Scores of volunteers spent Sunday outside churches and inside city parks in a down-to-the-wire effort to register voters before today’s deadline.

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Unless you’ve been under a rock somewhere, you’re probably aware that today is the last day to register if you want to vote in November’s elections.  To quote a former co-worker, “If you don’t vote, I don’t want to hear any complaints for the next 4 years!”

Seriously, there’s no good reason to be apathetic about the government in today’s world, so if you haven’t yet, go register today.

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan) voted against the $700 billion bailout of the nation’s financial industries Monday and pushed for a new bill that includes more financial reform and taxpayer safeguards.

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I’m not sure I support her stance on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as I suspect these last vestiges of the New Deal (I know Freddie was created in 1970, but you know what I mean) should just be allowed to die. However, I’m starting to think the government needs to do something, though I’m not sure what they could do that doesn’t put us 1 step closer to socialism.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is still on pace to approve more than 7,000 drilling permits this year, marking a steady industry surge from when 1,529 permits were approved for all of 2000.

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Could the economic downturn be the final push we need for energy independence?  It’s starting to look that way.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Udall used the spotlight of a popular Sunday morning news show this morning to call for powerful House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel to step down from his committee post amid an ongoing ethics investigation.

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One day he wants Rangel in, the next Udall wants Rangel out, but he’s definitely keeping Rangel’s money.  “So long and thanks for all the fish?”

Actually, my uneducated guess would be that he’s flip-flopping with public opinion in an attempt to win this election.

• Bankrupt Economics
  What we are witnessing, in the broadest sense, is the bankruptcy of modern economics.

• The Housing Bubble in 4 Easy Steps

• Re-Seeding the Housing Mess
  Taxpayers are naturally suspicious that political insiders and contributors on Wall Street are going to make out like bandits once Washington starts spending the $700 billion in the financial market rescue. But Democrats have already decided to spin off potentially billions of taxpayer dollars from the bailout fund to their own political buddies — not on Wall Street but on nearby K Street.

• Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis
  America waits with bated breath while Washington struggles to bring the U.S. economy back from the brink of disaster. But many of those same politicians caused the crisis, and if left to their own devices will do so again.

Thursday night was a historic one for Israeli fans of the Beatles – the most successful and lauded pop-rock band ever. Thirty-eight years after the band’s breakup and 28 years after the death of his longtime partner in songwriting, John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney performed in Israel for the first time ever. The concert took place before an audience estimated at 50,000, which filled an enclosure created for the event at Tel Aviv’s Ganei Yehoshua Park, and overflowed beyond it.

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Considering that he got a few death threats regarding this performance, I have to give Sir Paul some respect for going through with it.  It’s easy to talk a good game about not fearing terrorists, but not as easy to follow through.  Good job, Paul!

Several dozen protesters gathered Friday on the steps of the state Capitol to oppose a proposed federal bailout of the financial industry.

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I have to be honest, if I knew of a group whose politics I agreed with that was headed to Denver to protest, I’d probably join them!  While I’d prefer that my bank not go under, I really think we’re making the inevitable crash worse with the bailouts.

The U.S. Senate race in Colorado has gotten even closer over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state now finds Democrat Mark Udall with a modest 46% to 44% edge over Republican Bob Schaffer.

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My uneducated opinion: A lot of these races are going to be close, with the winner only getting by on a single-digit percentage.  Why?  My guess is that nobody seems to have an idea how to fix the economy, which is the biggest issue right now.  With both parties flailing around, voters don’t know who to support.

A new poll that shows Barack Obama leading in Colorado also shows that the upcoming presidential debates could still affect the race here.

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I’m really curious to see how this turns out.  Obama took the lead back in this state, but not by enough to take it out of the “swing state” category.  I suspect that whomever wins, both in Colorado and the general election, is just going to squeak by.

Before I get accused of selling out or anything…

1) I’ve relocated this blog from christian-zionist.com to israel.conservativelayman.com.  I’m trying to keep most of what I do under the “Conservative Layman” blog, which is why I’ve made this move.  I guess you could say I’m trying to establish a brand.

2) I dropped “Christian” from the name.  I’m not trying to hide my faith, as it is an intricate part of who I am.  However, I feel that having Christian Zionist in the title will lead people to believe I’m going to discuss Bible prophecy and whatnot.  While I have no problem doing so, that has never been a focus of this blog, and I don’t want to mislead.

From a religious perspective, my sole reason for backing Israel is because the Jewish people are God’s Chosen.  Any Christian theology I tack onto that ultimately comes from a selfish place.  I don’t want to be that guy.

From a political perspective, I back Israel because they are the lone democracy in that part of the world, and a faithful ally of the U.S. (though my religious reasons outweigh this).

This decision wasn’t made on a whim, and I’m not turning my back on my beliefs or anything.  Heck, if anything, I think I’m being more truthful about what I’m trying to accomplish here!

The latest JerusalemOnline report:

So, I promise not to change the look of the place too much more, but I really like this template, so it’s what I’m working on right now.

I added a link to The Advocates for Self-Government’s World’s Smallest Political Quiz over in the far right column. Check it out, take it, and report back.

My result, in case anyone was wondering:

Bigfoot Body Revealed to Be Halloween Costume
By Paul Wagenseil

So it really was a rubber suit after all.

Article Continues… (FoxNews.com)

Maybe I’m just incredibly jaded, but I find this whole thing HILARIOUS.

Mexican-born killer put to death in Texas
By MICHAEL GRACZYK

With the parents of his victims watching a few feet away, a Mexican-born condemned killer apologized before he was executed for his part in a horrific attack on two teenage girls 15 years ago.

Article Continues… (AP via Google)

If you’ve followed this one, you know that this is the guy that caused Mexico to take the U.S. to International Court in The Hague, claiming the Mexican consulate had not been properly notified.

Now, I’m not generally one to declare someone needs to die; while I don’t necessarily oppose capital punishment, I really don’t feel it’s my job to decide who lives and dies. However, having read the grisly details, I can see why feelings are so strong in this case. To be honest, reading what’s at that link gave me a few nightmares.

So, while life-or-death decisions aren’t mine to make, I cannot help but think the right choice was made here.