Denver, CO

Boulder Colorado, which is only about a thirty minute drive from Denver, 45 minutes by express bus on our RTD system, played host to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft last night, and About-Denver was there to cover the events.

Boulder is a well-known breeding ground of liberal thought and, I would say, the majority of people in Boulder are quick to rise in protest to certain United States policies and people. The arrival of John Ashcroft was one of these instances.
Scheduled to speak at 7:30 pm at the Macky Auditorium at the CU Boulder campus, Ashcroft was delayed by ten minutes for reasons, I suspect, that were likely related to the protestors who shouted at the former Attorney General as he was escorted from car and to the building. I was not in the parking lot to observe this incident, but Ashcroft made a few references in response to protestor interruptions during his speech. A seemingly sensitive-to-criticism kind of man, Ashcroft had several of his own stinging responses when hecklers interrupted and shouted; one of Ashcroft’s favorite fire to fight fire was asking if, referring to the outspoken women, ‘anyone in the audience need medical attention, that they please receive it.’
Despite being in Boulder, I felt the arrival of Ashcroft and his speech was, for the most part, warmly received. There were small groups spread throughout the audience that laughed, made noises, cried out in protest, accused, etc., but overwhelmingly Ashcroft received applause at the appropriate times.
In the end, I think Ashcroft should be better prepared for a Boulder-like crowd; he had to know what he was getting into, and I don’t think it is right for him to do more than chastise those that are expressing their thoughts. At an event specifically created to hear him speak, it is not fair for the crowd to interrupt him, but his former position of power should not enable him to insult those that do.
Later this week, I’ll make an attempt to analyze the speech and the protestors for effectiveness, and give my ten cents about what each side did right, and what they did wrong (in my opinion).

other political celebrities featured on www.about-denver.com
Al Gore
picture taken from http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/john_ashcroft.jpg

I was reading the paper this morning, as I often do, and came across a terrific story that I’d like to repost for those who haven’t got a chance to read this yet. This story comes from Harvey Mackay’s article on page 4 of the business section, titled, ‘Businesses that work together succeed together.”
Now, I’m not a religious man and am won’t to talk about religion, heaven, hell, etc. But this story has substance outside of religion and does provide a valuable lesson for business as well, as is the aim of most Harvey Mackay’s articles: stories that inspire business practices.
Here it is, only the story part of the article and none of Mackay’s writing thereafter (you should pick up a copy of the News to view the whole article!)

Businesses that work together succeed together
A man was having a conversation with a pastor one day and said, “I would like to know what heaven and hell are like.”
The pastor led the man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the man looked in. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly and appeared to be starving. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
“Can’t you do anything to help them?” he asked.
The pastor said, “you have seen hell.”
Then they went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of delectable stew. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well-nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The man said, “I don’t understand.”
“It is simple,” said the pastor. “It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.”

As you may know from reading this blog or staying current with various news sources, the final conversation in our statewide effort to shape educational excellence for all of Colorado’s students will be taking place soon. These conversations have been taking place throughout the state and will be culminating in this final community forum on November 20th. Read on for more information, and please make an effort to attend! Also, click here for my experience and opinion of the education meeting I attended earlier this year

Conversation 2007 Capstone Event
A participatory public forum to create a new “educational compact” in Colorado
In our community conversations, we have heard what people across Colorado believe the goals of public education ought to be, what strategies they believe will help reach those goals, and what our common needs and responsiblities are if we are to acheive them. We would like to share the results of this statewide conversation in one final, interactive forum and get your input on a new “educational compact” that would create a truly excellent educational system in Colorado. We hope you will join the conversation.

Event Info
Bruce Randolph Middle School
3955 Steele Street
Denver, CO

November 20, 2007
6:00 PM Light Appetizers
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Conversation

for more info, please visit http://www.conversation2007.org/

image taken from http://www.nbc11news.com/featuredlinks

So what are we talking about here? (Read the below blog if you haven’t already) Cancer hasn’t always been around as a major cause of death or a major health concern. It used to be we were just worried about chicken pox, small pox, the plague, etc., all diseases brought about by an outside agent of infection: virus. Fleas on rats spread the plague throughout Europe.
The question becomes then, how do we become affected with cancer? As explained in previous blogs, cancer develops from a number of internal and external factors. The environment. Is it possible that the environment industry has created is contributing to cancer? You better believe it.
But what about other consumer products in and of our environment? If a bottled water company can look at it’s materials, materials that are also used in other businesses and products as well, and recognize they may be putting the very customers they seek to provide for at risk of cancer, then what are the other businesses and corporations doing to ensure consumer safety? Are there other products that may have unsafe chemicals and compounds?
I’m no expert in this matter and I do not pretend to be. I am merely doing my part a concerned citizen blogger to keep Denverites informed. The above is really the extent of my knowledge on this topic. I do, however, know enough to seek experts on topics that concern me. One expert source I recently read through and learned much from is the book Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. This book provides instruction and examples of reformulating industrial processes to be safe for workers and consumers. Examples include water entering factories for production use and leaving the factory cleaner and more pure than it went in, as opposed to dumping tons of polluted water as is customary in industry production cycles. This book talks about the everyday products we rely on: computers, children’s play toys, that contain lead and other such harmful components that we don’t need to rely on for technology and other products; there are viable, even cheaper alternatives.
I strongly encourage you to pick up and read this book, as well as The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Lee Davis. Be informed about this and other issues that matter too you. Information is power.

picture from http://www.myhero.com/myhero/go/library/retrieve.asp?id=1092

In order to maintain public and private safety, we have certain policies and procedures, rules and regulations, requirements and such in place to ensure fire prevention to the best of our ability. Should a fire take place in a public building, we have the fire department, fire extinguishers on site, evacuation plans, etc., to minimize damage and danger to humans. These methods fall under a category of treating the fire once it has begun, but it is always better to prevent the fire in the first place.

Cancer.

Cancer is said to affect 1 in 3 Americans. What type or form of cancer depends on the person and their lifestyle or habits, environment that led to cultivate the cancer. Our U.S. health industry recognizes cancer as a concern and there are many organizations in place that are actively seeking a cure and better treatment for most every cancer in existence within our medical knowledge. Millions, perhaps even billions, of dollars are funneled into cancer research each year. But did you know that a fair amount of the cancer research money is provided by the alcohol and tobacco industries? In fact, these same industries started some of the most notable cancer research programs out there. In the world of Public Relations, this is an obvious campaign of trying to position Tobacco and Alcohol as the ‘good guys.’ And, in a way, since they are providing dollars and support for research, these industries have - for years - been taking blame and focus away from some of the greater cancer causing agents (alcohol and cigarettes) and shifting the focus on making it easier for people to live with cancer and trying to cure what their products create.

What if we handled fire safety in the same way and only focused on how to treat, control, and contain building fires instead of working on preventing fires in the first place? Shouldn’t there ought to be a strong measure and campaign towards preventing cancers in the first place instead of simply making it easier and more tolerable to live with cancer and that, hey, one day there may be a cure for all this terrible stuff, some of which is a byproduct of poor choices and buying into an evil industry (alcohol and tobacco). An evil industry is, in this sense and in the author’s opinion, an industry that contributes to hundreds of thousands of deaths, acknowledges it, but does virtually nothing of their own accord to curb the death they leave behind. Gotta pay the mortgage right? Provide jobs and keep the economy moving, right?

Information assimilated from research and readings in The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Lee Davis

picture from http://www.geneeskundeboek.nl/zoek.cgi?Zoekop=thema&q=Medisch%20Oncologie&taal=en
more to come in this the about-Denver special report: Health Care

some of you may have seen this before, but its worth a second look. WARNING: DO NOT read if you really really enjoy Coca-Cola or other soda pops…

Fun Facts About Water And Coke
by unknown on 10/9/2003 4:16:21 PM
WATER - We all know water is important but read on?.

· 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the
world population)
· In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken
for hunger.
· Even MILD dehydration will slow down one´s metabolism as much as 3%.
· One glass of water shuts down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the
dieters studied in a U-Washington study.
· Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
· Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could
significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
· A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble
with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a
printed page.
· Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by
45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less
likely to develop bladder cancer.

Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?

COKE - You´ll never drink it again:

· In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke
in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
· You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two
days.
· To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coke in the toilet bowl and let the “real
thing” sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid removes stains
from vitreous china.
· To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a
crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coke.
· To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coke over the
terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
· To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply Coke to a cloth and let sit on the rusted
bolt.
· To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy
clothes,add detergent,and run through a regular cycle. Coke loosens grease
stains.
· It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FYI - The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its Ph is 2.8. It
will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.

To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate), the commercial truck must use
the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their
trucks for about 20 years!

Still Want To Drink Up?

About 40 percent of all cancers are linked to food, lack of exercise, and body weight, said the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research in the most current and most comprehensive study of cancer to date. This study showed a strong correlation between excess body fat and red meat to increaded risk of common cancers. The conclusion to be drawn from this is, of course, that excess body fat and red meat should be avoided. Taking the results of this study public, the hope of releasing this information and recommendations to exericse more and eat less is that about one third of cancers could be prevented, if appropriate actions were adopted worldwide. This, in my opinion, is a great idea and a good start. But what about the other two thirds of cancer that is not so easily preventable and the other 60 percent of cancer that aren’t linked to food, lack of exercise, or body weight?
There are many factors that can lead to cancer, or any illness for that matter. Among these are: age, genetics and genetic mutation, immune system, day-to-day environment, viruses, etc. The day-to-day environment includes exposure to the sun, second hand smoke or smoking, other forms of radiation, asbestos, work place hazards, etc.
The issue, then, of preventing cancer cannot be focused just on diet and exercise, but how can we reduce the influence on causing cancer from all of these factors?
Deep Rock Water Co. has an answer, or at least an idea. And if nothing else, they have shown themselves to be concerned with their consumer. The Denver company has stopped using it’s familiar 5 gallon bottle for water coolers, because of research indicating that a chemical, bispenol A, in the plastic, polycarbonate, contributes to and triggers early-stage cancer and decreased fertility in lab rats. While there is no direct evidence that the same would be true in humans, the water company decided to make the switch to a safer material, polyethylene terephtalate. Now, you don’t have to understand the technical terms of the plastics and their compounds, I hardly do myself, but what I hope you take away is that many products in use today among ourselves, at home, at work, being played with by children, may not be as safe as we would trust and hope. Some company’s, like the Denver water company Deep Rock, are trying to change this and err on the side of caution to protect their customers. Others, like the International Bottled Water Association, provide only the typical big business response stating they were “not aware of any movement out of polycarbonate” jugs in the industry.
If you ask me, if it’s something that we’re going to drink out of, its better to be safe than sorry.

image from http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lung/lung-cancer-blog.html