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Occupy Denver calls for 24 hours of protest
Nov 16th
24 hours of protest.
First Rally: Noon at Municipal Building @ 201 West Colfax Avenue
Second Rally: 6PM @ The Greek Ampitheatre in Civic Center Park
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCCUPY DENVER
November 17: 60 Days of Action
We have reached a pivotal moment in history, as we find ourselves on the threshold of a great and lasting change. We at Occupy Denver stand in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and all occupations across the country and around the world. The accelerated and coordinated efforts to destroy the Occupy movement, evidenced by the forceful actions taken against the occupiers in Zucotti Park and other cities, are confirmation that the Occupy movement is working.
These actions will not stop us; they will only make us stronger. This has brought us to the precipice of tremendous change, a change for the better. We believe and know what is right and good and thus we will take that next step.
The Occupy movement stands in sharp contrast to the forces that are being marshaled against us. When they use force, we use nonviolence. When they try to isolate us, we build community. When they move against us, we call for peace and cooperation.
Together, we are standing up and speaking out for the rights guaranteed by our Constitution: the right of free assembly, the right of free speech, the right of free press. We affirm that all people are created equal and have the right to share in the prosperity of our great nation. Without such rights, then what have we? We are committed to ending the corruption of our government and restoring political power to the people. We believe that our country, and our world, can be a better place and that we must work together to make this happen. To those already standing with us: we ask that you continue to stand strong. You are making the difference. To all the rest: we need for you to join us. We need individuals and organizations from every corner of the country to join the Occupy movement now.
We call upon you who have been silent: Speak and be heard.
We call upon you who have not stood up for what you believe in: Stand and be seen.
We call upon you who have yet to put your needs on paper. Write and be counted.
Make the difference and bring about the change you want to see! Join us at noon tomorrow, November 17, at Civic Center Park as we celebrate the two month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street and the nearly 2,000 Occupy movements that have sprung up around the world. There has been a coordinated effort to silence the voices of the 99%, Mayor Hancock and the Denver Police Department are scared of an awakened populace. We will call attention to the Mayor’s decision to violently crackdown on Occupy Denver. We will present alternatives and show the contrast with other communities around the country and how their local governments have supported the 99% rather than attempt to silence the voice of their constituents. There will then be a 6 p.m. rally at Occupy Denver after which we will conduct a General Assembly where we will discuss the Occupy movement as a whole and how we should progress over the coming months. So come out, have your voices heard and once again stand up for freedom, for justice, and for the future of our world. United we stand!
CU Boulder –Nature, not nurture, behind hard-core smoking
Nov 16th
Well, duh
A new study of twins led by the University of Colorado Boulder shows that today’s smokers are more strongly influenced by genetic factors than in the past and that the influence makes it more difficult for them to quit.
“In the past, when smoking rates were higher, people smoked for a variety of reasons,” said sociology Professor Fred Pampel, a study co-author. “Today the composition of the smoking population has changed. Smokers are more likely to be hard-core users who are most strongly influenced by genetic factors.”
The study showed that adult identical twins sharing a common genetic structure are significantly more likely to quit smoking at the same time compared with fraternal twins who do not share identical genes. This genetic influence has increased in importance among smokers following the initial restrictive legislation on smoking enacted in the United States in the 1970s, Pampel said.
“These days people don’t smoke as much for social reasons,” Pampel said. “They in fact face criticism for the habit but tend to smoke because of their dependence on nicotine.”
The study, to be published in this month’s edition of the journal! Demography, was led by Associate Professor Jason Boardman and doctoral student Casey Blalock of CU-Boulder’s sociology department and Institute of Behavioral Science, and co-authored with Pampel, also of IBS, Peter Hatemi of Pennsylvania State University, Andrew Heath of Washington University in St. Louis and Lindon Eaves of the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.
Using a database of twins who responded to an extensive health questionnaire, the researchers examined the smoking patterns of 596 pairs of twins, 363 of them identical and 233 of them fraternal. The researchers looked at their smoking patterns from 1960 to 1980 because they wanted to focus on a period of changing views about smoking.
Among identical twins, 65 percent of both twins quit during a two-year timeframe if one twin quit, but among fraternal twins, the percentage dropped to 55 percent, a statistically significant difference that indicates a genetic component at work, Pampel said.
While a specific genetic marker has been hard to identify among those who smoke, certain genetic similarities can be inferred. “If one identical twin quits the other is likely to quit,” he said. “And if one twin continues so is the other twin.”
The study has implications for current public policies aimed at reducing smoking, which may be becoming less effective, Pampel said.
Since the early and mid 1970s when restrictive anti-smoking legislation began to be enacted in the United States, many smokers have quit. “Prior to 1975 this (potentially genetic) pattern wasn’t clear because there were so many smokers.”
Two of today’s main anti-smoking policies include heavy taxes on cigarettes and vast reductions in the number of public spaces where smoking is allowed, particularly in bars and restaurants, Pampel said.
But with indications that the genetic component is growing, it may be time to treat smoking more like an addiction than a choice, Pampel said. Such a policy shift might include more emphasis on nicotine-replacement therapy and counseling.
Boardman, Blalock and Pampel are affiliated with the CU Population Center in CU-Boulder’s Institute of Behavioral Science.
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Boulder County gets lottery “star” for trail network
Nov 8th
Boulder County awarded Colorado Lottery Starburst Award for Mayhoffer-Singletree Trail
Boulder County, Colo. – The Colorado Lottery will present Boulder County with the Starburst Award for the Mayhoffer-Singletree Trail project. The ceremony will take place this Thursday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. at the Boulder County Courthouse in Boulder in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room.
The Starburst Awards recognize excellence in the use of lottery funds for community and conservation projects. Starburst nominations are reviewed by lottery commissioners and winning projects are chosen based on the creativity of the project, economic and social impact to the community, and whether the project achieved its goal.
In 2009 and 2010, the Boulder County Transportation and Parks and Open Space departments added 1.5 miles of new trail in eastern Boulder County near the Town of Superior that provided a tremendous opportunity for recreational trail users with the assistance of a lottery-funded Great Outdoors Colorado trails grant.
This trail extension completed a 13-mile loop trail that includes the City of Boulder’s Greenbelt Plateau, Community Ditch Trail and Cowdrey Draw trails that now connect to the Town of Superior and Boulder County trails. The project area includes the former route of the Morgul-Bismarck Loop of the Coors International Bicycle Classic from the 1980s. This new section of trail also provides a highly anticipated link to the City of Boulder Marshall-Mesa trails, the Rock Creek Trail system and the Coal Creek Trail system.
Trail users can now connect to significant open space in Boulder County, including the Southern Grasslands open space complex to the south of this trail, to the City of Boulder open space, to Eldorado State Park open space, U.S. Forest Service open space to the west, Town of Superior open space, City of Louisville open space, City of Lafayette open space and City and County of Broomfield open space to the east.
Project partners include:
- Boulder Area Trails Coalition
- Boulder County Horse Association
- Boulder County Parks and Open Space Foundation
- Boulder County Youth Corps
- Boulder Trail Runners
- City of Boulder
- Colorado Lottery
- Great Outdoors Colorado
- Town of Superior