Columns

Did your heart stir at the recent news of the bravery of Saudi women as they dared to drive? Here’s a new word, “mihrim,” one they know all too well because this male guardian is needed to walk them to the store, give them permission to travel out of the country, or accompany them to the hospital to give birth.
Saudi religious police are gaining powers over women, humiliating them in public, even as women are beginning to be seen demonstrating all over the Middle East.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden employs 2,300 and generates many more spinoff jobs as it operates within its budget of $350 million. NREL’s Research Support Facility has won numerous awards as it influences the way energy is consumed. From concept to completion, it is changing commercial building design nationwide. Solar panels, windmill blades, contracts and, uh-oh, progress are all part of NREL.

Chris Romer joined a fairly exclusive club last week. Along with Dale Tooley, Norm Early and Ari Zavaras, he’s now one of the can’t-miss front-runners for Denver mayor who fell to lesser-known opponents each of the last four times the office was truly up for grabs.

I recently overheard a conversation that went something like this: “Where does the right to free speech come from?” “The right to free speech,” came the reply, “was given to us by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
Is that accurate? Would our founders have agreed with that formulation? Take a closer look at the language of the First amendment itself: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.”