Here are the topics for this week: a very shady million dollar business; snow-guns; the "new" Labour Party; Was Alice in the House?; thinning color and the first dusting.

Mass exodus and big money. If you want to learn more about the immigrants from Syria, there was a NPR story last Tuesday about what can only be described as a truly despicable, multi-million dollar business. Violence-prone Turkish mobsters first charge exorbitant fees and then prod terrified immigrants into overcrowded boats often with incompetent captains for a truly risky trip across the Aegean Sea.

Let the snow begin. Copper Mountain and other ski areas have begun to help mother nature by producing snow. At our condo in Breckenridge, if the wind is blowing from the south you can hear the hiss of the snow guns on nearby 4 O'clock run.

Going, going... and the first dusting. This weekend's drive to/from Breckenridge and Kremling showed the fall's colors to be fading fast and a dusting of snow can only be seen on two of the 14-ers along I-70 and CO route 9. Grays and Torres Peaks are the two 14-ers closest to metro Denver and both are well dusted. The weather for the coming week is predicted to be too warm, though, for any further accumulation.

The new Labour Party. Change is afoot in jolly England's Labour and Scottish National Party (SNP) parties. (Excuse those Brits for their unusual spelling!) Since their election loss last May, Labour has grown by 150,000+, gotten younger (average age, 53 to 42), with more women than men joining their ranks. Interestingly, the SNP has also grown larger, younger, and more feminine. Meanwhile, the ruling Conservative party has not grown, rather it has shrunk and aged.

Curiouser and Curiouser. We Americans are smugly accustomed to shaking our heads as we see chaos abroad. Governments, political parties, major corporations in seeming disarray, random violence taking lives. But, what do we not see − or connect to − here at home? Our own mass shootings, increasing gang-related violence, and on the......
     Republican side. This past Thursday, news flashed out from the nation's construction-shrouded Capitol dome that US House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy (R, CA), had withdrawn his name from consideration to be Speaker of the House. The early morning story in the Washington Post read, "A House Republican Conference divided against itself meets Thursday to pick a new standard-bearer, launching the process of electing a new House speaker in the midst of a congressional session for the first time in 26 years." But wait, then came McCarthy's bombshell announcement. The House Freedom Caucus may have made the announcement inevitable. Raul Labrador (R, UT) said, "[McCarthy] has three weeks to make systemic changes. Not just talk about the changes, but to show exactly what he’s going to do.” The Republicans in the House are increasingly being called the group that "can't be led."
     Democratic side. Bernie Sanders (I, VT) continues to gain ground over Hillary Clinton in the NH polls. One has to wonder if Sanders's plain spoken, unvarnished, socialist-leaning comments will doom his candidacy? On the talk radio's popular program, "Morning Joe," Sanders said,

“In the last 30 years, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class and working families of this country to the top one-tenth of one percent. And yes, my policies will demand that the top one percent at the largest corporations in this country start paying their fair share in taxes….
I believe we should rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, invest $1 trillion into our roads, bridges, water systems, rail, airports, and create up to 13 million jobs. I believe we should raise the minimum wage over a period of several years…to $15 an hour and have pay equity for women workers. I believe that we have to revise our disastrous trade policies so corporate America invests in this country, rather than in China.

     A Roll Call story last Friday was entitled "House Republicans Cement Quarter-Century Lock on Melodrama at the Top." Apparently, the Republican party does not know what to do, to whom to turn. Washington's toxic atmosphere is obviously taking a toll. The post of Speaker of the House is constitutionally mandated (Article I, Section 2, Clause 5) and is chosen by majority roll call vote of  all House members. Theoretically, the House could even choose someone other than an elected member, though this has never happened.
     Once again, is the American pot calling the global kettle black?

On CO's green front, even more unintended consequences. Most of my readers know that, for better or worse, CO is in the forefront of the nation's ongoing marijuana experiment. The state has experienced all manner of unintended consequences flowing from these once-iilegal businesses, now more numerous than Starbucks. Appropriate labeling and wrapping for marijuana-based edibles, child-proof containers, hash oil production....the list goes on.
     A story in last Friday's Denver Post noted one of the latest effects: rapidly rising rents. Marijuana businesses are pushing up rent for existing metro area warehouse space. Charities (such as Toys for Tots, a reputable organization providing Christmas holiday toys for needy children) are now having trouble finding affordable space in the metro areas. Small start-up business are also having trouble.

Vacation time. I'll be in/out of town and the next blog will publish on Tuesday, November 3rd.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy the week ahead.