TUNE INTO FACEBOOK FOR FUN AND SHENANIGANS TONIGHT! As the State of the Union speech plays tonight Ross and I will be live on the KOA Facebook page to comment and generally roast the goings on. You can go to our Facebook page event page and RSVP here or just tune in when we get started. Look at this cool graphic ARod made!
OUR FUTURIST THOMAS FREY IS ON AT 1 And we are going to be talking about this article about the future of work (spoiler alert: it's changed forever by covid) and this one about the Darien Gap that is preventing the highway from being built that would connect North and South America via road.
FATHER MIKE TODAY AT 2 My friend Father Mike Tess is back on the show to talk about life and stuff. You'll like it. Watch his sermons at his church in Wisconsin here!
HEAR THE FULL STORY OF SUSAN WITKIN'S STROKE As she was a guest on Michelle Zellner's podcast for Heart Month. Click here to listen!
FREE RENT IS NICE BUT IT COMES WITH A SIDE OF HOMELESS PEOPLE The 16th Street Mall is filled with empty storefronts both because of the crime and homeless people downtown but also because of the construction taking place to make it more friendly to pedestrians. So how do you fix that problem? You give away storefront space for free! The problem is that these business owners are having to deal with homeless people harassing them and their potential customers and a lack of customers because no one wants to go downtown and deal with homeless people. Hmmm, what to do, what to do. There are "adjustments' being made to the free rent program, but until you get rid of the homeless invaders downtown people will simply not come back. No customers, no business. It's not rocket science people. Read this from a CPR article:
They took over a spot that used to be a Starbucks two blocks from the Denver Convention Center in July. It was a rocky six months from there. There were daily incidents with people experiencing homelessness, in particular with people using drugs, Roderick said.
“They're being aggressive either with our customers or employees … making a ruckus and causing people to feel uncomfortable inside the space,” he said.
Then, in November, their best employee quit after two shootings happened outside the store just hours before it opened.
“When she came in and opened the shop up, one of our giant bay windows was completely cracked, like about to burst and shatter because of the bullet hole at the bottom of it,” Roderick said.
It was one thing after another.
“Somebody defecated all over the store,” Tae said.
Until you fix the "people are pooping all over the store" problem this will not be fixed.
NO POLITICS AT THE SUPER BOWL IS THE MESSAGE And boy is this loud and clear. In a new poll by the Trafalgar Group Americans were clear that they aren't interested in politics with their Super Bowl, just play the damn game. Even Democrats answered that 77% of them want no politics in the game. Please NFL, listen. Just listen to us.
DON'T BE THIS PERSON AT A SKI RESORT AS a non skier I read this to find out what I'm missing and I had no idea some skiers LITTER ON THE MOUNTAIN. I would be getting in someone's face if they did that in front of me. Read here to find out if you're a jerk on the mountain and if you are, please fix it, you can do better.
PRAY FOR TURKEY AND SYRIA As they have been devastated by a massive earthquake that has killed thousands of people. This has further devastated Syria which is already flattened because of years of civil war. Now add Turkey to the disaster area. Many, many governments have already promised help. Read more here.
POLIS PRETENDS TO CARE ABOUT THE ENERGY SHORTAGE HE HELPED PRODUCE This is rich. Like really, really rich. Jared Polis came into office promising to make us carbon neutral and he's worked diligently to make sure that oil and gas have a harder and harder time in Colorado doing anything. Well now that the chickens have come home to roost and people are seeing huge spikes in their energy bills, he's acting concerned because this could hamper his chances of being President. So he's springing into action and is sending letters. From The Center Square:
Soaring prices for natural gas, coal shortages and a colder winter led Democrat Gov. Jared Polis to urge utility organizations to help consumers with energy bills.
Polis on Monday directed the Public Utilities Commission and the Colorado Energy Office to take immediate action to alleviate natural gas and energy costs for Coloradans. Polis also sent an eight-page letter to state regulators and leaders of utility companies and cooperatives asking for collaboration in reducing energy costs.
Much of this is the direct result of bills like SB-181 that made oil and gas development a ton harder by allowing municipalities to set energy policy. Read this report from a year after it was passed to see the dramatic slowdown effect this had. Polis made this problem and now he wants to get credit for trying to fix the problem he created. Politics 101 and another reason he will be President.
DEMOCRATS WANT TO FURTHER DESTROY THE RENTAL MARKET By trampling all over the property rights of landlords. There are several new bills being considered that would make being a landlord even more horrible. They want to add a "just cause" to evictions, meaning that you must show that the tenant has violated their lease in some way to kick them out. That means if you own a rental property and are looking to sell it, you can't evict a tenant to do so. This is a complete attack on private property rights. There are other bills that would make it even less attractive to rent to someone who is disabled and getting government money, or one that would prevent a financial penalty if a renter moves out without notice. These are all well intentioned bills that up the hassle factor dramatically in an industry that is completely voluntary to be in. The pendulum is swinging too hard in the other direction on all of these.
THIS AS THE LAST AFFORDABLE HOUSING EFFORT HAS BACKFIRED IN DENVER This is the kind of consequence I was mentioning in the above entry. Denver passed an Affordable Housing Initiative last year that requires new residential developments of 10 units or more to designate eight to 12 percent of the units as affordable to those making 60% of AMI, area median income. So do we have a whole bunch of new affordable housing as a result? Quite the opposite, as developers are simply choosing to build elsewhere. From Denver7.com:
In the three months before the effective date of the new ordinance, April, May and June of 2022, there were 12,800 applications for new multi-family units.
In the three months after it took effect on July 1, including July, August and September, applications for new development dropped to 1,500.
“It’s 88% in terms of the decline,” Hamrick said. “It’s almost immeasurable it’s so dramatic. It is even greater than I think most of us predicted.”
Imagine that. Developers are not going to be bullied into bad business decisions. By the way, the same story says development right outside Denver is up. I wonder why.
THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE RUINS FOUR TEEN LIVES As three 15 year old boys are facing prison time for the carjacking and murder of an 18 year old man. This was a random act of violence perpetuated by children. We have to fix this.
IT'S BEEN A HOT MINUTE SINCE THE LAST KIFFNESS VIDEO And this one with a kitty asking someone to hold onto his fur is fantastic.
AURORA IS ALREADY PLANNING FOR WATER RESTRICTIONS THIS SPRING If you think that our big snows we've had this year are going to solve the problem, guess again. The areas where Aurora gets its water from are BELOW average for snowpack right now, leading Aurora Water to ask the City Council to already approve water restrictions for spring if all things stay as they are. Be ready for a brown lawn this summer, Aurora.
THIS CONFERENCE IS GOING TO BE A REAL TRIP We have a psychedelic conference coming to Colorado this spring and some really big names are attached. Read more here.
TEENS ARE FALLING FOR ONLINE SCAMS BIG TIME And they are losing millions in the process. Read about the four types of most common scams and talk to your kids and grandkids about these today!
THE FURRY LIBERATOR VOWS TO STRIKE AGAIN This Dallas Zoo story is weirder than I even thought it could be. The young man who has been arrested has admitted to stealing animals and says if he's let out, he will steal more of them. Read more here.
WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY HITS THEATERS NEXT WEEK And with all the free press around this horrid but intriguingly bad sounding film I'm guessing it's going to do some decent box office. Read more here.
I NEED THIS Click here if it doesn't load.
MASSIVE POT CONGLOMERATE IS FAILING As the pot business comes back down to earth after the glory years of the Great Stoned Pandemic. The MedMan chain of pot stores, once called the Apple of cannabis, is on the verge of collapse as they have about 10% of their owed debt to pay it back. Read about it here, but note this part:
MedMen is just the latest of the onetime cannabis darlings to face a reckoning as the industry bubble of five years ago deflates due to excessive debt, falling marijuana prices, competition from illegal sellers, and high taxes. The reality, as in any retail business, is that opening stores is expensive and taking on debt is risky—even as an increasing number of states legalize pot sales.
The two biggest issues are competition. One from drug dealers who don't pay taxes and one from the government who wants to get fat on vice taxes.
THIS MAKES MASK WEARING FUN! Click here if it doesn't load.
I'D PROBABLY BUY A CAR FROM THIS GUY Because if he puts this much thought into his voicemail he's probably pretty good at details. Click here if it doesn't load.
THIS DUDE JUST ROBBED THE WOODPECKER BANK! As a pest control dude called in about a dead animal in a wall he was shocked to accidentally pull the biggest heist in woodpecker history by uncovering 700 pounds of acorns the woodpeckers had stuffed into a wall. James Hardie Fiber Cement Siding from Gravinas Window Center of Littleton would stop this.
THE ULTIMATE HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE DAD JOKE Click here if it doesn't load but you already know what it is.