WHEN CAN A ROBOT CHANGE A DIAPER? Because that will mean it can pass the Turing test so important to their integration into our households. What is the Turing Test? Our Futurist Thomas Frey joins me to discuss it and why changing a diaper is the gold standard of robot behavior that has to be met. We're also talking about his latest blog posting about skipping college, which you can read here. Find Thomas to speak to your organization by clicking here.
NO, THERE ISN'T ANOTHER CHINA VIRUS COMING I get it, we're all jumpy after living through the Covid Totalitarian Age but you can calm down about the fact that China is dealing with a seasonal outbreak of a KNOWN illness called human metapneumovirus (HMPV) which for most people presents itself as a cold. From Fox News:
HMPV, which was discovered in 2001, is common but underdiagnosed due to its similarities to the common cold, according to the CDC. Cases of the virus in the United States are at "pre-pandemic" levels and are not "a cause for concern" at the moment, but there is a large spike in northern China, especially in children 14 and under, according to media reports in Beijing. Chinese government officials said the reported spike coincides with seasonal illness and seems to be less severe than in other years.
We can all calm back down now. You're welcome.
HOMELESSNESS SKYROCKETED IN COLORADO LAST YEAR I'd say a 30% increase counts as a skyrocket. The latest HUD Point In Time Survey, which homeless advocates say woefully undercounts the real numbers, is out and Colorado saw our numbers soar. Most likely it's because of the flood of illegal immigrants Mayor Mike Johnston decided to play Daddy to who still can't work and don't have any means to provide for themselves. Read it here, but what a racket this has all become. I feel terrible for the people who are homeless, but this survey doesn't do anything but count bodies so we can't draw conclusions on what needs to be done here. Overall we saw an 18% increase in homelessness, much of that is being attributed to illegal immigrants. Read more here.
MAYOR JOHNSTON SHOWS HOW MUCH OF A WEASEL HE IS In response to the Mike Coffman Op-Ed yesterday about how Denver is using NGOs to dump illegal immigrants into surrounding communities the Mayor of Denver essentially went, "Nuh-uh". Read this ridiculous response from Mayor Johnston:
Johnston denied the allegations, stating, "The City of Denver never places anyone anywhere."
Johnston said he was blindsided by the op-ed that included a headline claiming, "Denver's Mayor offloads immigrants on Aurora."
"I'm surprised by this because Mayor Coffman and I have a collaborative relationship," Johnston said.
According to Johnston, Denver contracted with two non-profits to find housing for migrants after more than 40 thousand of them were bussed here from Texas last year.
"We give them dollars and they decide on housing," Johnston said. "Every day it's looking for where that housing is and identifying what open unit it is. You might go to Thornton, you might go to Northglenn, you might go to Denver."
So the City of Denver doesn't place anyone anywhere, but the NGOs PAID BY THE CITY OF DENVER DO. Nice dodge, Mayor. He literally confirms what Mayor Coffman accused him of doing. He takes responsibility for nothing he's done, that is a personality type I struggle with.
THIS AS JOHNSTON GIVES HIMSELF GOOD GRADES The Mayor released his report on how he thinks he's doing as Mayor (I mean for real, is there any other reason to do this?) and he gave himself glowing marks. This bit seems a bit odd considering the story above:
"We view ourselves as good regional partners, but we also know that each city gets to control the policies and practices in their own city. We think we've built a very successful strategy to respond to the need. It's a combination of providing services, getting people connected to jobs and they can support themselves and get housing, and also focusing on law enforcement to make sure that no one is breaking the law or committing violent crimes. So that's what's worked for us," said Johnston.
I'm guessing Mike Coffman doesn't view him as a "good regional partner". Here is how he thinks he's doing:
We shall discuss. Oh, and the Mayor says he's getting ready for the feds to withhold federal money from Denver over its Sanctuary City status. When Denverites have to bear the entire financial burden of his "newcomers" will they feel as welcoming?
THIS MADE ME LAUGH YESTERDAY Make sure you look at the WHOLE picture by clicking on it.
I WILL DRIVE TO PUEBLO JUST FOR THIS Y'all, Bojangles fried chicken is coming to Colorado! They are building one in Pueblo and as it is my FAVORITE fried chicken chain I will be making a pilgrimage down to visit as soon as it is open.
ANOTHER STAUNCH PROGRESSIVE JOINS THE COLORADO SENATE As Democrats, who gave us Tim Hernandez previously, have moved Rep. Iman Jodeh of Aurora into the State Senate to replace Senator Janet Buckner, who ran for re election and then IMMEDIATELY quit. Jodeh wants to repeal TABOR, "protect" teachers unions (she says "public schools" but we know what that means), and protect illegal immigrants from deportation. She sounds like she'll fit right in with her Democratic colleagues. At least she can say she's won an election, just not the one for the seat she is taking.
OH, ANOTHER TEACHER PREYING ON A STUDENT What the actual heck is going on here? A female teacher in Montrose is now charged with several crimes related to sexual text messages she sent to a teenager in her care. I don't understand how women are so willing to throw their lives away for a kid. I just don't get it.
THE PRAYING J6 GRANNY SAYS NO THANK YOU TO A PARDON And this woman is living her principles for sure. After being convicted of the ridiculous charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol. She says she does not want Trump to pardon her because she is appealing her conviction so others may be free to have their voices heard and exercise their First Amendment rights. What did she do? From the Denver Gazette:
Video surveillance shows her entering the Capitol building with a group of other rally attendees and being inside for 10 minutes before exiting. Lavrenz said she did not touch anything or do anything or yell anything during that time. She just looked and prayed.
And for looking and praying she got house arrest, a ban from using the internet for the same time period and a $103,000 fine. I hope she wins. And God bless her for having the courage to continue fighting the fight.
GOD IS ON TOP OF THE PODCAST WORLD And I can't tell you how much I love this. Joe Rogan, long the number one podcaster, has been deposed by God. Specifically the podcast "Rosary in a Year", which I am going to begin listening to. Praying the rosary is really a form of meditation when you think about it, and I know it gave my late mother-in-law a lot of joy and peace during her last years.
COSTCO HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PROGRESSIVE COMPANY My love for Costco is so strong I don't care about this story about them refusing to back down on their DEI initiatives. They have always been run by progressive liberals. The reason I don't care is because when I walk into Costco I don't know a single thing about the politics of the leadership and I am always welcomed warmly after showing my membership card. They don't care if I disagree with them politically and they are a private company that can run things however they want. Capitalism is fantastic like that. This is a far cry from the horrible man who runs a spice shop that openly hates Republicans.
COULD WATER HYACINTHS SOLVE THE PLASTICS PROBLEM? This is really cool. A young African man got stuck in a lake because of the number of invasive water hyacinths on the lake. He then worked to do something to solve the problem and now has created a biodegradable "plastic" from the dried plants. Read more here.
IT'S TIME TO BAN MASKS That is the argument made by Ilya Shapiro in this story on crime in America and how these days there may be a few holdouts scared of Covid wearing masks but far more evil doers using the face coverings to get away with crimes including murder. I'm sure there is a way for someone who really needs a mask for medical reasons to be able to flout the law against masking.
THE MANY FAILURES OF JUSTIN TRUDEAU This is a great column on just why Justin Trudeau was forced to resign as Prime Minister yesterday. He simply did a bunch of the same things Colorado Democrats are pursuing here, with predictable results. Read the last bit to see how this is not isolated to Canada, but is spreading worldwide as we speak. This is the man who is widely believed to be the next Prime Minister. You can see why I love him already.
MARK ZUCKERBERG REDISCOVERS FREE SPEECH And has announced that they will do away with the one-sided and incredibly biased "fact-checkers" employed to monitor mostly right wing speech on Facebook. Watch this:
Zuck is cozying up to the Trump Administration, even going so far is to add UFC CEO Dana White to the Board of Directors of META. Is this a real conversion or just playing to the power? We won't know for some time. I'd be more inclined to visit Facebook more if they just showed me my friends again.
DAX SHEPHERD LOVES THE LIONS An even managed to watch the game at the Golden Globes.
SPIDERMAN AND MARY JANE ARE ENGAGED! I am rooting for this Hollywood couple to go the distance. I love them both and love the fact they keep their relationship out of the public. Now Zendaya and Tom Holland are engaged. Mazel Tov!
WHAT A HEARTBREAKING REASON TO LEAVE A TEAM San Fran Cornerback and impending free agent Charvarius Ward says he many not return to the 49ers, but not because of football. He says he's traumatized by the death of his daughter and being in California is just too painful a reminder. How totally sad.
LIB JOY REID TRIES TO KEEP JANUARY 6TH ALIVE She took to TikTok to post a propaganda video made my the Democrat led Lincoln Project. But unfortunately the rest of us have moved on.
COSTCO GRINDS MY GEARS WITH THIS ONE As I said above, I love Costco. I buy giant bags of coffee beans there and grind them up before I leave the store, but now that option has been removed. They have taken away the coffee grinders in the stores. BOOOOOOO.
YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE ZOOMIES ARE GONNA HIT Watch below or click here.
SEAN PAYTON OFFENDS This is so accurate. Watch below or click here.
YES, EGG YOLK COLOR MATTERS And this is why I buy pasture raised eggs. Well I used to buy pasture raised eggs before eggs became impossible to find in Colorado.
DUDE. You have got to see some of the stuff coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show. WOW. Just WOW.