HAKEEM OLUSEYI IS NOT ONLY SMART, HIS LIFE STORY IS AMAZING And he's got a new book out about it called A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars, which you should buy here. I spoke with Hakeem last week about his life, his new math curriculum designed to help kids learn higher level math from a very young age and so much more. The REST of the interview will be up at the end of the show, it went, really, really long but it's SO GOOD. FYI, I still can't pronounce his name correctly. Find the FULL interview with about thirteen minutes more by clicking here.
IF CNN IS ANY SORT OF NEWS ORGANIZATION CHRIS CUOMO MUST BE FIRED And honestly I'm not certain they will fire him. It's not because of low ratings, it's because he actively used his sources and contacts to try to find dirt on the women who were accusing his brother of sexual misconduct and then hid that from his bosses. I am not remotely surprised by any of this, as the Cuomo duo is tight and Chris slathered his brother with accolades throughout the pandemic as Andrew was sending covid patients to infect old people at nursing homes. Read the extent of his involvement here, it remains to be seen what CNN will do with Chris now, but there is no way they can claim to be a credible news organization in any way if they let him stay.
I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW LITTLE I CARE ABOUT THE BOEBERT-OMAR SPAT Because it's being played out like a cat fight in the media and it's embarrassing for women and members of Congress and the media which won't let it go. I think both women spend too much time trying to get on camera and saying inflammatory things that can be deemed hateful depending on your politics. But the fact that their phone call details have been released by both sides, continuing the story makes me know they are both trying to get the most media mileage out of this stupid spat. I just want to point out that when male politicians have a beef, it doesn't get this sort of breathless coverage. They both need to grow up and start acting like the elected leaders they are supposed to be.
DENVER NANNY STATERS PASS A USELESS FLAVORED TOBACCO BAN And it's totally useless because Denver is surrounded by places to buy the same products, as well as them being available online. But way to create what I'm sure will be a thriving black market for such products. If you want to prevent kids from smoking, you have to tell them how gross and stupid they look and make it uncool to be addicted to anything. Good luck with that.
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS OF ALL THESE KIDS WITH GUNS IN AURORA? Did you realize that in October and November alone, at least 23 teenagers were victims of shootings in Aurora? IN JUST TWO MONTHS. The latest mess happened after a party on a Sunday night after midnight whee five people were shot, the youngest being 17 and the oldest 20. We have three 16 year olds arrested for a shooting outside Hinckley High, two 15 year old boys arrested for a shooting outside Aurora Central High and a 17 year old dead after an altercation with a now former cop last weekend. What the hell, Aurora? Where are the parents of these kids? Do they not know how to toss a room like a prison warden? Where are these guns being KEPT when not being brandished and used to shoot other kids? And Chief Vanessa Wilson is obviously in WAY over her head as there are no signs of stopping from where I can see.
MEDICAID IS DRIVING MENTAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS TO STOP ACCEPTING IT Because it is run so poorly. This is a window into what socialized medicine is, so please pay attention. Providers are being hit with recoupment letters demanding the return of previously made payments because Medicaid's own system erased important numbers from the claims. Government sucks at running things. Read more here.
A SAFE CAMPING SPACE TO OPEN ON CITY PROPERTY As the current sanctioned camping sites are closing down soon, the City of Denver just approved a safe camping site on city property at the Denver Human Services building at 3815 Steele Street in the Clayton neighborhood. This will replace safe camping sites at Regis University and Park Hill United Methodist Church, which are closing their sites. Has anyone asked those places WHY they are not going to continue their safe camping sites? Not in this article.
YOU GOTTA HAND IT TO TOM CRUISE The 59 year old actor still does his own stunts and was recently caught performing a wing walk during the filming of Mission Impossible 8. Read more here.
THE BIDEN ADMIN IS HOPING YOU FORGET THEY KILLED THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE WHEN YOU GAS UP There is no doubt that the Biden Administration bears some responsibility for gas prices. Their anti-oil and gas positions have taken us from energy independence to begging the Saudis to open the spigots. Here is a fun article reminding you of one of the FIRST actions he took as President, which was to kill the Keystone Pipeline. By the way, this is something the US will likely have to pay damages to the company that was building it.
THESE ARE GREAT SEARCH TIPS FOR USING THE GOOGLE Being able to get Google to narrow search results is an invaluable skill and this article has some GREAT tips for doing better web searches.
THE WORD OF THE YEAR IS "VACCINE" And I am over it. But here it is.
BLACK SANTAS ARE A THING AND I THINK IT'S GOOD I know Saint Nick came from Scandinavia, but I am all about the magic of Santa for children. And if you having a black Santa makes black children even happier and filled with the magic of Christmas I say bring it on! Read about it here.
AND NOW, SUSAN WITKIN AS CARTMAN'S WIFE And THERE IS BAD LANGUAGE in this clip so don't watch it if the F word offends you. But the character of Cartman's wife (he's a rabbi when he grows up) is SO SUSAN WITKIN I have to share.
THE BABLYON BEE GETS DR FAUCI And they are the first to report on his move to become Pope of Science.
LET'S GO PROFESSOR ASHLEIGH! A CU-Boulder professor is competing on the first Jeopardy Professors Tournament! I always like to cheer for the hometown contestant and I can't wait to cheer for her! Read more about her nerd thing here.
MENTAL HEALTH DAYS AT SCHOOLS HAVE NO EVIDENCE TO STAND ON This is a great column on the new fad of "mental health days" at schools, either in the form of an excused absence or shutting schools early for "mental health days". It asks a very important question: do they work? There is no evidence that they do, especially while we ignore the underlying causes of stress and anxiety for students. I especially liked this part:
The reality is, however, that — while individual classes or schools can institute smartphone bans — a society-wide “social-media ban for children” is not a feasible solution. Bouts of depression and anxiety are regular aspects of human life. As one therapist observed, “When we construe normal feeling as illness, we offer people an understanding of themselves as disordered” and so hinder growth and development of healthy psyches. (emphasis mine)
We have to stop labelling every challenge we face that may give us the blues, or stress, or anxiety as a mental illness. Though there may be an underlying illness in some, having a bad time at life should not be a label that sticks.
REMEMBER WHEN TRAVEL BANS WERE RACIST? JEN PSAKI DOESN'T. And this exchange is just typical when asked about his new African travel ban. This column reminds us that Biden DID say travel bans were racist when Trump did them, so they must be racist now.
ANOTHER LEGAL BLOW TO BIDEN'S VACCINE MANDATES FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS And this affects healthcare workers in the ten states that filed the case. We are NOT in those ten states. Read more here.
THE SIX FOOT COVID RULE DOES NOTHING So I'm sure the CDC will recommend we do this forever. A new study of how aerosols travel demonstrates that the six foot rule is totally arbitrary and really doesn't stop the spread of anything. SCIENCE!
GREECE IS IMPOSING A MONTHLY FEE ON THOSE OVER 60 WHO AREN'T VACCINATED And this is just another stick to try to force people into compliance. Read more here.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO RETURN THOSE OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOKS! And the Boise Public Library is celebrating the return of a book checked out in 1910. The late fees would have been over $800, though the library did away with late fees some years ago.
THE FIRST LIVING ROBOTS CAN NOW REPRODUCE AND NOW WE'RE ALL DOOMED I may be a bit hyperbolic but maybe not. The first living "robots" created out of the cells of a tree frog have successfully replicated themselves. Prepare for the takeover by our robot overlords in 3...2...1...
DID ANY OF YOU PUT THE ORDER IN FOR MY FLYING CAR YET? We've talked about the Jetson ONE, which is really a glorified one person drone. I need one, and here is why:
THE KIFFNESS AND THE SNORING DOG And I feel like Jinx has a shot at this sort of collaboration.
LATE ADDITION: FLORIDA HAS THE LOWEST NUMBER OF COVID CASES PER CAPITA IN THE COUNTRY This after Governor Ron DeSantis was called the "angel of death" by left wing rags. Seems his non-interventionist strategy wasn't so crazy after all, especially compared to other states that have adopted draconian measures and are not suffering HUGE outbreaks: I'm looking at you, Michigan.