Just wow...

So... Don't you think you would register a website domain name before announcing you're going to be using said site?  A new candidate for Denver mayor announced her site, then someone else bought the domain name and started redirecting traffic from that URL to another mayor candidate's site.  Seriously???

Oh, and when you visit the URL, it redirects to a Google search of "denver mayor's race".  So you announced the URL and not only didn't own the domain name, but you didn't have a site developed and ready to upload.  Why are you qualified to run a city?

Denver Post Article

SERIOUSLY??

The TSA checkpoint in Sioux Falls has a slideshow of 9-11 images playing.  Really, TSA, really?  Blatant fear-mongering?  Abusing an American tragedy to get us to willingly give up our rights?  Invasive searches don't make us safer.  A more intelligent, adaptive security system would make us safer.  Profiling would make us safer.  Better trained TSA agents (think more like detectives and less like cops) would make us safer.

Seriously, seeing that made me sick to my stomach.  I know this it's a clique, but the terrorists have won.  We as Americans can't travel across the country without being groped by a stranger or having a stranger look under our clothes?  With no justification other than random selection?  How about suspicious-looking people get extra screening?  TSA gave a THREE YEAR OLD CHILD a pat-down in Tennessee.  Disgusting.  If you're selected for the extra screening and refuse (choosing to leave the airport instead), you're subject to a $10,000 fine.  How is this not violating our fourth amendment rights?  How about our eighth amendment rights?  How about investigating people who choose to not fly instead of being searched, instead of imposing a ridiculously high fine?

Why do we have to give up our dignity to fly?  It makes me sick.

Election Day!

It's going to be really tough to concentrate today with the election going on.  Stefano and I filled out our mail-in ballots last night, and I just have to drop them off at our polling place some time today.

We have probably the closest Senate race in the country, as well as a Democrat and a third-party candidate neck and neck for governor.  If the Republican candidate doesn't take at least 10%, the Republican party basically gets demoted to a minor party in the state of Colorado.

I'm not sure there's even a point in checking obsessively; I doubt that either one of those elections will actually be decided today, especially with the number of people like us who vote by mail.

Of course, there's also Denver Initiative 300 to watch, which reads:

Shall the voters for the City and County of Denver adopt an Initiated Ordinance to require the creation of an extraterrestrial affairs commission to help ensure the health, safety, and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles, and fund such commission from grants, gifts and donations?


I wish I was kidding.

We also have a ton of constitutional and statutory amendments which would cripple the state's ability to assess fees or borrow money.  The Tea Party is strong with this one...

Beware the political posts...

I promise I won't go political on here a lot, but this happens to be something that I feel strongly about, so if you have a few minutes, please check it out: ASCE Infrastructure Action.  The site even has a super-easy way to email your legislators, if you happen to agree with me that our infrastructure deserves something more than temporary budget extensions and band-aid fixes.  It's impossible for big, long-term projects to get done on this type of funding!

I promise I'll be back later today with stories from the weekend and this week.