be a great rite of passage. All Constitutional considerations aside.

[SLC Projects]

Just because people have a "god given right" to own and carry guns doesn't make it a right for them to go around being jack asses about it. Truth is there's plenty of people out there ( not all, but enough ) who shouldn't be allowed to for many reasons. Lack of common sense is a major issue that gun nuts fail to come to terms with. Carrying a AR15 on one's back to a JCPenny store just because you can is a knee jerk move. ( yes that did happen not too long ago here in Utah ) or the trigger happy meat head who starting shooting at a guy who tried to break in to his home as he was RUNNING away and police just pulled up on site. Both shots missed by the way and god knows where those shots ended up. Moron could of just as likely hit a kid walking by then hitting the bad guy running away. Or the guy who shot himself while cleaning out his gun, or the guy who was trying to change his tire had a loaded gun in the back of his car gets shot while trying to get to his spare tire or the two friends fighting over a gun in a apartment building the gun goes off and it shoots into the wall into a baby's bedroom next door. Lucky the baby was ok. Then there's the countless stories of teens and even young kids taking guns to school to either shoot themselves, shoot some one else or just to show it of to a friend. How the heck are these kids getting a hold of all theses guns? These are just a few of many stories I hear almost daily. Yes people have a right to guns, but there's way too many stupid or careless people out there.

[Brainpathology]

Is it really that bad that if liberals had all seats in Congress we would have absolute gun control a la Australia? Conversely is it really that bad that if the GOP had all the seats abortion would be illegal and 99cents of every dollar went to defense and prisons? what IS bad is that a law can't pass now without 60 votes. Whoever is in the majority SHOULD govern according to the principles that voters expect of them. I have no problem with states controlled by the GOP busting unions and restricting abortion and not insuring poor people etc and I have no problem with liberal states raising taxes, supporting the homeless or lazy (depending on your political views), expanding safety nets, etc. People should get the government they elect, no matter what that government is. What outrages me is that the GOP thinks they have a right or actually an obligation to destroy the agenda of the party in control when they aren't there. They appropriately governed the country in they way they wanted when they had power and the American people decided for whatever reason that it was time to change leadership then.

Not that the sniveling, worthless, spineless, coward from Utah doesn't share some if not most of the blame for not doing something about the filibuster when he had the chance. Democrat in other words.... yes I am a democrat, but I have no illusions about how cowardly our leaders are. And people DEFINITELY want more leaders who are wrong and strong/courageous than right/cowardly 6 times out of ten. I've only seen someone more gullible and worthless to getting something done differently in a peanuts cartoon running toward a football that inexplicably (to him) gets pulled away at the last second every time.

[bunt_q]

I think it is a little hard to argue that people really want a different sort of governance than their leaders are giving them. When over 90% or whatever of incumbents get reelected. If you want courage, you could get that in the primaries, or the general. But we vote for incumbents, which means whatever they are doing is something we like.

Another thing, let's not pretend like Democrats do it any differently when we are the minority in the Senate.

Finally, I like that it takes 60 votes. Because I do not think we need to do more at the federal level. Because we do have states that can fill in these holes when Congress "isn't doing anything."

You know what the gun laws being considered by Congress would have done in Colorado? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Because Colorado took the initiative and passed those laws on its own.

If you live in a state that can't get those laws passed, work to change it, or move. You don't need to take your fight to the federal level and impose your will on 50 states, just because you can't get it done in 1 state..

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

I think it is a little hard to argue that people really want a different sort of governance than their leaders are giving them. When over 90% or whatever of incumbents get reelected. If you want courage, you could get that in the primaries, or the general. But we vote for incumbents, which means whatever they are doing is something we like.

Another thing, let's not pretend like Democrats do it any differently when we are the minority in the Senate.

Finally, I like that it takes 60 votes. Because I do not think we need to do more at the federal level. Because we do have states that can fill in these holes when Congress "isn't doing anything."

You know what the gun laws being considered by Congress would have done in Colorado? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Because Colorado took the initiative and passed those laws on its own.

If you live in a state that can't get those laws passed, work to change it, or move. You don't need to take your fight to the federal level and impose your will on 50 states, just because you can't get it done in 1 state..

That's pretty much my point... states are rightly being governed by the parties and ideas that are being elected. I don't mind the way FL is governed because it's being governed as if republicans were in charge.. which they are.

I really don't buy that Democrats do the same thing.. they do act as opposition, but I've not been that impressed with them being obstructive.

[bunt_q]

I think it helps that the big items during the last couple GOP stints in the White House were more foreign policy related. I think there's a bigger political price to pay when you're an obstructionist party on that stuff.

When it comes to "culture war" issues and generally domestic stuff, Democrats act exactly the same, when they can. The only difference being that Dems aren't as unified. If memory serves, more Dems voted against background checks last week than Republicans voted for it.

No need for it now with a liberal President. But it would've interesting to see the next time we get a truly right wing president whether the urban liberal wing of the Democratic party could ever muster a fringe group as potent and effective as the Tea Party has been.

[seventwenty]

El Diablo shuts down for good.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingne...nts-close-good

[RyanD]

Voodoo Doughnut expanding to Denver

Voodoo Doughnut, downtown Portland's 24-hour doughnut shop, tourist attraction and purveyor of good things in pink boxes, is expanding to Colorado.

Co-owners Kenneth "Cat Daddy" Pogson and Tres Shannon have been flying back and forth from Denver, talking with tourism boosters and city officials there while scouting out storefronts. They recently signed a lease on a space approximately the size of Voodoo Doughnut Too, the store's Northeast Portland location.

"It's on East Colfax, this great gritty avenue, which used to be really, really scary and sleazy," Shannon says. "It's kind of like being on Burnside. There's a dentist nearby and a wonderful ... lesbian bar with a pink pool table, the same color as our boxes. That's a good sign. And there's a tattoo parlor and then a medical marijuana dispensary. It's kind of like one-stop shopping."

Denver will be the first Voodoo outside of Oregon and the fourth location overall, including the original, at 22 S.W. Third Ave.; Voodoo Doughnut Too, 1501 N.E. Davis St.; and a store in Eugene.

"People keep asking me, 'Why Denver? Why not New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the big fish?'" Shannon says. "We've always been very cautious. All of those places might be down the line. For now, Denver is a pretty great start. It's got a young population. It's health-oriented, sort of like Portland -- ironic, since we sell doughnuts. But everybody likes doughnuts."

Circumstances also lined up in Denver's favor. The city offered Voodoo tax credits if it eventually hires more than 35 employees, applicable retroactively. And a homesick Voodoo Too manager from Colorado agreed to run the Denver store.

"We haven't introduced ourselves to the dentist yet," Shannon says. "Hopefully we can do something together. 'No cavities, here's a coupon for a free doughnut.'"

Back in Portland, Shannon and Cat Daddy are gearing up for the original store's 10th-anniversary bash, a "thank you Portland" party with live music, T-shirt giveaways and two golden tickets granting free Voodoo doughnuts for life. Check back for more details about that event next week.

"We opened 10 years ago, in the middle of Krispy Kreme coming -- we beat that with 'eat local doughnuts' -- and then the trans-fat scare and the economy tanking," Shannon says. "Doughnuts were 85 cents. We've raised them to 95 cents, but we still strive to keep doughnuts under a dollar. It's still something every man can afford. You can buy a doughnut and a cup of coffee and still play a song on the jukebox at Voodoo Too."

-- Michael Russell

Looks like some more Portland is coming to Denver. I actually heard this place is pretty good from fellow Portlandians I know.

[The Dirt]

Voodoo tax credits

Those sound amazing!

[Cirrus]

VooDoo Donuts are pretty damn good. Try the maple bacon first.

[bunt_q]

It's hard for me to imagine bacon doughnuts catching on here. Yuck.

[PLANSIT]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

It's hard for me to imagine bacon doughnuts catching on here. Yuck.

Um, I'm pretty sure there are a few gourmet doughnut shops in Denver that do the same. People will eat them.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

It's hard for me to imagine bacon doughnuts catching on here. Yuck.

You haven't had the bacon popcorn at theInterstate Cafe have you?

Philistine.

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

It's hard for me to imagine bacon doughnuts catching on here. Yuck.

People always look at me funny when I say I hate my bacon with sweet things.. I don't see this being tasty for me either. When maple syrup touches my bacon during breakfast, it makes me sad.

Originally Posted by wong21fr

You haven't had the bacon popcorn at theInterstate Cafe have you?

Philistine.

I've been meaning to go there for, I don't know how long now.. I think that's going to be my last week of May goal. Get to the Interstate Cafe.

[texcolo]

FYI: DIA is now my favorite airport because on Sunday I could overlook my mother go through security from the upper level of the Great Hall.

[The Dirt]

Does anyone know who I should contact to report a traffic light timing issue? Public Works?

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Does anyone know who I should contact to report a traffic light timing issue? Public Works?

Call 311. They'll direct you to the right person to completely ignore your concern.

[RyanD]

They actually fixed the Park Ave signs! I was amazed it got done.. Obviously it looks terrible because they just stuck a E 955 over the E 9500 but at least it's fixed.

[The Dirt]

lol I guess I should have stipulated that I didn't want to be ignored but, I'm sure no such thing exists.

I've been complaining daily (to myself and everyone around me) at how poorly timed the Central Park/MLK lights were and then they went ahead and "fixed" them over the weekend. Now, instead of sitting through 2-3 light cycles, people are now sitting through 4-5... or doing what I do and cutting through side streets. It's pretty hilarious, actually.