WHAT ARE FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOMS? We're not talking about psychedelics, we're talking about mushrooms to improve performance and health. Jake Plummer spent ten years in the NFL, a bunch of it right here in Denver. Now he's set up shop with GetUmbo.com to grow, produce, and sell products designed to elevate your health and workouts. Find out more and order here, we've got Jake on today at 1pm to talk about it. Use the code MANDY15 to get 15% off.
HELP OUT RURAL TEACHERS AT A FUN PARTY The Nathan Yip Foundation is having a big Chinese New Year celebration in February to raise money for grants for rural teachers. It's a wonderful program you can read about here, but buy your tickets to the gala here. Please spread the word to your rural teacher friends too! I'm talking with Jill Shenkel Henwood at 2 about the party and the grant program.
COFFMAN CRACKED BACK AGAINST TAY TAY As well he should. Jimmy Sengenberger writes about the latest bit of Tay Anderson induced idiocy here. I've got Jimmy on the show at 2:30.
IT'S SO COLD I SAW A POLITICIAN WITH HIS HANDS IN HIS OWN POCKETS THIS WEEKEND That was another good southern saying for cold I forgot. Read about the deep freeze here, but it's gonna blow in today so get yourself and your pipes ready.
REP. PETTERSON HAS A POINT She is pregnant with her second child (Congrats to her and her husband for this!) and she just entered the "You Can't Fly" portion of her pregnancy and is asking for a rules change to allow her to vote while she is giving birth and recovering. This is not a crazy ask, especially in the era of C-Span where she can easily follow along with what's going on. Technology should make it so pregnant women and new parents should be able to continue to represent their constituents while bringing new life into this world. I sure hope every Republican votes for this as the party of family values allegedly. We say we want women in Congress, let's make it so they can have a full life at the same time.
MAYOR MIKE JOHNSTON HAS VETOED TWO CITY COUNCIL BILLS And this is the same number that Mayor Michael Hancock vetoed in three terms. I don't think this is a big deal because he's simply reined in bills that passed on split votes, both of which came from the hard left flank of the council. You can read more but don't read too much into this. I am happy he vetoed both of these bills, one of which would have done away with homeless encampment sweeps in freezing temperatures, and one that would have done away with setbacks for needle exchanges in the city. They were both bad bills.
ALL ABOUT THE FRIGID MLK DAY MARADE Just in case you didn't know, the "marade" is a mashup of march and parade. The annual Marade is Monday and it is going to be BITTERLY COLD. The marade will go on, and you can find out all the details here if you want to go.
ANOTHER EXCEEDINGLY RARE STABBING IN DOWNTOWN DENVER These "exceedingly rare" events as the Mayor called them, are becoming more common. Another person stabbed in the Ballpark District yesterday.
CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT: WARMING UP YOUR CAR Chuck is a "warm up the car" guy. I am "get in and drive" person. Who is right? I am. According to AAA you only need to let your car engine warm up for as long as it takes to put on your seatbelt. In winter maybe a tiny bit longer. Why? Because modern cars are built so well. And yes, I will show this article to Chuck and he won't believe it.
DEMOCRACY DIES IN DARKNESS And Colorado Dems shut off the lights last year by exempting themselves, and themselves ONLY from Colorado Open Meetings Law. The Democrats have already had two caucus meetings in private while Republicans have committed to continuing to have their caucus meetings in public with press attending. How is this okay? The only way to change this is boot the Democrats who passed this change with ZERO Republican support out of office. Why is this okay with voters? This is another attack point for GOP candidates in my view.
LOOKING FOR FREE DAYS AT DENVER ATTRACTIONS? I'm talking museums, the zoo and more? Find the whole list of what days will be free here.
RIP DAVID LYNCH David Lynch movies were right of passage for Gen Xers like me. Starting with Eraserhead and moving straight through Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, it was REQUIRED in my circle of friends to not just know his work, but to love it. He's now passed away. RIP, you giant weirdo.
HOW IS THE ECONOMY REALLY DOING? This is an interesting column on how people perceive the economy to be doing and it shows a serious disconnect between people say THEY PERSONALLY are doing and how they thing EVERYONE ELSE is doing. Read this:
When we focus on people’s impressions of how they themselves are doing, a strong majority of people are upbeat. We can see this in the red line in Figure 1. Gallup asks people whether they are satisfied with how things are going “in your personal life.” In January of 2024, only 20 percent of Americans were satisfied with the nation's state, but 78 percent said they were satisfied with how things were going in their personal lives. In January 2020, right before COVID came to the US, the figure was at an all-time high (going back to 1979) of 90 percent. Only one time in 45 years did fewer than 75 percent of Americans express satisfaction with how things were going in their personal lives.
Dissatisfaction with “the way things are going in the United States” is a feeling based on perception. Crucially, what people perceive to be true about “the way things are going” may not be accurate. They are likely to be very familiar with how things are going for them and their family. But they may be less familiar with how things are going outside their home and community. They may be entirely reliant on media, cultural impressions, and statistics for how the nation is doing.
So how are YOU doing? I have to say, I'm doing pretty dang well right now and I'm working hard to remain grateful because I know there will be storm clouds at some point in the future again.
WHY TRUMP'S INSTINCTS ON CANADA, GREENLAND, AND MORE ARE RIGHT This is a good article that explains how Trump's focus on Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal show an understanding of the re alignment of the world right now and the threat Russia and China play. Read this for more, but check this out:
Together with Alaska (which we bought from Imperial Russia in 1867), Greenland and Canada comprise North America’s “crown jewels” when it comes to an Arctic revealed by climate change. The warming Arctic possesses almost one-third of the world’s remaining hydrocarbon (oil, natural gas) reserves, along with prodigious amounts of minerals (nickel, zinc, rare earths) critical to both national security and the energy transition.
Does anybody think Canada and Greenland won’t need serious help in standing up to Russia and China’s aggressive ambitions across that vast and strategically crucial landscape?
Or how about China’s recent emergence as primary trade partner and source of investment throughout South America? The Chinese will be more than happy to beggar our neighbors of energy, minerals, and food while climate change devastates these vulnerable economies in the years ahead, knowing full well that the vast numbers of climate migrants escaping that desperate situation will head to North America — not China.
It doesn't seem so crazy now, does it?
AND NOW, DOGS DOING DOG THINGS Because why not.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORALS AND ETHICS I have no idea how I got signed up for this newsletter but it is really good. Today's article on the difference between morals and ethics was particularly interesting I thought.
THE UN CHIEF HATES HUMANS but if you read this article about the ways humanity has "opened Pandora's Box of ills" you begin to see his agenda for the UN and it's decidedly anti-free speech and anti-human flourishing. But I'd expect nothing less from the UN.
HOW TO RAKE BACK BIDEN'S INFLATION This is a good column on what the Trump administration needs to do to bring down both spending and inflation, as one directly leads to the other. I predict there will be short term pain for longer term gain, but we have to get through that short term pain first.
A STARSHIP BUSTS UP and I bet that Elon Musk doesn't even care. Why? Because he knows without failure you can't learn and the purpose of this seventh mission of this particular Starship was to push the craft to its limits and indeed, they did. It exploded in flight and created a bit of a mess for commercial flights as the pieces fell out of the sky in the Caribbean. I have to give to SpaceX for the incredible spin they put on this:
SpaceX said: “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn. Teams will continue to review data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause.”
"Unscheduled disassembly" made me laugh out loud.
MICHELLE OBAMA SAYS NOPE She won't be attending the inauguration because she has better things to do. You can read more here, but it seems she's not going because she's sick of politics and not in a mood to pretend to be happy about a new Trump presidency. This is entirely her prerogative.
THE JURY HAS CNN'S FATE IN ITS HANDS and after following this trial I say CNN should be VERY concerned. Read more here.
THE GOP ISN'T LETTING A CRISIS GO TO WASTE Not in California, where they are making sure that Californians know it is the disastrous policies of the Democrats who have ruled the state for years that have made these fires so, so much worse. Will they flip California? Unlikely but inroads could be made for moderate Republicans who promise to focus on infrastructure and safety in the state.
FILMS TO SEE BEFORE OSCAR TIME And I've not seen a single one of these but DANG IT, this year is gonna be the year. Find them here.
TGIF EREBODY! And here is the weekly column that makes a subscription to The Free Press worth it. Not that everything else doesn't, but this is really the crowning jewel.
THREE DAILY DECISIONS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE From Tony Robbins and Theo Vonn.
AND NOW THE KIFFNESS DOES BILLY EILISH WITH A CAT
MY LATEST MUSICAL OBSESSION Is a chick from New Zealand named Benee. Enjoy!
THIS REPORTER SPEAKS FOR US ALL
SOME PRINCESS BRIDE TRIVIA FOR YOU
THE SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS THE TIKTOK BAN And this may not mean much as Donald Trump has pledged to save TikTok and more lawmakers are caving after pressure from crappy video addicts. Read about the ruling here, but it rejects the free speech argument made by the Chinese. How ironic that a Chinese company uses a free speech argument, isn't it?