THOMAS FREY JOINED US YESTERDAY TO TALK SELF CANNIBALISM And this column of his made me grimace so you have to know it too. He also wrote about whether or not a cashless society is a good thing here, though I come down firmly on the NO WAY side of this argument. Find Thomas by clicking here to have him speak of consult about where you industry might be going.
I LOVE FAIR FOOD I'll be honest, I've not made it to the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo, but I plan to try and remedy that soon. I was wondering about the food after I saw this article about all of the fried delights making an appearance at the Indiana State Fair so I thought I'd ask Colorado State Fair General Manager Scott Stoller to come on the show for a chat about what they've got going on for the fair. I'm from fair country, meaning the fair was a BIG deal when I was a kid, and then we moved to Kentucky where the state fair was a HUGE deal that everyone went to. I'm interested to see what they have to offer, but they do have some really good entertainment during the week which you can find here. I'm going to be asking about the possibility of a pie category at the state fair also, this could be my big chance! He's on at 1:35.
A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE? That is what seems to be happening with a show called From On High that is running now in a formerly abandoned warehouse in RiNo. I'll talk to Zach Martens with OddKnock Productions about the show, which is a choose-your-own-adventure 80's office corporate experience. Audiences roam freely in this narrative driven journey through a work week to discover just how far we're willing to go to give our lives over to corporate life. I'm intrigued. The show has been extended until July 17th and you can buy your tickets by clicking here!
DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOLS BEING SUED AGAIN And this time it's the fault of the Sainted Cory Wise, who was Superintendent when he directed Danny Winsor to fire an assistant principal at Ponderosa High School because he complained about a play that painted Christianity in a bad light. The play was about the death of Matthew Shepherd, a gay man who was beaten to death. When Ponderosa announced they were staging the play, Corey McNellis, who is a Christian, wrote an email asking what recourse he had as a parent and a staff member to express his unhappiness about that choice. In the play, several Christians are represented as hateful, bigoted people who justify the bigotry with religion. That is what McNellis says he objected to. He was fired after fourteen years of zero disciplinary action. Now he's suing and I sure hope the district settles this immediately and rehires him if that's what he wants. The Denver Post wrote a long article here that is paywalled, and the Denver Gazette covers it less comprehensively here.
CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS BEING SUED TOO This time in a case that was reinstated after another case was recently decided by the US Supreme Court. This case hinges on whether or not schools have the authority to police kids outside of the school setting. It all started when a high school student posted a stupid Snapchat based on a popular internet meme at the time. The anti-Semitic joke he posted was in very poor taste and when called out by another student he apologized and took it down immediately. But that wasn't enough for some parents, who called the school to complain. The next Monday, the kid was called to the principal's office where he was given a suspension that eventually turned into a one year expulsion. Now with a similar case being decided in favor of the student, the 10th Circuit has reinstated the kid's suit and now Cherry Hills has to defend it's decisions. They can't. They will lose.
WHAT DOES A MAINE SCHOOLS COURT CASE MEAN FOR VOUCHERS IN COLORADO? There are a lot of Douglas County parents who want vouchers. I talk to people a lot who are mad the local school board hasn't tried again to bring them forward. I always tell them the same thing: this has to be a state education bill. No district can withstand the onslaught that we've already seen from the teacher's unions when people ask for vouchers. A new ruling from the Supreme Court has made the possibility of a statewide voucher program a reality. The case was about a voucher program in Maine that allowed parents to take their student funding to private schools. The Supreme Court affirmed that right, which can clear the way for a voucher program in Colorado. The sticky wicket is that we have local control (unless it's about sex education which the state dictates) but the Legislature could pass a bill that would prevent the Board of Education from withholding funds to districts who want voucher programs. We'll see what happens next. Whatever is tried, expect a full attack from the unions.
THAT MAINE RULING GUTS OUR RACIST BLAINE AMENDMENT Colorado is one of many states to have on our books something called the Blaine Amendment. Now supported only by teachers unions, it was originally supported by the KKK to keep Catholic schools from getting educational dollars. The ruling in Maine gutted that racist provision and Colorado needs to repeal it from the books. Or we can side with the KKK like the teacher's unions do.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE, THIS OR YOUR OWN LYING EYES? Do you think we are in the "best economy in history" right now? No? Me either, but here is the utterly incompetent White House spokesperson.
FORMER JAPAN PRIME MINISTER ABE SHINZO IS ASSASSINATED This is very shocking and Japan is reeling today after Shinzo was shot and killed during a campaign stop for another candidate. The gunman has been arrested and told police he didn't have any issues with Shinzo's politics though he allegedly told police he "aimed to kill". Gun violence is exceptionally rare in Japan, but that didn't stop Biden from trying to make this about gun violence. This has left the nation reeling. The man used homemade firearms to kill the former PM.
TWO DEMOCRATIC COUNTY COMMISSIONER BACK A REPUBLICAN TO JOIN THEM I'm not sure I've ever seen a story like this one out of Pueblo. Two Democratic county commissioners have taken the rare measure of endorsing a Republican candidate for the third seat on the board. You read that right and you can read the rest here.
SOME REALLY GOOD JOBS NEWS FOR JUNE Although inflation far outstripped income increases, they are still really good. More than 372,000 non farm jobs were created and pay rose by 5.1%. Read about it here.
HAVING A BAD TIME? LIFT SOME WEIGHTS Weight training has become a big part of my sanity and stress relief, and I don't even lift super heavy weights. This article does a deep dive into how lifting weights can help with stress, anxiety and trauma and I'm a big believer already so this is nice to see confirmed. Read it here.
THE ELON MUSK TWITTER DEAL MAY FALL APART OVER SPAM ACCOUNTS And this will shake Twitter to the core if it happens. Read more here.
THE THREE LITTLE PIGS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THEM BEFORE This is hilarious and a great timeline palate cleanser.
AARON RODGERS NEW TATTOO HAS THE INTERNET IN FULL MOCKERY MODE In the interest of full disclosure, I do not like tattoos. But you do your thing and I'll sit quietly and wish you well. Aaron Rodgers got a new, very detailed tattoo that he shared on the web, where all the jokers have to weigh in. At least this is interesting and Rodgers says every part of it has significant meaning to him. At least he can easily get rid of it if he changes his mind, right? JK, he can't.
IF YOU'RE ON TIK TOK, CHINESE COMMUNISTS CAN GET YOUR INFO And this is why I don't use TikTok and nor will I. Some members of the FCC want TikTok removed from the app stores after this was discovered to be true, but I've been warning you fools about this for years now.
WANT TO GET HIGH AND LOOPY? GLENWOOD SPRINGS HAS GOT YOU With the countries highest looped roller coaster opening up in Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park this weekend. Read about it here.
ELVIS THE SPIDER MONKEY MIGHT BE THE WORLD'S OLDEST As they believe he just turned 60 at the Idaho Zoo. He originally lived right here in Denver after a person donated him to the zoo years ago.
THE FREE DOG SITTER DOESN'T COME WITH RULES If someone is doing you a straight up favor, you don't get to call the shots. Period, full stop. A woman who agreed to dog sit for a friend of a friend for free was given a ridiculous set of rules to take care of the dogs and cats FOR FREE. Read them here but I sure hope she told them to pound sand. Pay someone or board your animals if you want to be this demanding.
BACK YOU TIM! Tim clearly wasn't expecting this.
CATS, AMIRIGHT? This cat clearly doesn't want to be in the family photo.