IF YOU'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT A CRUISE Just do it. NOW. It was glorious,the ship was at 30% capacity and we had a blast. More on the show. We went on Celebrity Cruises, which is a nicer line and worth every penny.
THOMAS FREY IS BACK TO TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE I've got no clue what he's got for us today, but I'm stoked to find out. Find Thomas for a speaking engagement or his excellent podcast by clicking here.
A TEACHERS UNION AT A CHARTER SCHOOL SURE WOULD BE INTERESTING It might happen at the New American schools, which were created with the help of our now-Governor. The teachers say they don't have enough say in what's happening at the school and they think a union would give them more of a voice. However, unlike with public schools where you are negotiating with districts with more wiggle room in their budgets for things like raises, charter schools are lean operations. They have to be because they have to pay the capital costs of their buildings out of the same pool of money they have to pay teachers. This story fascinates me because of my own experience with our charter schools, where the admin and parents literally bend over backwards to make the teachers feel heard and valued. They participate in our committees, they participate in our PTO, they are a part of everything that goes on at the school. They must not be doing it right at the Governor's school. Not to mention, if the school continues to see high turnover and students aren't getting what they need, the parents can leave and the school dies. This is going to be very interesting to watch.
WHY ARE COLORADO DEMS WORRIED ABOUT GUNS WHEN FENTANYL IS KILLING SO MANY MORE? This line from this story jumped out out me:
Nationally, overdose deaths from opioids of all varieties exceed homicides by 307%
WHAT??? This is a national emergency but we've got people arguing about gun show loopholes that don't exist and magazine sizes while Colorado Democrats, who control the Legislature and the Governor's mansion, can't be bothered to refelonize fentanyl until we can get a handle on this? Don't get me wrong, there is a zero percent chance that refelonizing fentanyl will stop an addict from being an addict, but we have to stop the bleeding for a minute to figure this out. The Denver Gazette has an editorial about it here.
WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO EXPERTS ON HOMELESSNESS? Especially in Denver where the problems have gotten exponentially worse under their feel-good, make homelessness more comfortable in the hopes an addict will seek help someday policies? This story irritated me to no end, as homeless "experts" say that camping bans make it harder to connect people with services they aren't taking advantage of already. I'd love a follow up question about how many homeless people have cell phones? How about we ask THEM to check in with someone on a regular basis in order to access these magical services they again aren't taking advantage of already? These experts have overseen an explosion of homelessness in Denver under their "expert" guidance and I'm just wondering why we are still listening to their solutions which don't work. Especially when I see stories like this one about the broken down RVS littering Denver, where everyone in a position of power shrugs their shoulders and says "there's nothing we can do" while ignoring every law on the books that gives them the power to tow these vehicles away. This column points out that most homeless "experts" just make homelessness easier.
NO MORE VALEDICTORIANS IN CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS Because kids who works super hard their entire school career who want to work towards this honor don't matter but the hurt feelings of students who fell short do. It's not about getting into college, it's about giving students who want to try a goal to achieve. Now there will be no valedictorians and Cherry Creek Schools should be embarrassed that they think students are so soft.
MORE SNOW MEANS MORE SKI SEASON Remember when Al Gore said there would be no more snow on Mount Kilimanjaro by 2020? I just checked, they still have snow. So do we, a lot of it, and now ski resorts are extending their ski seasons in Colorado.
CAN'T DO THAT DEEP LUNGE? HOW ABOUT COWBOY CURLING!
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR BODY WHEN YOU'RE DEAD Now in Colorado you can do a true, natural burial, called human composting, in Florence. There is no casket, no embalming, just you in the dirt going back to dust. I like this idea. Read more here.
OUR NEW ROLE IN THE WORLD MAY NOT BE A BAD ONE Although we will have to wait to see how the deaths of tons of Ukrainians is eventually blamed on the US when all is said and done. This column from the BBC about how the Biden administration is handling the Ukraine situation is interesting if accurate. It gives a more nuanced look at the alliance building going on behind the scenes from the Biden Administration. This part struck me:
From the start it has consulted with its allies, many of whom were sceptical. There are reports that US diplomats approached Europeans as equals not subordinates. The administration shared highly secret intelligence in a manner that was unprecedented. In the months that led up to the invasion senior White House officials made multiple trips to meet their European counterparts. President Biden made regular phone calls to European leaders.
This part was after the part that outlines Biden many foreign policy failures that preceded this event, but I think this deserves note. I'm okay with being part of the team, if our NATO allies are going to commit as much blood and treasure as we are. Not so much if they aren't.
WAR CRIMES ARE HARDER TO HIDE THESE DAYS WITH THE INTERNET No one knows how the situation in Ukraine will end yet, but the news pouring out of places like Mariupol seems to spell the end of Putin every being treated as a dignified world leader. The words "war crimes' are being bandied about after the Russians bombed a theater with the word "Children" in Russian painted on the sidewalks outside, and now reports of an arts school being bombed. The entire city has been destroyed, as it plays a very important strategic roles in the Russian invasion. How will the world treat Putin after this? I hope the way he deserves.
WESTERN SANCTIONS ARE HAVING A BIG EFFECT ON THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY The Wall Street Journal has this piece on how Russia tried to decouple itself from the world economy after they invaded Crimea and were hit with sanctions. It didn't work. Now Russians are finding themselves in the position of not being able to get the stuff they have been getting for DECADES and it's having a huge impact. Read more here.
GREAT COLUMN ON THE LORI SMITH WEBSITE CASE That will get a ruling by the Supreme Court after she lost at an appeal court. This issue is whether or not she should be forced to make gay wedding websites that violate her deeply held religious beliefs. I have said for some time that I think the gay community is going to be very, very disappointed in these rulings because of the pesky Bill of Rights. Rob Natelson writes about the details and why Ms. Smith has the Constitution on her side.
UNIVERSAL PRE-K DOES NOT HELP CHILDREN IN THE LONG RUN In fact, it seems to HURT children who attend pre-K. A new high quality study shows that children who attend Pre-K do WORSE in school after third grade. You read that right, it does HARM compared to students raised by their own parents and families. By sixth grade, the differences are significant and they include more problems with behavior too. Does this mean Pre-K itself is the problem? Not necessarily, it's more likely tied to the environments these kids are being raised in, but we can stop the drumbeat to give our kids to the state as early as possible. It doesn't do what you think it does, all it does for sure it to enrich teachers unions.
HAVE YOU BEEN CHOWING DOWN ON JUNK FOOD DURING THE PANDEMIC? If so, you are not alone. A new study says many of us have abandoned our healthy habits during the pandemic if we ever had them at all. Read more here.
MARCO RUBIO FINALLY PASSED THE BILL I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR It's the bill that would lock us into one time all year long instead of the stupid spring forward crap we have now. Of course it has to pass the House too, but this is progress.
YOUR PASSWORDS ARE TOO SHORT And honestly, except for my passwords attached to my social media and my banking info, I just don't care anymore. Want to hack my New York Times account? Knock yourself out. This article says you must have a long password to avoid being hacked. Okay.
COLLEGE STUDENTS PRANK THEIR TEACHER He has a policy that if your phone rings, you must answer it on speaker.
WHY ARE WE FIGHTING WITH NEBRASKA OVER WATER? I've been following this story but this is the best explainer I've seen to date. The long and short is, Nebraska is afraid our high level of development is going to take too much of the water they rely on for farming, ranching and living, so they are planning to build a canal that was agreed upon in 1923 that would dramatically increase the amount of water they could get. Apparently Nebraska didn't talk to Governor Polis until right before the announcement was made, and I fully expect a TON of lawsuits and environmental challenges to hold this up for decades, but this doesn't seem very neighborly to me.
THE BABYLON BEE GOT SUSPENDED ON TWITTER And it happened because of this article, naming transwoman Rachel Levine Man of the Year. The Bee says it really doesn't care what Twitter does.
ANOTHER BAD POLL FOR DEMOCRATS This one asking Americans if they are better off today than they were a year ago. They aren't.
WHEN GUYS TRY TO HARD TO BE COOL This is the guy who always sidled up to me at a bar.
JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS IS RIGHT ABOUT SECTION 230 PROTECTIONS Those are the laws that give internet companies the space to do whatever they want as they are currently being applied. Don't want to root out child porn? Section 230 protects us! Don't want to held liable for crimes committed on your platform? Section 230! Want to censor speech you don't like? Uh...yeah that. This article goes over the myriad of ways Big Tech is doing whatever it wants and using Section 230 to justify it.
AND NOW, BABIES EXERCISING WITH DADDIES