MY VOTER GUIDE IT OUT And you can find it here.
WANT A LASTING RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR KIDS? I've got psychologist Susan Caso on to talk about her new book THE PARENT-TEEN CONNECTION: How to Build Lifelong Family Relationships. As a counselor and mom of teens herself, Caso draws on her 20 years of clinical experience, sharing personal insights and proven strategies to foster a deep emotional bond between caregivers and teenagers. The Parent-Teen Connection is more than just a guide — it's a roadmap for parents looking to cultivate what she calls "connectedness" within their families that safeguards teens in today's world. Buy the book here and find out more about Susan by clicking here.
BODIE WAS THE WINNER TO ME If you don't watch The Voice you may have missed a young man named bodie (he doesn't capitalize his name which makes the grammarian in me scream but here we are) who came in first runner up to a country singer who was good but not AS good IMO. This is my favorite song he did on the entire show and it was in the finals:
I just loved this kid and his mom lives here and I had her on the show and now I've got the man himself at 2:30 and I'm so excited.
THE TEACHERS UNION IS SUPER MAD ABOUT AN AD ENDORSING PROP 80 That would codify school choice in Colorado. A group supporting the measure sent out text messages using audio of CEA President Kevin Vick appearing to support the school choice message. A complaint has been filed but it's given the union the chance to rail against parents deciding where to send their kids for school which to me is why this amendment is needed. You can read more here, but I hope the fact the unions hate this so much will inspire you to vote for it. They are trying to tie choice to vouchers but NOWHERE are vouchers mentioned in 80, just a case in point.
MORE IDIOCY FROM TWO DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSION MEMBERS This is so freaking stupid and idiotic you'd think George Teal (who is up for re election this year and did not get my vote) and his sidekick Abe Laydon would just keep their mouths shut and let Lora Thomas's term run out (she's term limited and will be off the board when her replacement is sworn in) but NOOOOOOO. They have to continue to embarrass Douglas County by acting like spiteful children instead. Teal, who uses his seat on the Commission like Lord Farquad from Shrek to dispense his revenge on those he believes wronged him in some imagined way, has resurrected the censure he and his minion Laydon voted on against Lora Thomas based on even more ridiculous criteria this time. They say she "doxxed" volunteers when she linked to a publicly available website the COUNTY created while talking about Douglas County taxpayer dollars being given to organization OUTSIDE Douglas County in violation of the rules. The real issue is that Thomas is critical of the two shady acting men she is forced to work with and has gotten in the way of the more egregious wastes of taxpayer dollars they have tried to shove down the throats of DougCo taxpayers. Laydon ordered someone to "monitor" her weekly newsletter to constituents for "misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation" which is very Orwellian, don't you think? By the way, none of those things have been found in her newsletters. These two tiny tyrants on the DougCo board must go. Please don't vote for George Teal. I'd rather have a Democrat in that seat than a shameless grifter like Teal. Laydon was just re elected so there is nothing I can do about that, but don't let the clown show continue, please.
HOW THEY NOT KNOW HOW MUCH THIS COST? The Mayor of Denver is declaring victory on one huge milestone: they have moved over 2,000 homeless people inside. Not much is being said about what is happening, or not happening, once they get to the homeless warehouses hotels where they are living now, but this part of the story in the Denver Gazette caught my eye:
A news release from the mayor's office did not say how much the program has cost. The campaign has been expensive, though the exact numbers are difficult to pin down. Notably, Denver councilmembers had no idea how much the city spent on its homelessness response until a briefing from the city's Department of Housing Stability last June.
As it turned out, the city was on track to spend $155 million between July 2023 and December 2024 — $65 million more than Johnston previously said it would cost. Against this spending backdrop, the latest count showed the total number of homeless people in Denver ballooned from 5,818 last year to 6,539 this year. And the city saw only 150 fewer "unsheltered" homeless people when compared to last year's count — data that puzzled one councilmember a few months ago and led another to accuse the Johnston administration of having a "spend first, ask questions later mindset."
Yay? So we got more homeless people and spent way more than the mayor said we would to do it? I'm not sure I'd be marking this milestone with a press release as this is clearly unsustainable long term. And it's almost like we got more of something we incentivized. Who saw that coming? Me, I saw it coming.
WHEN SLOPPY STUDIES ARE USED TO BACK UP BAD POLICY This editorial in the Denver Gazette talks about a study that purported to show that crime did not drop in areas where homeless encampments were swept. They point out that data like this will be used by do-gooders who want to enable the addicts and mentally ill people who choose to live in squalid camps rather than accept help to get off the streets. One study should not decide any policy, especially one with an agenda like this one.
NEW BALL ARENA DEVELOPMENT WILL KILL THE VIEW And I imagine we're going to see more of this sort of development as we grow as a city. All the work done years ago to protect the view of the mountains from downtown is being rendered moot by the decision by the Denver City Council to lift the view plane restrictions to allow a massive new development on the ground around Ball Arena. The Kroenke's held the city hostage by tying the continued existence of the Avs and Nuggets in Denver to the approval. Now we have them until 2050 at least, but allowing Kroenke to develop the property like the Monforts are developing all the property around Coors Field is the best way to insure they never leave.
WOODLAND PARK PLAYS POLITICS WITH SCHOOLS It's funny to watch liberals, who love to tell us they CARE more than the other team, react when the other team not only wins, but then makes serious improvements without the liberals input. That is exactly what happened when a conservative majority took over the Woodland Park School District and immediately began making changes to improve student achievement. And guess what? Those changes worked. Student scores improved dramatically very quickly. So what do the liberals in Woodland Park do? If you said celebrate that's adorable. The left wing City Council decided to ask voters to repeal a sales tax that specifically benefits the schools that are now far better than they used to be under conservative control. Jimmy Sengenberger writes about it here.
ANOTHER CD-8 DEBATE And unlike the last debate where no one answered questions they both did here, though Caraveo seems very off in this one for some reason.
WHY ARE WE STILL SO MAD ABOUT INFLATION? That is what this column asks as they point out that inflation has been largely tamed so why are we all so mad about the economy? A new study about the emotional costs of inflation gives some insight, and that insight is, we hate conflict with our boss more than we want more money. Read this:
The study found that workers are so averse to conflict, most avoided negotiating for a raise even though they believed that doing so would have paid off financially. Those who didn't put up a fight knew they were paying a price: Had they gone to bat for themselves, they predicted, they would have boosted their salary by 2 percentage points. The fact that they didn't suggests something powerful: Most people hate conflict so much that they'd rather leave money on the table rather than speak up for themselves. The median worker, the researchers calculated, was willing to give up 1.75% of their salary to avoid the anxiety and hassle of negotiating. Most of us, it appears, would rather let inflation screw us over than put the screws to our boss.
I have known this to be true about women, who traditionally take a lower initial offering without counter offering, but now I know men hate it as much as we do. The entire article has me thinking. We shall discuss.
HAMAS CLAIMS ANOTHER LIFE FROM OCTOBER 7TH As a young woman who fled the music festival where so many died has taken her own life on her 22nd birthday. Post traumatic stress is so very real. What a heartbreaking turn of events for her family.
WILL CONSERVATIVE HOLLYWOOD STAND UP? Actor Zachary Levi is asking them to do just that, after he came out to endorse Donald Trump. Read it here.
MEET THE BIG MONEY BEHIND HARRIS If you think the Republicans are the party of the rich you need to read this.
IS THE MIDDLE EAST GIVING THE NOD TO ISRAEL? A lot, if not all of the problems in the Middle East are fomented by Iran or their proxies, which makes this post on X.com very interesting:
D+D GOES FULL WOKE AND I'M SO SAD ABOUT THIS Dungeons and Dragons is the ultimate nerd game and it happens to be really, really fun if you have a great Dungeon Master. They run the game, create the stories and make it fun. Now the company behind D+D has decided that they needed to create warnings for players of their entirely imaginary game and it's all so stupid. Read it here.
WOLF CREEK SKI RESORT IS OPENING THIS WEEK Because they got a ton of snow this weekend, find out more here.
DENYING A SOBRIETY TEST IS BAD NEWS IN COLORADO And honestly most states. In Florida if you refuse a sobriety test your license is automatically suspended for a year. Here, it kicks in a bunch of other stuff like increased penalties and longer suspension times. Read it here.
LISTENING TO MUSIC MAY AID RECOVERY FROM SURGERY And this isn't surprising because music has a positive impact for the most part. Read it here.
DEATH BY SWORDFISH And this is reminiscent of the way Steve Irwin died.
NO HUGS FOR YOU! At least hugs longer than three minutes at a New Zealand airport which has decided to limit hugs to prevent traffic delays. Honestly, who wants to hug someone at the airport for more than three minutes???
THIS IS WHY MEN SHOULDN'T BE IN WOMEN'S LOCKER ROOMS Because guys like this coach who decided he was trans before undressing with girls in the locker room. No worries though, he was forced to resign after videos of him smoking meth and having gay sex were released.
GET SCARED BY AROD NEXT MONDAY! At the 13th Floor Haunted House. Here is his audition from last week.
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BRITNEY IS NOT OKAY As she has married herself now. I hope she got a pre-nup.
A GENIUS PLAN TO PAY FOR A WEDDING Watch below or click here.
A VERY CLEVER PUMPKIN HACK And to think we just set ours on fire with a candle back in the day. Watch below or click here.
WHEN ICE BREAKING GOES WRONG Watch below or click here.