U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder did the right thing this week when he reversed a proposal that would have allowed federal agencies to lie about the existence of records in response to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.
The plan would have allowed agencies in possession of certain law enforcement or national security documents to deny their existence. Currently, agenices respond by neither confirming nor denying whether the records exist.
Numerous editorial pages (including this one), the American Civil Liberties Union and other interest groups weighed in against the proposal . So did Sens. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who wrote to Holder saying the United States should “not attempt to protect our citizens by lying to them.”
As The Post’s Allison Sherry reported, Holder responded in a letter to Grassley saying he was withdrawing the proposal and “acknowledges and honors that careful balance” between transparency and security.
We think that balance is achieved without deceit.
No, it’s not just you. There really are an abundance of skinny-jeans-wearing, messenger-bike-peddling hipsters in our midst.
Turns out, Denver’s where it’s at for the young and mobile.
According to an analysis of U.S. Census data by a researcher at the Brookings Institution, Denver was the No. 1 destination in the country for people aged 25- 34 between 2008 and 2010. That’s up from No. 12 in the period from 2005 to 2007.
Question is, will they stick around once the economy improves?
As researcher William Frey told The New York Times: “They are trying to bide their time in a hip place they know. But there is going to be a pent-up demand for migration, because right now people are just putting their lives on hold.”
Buffalo guardians, maybe? If any place in Colorado should have a herd of real bison, it’s Boulder, home of the University of Colorado and the NCAA’s best animal mascot, Ralphie. That’s why it will be intriguing to see what the city does in the wake of Ted Turner’s offer to donate to the city a herd of the animals valued at $20,000.
The idea is for the animals to be kept on city open space so that they would be visible to people coming and going on U.S. 36.
But will residents of the city that is often described as 25 square miles surrounded by reality go for it?
The city must look at liability issues and will also have to examine the costs of fencing off open space for the animals and maintaining the herd. They’ve promised a public process. That should be an interesting exercise given the city’s history of fighting over prairie dogs and residents’ view of themselves as pet “guardians.”
