William F. Buckley Jr., Rest In Peace

William F. Buckley Jr. was the founder of conservative magazine "National Review" and one of the earliest and most influential personalities in the modern American conservative movement. He died Wednesday 27 February, 2008 at his home.

His magazine's editors remember their founder and inspiration here, and a National Review columnist remembers him as a true gentleman here. More remembrances have been posted even since I started writing this post. The Wall Street Journal reports his death here.

Even though I do not agree with all of Mr Buckley's opinions, he was one of my favorite columnists. He always had such a way with words that it was hard not to at least see precisely what he was saying. He will be truly missed, but his movement will rumble ever forward in his memory.

Fort Collins gets silly new logo

In the Fort Collins' "2007 Report To The Community," mayor Doug Hutchinson and city attorney Darin Atteberry explain the city's perspective on how they are trying to present Fort Collins to both residents, businesses, visitors, and outsiders:

The community vision boils down to fostering and sustaining a high quality of life, which means balancing the needs of our environment, our community, and our economy. This careful balance is what makes Fort Collins unique. That was confirmed in our recently-completed community branding study. We’re green and pro-business, hi-tech and agriculture, families and college students. We value arts and culture as much as we value the outdoors. As our new tagline states, in Fort Collins, Renewal is a Way of Life.

It doesn't really say anything terribly meaningful, and it's basically just inclusionary, populist hyperbole, but at least it won't alienate those who bring tax money my fair city.

And the result of that $80,000 community branding study?

Supposedly, the brown squiggle represents our mountains and the blue on is the Poudre river.

It is supposed to be all "modern" and "fresh," but I think it's kind of silly. First of all, the mountains can't actually be seen from the majority of town because of the hogbacks just west of the city. (Although, some may consider those to be mountains, depending on where you're from, I guess.) And the Poudre river? The only time most people see it is if they drive north of touristy Old Town to go bowling, get their oil changed, or play bingo or if they go west of town to do some semi-legal tubing. There is a bike trail that runs along the river as it crosses the North end of town, but the vast majority of people live a ways south of there.

Now, the old logo, which has apparently been in use for 30 years, is by no means perfect, but at least it relies on some recognizable features of the city: Horsetooth Rock just west of town; and the Canadian Geese that crap all over the sidewalks.

Oh well, I guess 30 years is a long time for one logo, and $80,000 isn't that much money, but I am still partial to the old one that I have seen my entire life. I guess I may just be nostalgic.

Crush All Hu-mans!

Hahaha...
Red Robot doesn't really grasp the concept of logical fallacies.

I wish my local paper (which I don't actually read) or the campus paper (which I still glance at once in a while) had this comic instead of the lame-sauce they currently print.

Sonny Lubick Day!

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter announced today that this Friday, 08 February 2008, will be declared "Sonny Lubick Day" in honor of the former head football coach of my alma mater, Colorado State University.

The official ceremony will take place Friday afternoon in the governor's office at the State Capitol in Denver.

Sonny is one heck of a good guy, and he deserves every bit of the $259,000 that CSU still owes him. His teams were a force to be reckoned with on the field and I don't know if there was ever a nicer, more considerate person in his position. I'm glad that the athletic directors chose a former Ram, Steve Fairchild, to succeed Sonny, and I can only hope that he will carry on his legacy.

Obama Hopes for Change - Mike Rosen

Just a couple of things to keep in mind if you were considering backing Barak "The Magic" Obama, from radio talk show host and Rocky Mountain News columnist Mike Rosen's recent column:

While Hillary appeals to Democratic grownups, Obama scores with idealistic young liberals who've been turning out in record numbers. He's their Bobby Kennedy. Since perception is reality in politics, the perception of Obama as the vehicle for utopian change could get him elected president.

It's been noted that the problem with the younger generation is that they haven't read the minutes of the last meeting. That is, what's seems new to them isn't new at all; it's just new to them. As for independents, they're typically naive about the nature of real-world politics in our two-party system. Calling for change is a cliche. The party out of power always calls for change and reform. But change isn't always for the better.

This phenomenon of idealistic young'uns is also known as "freshman syndrome." The new (to them) idea of the moment is the most revolutionary, coolest, best idea ever and they are sure glad that they thought of it. [I.e.: "Why don't we just get all the world leaders together in one big room and talk out the world's problems? It would be the end of war, famine, disease..."] Little do they realize that there are very few new ideas out there anymore, at least in the political realm.

And for those believing that a President Obama would usher in a new era of bipartisanship, remember this:

In the Senate, Obama's voting record has been sharply to the left of Hillary's already liberal one. And he's the man who's going to bring America together? His candidacy has been a parade of platitudes. They might get cheers from fawning audiences on the campaign trail but they're not worth much when it comes to making wise decisions in the Oval Office.

But, I guess if you're just into hoping for a change, good luck with that.