YOU'VE GOT TO GO SEE MJ AT DCPA It's a musical about Michael Jackson's Dangerous tour and the preparation for it that tells the story of his life growing up. Don't expect any mention of the creepy charges in the later part of his life. The music is fabulous, the cast is top to bottom amazingly talented and if you loved his music you MUST see this. Buy tickets here and it's running until the 28th.
IT'S NATIONAL PET DAY TODAY And Coloradans love their pets. I know I do. I thought we'd spend some time waxing poetic about the great pets we've had. In the US we spend over $138 BILLION dollars annually on our pets and 66% of us have some sort of pet at home.
WHAT ARE THE MOST BORING TOURIST ATTRACTIONS? Have you ever planned a trip to see some tourist attraction only to find it was a complete letdown when you got there? World's Largest Ball of Twine, I'm looking at you. This very comprehensive list compiled from Google Reviews says that there are a LOT of "boring" tourist attractions to be avoided. Find the list here. The Ghost Town Museum in Colorado Springs came in at #42.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS HAVE STOPPED FISA RENEWAL And right now I'm fine with that. As far as I know, and I looked, not a single person was fired for abusing the FISA system to spy illegally on Americans. NOT ONE. But this is not quite what it seems. This vote would have required a warrant to spy on American citizens that doesn't currently exist. I'm talking about this twice today, once with James Czerniawski, Senior Tech and Innovation Policy Analyst at Americans for Prosperity who writes on privacy concerns at 1pm. Congressman Thomas Massie, who is on the show today at 12:15, explains why this is not as simple as it says.
DENVER MAYOR FINDS A NEW WAY TO ATTRACT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS By giving them rental assistance for six months! Come from Venezuela and get a free apartment for six months! I'm sure that will send a stern message to stay out, amiright? And he unveiled it yesterday by saying how much it's going to SAVE Denver from the costs of shelters. This is going to be a disaster. And what about people barely making it right now in Denver? How can they continue to support policies where they have to pay taxes for an illegal immigrant's apartment? This is so insane. But those people vote Democrat so here we are. Oh, there will also be job training! That'll stem the tide.
CREDIT CARD DELINQUENCIES ARE ON THE RISE There are some economic storm clouds rolling in that are indicating some not so good stuff. From the consumer side, credit cards going past 30 days due was at 3.5% in December, the highest it's been since 2012. From the article:
Nominal credit card balances set a new series high and card utilization also rose, as consumers stretched credit lines further. Inflation-adjusted credit card balances remained below fourth-quarter 2019 levels.
The numbers signal added pressure on US household finances amid higher costs of living. About 10% of credit-card borrowers now have an account balance that exceeds $5,200, according to the Philadelphia Fed. One-quarter of active accounts have a balance of over $2,000 for the first time.
If you are a homeowner facing credit card debt pressure, do a refi and cash out some equity BEFORE your credit takes a hit. Credit scores have dipped this year as well.
EL PASO IS SUING THE STATE TO END SANCTUARY RULES We know Democrats love to flaunt any rules that bring law and order the lawless, as evidenced by the crap bills they are passing now to make crime easier and being law abiding harder. Now El Paso county is pushing back against the laws that make us a Sanctuary State by prohibiting any sort of coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement. They are joining Douglas County is saying enough is enough and filing suit.
RTD IS GOING TO ASK FOR MORE LIGHT RAIL BOONDOGGLE MONEY And I will be lobbying against this one HARD. Throwing good money after bad so Boulderites can use the train to come to baseball games is not enough. Light rail has been an expensive failure, full of cost overruns and exaggerated ridership predictions. We don't need more of it, we need to pivot away from it completely. Read more here about how they are going to ask for more money.
THE DEADLIEST BUMP IN COLORADO Aurora's City Council is asking CDOT to do something about a pretty epic bump in I-225. It's been the cause (along with excessive speed) of many accidents, a lot of which have been fatal. Read more here.
THE WATERED DOWN CONSTRUCTION DEFECTS BILL ISN'T WATERED DOWN ENOUGH FOR PROGRESSIVES Who get their orders from trial lawyers who don't seem to give a crap about the unaffordability of housing in Colorado. There are two different versions of the bill working through the Legislature, one that would sort of fix some of the issues and one written by trial lawyers. There is no guarantee that anything will get done as Democrats are fighting among themselves and not serious about fixing the issues that have ground condo construction to a halt in Colorado.
A CLEAR EXAMPLE OF THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN US AND HAMAS Watch as Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh learns that three of his sons and grandsons were killed in an Israeli air strike.
His response? "I thank Allah for the honor that my children and grandchildren have been martyred." They are raising children to die. And you want to negotiate with them?
LET'S NOT BE LIKE CALIFORNIA ON HOMELESSNESS Though I fear the meeting recently where no one could provide straight answers on how much stuff costs is an indication we are headed down the same rabbit hole. California has spent BILLIONS of homelessness and yet have no clue if anything they've done has been remotely effective. Sounds familiar. A new auditor reports paints a damning picture:
California has spent $20 billion over the past five years dedicated to the state's homelessness crisis, including funneling money toward supporting shelters and subsidizing rent. Still, homelessness grew 6% in 2023 from the year prior, to more than 180,000 people, according to federal "point in time" data. Since 2013, homelessness has grown in California by 53%.
The California Interagency Council on Homelessness — created in 2016 to oversee the state's implementation of programs dedicated to the worsening crisis — has not ensured the accuracy of the information in a state data system and has not evaluated homelessness programs’ success, according to the state auditor.
TWO MINUTE DRILL!
NO MORE PHISH FOR THE SPHERE Jam band Phish is doing four shows that sold out super fast and they were approached to do more shows but bandleader Trey Anastasio, a noted control freak, has said nope. He doesn't think more shows would be as special so he's passing on a huge paycheck. His fans get it, even as they will fight for those very rare and super expensive tickets.
SAINT LOUIS'S DOOM LOOP is ahead of Denver's downtown doom loop but not by much. Cities all over the country are trying to bring people back downtown while office buildings sit vacant as remote work has become a permanent part of our lives. This article, which is paywalled but you just need to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal already, tells the tale and it sounds eerily similar to what we're beginning to see in Denver.
THE RISE OF POTS IN YOUNG ATHLETES Is significant enough to warrant a news story so it's significant. POTS is a condition where your heart rate dramatically climbs while standing up, among other things. Now young athletes are presenting with the condition at very high rates. Why? I'm guessing Covid or the Covid vaccines but that's just me.
50 BUCKS FOR A "VINTAGE" KROGER BAG This is really funny and I hope someone buys it before they realize these bags are still available all over the country. Just not here.
ARE WE LIVING THROUGH THE DEATH OF THE MALL? This is an article about zombie malls and shopping centers which have lost their anchor stores and are now on the verge of closing or are closing and being torn down. I loved the mall when I was a kid. I'm sort of sad for kids today that the mall is going away. Read it here.
IF YOU'RE GONNA BE STUPID, YOU BETTER BE TOUGH, SKIING EDITION A 21 year old man is dead after he tried to jump over Highway 40 in Grand County. He did not jump far enough and slammed into the roadway. I'm thinking this is another "Death By Click Bait" story and it's very sad for his family.
TWO YEARS TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE, LOLZ I'm putting this in the 2 minute drill because I've heard some variation of this incessantly since the 90s and it's been wrong EVERY SINGLE TIME. But you can read it here.
NOW DETERGENTS ARE RISKY And are being recalled because they could be a “risk of serious injury to children and other vulnerable populations,” The issue is in the packaging and the fact that small children and older idiots put them in their mouths. Find out if your product is recalled here.
USPS SCAM TEXTS IN REAL LIFE Watch below or click here.
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CAN MUCINEX HELP YOU GET PREGNANT? This is interesting and I'd never heard it before but here you go. Watch below or click here.
A VIDEO ON NANCY'S PELOSI'S INSIDER TRADING Watch below or click here.
KAREN MOVES TO MEXICO AND WREAKS HAVOC File this under the "I moved next to an airport but am now complaining about the noise". A woman bought a condo next to a long established restaurant in Puerto Vallarta that has long hired mariachis to play and now she's complaining about the noise. Of course she is. Watch below or click here.
HOW TO MAKE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS LIKE YOU It's really not that hard and it's about common decency. Read the list here.
WHEN THE INTERNET IS USED FOR GOOD A woman whose husband ghosted her and his two kids put out a plea on Facebook to find him so she could file for divorce and move on with her life. The plea worked and the internet tracked down her louse of a husband.
I WOULD HAVE JUDGED HER INCORRECTLY Another lesson on why judging people isn't a good idea.