WHY YOU NEED TO VOTE NO ON THE MOUNTAIN LION HUNTING BAN I know, I know, they are very pretty. And can be very dangerous when meeting up with humans and civilization. Our mountain lion population has been well managed for a long time by biologists at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife division for years. We have a very healthy population that has grown and is maintained with things like controlled hunting to keep the numbers at a level where the cats have enough space to call their own. Today I've got Mike Costello with HOWL on to talk about California's hunting ban and what it's done there. It's not good. Find out more about HOWL by clicking here, and read his column about it here.
AURORA KNEW THOSE APARTMENTS WERE TAKEN OVER BY GANGS And they condemned the Nome Street property at the request of the property owner so they could "take it back" from said gangs. The City of Aurora finally released unredacted emails between the city and the apartment owners before they condemned the Aspen Grove apartments. From the Denver Gazette:
“To be clear, my impression from what has been occurring generally is that your client has been asking for the City to take this action in order for your client ‘to take control of the property’ and to sell the property,” Peter Schulte, Aurora’s assistant city attorney, wrote CBZ Management’s attorney on Aug. 6.
Danielle Jurinsky is quoted in the story saying that the city knew the apartments had been taken over by gangs. It seems via these emails that she is right. Weird how they would ever deny it in the first place. Weird. By the way, if you're looking for an apartment complex that needs some work it's for sale. From this article about that:
Recently released communications between the City of Aurora and the counsel for CBZ Management reveal that the owners had wanted the local government to board up the building in order to take back “control of the property” from a Venezuelan gang.
“Our purpose is to sell this property, but it cannot be marketed based on the present circumstances,” CBZ Management’s attorney wrote to Peter Schulte, Aurora’s assistant city attorney, on Aug. 6.
It is hard to sell a property when it's been taken over by gangs. Just saying.
DENVER HAS A PANTLOAD OF BALLOT INITIATIVES TOO And you can study them here. I would vote NO on all of them but I don't live in Denver.
CHARLIE BLACKMON DESERVED BETTER And don't get me wrong, I loved having him here for 14 years and watching him play and singing his walk up song with the rest of the crowd. But he deserved to win before he retired and we all know how that went. Blackmon is retiring and HE will always be a winner to me.
ENJOY YOUR LAST DECENT TABOR REFUND Because after this year the Democrats have reallocated your money to other people they think deserve it more. Read how much you can expect here, but ignore the part of the story that tells you how government doesn't have enough money. They just spent too much of our money. Let's be clear about that.
ABOUT RANKED CHOICE VOTING This is one of the issues that I am trying to do a deep dive on this so I can make the appropriate recommendations to you. This interview with Jon Caldara and Kent Thiry, the guy who is pushing this initiative, is a great way to find out the pro side.
This column takes the other position. The argument seems to be that we must protect the two party system. Are you happy with the two party system? I am not. I do not like it. It's not that I don't want people to join and participate in political parties, but they have way too much power in a state with nearly a majority of independents in it. We will discuss it more before the election.
DPS TRIES TO POLISH THE TURN And Jimmy Sengenberger writes about it here. Denver Public School sent out a press release full of language designed to obfuscate what's really going on. Read the column here.
SOUTHWEST IS SO CLOSE TO LOSING ME FOREVER I have been a devoted Southwest passenger for so many years now. I loved them for their seating policy (yes, I was the one) and more importantly, their free bags policy. I paid higher upfront costs to get free bags but usually came out ahead. Now an activist investor who I hate without knowing him is demanding Southwest join the other airlines to soak the flying public. They've already ditched their seating policy and now there is word that free bags may be going away. If this happens, my incentive to remain faithful is completely gone and I can assure you I will be flying on convenience and price rather than loyalty. Sad.
OBESITY IS STABLE, EXCEPT When it comes to people who are considered Severely Obese, which puts their BMI at over 40. Though the BMI is far from perfect, it is the easiest way to categorize most people. The good news is that Obesity has held steady now for a few years, but the number of people in the Severe Obesity category has gotten larger, and most of them are women. I'm guessing this is partly hormonal changes after menopause. This is very, very bad because all the health issues that are associated with obesity get worse the bigger one is.
The healthy life part of that question is important because who wants to extend a life of misery and pain? There are people who are self experimenting by taking an anti-rejection drug used on transplant patients in order to dampen their bodies immune response. Why would you do that? Studies in mice and yeast showed the drug rapamycin extended their lives about 10%, but no studies on humans have shown such effects. One study of a similar drug showed that people taking it had a far stronger immune response to a flu vaccine, suggesting that it could gird your immune system, which normally falters as we get older. You can read more here but I wouldn't rush out to get a prescription just yet.
THE BURDEN OF BEING GOOD LOOKING FINALLY I found an article that really speaks to me. In this article good looking people share the horror stories they've had to endure and boy can I relate. We will all share our stories of torture today.
ESTES PARK GOT A NOD As one of the best places to visit in fall from USA Today. Find the rest here.
THE NEW PAY IT BACKWARDS TREND This is pretty funny but I'm guessing it doesn't really work. Watch below or click here.
PEOPLE MAKE GOING TO THE MOVIE THEATER SUCK I agree so much with this guy, although the last two times I went to the theater everyone was lovely. Alamo Drafthouse does a really good job enforcing the no talking, no scrolling thing though, just an fyi. They will kick you out. Watch below or click here.
MEN AND WOMEN FEEL PAIN DIFFERENTLY And though we've been told for decades that women and men are the same and that sex is a social construct (it's so not) that this must be fake news. Of course it's not because men and women are different humans. Now we know that women do not have the same ability to process pain as men because we have different levels of hormones that do different things. This is really interesting.
COFFEE IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEART And your nerves and your overall happiness. The sweet spot to stave off heart disease is three cups a day. I'm right on track.
COPS ARE GOING AFTER LICENSE PLATE SCOFFLAWS So if you don't have tags or they are expired there is a chance you will be pulled over and ticketed for it too. Denver PD, Aurora PD, Springs PD and Colorado State Patrol will all be doing enforcement this week. You've been warned, get your damn tags.
THAT'S ONE BIG ASS PUMPKIN A Colorado man has broken the state record with a pumpkin weighing 1,955 pounds. He grew it in his yard, which is somehow very impressive to me. I wonder what he feeds it? Any neighbors missing pets?
OCTOPUS ARE LIKE GANG LEADERS According to a cool new study that showed that octopus will actually hunt with a group of fish. It also showed that when the fish didn't move fast enough or started to lose focus the octopus punches them to bring them back into line. They apparently punch blacktip grouper the most as they are main exploiters of the group who don't like to move to find prey. I love so much about this.
SEAL SNEEZES SOUND LIKE FARTS Watch below or click here. There, that's a thing you know now. You're welcome.
WHY IS THE FCC BREAKING ITS OWN RULES TO LET SOROS BUY A RADIO NETWORK? And do so BEFORE the election? That appears to be what's happening as the FCC is poised to allow the sale of struggling Audacy (formerly Entercom) to left wing political manipulator George Soros. Soros is using foreign money to buy it, and that requires a national security review normally, but the FCC seems ready to skip that. Why? You know why.
WHY NOT CHANGE YOUR BIRTHDAY TOO Because we've taught a younger generation that you can become something you are not, why not change your birthday? Watch below or click here.
ISRAEL KNOWS WHERE HEZBOLLAH HAS HIDDEN EVERYTHING And now they are blowing up buildings that house things like cruise missiles and stockpiles of ammunition from the air. The IDF says they have destroyed 50% of Hezbollahs stockpile of ammo. Heh. Check out the videos in this thread for more.