Bombing Tikrit
The New York Times editorial board calls Obama’s decision to bomb the Iraqi city of Tikrit a dangerous escalation “without providing a shred of evidence showing how it could advance American interests, or what happens once the bombs stop falling.”
Horrible, Awful, Terrible, but not Murder
Boulder DA Stan Garnett will not charge the woman who carved another women’s fetus out of her womb in Longmont with murder. It’s complicated, but fetuses in Colorado aren’t legal humans, as the Colorado Independent famously reported.
Colorado’s Texas Developer Blues
They did it. The U.S. Forest Service is going to green light a 30-year-running proposal submitted by B.J. “Red” McCombs to build The Village at Wolf Creek – hotels, townhouses, condominiums and restaurants — a “year-round community” at 11,000 feet elevation at Wolf Creek Pass. Via Durango Herald.
Polis Gets Grief on the Potential Partnership
The Sierra Club, longtime supporter of Boulder Congressman Jared Polis, targets him in guilt-trippy love letter ads asking him not to support the TransPacific Partnership trade deal, another version of NAFTA, which turned out great for the environment, so long as you don’t live in Mexico. The Boulder Daily Camera.
Or you could ask Siri
From the Readymade American Movie Script news file: The Texas couple moved here after he lost his job drawn by the state’s legal weed. They stopped in Black Hawk on the way and gambled away all their money. She Googled how to rob a bank. They robbed a Fort Collins bank and, in their gold PT Cruiser, led cops on high speed chase before driving over police-laid road spikes at the Wyoming border. It was fun while it lasted. Woo-hoo! Via The Coloradoan.
Pre-Clown-Show-Debate Debate
A 2016 brawl breaks out on the Senate floor, where presidential hopefuls go to war over the defense budget. Paul calls Rubio and Cruz “reckless” and “irresponsible” for opposing his amendment to pay for increased defense spending with corresponding cuts. The amendment was voted down, 96-4. Via Politico.
Swing Districts for Gay Marriage Bennies
The toughest Senate vote in the budget vote-a-rama for the GOP may have been on same-sex marriage benefits: If you’re in a tight race for Senate re-election, you probably voted yes. If you’re running for president, no. The amendment passed, 57-43.
Couples do Better
How do you prevent a disaster like Germanwings Flight 9525? You start with always having at least two people in the cockpit. Via the Washington Post.
No Sharp Objects, No Demons, Please
Vox asks whether more pilot mental health screenings would make a difference.
Keeping Pilots Happy
James Fallows writes in the Atlantic that it’s unlikely any new regulation or device would stop someone who was determined to crash a plane.
And Cigars!
Why is Monica Lewinsky back in the news? To tell us about our online empathy crisis. Via the New Yorker.
