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Malpractice ruling signals legal reckoning for gender procedures on minors
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National

Malpractice ruling signals legal reckoning for gender procedures on minors

By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D. | Commentary, American Thinker A major change in the medical landscape on transgender surgeries on minors arrives, and the press is trying to ignore it. When Fox Varian stood before a New York jury last month and described the moment her bandages were removed after a double mastectomy, her words were stark: “It’s so hard to face that you are disfigured for life.”  What the jury saw was not a political mascot or an abstract policy debate, but a young woman whose body had been permanently altered during adolescence, long before she had the maturity or perspective to grasp the lifelong consequences of that choice. After deliberation, the jury awarded Ms. Varian $2 million in damages, finding that her psychologist and surgeon fai...
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Colorado’s proposed habitat map update could reshape oil and gas development
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s proposed habitat map update could reshape oil and gas development

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project ECMC’s 2026 High Priority Habitat Maps I recently got an email update from the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) about how they are going to update their High Priority Habitat Maps.The first link below is to their webpage on this update, but let's go back a bit and firm up some context on this issue before diving in to more details.A quote from the rulemaking notice gives plenty of detail for what we'll discuss. It's lengthy, so I attached a picture of it as screenshot 1. In brief, high priority habitat maps help dictate where in this state oil and gas development can occur and under what kinds of rules.CPW (per their explainer page linked second below) has no role in regulating ...
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“America must not be overwhelmed”: A century-old warning revisited
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

“America must not be overwhelmed”: A century-old warning revisited

By Tom Anthony | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who penned the lion’s share of the Constitution, is perhaps the most stellar example of the philosophy of America as a meritocracy, having been the illegitimate son of a Caribbean storekeeper who rose to become George Washington’s Adjutant and the first Secretary of the Treasury. He said this about immigration: “Foreigners will generally be apt to bring with them attachments to the persons they have left behind; to the country of their nativity, and to its particular customs and manners. They will also entertain opinions on government congenial with those under which they have lived; or, if they should be led hither from a preference to ours, how extremely unlikely is it that they will...
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Mandated hiring preferences are not a “just transition”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Mandated hiring preferences are not a “just transition”

By Aimee Tooker | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Just Transition Action Plan was established in 2020 to “empower communities with resources to drive their own economic transitions.”  I take personal issue with Section 2 of this introduced bill. SB26-052 “CONCERNING COAL TRANSITION COMMUNITIES, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, PROVIDING A HIRING PREFERENCE FOR COAL TRANSITION WORKERS IN COAL TRANSITION COMMUNITIES AND EXPANDING THE ALLOWABLE WAYS IN WHICH A PUBLIC ENTITY MAY DEPOSIT OR INVEST JUST TRANSITION MONEY.” ·       A COVERED BUSINESS SHALL CONSULT WITH THE JUST TRANSITION OFFICE, ·       A COVERED BUSINESS SHALL REPORT ANNUALLY TO THE JUST TRANSITION OFFICE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRIOR YEAR: o   (a) THE TITLE OF ANY POS...
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Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado’s crime problem isn’t just due to our laws As I've written before, our troubles with crime involve more than just the laws on the books.There are a few steps in the criminal justice process where someone has discretion. Discretion means the ability to be too hard, or too soft.District Attorneys decide on whether to charge and what charges to bring. Judges decide on bail, and the trial judge passes sentence.Each step a chance to be too harsh or too easy.The Complete Colorado article at bottom details a new effort by some lawmakers and talk radio host Jeff Hunt. Their website is linked below the story for convenience.I'll leave it to you to read either, but in brief, their effort is intended to bring publ...
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Capitalism vs socialism: What the global data reveals about human well-being
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The Daily Signal, Approved, Commentary, National

Capitalism vs socialism: What the global data reveals about human well-being

By Sanjai Bhagat | Commentary, The Daily Signal Capitalism versus socialism has become a topic of intense debate in senior political and business circles. The recent election of socialist-leaning candidates in major U.S. cities highlights the contemporary relevance of this topic. A recent Gallup poll finds that Americans view capitalism more positively than socialism; the 54% viewing capitalism favorably is down from 60% in 2021. Americans view socialism more negatively (57%) than positively (39%), with little movement in these attitudes over time. How have the people of a country fared that have adopted socialism? Not so well—the evidence below indicates. How have the people of a socialist country that have adopted capitalism fared? Very well—again, t...
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When protest becomes rebellion against the rule of law
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

When protest becomes rebellion against the rule of law

By Mark Salley | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice So many things come to mind when thinking about the dissension gripping our country. It seems nearly everything has become contentious. Should people be citizens in order to vote in elections?  Should children have sex-change surgeries?  Should people work to expose corruption and bring consequences to the fraudsters? None of these things — on their face — seem contentious.  Yet…there is rebellion brewing. The rebellion has overflowed in Minneapolis. Rather than supporting enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws (even Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden supported deportation), there is a contingent of rebels who are willing to directly interfere in law enforcement efforts to bring lawbreakers to just...
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A ‘county average’ for pretzels: Colorado’s next price-control creep
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

A ‘county average’ for pretzels: Colorado’s next price-control creep

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice HB26-1012“A PERSON IS PRESUMED TO BE ENGAGED IN AN UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE IF THE PERSON CHARGES A CAPTIVE CONSUMER A PRICE FOR AN ANCILLARY GOOD OR SERVICE THAT IS MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PRICE OFFERED FOR A COMPARABLE GOOD OR SERVICE SOLD IN THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE CAPTIVE CONSUMER PURCHASES THE ANCILLARY GOOD OR SERVICE” Welcome to bill #12 of over 700 to be considered and passed into law in 120 days of session. The Democrats keep piling on regulations that jack up costs for everyone, then act like the fix is squeezing vendors harder—instead of slashing the taxes, fees, and mandates they've created. They could drop sales taxes on basics, cut absurd airport fees, or repeal rules that inflate...
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Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project An open email to the sponsors of HB26-1065 and the House Finance Committee Members In keeping with earlier posts, I have been watching affordable housing legislation this session. One of the bills that came up in an earlier post is HB26-1065. I link to that bill first below. Mild in the impact, especially compared with efforts that take away local control and further reinforce the NGO/nonprofit/government complex, this bill is still concerning in what it sets up. My open letter to the committee is copied below the link. If it’s helpful to you in advocating on this issue, please feel free to use any part or the whole. Before I get to my email (and testimony if I can make the hearing) howe...
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Why Community Standards Matter When Public Venues Market Events as “Family-Friendly”
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FAIR Colorado, Approved, Commentary, Local

Why Community Standards Matter When Public Venues Market Events as “Family-Friendly”

By: Dikki Schober | Commentary, FAIR Colorado Why community standards matter in publicly-supported spaces. Recent controversy surrounding a production of Shrek the Musical at the PACE Center in Parker has reignited an ongoing debate in Douglas County: how should publicly-supported institutions navigate community standards, parental expectations, and artistic expression—especially when events are marketed as “family-friendly”? This discussion is not unique to Shrek, nor is it limited to one performance or one community. In recent years, Douglas County residents have raised concerns about programming promoted as appropriate for families that, upon closer review, did not align with many parents’ reasonable expectations. The Shrek controversy fit...
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