REPUBLICANS ARE SOFT ON ABORTION NOW and though the GOP platform doesn't necessarily translate to action it is the foundation from which action should spring. The party decided to adopt Trump's language on abortion, softening its previous staunch pro life stance. From the platform:
4. Republicans Will Protect and Defend a Vote of the People, from within the States, on the Issue of Life We proudly stand for families and Life. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process, and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People. We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).
This is a far cry from a federal abortion ban and has to be upsetting to pro lifers but where are they gonna go? Who are they gonna vote for? Even this is better than the Democrat position of abortion on demand until the moment of birth. And before you @ me that is what we have here in Colorado so shut it. The platform is really disappointing to me in that Republicans have abandoned any pretext of being the party of fiscal responsibility completely by not mentioning government debt at ALL. NOT ONCE does it appear in this document that you can find here. We're done as a country if they don't do something and they can't manage to add it to a platform that doesn't even really mean anything. This platform is even written in Trump style, with lots of capital letters that don't belong and many, many exclamation points. I love a good exclamation point but they are excessive in this supposedly serious document.
RAISING TAXES DOES NOT MAKE THINGS MORE AFFORDABLE But that is what the Mayor is proposing with a new increase to the already super high sales taxes in Denver, this time to allegedly provide more affordable housing. Why not scale back the onerous regulations that make building homes more expensive here instead? This increase, which will be voted on by Denver voters along with ANOTHER sales tax increase to pay for illegal immigrant care at Denver Health, would take Denver's sales tax up to 9.65%, which is the highest on the Front Range. Making EVERYTHING more expensive to pay for affordable housing is a dumb trade off if you ask me, but Denver voters love to increase taxes on themselves so they will probably say yes. Just as a point of order, the median tax rate for cities is 8.05%, which we are already above. But you go, Denver.
IT'S A CHURCH VS ZONING IN CASTLE ROCK This is an interesting story about a church that wants to house homeless people in two RVs in their parking lot. The City of Castle Rock says not so fast, your place isn't zoned for that and now The Rock church and the city are facing off in court. I honestly don't know who wins here. The church is making a religious freedom argument that is pretty strong, but if anyone can declare themselves religiously motivated and thumb their noses at zoning that seems to be a problem.
BIDEN'S INNER CIRCLE HAS BEEN LYING FOR OVER A YEAR This article from yesterday's Wall Street Journal is pretty damning and these people have a lot of explaining to do. In it they lay out the team of people who have been actively working to keep the American people from learning just how bad Joe Biden's condition had gotten. Read this:
The president’s public appearances and his private interactions, according to people who described them, suggest that Biden has moments where he is sharp and detail-oriented. At other times, he is forgetful, stumbles over words and struggles to convey his thoughts. Those kinds of slip-ups have become more frequent, according to people who have met with the president, with many widely shared on social media.
Some who have spent time with the president after not seeing him for a while said they were surprised by how much he had slowed. Last summer, a former top Biden adviser who had met with the president told an associate the meeting was “not good” and that Biden had noticeably aged since they had last seen each other.
The president’s abysmal debate performance was a crystallizing moment for some Biden backers, who said it caused them to reassess previous interactions with the president. Another former Biden adviser said the Atlanta debate caused many people to piece together gnawing concerns about Biden’s mental acuity they had long harbored.
But Joe isn't backing down. He released a letter to fellow Democrats showing his resolve to stay in the race and his belief he can beat Trump. Read that here. Even a Democratic lawmaker who compared Biden to Jesus (!) is now saying he should step aside. I don't think it's gonna happen, jack. One surprising part of this is that Donald Trump is letting all this happen without weighing in. He's been usually quiet as the storm rages around Biden. Is this a sign of maturity? Or a recognition that sucking the air out of a room when it is full of poison for your opponent is a dumb idea? The fact that Hunter Biden has taken up residence in the White House to help keep his dad in office should let you know just how bad things are.
BIDEN'S PHYSICIAN WAS IN BUSINESS WITH THE BIDENS Of course he was. And this is they guy who is supposed to reassure us about Biden's competency. He did business with the shady James Biden previously and is a longtime friend of the family. Of course he is.
THE REPERCUSSIONS OF BEING PRO HAMAS ARE SIGNIFICANT Especially if you want to work at the biggest law firm in the country. Sullivan and Cromwell haven't forgotten that many new grads took part in anti-Israel protests and are now demanding applicants explain their activities if they participated. I'm guessing this is an early excluder for some candidates, as the firm has hired a background check company to scope out social media posts to find out who did what. Of course critics say this is beyond the pale, but they are a private company who can hire whomever they want.
OH, CANADA, IT'S TIME TO PONY UP Canada is a soft totalitarian nation where if you are on the wrong side of the government overlords they will seize your bank accounts just because they can. But what Canada doesn't do is pay up when it comes to NATO. Remember, before Donald Trump shamed the other NATO nations for not spending the required amount of GDP on defense, only three NATO nations had met their agreed upon requirement. Now everyone EXCEPT Canada and Belgium has committed more to defense and they are all looking at Justin Trudeau with the stink eye. Read more about who spends what here.
WHY WON'T KJP JUST TELL US WHY THE PARKINSON'S DOCTOR VISITED? Because she can't.
HAMAS MAY BE READY TO STRIKE A DEAL Because now that Israel has cut off their main supply route and is actively working to dismantle terror cells and tunnels in their former stronghold of Rafah Hamas seems to be having a change of heart. According to this story, the leadership on the ground in Gaza is asking the Hamas political leadership to consider the hostage release plan and ceasefire. Good thing Netanyahu ignored the warnings from Joe Biden about going into Rafah, huh? Once again, another foreign policy decision Biden got wrong.
MOM BRAIN EXPLAINED This is accurate. Watch below or click here.
A SWEET STORY ABOUT BEING A GOOD NEIGHBOR Imagine if we all baked cakes for our new neighbors like this?
LOOK FIREWORKS BURNED A FOREST DOWN IN GREECE And my favorite part is where the people on the yacht who fired them off illegally all got arrested.
JEFF DUNHAM AND WALTER RESPOND TO THE DEBATE And it's accurate and funny.
SIX PLACES THAT ARE GETTING HARDER TO VISIT And most of these are because tourism has gotten so out of hand that restrictions are being put in place to ratchet things back. I'm oddly okay with this, but mostly because I will still find a way to go and won't have to deal with so many tourists when I get there. Find them here.
DO YOU REUSE YOUR PASSWORDS? You may need to pick some new ones as there has been a massive release of passwords by someone. I'm never quite sure how stuff like this works, to be honest, but if you re use passwords on different accounts you need to change them all, stat.
OFFICE VACANCIES HIT AN ALL TIME HIGH And that is 20.1% across America, the highest they've been since 1979. We are not going back to work in offices the way we needed to, and in Denver it's even higher at 23.5%. This is a pretty big deal and we need to figure out what to do with these buildings.
THIS SYMPTOM APPEARS YEARS BEFORE CANCER But it can be connected. I'm talking about the sudden growth of fine, white hair on your nose, cheeks and ears and you can read about it here.
ARE THE OLYMPICS WORTH IT? Much like giant new stadium projects they absolutely are...for a select few. Mostly taxpayers get sold a who lot of promises that don't hold true and the Games ALWAYS go over budget no matter where they are. So is it worth it? Is this the end of the Olympics? This column suggests it may come to that soon.
A GREAT IDEA FOR YOUR NEXT BBQ I can't believe I never thought of it. Watch below or click here.
WHOOPIE'S POOPY PANTS COMMENTS FOR ALL TIME So she can never walk them back.
THE GROSS PEOPLE MAKING UP TRANSGENDER CARE This story is BEYOND gross. Several, not just one, of the people who make up WPATH, the organization which has named itself as the world's leader in transgender care, are members of a forum where they post anonymous fiction about castrating and mutilating boys for pleasure and sale. You can read it here, but it is truly disgusting and disturbing. And now we know WHY they want to make themselves the authorities on cutting off kids body parts.
AND HERE THEY ARE ARGUING AGAINST MAKING SELLING A CHILD A FELONY And the reason? Because they believe it will affect LGBTQ people disproportionately. What? Is there any evidence that LGBTQ people are trafficking children disproportionately? If I'm gay, I'm super pissed about this.
HOW FRUGAL PEOPLE SAVE MONEY Some of these are common sense, but some are straight up genius.
AND FINALLY, WHAT DOES THE US DO BETTER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE? These made me proud to be an American!