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Talked to my financial guy the other day and he projected I'd be in splendid financial shape so long as I work three days past my death.

Colorado's workforce is getting older, reports Roger Fillion:

A report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 61 of Colorado's 64 counties recorded an increase in the percentage of workers who were 55 and older from 2001 to 2004.

Statewide, 13.2 percent of the work force was 55 and older as of 2004, the report showed.

The retail trade, utility and health care industries were among those with the largest percentages of older workers.

"It's in line with an awful lot of trends you see across the nation in terms of the types of jobs older people have," said Cynthia Tauber, a demographer who is one of the two authors of the census study.

Withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq too quickly will jeopardize recent security gains the U.S.' top general in Iraq told Congress this morning.

Gen. David Petraeus told a Senate hearing that he recommends a 45-day "period of consolidation and evaluation" once the extra combat forces that President Bush ordered to Iraq last year have completed their pullout in July. He did not commit to a timetable for resuming troop reductions after the 45-day pause.

"At the end of that period, we will commence a process of assessment to examine the conditions on the ground and, over time, determine when we can make recommendations for further reductions," Petraeus said.

Nancy Pelosi wants her party to settle on a nominee by June and set its sights on defeating John McCain.

The Speaker of the House was in Denver to help launch the Democratic National Convention's "Green Delegate Challenge" and also addressed the growing urgency among party leaders to settle the nomination battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

David Montero reports:

"There is so much at stake in this election," Pelosi said. "I am encouraging our colleagues to think about what happens after the nomination. We must come together in a unified way to elect a Democratic president of the United States."

The U.S. shouldn't boycott the Beijing Olympics, but neither should President Bush attend the opening ceremonies, says Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic presidential candidate cites the recent unrest in Tibet and questions about China's relationship with Sudan.

The New York senator said Monday, "The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for presidential leadership." She said Bush should not plan on attending the ceremonies "absent major changes by the Chinese government."

Denver projects $1.1 million in new fines after it installs red-light cameras at four intersections over the next two months.

At a cost of increasing rear-end accidents? But of decreasing more serious side-impact crashes? Studies of intersections in cities where red-light cameras have been installed are inconclusive.

Kevin Flynn reports:

Denver says it aims to improve safety when it launches camera red light enforcement in the next two months, but the record in other cities suggests it is likely to increase accidents.

That's what happened in Aurora and Fort Collins and has been documented in studies.

Accidents at four Aurora intersections with cameras went up 36 percent in 2006, the first year. While the program is aimed at traffic safety, Aurora hasn't compiled accident stats for those corners for 2007.

Jerd Smith reports from the Conference on World Affairs:

Macky Auditorium fills quickly as the 60th Annual Conference on World Affairs prepares for the opening keynote address from Wendy Chamberlin, former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan.

Now head of the non-partisan Middle East Institute, Chamberlin was the first female U.S. ambassador appointed to a post in a Muslim country and she was in Pakistan on Sept. 11.

Chamberlin’s mission Monday is to give World Affairs conference-goers a bit of a primer on Muslims.

“It is absolutely necessary that we try to reshape our relations with the Middle East and the larger Muslim world,” she says. “ We need to acknowledge the Muslim world is a very diverse community. There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. Arab’s are only a small minority. The most populous Muslim country isn’t even in the Middle East. It’s Indonesia.”

“Too often our politicians focus on one extremely small fraction of the Muslim community, the militant jihadists. We don’t talk enough about the mainstream Muslims who are most decidedly not violent, not radical and not extremists.”

The industry says skiing is safer than ever but a record 17 people have been killed skiing at Colorado resorts this year.

Julie Poppen reports:

The death of 32-year-old Lakewood resident Martin Fierro on an intermediate run Saturday in Vail brought the number of people killed at Colorado ski resorts this season to 17 - breaking the record of 16 set in 2001-2002.

Jennifer Rudolph, spokeswoman for Colorado Ski Country USA, said Sunday the number is of concern but not a sign of a larger trend or reason to fear the slopes.

Condoleezza Rice has always said she has no interest in being vice president, but a Republican strategist said Sunday the Secretary of State seems to be campaigning for the job.

“Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for this,” Dan Senor said this morning on This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

According to Senor, Rice has been cozying up to the Republican elite.