GET YOUR WORD AND GRAMMAR QUESTIONS READY Because our resident word nerd Charles Harrington Elster is back! He joins us at 2. You can always find Charles or his excellent books by clicking here.
MOST COLORADO SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE COME TO THEIR SENSES ON MASKING KIDS As almost all have lifted the mask mandates for kids in schools, even though the covid cases are as high as they were when mask mandates were put in place. I say that only to point out that this has never been about science. I don't care what the reason is to be honest, I'm just glad our kids have been freed from their bacteria-laden face diapers.
YOU REALLY SHOULD WATCH THESE DOUGCO SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS They are quite the theater experience right now. It goes like this: Board President Mike Peterson proposes ANYTHING and the three minority board members first accuse him of not following Rule x.14.73 of the rules code or something. Then he tries to have a discussion about moving forward and the three minority board members bring up how they didn't follow the rules in the past, and the Peterson opens public comment so the minions of the three minority board members can call the new majority names and accuse them of high crimes and misdemeanors. It's absurd. The rumor mill has been working overtime about American Academy director Erin Kane being the favorite for the job and Peterson admitted last night that he had asked her about applying for the job. I know Erin, I LOVE Erin and when she was Interim Super she not only visited EVERY school in the district to assess needs and talk to teachers, but she also supported and I think was responsible for getting the Mill Levy Override passed in DougCo. She was not given proper consideration for the job full time because David Ray HATES charter schools so much he would never consider her. She has more executive level experience in schools than Corey Wise! I will say I am impressed with Peterson's even keel during these meetings, I'm not sure I'd be able to do the same.
THIS AS THE DISTRICT SAYS IT WILL NOT RELEASE THE NAMES OF TEACHERS After an executive session that lasted for a while the board announced that they would NOT comply with a CORA request asking for the names of the teachers who shut down schools in protest over something. However, David Ray apparently announced BEFORE the meeting that the CORA request had been rescinded so I'm not sure why he was the one to announce that or why they needed Executive session to discuss. I'm glad about this either way.
MIKE ROSEN REMINDS US THAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT UNION CONTROL By giving a little history lesson about what has already happened in DougCo with the unions. Read it here.
PAUL KLEE NAILS HOW IMPORTANT THE SUPER BOWL WAS FOR COVID Or more importantly, signaling that covid is over and that the restrictions still in place are just there for the little, less beautiful people like me and you. It's a great column, read it here.
TRUMP'S GUY IN GEORGIA ISN'T DOING SO GREAT David Purdue bet that Donald Trump's hold on the Republican party is deeply red Georgia would be enough to help his sweep Trump target Brian Kemp out in the primary. He may have bet wrong. So far, his fundraising is lagging and his polling is bad. This is the race to watch when it comes to Trump's grip on the party.
CAN YOU OUTLAW LEFT WING INDOCTRINATION? The Tennessee Legislature is trying to do just that with two bills designed to keep the toxic stew of Critical Race Theory, which is a HUGE part of college curriculums these days, out of higher ed. This is what the bill would do:
If passed, the bills would prohibit “An employee at a public institution of higher education shall not compel a teacher or student at that institution to adopt, affirm, adhere to, or profess” that individuals are inferior or superior on account of nationality, race, or ethnicity, or that they should be advantaged or disadvantaged on the same basis. It’d also prohibit people from forcing others to express the belief that “individuals, by virtue of race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, bear collective guilt.”
I'm generally not in favor of any political body deciding what is taught, especially in higher ed, but I don't see any university with the stones to push back on this crap and they are destroying any unity that is left right now and I'm kind of done with that.
IT'S RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY! And I'm proud to say it started here in Denver. Read about some super cool Random Acts Of Kindness here.
73% OF AMERICANS MAY BE IMMUNE TO OMICRON NOW So can we be done? Read it here.
HERE'S ANOTHER STORY ABOUT HOW THE FOUR DAY WORKWEEK IS GAINING FAVOR And I am on record as saying I'd prefer to work four days a week because TIME OFF IS LIFE. This column extols the virtues and possibilities of a four day workweek in the US.
THE RUSSIAN SKATER FELL AND IS OFF THE PODIUM And I don't know if this was a result of the pressure on her or just one of those things, but I'm not sorry.
NOT EVERY STUDENT DIDN'T CARE ABOUT MASKS And this fourth grader in New Jersey wrote a heartbreaking essay about why she didn't want to wear masks anymore. She suffered from the same headache issue that my daughter had, only our doctor actually listened to us on that one and gave Q a mask exemption. Read it here.
A LITTLE GIRL HONORS HER LATE GRANDFATHER WITH CHEMO COMFORT PACKS I love stories like this, where a child decides to make a difference and just does it.
A TINY LITTLE GIRL IS INSPIRED TO DANCE WITH DADDY After watching the Beauty and the Beast and it's SO STINKING CUTE I CAN'T STAND IT.
EILEEN GU DEFENDS HER DECISION IN A CLUELESS AND IDEALISTIC WAY As only an 18 year old can, Eileen Gu tried to take an incredibly complex issue and make it into "I want to be an inspiration!" story instead. China is not our friend and Gu chose to compete under the Chinese flag despite being born and raised in San Francisco and planning to attend Stanford in the fall. The more this story goes on, the more it irritates the crap out of me. She says she wants to inspire more Chinese girls to participate in Winter sports, while ignoring the fact she has gotten considerable special treatment by China that it does NOT extend to her Communist Brothers and Sisters. As Orwell said, some animals are more equal than others.
THE BABYLON BEE IS COVERING THE POOR RECALLED SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS And they've tracked down one now former member who has taken to the streets with her "Will Abuse Children for Food" sign. Read the rest of this sad story here.
JARED POLIS SAYS HE'S NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT But since he lied to my face about only doing one show per station I don't give this much credence. You can read the article about how great he is as he runs for re election here if you want to. The part where he denies wanting to be President is in there.
IS THIS THE CURE FOR LEUKEMIA WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR? It seems the answer may be yes for this one sort of leukemia. They take blood to get your T cells which are the cells that fight stuff, and makes a modification to those cells to make them go after the leukemia cells specifically. The first two guys who got the treatment are STILL cancer free after ten years. This is a big deal.
WHEN DOES BEING A CRIMINAL COME IN HANDY? When a baby is locked in a car.
HEART DISEASE COULD BE IN YOUR GENES And now researchers have discovered a whopping 160 genes that are connected to heart disease. What does this mean for you? Nothing yet, but this could allow scientists to create gene therapy that can stop heart disease in it's tracks. Here's hoping they do it sooner rather than later.
HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THANK YOU? Dave is vexxed about this but found a video with options.