Denver Post: Opinion

Editorial: Driver's licenses for illegal immigrants? It makes sense

Sun, 27 May 2012 07:36:17 MDT

Colorado has some 180,000 illegal immigrants, many of whom work here, shop here, send their kids to school here and assuredly drive vehicles to get these things done.

Editorial: A crackdown on food stamp fraud

Sat, 26 May 2012 06:44:33 MDT

More than 46 million Americans get federal food stamp benefits, a compelling indicator of the difficult economic times facing the nation.

Should Congress pull the plug on electric car subsidies? Yes

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:05:49 MDT

It's tempting to call the shameful taxpayer subsidy for electric cars — vehicles that are unaffordable for all but a small number of wealthy Americans — this nation's costly little secret.

Writers on the Range: Imaginary journeys on a rowing machine

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:01:32 MDT

I don't mind exercise. Really, I don't. But I've always preferred to do it while accomplishing something else: going to work, talking to a friend, running an errand.

Should Congress pull the plug on electric car subsidies? No

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:59:53 MDT

Oil prices in the United States have fallen over the last few months and tensions have eased a bit in the Middle East.

Guest Commentary: Colorado needs a PUC commissioner with clean energy goals

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:54:30 MDT

In the coming weeks, Gov. John Hickenlooper has the opening to make his mark on Colorado's clean energy future with a new appointment to replace Matt Baker on the Public Utilities Commission.

Cepeda: School principals don't last long with education's revolving door

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:44:01 MDT

When you live in a school district where 64 percent of the students come from low-income homes and budgets have been squeezed to death, every official school communication has the potential to ruin your day.

Will: Obamacare and the liberal squeeze of the Supreme Court

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:43:10 MDT

Theodore Roosevelt, progressivism's first president, said of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, "I could carve out of a banana a judge with more backbone than that.

Colorado Voices: Why we remember our veterans on Memorial Day

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:42:08 MDT

It was 30 miles from the base in Phan Rang to the airport in Camrohn Bay, the place where soldiers could hop on a Pan Am flight from Vietnam to the U.S.

Quillen: Protecting those traditional American values

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:41:22 MDT

The familiar voice on the telephone made a simple question sound like an accusation. Ananias Ziegler, media relations director of the Committee That Really Runs America, wanted to know why he couldn't reach me a few days ago.

Hubbard: Six types of political apology

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:39:36 MDT

I'm sorry if any of what you're about to read offends you. And I sincerely regret if you somehow misconstrue my point.

Editorial: Reps. Mike Coffman, Jared Polis set an example on defense budget

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:38:07 MDT

There's a lot of talk in Washington, D.C., these days about another debt ceiling showdown and posturing over who is more fiscally responsible.

Simon: Likeability and America's next president

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:36:25 MDT

In the end, it won't be about who raises the most money. It won't be about who ate a dog or kept one on the roof of his car.

Keating: Ten TED talks that should have taken a hike

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:32:16 MDT

Last week was a big one for TED (Technology, Education, Design) conferences — and their self-organized TEDx offshoots.

Morello: 1940 census provides a peek into nation's past

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:31:03 MDT

A small clue to Bernice Bennett's past leapt out at her from the computer screen, on a scanned ledger filled with addresses entered with the precision penmanship that is a lost art.

Colorado Voices: Denver writing class provides common ground for immigrants

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:30:06 MDT

Working at the Community College of Denver as a writing tutor, I encounter the world in one room.

Oglala Sioux tribal members are proud of Pine Ridge Reservation

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:27:00 MDT

Dana Lone Hill is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is drowning in beer

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:26:03 MDT

Just six hours from Denver is the town of Whiteclay, Neb. Its population: about 12. Yet in 2010, this tiny town sold 465,000 gallons of beer, enough for nearly 5 million 12-ounce servings.

Milbank: The Secret Service's cirque du so lame

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:58:25 MDT

The Secret Circus may soon be looking for a new ringmaster. The prostitution scandal involving a dozen Secret Service agents in Cartagena, Colombia, is spreading into a broader burlesque for the agency

Editorial: Immigration law made more clear in Colorado

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:33:43 MDT

When you're right, you're right. As much as we take issue with the Garfield County sheriff's interpretation of a state law about reporting suspected illegal immigrants, the sheriff is correct about one thing.

Ditmer: You can make history at public library

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:59:37 MDT

May is National Historic Preservation month. Most often we think of preservation as saving old buildings, restoring them to new life, or visiting a museum — such as History Colorado, which opened last month in Denver.

Harsanyi: The morality mandate

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:59:01 MDT

Are you sick and tired of these moralizing moralizers imposing their morality on the rest of us? I know I am.

Marcus: The irresponsibility Olympics

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:57:51 MDT

Falling off a cliff is never a good idea. Then again, neither is digging yourself deeper into a hole. Those are the messages, contradictory but compelling, embedded in a new report from the Congressional Budget Office about the fast-approaching "fiscal cliff."

Peirce: America's first city-based infrastructure bank

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:05:40 MDT

Stalled in gridlocked Washington, the idea pushed by President Obama of an infrastructure bank to move our roads, rail and water systems up to competitive world standards is getting a test run at the city and state level.

Guest Commentary: President Obama should make Chimney Rock a national monument

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:23:46 MDT

Between Pagosa Springs and Durango is one of the country's most important cultural areas.

Guest Commentary: Colorado's listeria outbreak and food safety reform

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:04:50 MDT

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2011 Colorado listeria outbreak linked to contaminated cantaloupes was officially the deadliest foodborne illness outbreak in the U.S since 1924, with 146 people infected in 28 states, resulting in 30 deaths and one miscarriage.

Guest Commentary: Bullying gays is always wrong

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:51:27 MDT

Bullying has become a national issue that many parents, teachers and kids are not standing for anymore. Bullying a child is wrong, whether because of physical things like their weight or height or internal things like how smart they are, their religion or their sexual orientation.

Editorial: Punitive ban on smoking at DIA

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:25:10 MDT

Smoking cigarettes is a terrible habit that will take a toll on one's health. We know it. You know it. Assuredly, nearly everyone knows it. So it's probably with little compunction that most would favor the phasing out of smokers' lounges at Denver International Airport.

Rosen: Sore losers on Denver camping ban

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:20:06 MDT

The Denver City Council's vote last week to outlaw overnight camping was a first step in reclaiming the 16th Street Mall and other public and private venues.

Mike Coffman: Obama comment was boneheaded

Thu, 24 May 2012 07:45:36 MDT

Since the issues surrounding President Obama's birth certificate began during his campaign in 2008, I have rejected the notion that he is anything other than American.

Editorial: Good call on Longmont drilling rules

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:59:35 MDT

A likely court battle over oil and gas rules crafted by the city of Longmont was headed off Tuesday when city council members voted to delay implementation.

Henneberger: Obama, Catholics both wrong

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:55:09 MDT

Dozens of Catholic institutions have hauled off and sued the Obama administration, claiming that religious freedom is on the line.

Milbank: Obama's European headache

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:47:35 MDT

It is no small irony that President Obama's re-election bid is being undermined by his friends in Old Europe. Forty-six months ago, then-candidate Barack Obama flew to Berlin to call for a new era of friendship with Europe after it and the United States had "drifted apart."

Test did more harm

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:46:31 MDT

Amid the many messages you will hear about screening for prostate cancer in the coming days, I hope these stand out most prominently: Science finds that there is at best a small potential benefit from prostate cancer screening and there are substantial known harms.

Petri: The 8 people on Facebook

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:45:49 MDT

What does this much-ballyhooed Facebook IPO amount to? I stand by my statement that if Mark Zuckerberg isn't spirited up to heaven on the wings of hippogriffs, it is a disappointment.

Colorado Voices: Selling Old Blue

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:45:09 MDT

I recently sold Old Blue— a '91 Honda Civic hatchback with 160k on the clock. My first new car. A big part of me didn't want to let it go. An old car bought new is a rolling bundle of memory and emotion.

Editorial: DIA goes truly international

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:43:44 MDT

The Mile High City's potential to soar in the new century was buoyed Tuesday with the announcement that United Airlines will offer daily, non-stop service between Denver and Tokyo beginning in March.

Editorial: A reminder of racial tension

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:41:56 MDT

Minstrel performers who wore blackface makeup in the 19th century to depict gross caricatures of African-Americans make for an ugly chapter in this nation's history.

Editorial: Staying true to Colorado's tourism mission

Mon, 21 May 2012 17:49:45 MDT

Passed by lawmakers three years ago, the Regional Tourism Act offered state tax incentives to projects that were "unique and extraordinary."

Carroll: Americans' obesity isn't the potato chips' fault

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:52:45 MDT

It's been a disappointing spring for those determined to pin the rise in obesity on something other than personal choice and habit.

Breast-feeding just a cover for titillation

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:20:23 MDT

Does anyone know what a woman looks like when she's not being watched? Women are more or less poster girls for the Heisenberg principle: It's like you can never know what we look like when we're not being observed, because we're always being observed.

Approving civil unions in Colorado the right thing to do

Fri, 18 May 2012 18:16:01 MDT

As a long-time resident of Colorado, conservative Catholic, and proud Republican, I was disappointed that the final weeks of our just concluded legislative session looked much more like Washington, D.C. than the Colorado we all know and love.

Mark Ruffalo: Erie mothers battle to stop drilling

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:27:53 MDT

Every day, mothers take hundreds of little actions to keep their children out of harm's way, from steering them away from traffic to keeping toxic household cleaners out of reach.

Editorial: Coffee, chocolate and wine, oh my!

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:27:40 MDT

So, let's get this straight. Coffee helps you live longer (hooray!), but high levels of "good" cholesterol aren't going to inoculate us from heart disease (darn!).

Editorial: Test the waters on using Dillon Reservoir for swimming

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:23:20 MDT

When the mercury pushes close to the century mark in the summer, Front Rangers and tourists have never been shy about heading to the Colorado high country to beat the heat.

Obama's Julia says "I do" to the hubby state

Fri, 18 May 2012 16:32:08 MDT

"The Life of Julia," the Obama campaign's new interactive Web ad, follows a cartoon everywoman, Julia, through the milestones of a middle-class American life: education, work, motherhood, retirement.

Opposition to civil unions is not bigotry

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:52:09 MDT

For centuries the marriage between one man and one woman has formed the basic building block of civilization. But a social revolution now underway threatens the abandonment of this special regard for heterosexual marriage.

Colorado House speaker was a coward in civil union debate

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:50:33 MDT

So once again a civil unions bill has died in Colorado's legislature. Through political game play and acts of cowardice — which would be humorous if they weren't despicable.

In civil unions debate, Hickenlooper misplaced priorities

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:48:34 MDT

Over the last week, Gov. John Hickenlooper finally took a stance on a hot-button issue since being sworn in as the 42nd governor of Colorado — albeit one that has nothing to do with job creation or economic recovery.

Colorado conservatives will fight to pass civil unions

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:47:10 MDT

When the Colorado Civil Union Act failed in the legislature for the second time in less than a week on Monday, it rightfully left many people disappointed.

Democracy was subverted in Colorado civil unions debate

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:46:45 MDT

My daughters are in school now and learning about democracy for the very first time. They are taught that every citizen has the right to vote.

Guest Commentary: Denver's homeless ban hurts those already hurting

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:45:33 MDT

We are the 27 percent. So if we don't like the homeless, we put them in handcuffs? The Denver City Council is trying to pass a ban on "unauthorized camping.

Colorado Voices: Cement pigs and dust regulations in Boulder

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:45:20 MDT

I don't like being told what to do. If I don't know what to do, I'll ask. Otherwise, you can assume that I'll do whatever needs to be done.

Guest Commentary: Firestone mayor touts energy partnership with China

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:44:01 MDT

I am convinced that U.S.-China relations will be among the most consequential of the 21st century. The future will not be decided in Washington, D.C. and Beijing, but determined in the communities throughout the United States and China.

Guest Commentary: Did drilling permanently scar Boulder? Hardly

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:42:39 MDT

An oil field in Boulder? Half the state's medical marijuana and free-range tofu, yes. Pampered prairie dogs and Mork and Mindy, sure.

Stories of valor and sacrifice in Medal of Honor Grove

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:41:42 MDT

Valley Forge, Pa., is no stranger to heroes. The area is steeped in tales of valor and sacrifice. Look for more this weekend.

Will: Government vs. the little guy in Mass.

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:40:44 MDT

Russ Caswell, 68, is bewildered: "What country are we in?" He and his wife Pat are ensnared in a Kafkaesque nightmare unfolding in Orwellian language.

Noel: Colorado museum welcomes return of the Galloping Geese

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:38:41 MDT

With the Regional Transportation District's FasTracks rail construction headed for possible derailment, options are in order.

Quillen: Never declare victory when complaining will do

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:38:08 MDT

In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill told his constituents that "We shall never surrender." A modern leader might augment that by adding "Also, we shall never proclaim victory."

Editorial: A bridge over water troubles in Colorado

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:35:43 MDT

It's hard to envision people on the Front Range and the Western Slope cooperating on the controversial issue of water. It would be like the Hatfields and McCoys putting down their shotguns and having a neighborhood barbecue.

The world according to "Avengers"

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:31:47 MDT

Last week, the Avengers continued to confront giant mechanical sea monsters from outer space on the silver screen.

Is NATO good for the world? No

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:26:55 MDT

This week's NATO summit in Chicago will see a lot of protests, as it should. Once constrained to the defense of Europe, NATO has now put itself forward as the world's policeman.

Is NATO good for the world? Yes

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:25:34 MDT

NATO and the G8 are not the cause of global hunger; in fact, they could be part of the solution. NATO launched the Bosnian stabilization mission in 1995 and still has a presence in Kosovo.