Hickenlooper Approves Block on Voting Record Transparency

Governor Hickenlooper signed a bill today that limits when the public can view voting records.

Many had hoped that Colorado's Democrat Governor would veto the bill.

House Bill 1036 puts a block on requests for voting records for forty-five days before an election, and afterwards until the election has been verified.

Opponents are already preparing a law suit against the state, over the bill, citing it as a violation of voting transparency.

The Colorado County Clerks Association asked for and heavily supported the bill, stating that they were worried their offices would be overwhelmed with requests during the 2012 elections.

An exception in the bill does allow for "candidates whose race is subject to recount, the candidate's political party, a petition representative for or a governing body that referred a ballot question that is subject to recount, or an agent of an issue committee that financially supported or opposed such a ballot issue". Such people will be able to submit requests.


Some have said the exception, is yet another way that an oligarchy is being set up, within the US.

Taco Bell Expanding Menu to Aim at Chipotle

Taco Bell has announced a menu expansion to take place July 5.

Whole black beans, cilantro rice, citrus marinated chicken, Haas avocado guacamole, and corn salsa are but a few of the items which will be present on the new menu.

With more than 5,600 locations, Taco Bell is aiming the new menu to compete with Chipotle.

Taco Bell says the new menu will offer the same quality and sizes as Chipotle, but at a cheaper price.

UN Observers Blocked by Civilians From Viewing Rumored Massacre

UN Observers are being blocked from investigating the site of yet another massacre in Syria.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the observers came under small arms fire, from civilians, when they tried to approach Qubair.

Reports came out Wednesday that seventy-eight had been killed in the town, by forces loyal to the government.

The Syrian Arab News Agency said that government troops only moved into the area after a family was killed by terrorists.

Bashar al-Jaafari, the Syrian ambassador to the UN, blamed the attack, and previous ones, on armed bandits.

International pressure on Syria has not amounted to any actual results towards peace.

Most of the world's governments have supported sanctions against the country, whilst Russia and China have been adamantly against them.

The original hope for the observer's mission was that their presence would bring peace, but that has been a complete failure.

Rebel groups, and some other Arab nations, have called for UN Peacekeepers to be sent into the strife torn country.

Nebraska Upset About EPA Using Drones to Spy on Farmers

The EPA has recently admitted that it is using drones to enforce the Clean Water Act over Nebraska and Iowa.

Nebraska's Congress sent the EPA a rather unhappy letter, demanding that such actions cease immediately.


State Representatives and Senators praise their constituents on taking great care of Nebraska's natural resources.

The bipartisan group argues that the use of drones gravely exceeds the EPA's authority.

They also argue that it is a clear violation of the privacy of US citizens, especially as the drones are flying over homes.

Drones are becoming an increasingly controversial topic, throughout the world.

Pakistan has repeatedly decried the use of them, by the US, over their territory.

Police departments are currently banned, by the federal government, from using drones, but manufacturers are beginning to market them to the more than 18,000 police jurisdictions.

Federal departments are not required to get a warrant before using drones. If their use spreads to police, that may have to change. Many argue it should anyways.

Buffett Says There Won't be a Return to Recession, When Did The Last One End?

On Tuesday, Warren Buffett stated that US will not end up back in a recession.

While I share Warren's hope that the recession will not get worse (unless the growing disaster of Europe spreads over the Atlantic), I do really wonder when it ended.

I know of way too many who are still out of work, or like myself underemployed. Too many who've had to give up their individual lifestyles, and had to find roommates or move back home, just to be able to afford all the bills.

Mr. Buffett, where was the end that you suggest happened? Did I, and those I know, miss out on the end of it, and we're just somehow still living in it, despite all the rest moving on?

Is that why Occupy no longer is camped out in Denver? Or does that have more to do with the city enforcing a ban on camping?

Maybe it's ended in Omaha, Nebraska, where you have your head quarters. If so I should really expect the city to see a boom, while the rest of the country realizes that the recovery is here.

Or Mr. Buffett, is it not true that unemployment continues to grow? That the country can not even keep creating enough jobs to match population growth, let alone replace the lost ones.

We are in a time when cities with populations in the millions brag about a dozen jobs being created. And those same people bragging about those, avoid talking about the ones being lost, in greater numbers.

No, I'm sorry Mr. Buffett, but the recession is still going strong.

Bynes Asks Obama to Help Her With DUI Charge

About two months after Amanda Bynes was arrested for Driving Under the Influence after grazing a sheriff's patrol car, her attorney entered a plea of not guilty.

The starlet did not show at her own arraignment, but did send out a tweet.

Hey @BarackObama... I don't drink. Please fire the cop who arrested me. I also don't hit and run. The end.

When pulled over, she refused to take a sobriety test, and so was charged with being under the influence.

Obama has not made a response statement, but begging the President for aid is an entertaining addition to the drama of Hollywood.

Over 6 Million LinkedIn Passwords Stolen

Hackers managed to infiltrate and steal over six million passwords from LinkedIn, and then posted them online.

EHarmony was apparently also a victim of the same attack.

Security experts blame the success of the attack on the low level of security which the sites were using.

The sites use SHA-1 hash coding, which uses one of the most basic forms of online cryptography.

For most hackers SHA-1 hash is one of the first forms which they learn to hack.

So far no user names have been listed along side of the passwords, so there is no solid threat against users, though they are advised to change their passwords immediately.

Some experts are concerned though as the hack came from Russia, where hackers are known to be expert and enjoy pranks, as well as multiple levels of information release, so the user names could very well be released soon.

High School Withholds Diplomas Due to Excessive Celebration

Mount Healthy high school has withheld diplomas from four students.

The Cincinnati, Ohio school says that during the graduation, proceedings had to be halted due to the duration of cheers for specific students.

After disruptions in previous years, the school started a new policy this year, in hopes that all names could be heard.

In the terms of service for ordering graduation tickets, it clearly stated that disruptive behavior would result in diplomas being withheld until twenty hours of community service is completed.

Family and friends can assist or even do all of the hours for the students, who are still listed as graduated, just are not allowed to have their paper diploma until the twenty hours are finished.


So far one of the students at Mt. Healthy has finished their hours, but one family is fighting the school on the issue.

Seven Tornadoes Strike Near Denver Metro

The greater Denver Metro area dealt with severe thunderstorms Wednesday night.

Storms produced strong winds, pouring rain, hail, some flooding, and seven tornadoes.

Twisters were spotted near Grover, Kiowa, Elizabeth, Bennett, Parker, and one came near the Denver International Airport.

Luckily, none of the tornadoes caused much damage.

Denver is in for another set of storms starting later this afternoon, and lasting through the night.

Walker Survives Recall Election

Governor Walker, of Wisconsin, survived his recall election by only a few points. This despite massively out spending his challenger.

The victory with fifty-three percent of the vote versus forty-six percent, is being hailed as huge victory against labor unions.

Lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch and state senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald also both survived their recalls.

As of early Wednesday, the other seat up for grabs in the state senate was being won by less than 800 votes, by the challenging Democrat.


Some controversy arose when Madison reported that 119% of registered voters, had voted in the recall.


State laws do allow for same day registrations, and Democrats are claiming that is how such a high turnout is possible.

Republicans are largely ignoring the matter, due to winning anyways.