COULD LEARNING APPS REPLACE YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER? I'm talking to Erika Twani, author of Becoming Einstein’s Teacher: Awakening the Genius in Your Student, about how learning apps and highly personalized lessons could upend your child's classroom in the near future. Find out more about Erika by clicking here.
SWITZERLAND LOOKS INTO BANNING ELECTRIC CARS As the energy shortage produced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine is creating huge problems for Europe different nations are looking to address it different ways. Switzerland is proposing to ban the use of electric cars during periods of high use and is even thinking of shutting down sporting events or leisure activities if necessary. This is why I think electric cars are as much about control as anything else. Switzerland is essentially telling its electric car owners they can't go where they want. This is also why I will always have a wood burning fireplace in my house. I can survive without the power grid if I have to.
FIVE FISCAL POLICY ISSUES TO WATCH IN THE UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE SESSION The Independence Institute's Ben Murrey does a great job of laying out the many ways Democrats could screw us over this session. Read this bit about Colorado's budget:
Last year, the legislature passed the largest budget in state history—$39.28 billion. That represents a 28 percent increase over Polis’s first term as governor. At $40.68 billion, the 2023 governor’s budget request, would usurp 2022’s budget as the largest in state history. In practice, of course, the governor’s request serves as nothing more than a suggestion; the legislature does what it wants.
Did you get a 28% raise in the last four years??? They have enough of our money.
THAT SELF CHECKOUT LANE IS A HOTBED OF DISGUSTING GERMS And of course it is because a million people touch it and god knows where their hands have been. In this season of sickness as we work our way out of our immunity deficit created by two years of isolation and mask wearing, do the smart thing and just wash the hell out of your hands after touching anything people touch. You can read about just how disgusting the self checkout is here.
IF YOU STILL WANT SOCIALIZED MEDICINE You really need to read this story about the National Health Service in the UK. The waiting lists grew into the millions during covid, a five year old boy was just sent home from the hospital because there was no room and he died, and now chaos is happening as they can't deal with the surge in sickness from their immunity debt.
ARE YOU READY TO GIVE UP YOUR GAS POWERED LAWN MOWER? It's only a matter of time before using any two stroke engine in Colorado is not allowed. Environmentalists are gathering to go after gas powered lawn equipment now that electric lawn care equipment is fully available. Of course it's way more expensive but let them eat cake.
THE BIDEN ADMIN GETS CAUGHT IN ITS OWN HYPOCRISY WITH APPLE AND TWITTER Dude, watch John Kirby, White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications, try to defend the Biden Administration refusing to pressure Apple to not comply with the Chinese government's demands for censorship and the suppression of the Apple Air Drop feature that Chinese protesters are using to communicate away from the government's eyes. This is stunning.
I almost feel bad for the guy. Almost.
THE SUPREME COURT WILL RULE ON THE STUDENT DEBT FORGIVENESS PLAN And this is a good thing but I learned from Obamacare to never underestimate the Court's ability to confound me with tortured logic to support something that appears completely unconstitutional. They will hear the case over the winter so hopefully we'll have a ruling by June or July. The plan has been stopped until the court ruling is done, which is not what the Bide admin wanted so at least there's that.
THIS IS AN ENTIRE COLUMN ON WHY DIE HARD IS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE And he even provides a whopping seven reasons it IS a Christmas movie but I'm not buying it as even Bruce Willis says it's NOT a Christmas movie.
THAT'S SOME BUSH And I don't know what your dirty mind is thinking but this is a cool video about a super duper old bush in the Mojave desert. Get your mind out of the gutter!
HOW AGGRESSIVE ENVIRONMENTALISM IS CRUSHING COLORADO This is a great article on the power of environmental groups in Colorado. When our gas prices jump up when we're forced to use the California formulations next year, blame these groups. Our Governor let the EPA downgrade us without a fight in 2019, which laid the groundwork for these higher gas prices he now says he is going to fight against. But he did that to appease the environmentalists.
ALEX JONES HAS DECLARED BANKRUPTCY As he's been ordered to pay victims of his lies about Sandy Hook a billion dollars. I'm pretty sure you can't discharge a judgement in bankruptcy so this will be interesting to see. Read more here.
DISINFORMATION ABOUT THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH Well, well, well, it seems that the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security lied to Congress about the Disinformation Governance Board. Sec Mayorkas told Congress that the Board had not met in May, but new documents from a whistleblower show that is clearly a lie. They also show that the Board was working to use Big Tech for "speech suppresion" which is clearly a First Amendment violation when Big Tech is working with government to shut down commentary the government doesn't like. Senator Josh Hawley is on it, read more here.
THE LATEST JOBS REPORT IS STRONG Though if you're hoping for no more interest rate hikes this isn't great news. That being said, the economy added more jobs than predicted which shows the economy is not slowing because of the interest rate hikes by the Fed. That being said, the Fed will take this as a signal to raise rates again so we're not done with that or inflation just yet. There were also income gains, but those are still well below annual inflation.
THIS AS THE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE DROPS AGAIN And I again am asking: how are people living if they aren't working? Other than early retirees who may have left the workforce during covid involuntarily and can't find new jobs, how are people dropping out of the workforce like this?
HAVING AN AFFAIR? DON'T GO TO INDONESIA As the island nation is set to outlaw adultery and penalize it with up to a year in prison. And this goes for tourists too! While we're at it, best not practice black magic either, that has already been outlawed.
MIDWEST PICKLEBALL IS FANTASTIC And it's a mashup of two of my favorite channels on YouTube.
IF YOU WALK FOR EXERCISE YOU MAY BE DOING IT BACKWARDS That is if you want to get the most benefits from the walk itself. A new study says walking backwards can balance out a whole host of structural things. Is anyone else concerned about busting their caboose doing this? No? Just me? Mmkay.
ARTIFICIAL GLACIERS ARE SEEMING LIKE A PRETTY SMART IDEA HERE As this story predicts "doomsday" levels for reservoirs downstream from us that use water for power creation. Read it here.
WHY WE DON'T LET DOGS DRIVE In one simple story of two cars hit by a driving dog.
JON BENET RAMSEY IS ASKING FOR PRIVATE TESTING FOR DNA If you believe John and Patsy Ramsey killed their daughter you may be surprised to see John Ramsey writing a letter to the Governor asking him to allow a private company to have access to the DNA from the crime scene from his daughter's murder in the hopes that advanced technology can tell them who killed the little girl.
THIS MAN HAS THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT! and a great design for his train. Click here if it doesn't load.
IF YOU'RE GONNA BE STUPID, YOU BETTER BE TOUGH I have no words for this. Click here if it doesn't load.
THE TRAILER FOR THE NEW TRANSFURRY MOVIE Tell me that's not what this is.
WANT TO DECLUTTER? THIS IS A GREAT TIP One I use but not all the time. I'm going to work more to incorporate the "never leave a room empty handed" mantra into my life.
STRESSED OUT? TRY THESE THREE EXERCISES TO RELEASE ANXIETY To be clear, these are three exercises you can try, but the key here is just being mindful about putting your energy somewhere else. For me a walk outside works wonders, even if it's short, but you should try to find what works for you. Here is a jumping off point.
HAVE A HUGE FAN OF THE SHOW THE OFFICE IN YOUR LIFE? Then perhaps a themed teddy bear from the show would be a great gift. These are ridiculous and really cute.
THE TRAILER FOR THE NEW INDIANA JONES MOVIE IS OUT And I'm reserving judgment until it does.
CALLING 911? GET READY FOR YOUR CLOSE UP Because now Colorado has technology that can allow a 911 dispatcher to instigate a video chat using your cellphones camera. This is a really good idea as sometimes the panic of the situation can make it hard for a caller to give enough information. Read more about what's already being used in Larimer County here.
DUCK, DUCK MONKEY! I love stuff like this. Click here if it doesn't load.
DUDE. Now you can take a bunch of photos of something and then export them to an app that lets you create a 3D model of it. I don't know why I need this, but apparently you'll be able to sell stuff to virtual world developers who need more detail in their games or worlds.
AND NOW, THE TRAILER FOR COCAINE BEAR IS OUT AND IT'S MAGIC But there a bunch of cuss words in this so you've been warned. I have to use a link so I don't violate Iheart rules here.