LARRY REED JOINS US AT 12:30 TODAY As we've got baseball at 1:30 so we're squeezing him in. What might we talk about? The special bond between Poland and Ukraine for one, which you can read about here. He is also gearing up for Milton Friedman's 110th birthday with a column of excellent Friedman quotes for you.
THE COLORADO GOP IS HELL BENT ON SNATCHING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY And I hope every delegate at this weekend's Assembly feels really good about nominating Ron Hanks, who has a ZERO percent chance of beating the very beatable Michael Bennet for US Senate. Luckily businessman Joe O'Dea petitioned his way onto the ballot so there is a decent choice to make and I can only hope normal Republicans will vote for O'Dea to go head to head with Bennet. Find out more about O'Dea by clicking here.
WERE THERE ISSUES WITH VOTING AT THE GOP ASSEMBLY? Danielle Neuschwanger seems to think so, as you can clearly see in this video.
Here's hoping this can be sorted quickly, because if this goes on for long, it just drags down the potential nominee as it stands. I want to strongly urge Danielle from running third party, because that will insure another Polis term in a race that is going to be really hard to win for the GOP anyway, regardless of who the candidate is. That being said, she deserves answers as to what happened here, as do all Republicans in Colorado. They even nominated a guy who isn't even a Republican and isn't licensed in Colorado to be Attorney General candidate. What a dumpster fire.
AND LORD HELP US THE INDICTED TINA PETERS IS THE TOP LINE NOMINEE Can you imagine the hue and cry if the Democrats nominated someone currently under indictment as their candidate??? This is beyond absurd and I will be supporting Pam Anderson in this race for Secretary of State. Find out more about Pam here.
FOR YOU REPUBLICANS WHO THINK HANKS AND PETERS CAN WIN...OPEN YOUR BLEEPING EYES Here is how the Assembly is being reported in the media:
Colorado GOP embraces election conspiracy theories in nominations for secretary of state, Senate
Far-right challengers gaining ground ahead of GOP primary
Do you really think this is going to change? Do you really think this is going to help Republicans get elected in our mostly-blue sometimes purple state? Do you? If you do, you are delusional and need help. Donald Trump doesn't give a rat's ass about you or this state and continuing down this path means you will NEVER be able to do anything about election integrity or mail in ballots or any of the things you care about because you will be permanently out of power in Colorado forever.
THIS AS THE ENTHUSIASM GAP IS IN FAVOR OF REPUBLICANS At least according to this ABC News Poll, which has this nugget in it:
With the elections seven months away, just under 2 in 3 Americans (63%) are very (39%) or somewhat (24%) enthusiastic about voting.
The poll found greater enthusiasm among Republicans, with 55% saying they are "very enthusiastic" about voting compared to only 35% of Democrats -- setting the stage for a challenging election year for Democrats, who will need to increase the intensity on their side of the aisle. On the opposite end, more Democrats (13%) say they are "not enthusiastic at all" about voting in the November elections compared to Republicans (5%).
So yes, this is a winnable election cycle for Democrats if the GOP here doesn't screw it up.
IT'S TIME TO GIVE UP THE MASS TRANSIT FANTASY This is a GREAT column from CompleteColorado.com about the fantasy that we will all rush to ride the trains and buses at some point. We weren't riding before Covid, we're not riding now, and we won't ride in the future because it is inconvenient and slow. This article has the receipts.
AND NOW, THE DARK SIDE OF ELECTRIC CARS And surprise, surprise, they are not "cleaner" and better for the environment or human rights violations.
REMEMBER WHEN DOUGCO SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DAVID RAY DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR A MEETING? And he did so because he was SUPER MAD about Erin Kane getting the Superintendent job so he stayed home in protest. This is really funny because when David Ray was in charge, he sent this stern email to a fellow board member who publicly stated his displeasure with a Board decision:
Weird he would have forgotten that when he's not in charge.
HOW REAL PEOPLE SAVE WILD ANIMALS The commentary as this couple helps an owl that had gotten into their chicken coop is what makes this video magic.
THE BIDEN FAMILY SCHEME IS UNRAVELLING IN DELAWARE As a grand jury is hearing testimony about all of Hunter Biden's shady dealings with Chinese Communists and corrupt Ukrainians his father helped protect. Read it all here, as no other news media outlet seems to know this is happening.
PEOPLE ARE QUITTING THEIR JOBS OVER MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES And if you job makes you depressed or full of anxiety I don't blame you. But are too many people just quitting when things get tough? Or are businesses not recognizing that we are in a different sort of labor market and they need to not be aholes? Read more here.
NEED HELP DURING TAX SEASON? DON'T CALL THE IRS As they only pick up about 20% of the calls made to them. But hey, taxes aren't a big deal, right? And if you procrastinate on doing your taxes, you are not alone, a lot of us do.
IGNORE THAT EXPIRATION DATE ON COVID TESTS This is nice, finding out that expiration dates on at-home covid tests are pretty much garbage. Now authorities are saying don't toss them, they are still good. So why do they have expiration dates again?
WE DON'T CARE IF OUR KIDS ARE GAY We've long past the point where schools can argue that they need to hide sexual orientation from parents, as two-thirds of us say now we wouldn't care if our kids were gay. Being trans has high support, but not as high, and that makes sense to me because of the uncertainty around gender affirming care. Not that we'd be mad or not love them if our kids were trans, but we'd be far less equipped to know what to do with said kid, and parents do think that way.
WILL SMITH GETS A WRIST SLAP FROM THE OSCARS And he won't be able to attend the event for ten years or any other event associated with the Academy. Since that's the only event the Academy has that anyone cares about it's really an Oscar ceremony ban. Who cares?
WHAT AMERICAN COMPANIES HAVE LEFT RUSSIA BEHIND? One group is closely monitoring which companies have decided to stop doing business in Russia, and they aim to pressure ALL American companies to do the same. Here is a list of who has already gone and some who have ceased operations but maintain a footprint. McDonalds has shuttered all of it's company owned stores but is still paying employees to stay home. Will it make a difference? Maybe, but I doubt it.
AS SHOPLIFTING IS NORMALIZED, STORES GET CREATIVE This story from Salt Lake City shows just how far small businesses must go to protect their merchandise from thieving scumbags trying to steal from them. I don't blame them one bit and if I were in Salt Lake I'd shop here extra hard to support their efforts.
EMPLOYEES ARE REDEFINING THE WORK THEY WANT And saying NO to a promotion in exchange for more flexibility and the ability to work remotely. I'm telling you, this is not going away. We have all experienced life with remote work and more free time and WE LIKE IT. Bosses would do well to pay attention to this.
ATLANTA BRAVES SELL RIDICULOUS BURGER AT THE BALLPARK Or I should say they will try to sell the burger that costs a whopping $151. Read about its ridiculous and expensive ingredients here.
A NEW BLOOD TEST FOR CANCER MAY CREATE UNNECESSARY TREATMENTS AND PANIC Fun fact about cancer: it doesn't kill everyone who has it. Some cancers just become a part of your body, not really growing or changing, until you die from something else, including old age! Now that you know this, is a blood test that catches ALL cancer always a good idea? This is the beginning of a new field of study about cancer though, as it will pull some of those "don't need treatment" people into the medical sphere where we can maybe find out why they don't die from the cancer they have. I'm all for getting great information, but I fear this test could lead to fear and stress for some. I'd rather have the data, but that's just me.
SWEARING AT WORK SHOULD BE DONE WITH CAUTION This article is probably why I've never pursued a "professional" or C-Suite sort of corporate role. Apparently cursing in those positions is bad, and frankly, I'm not afraid to curse at work. Obviously not on the air, but yeah, I curse at work. I try not to around people I don't know, but it is what it is. This article says cursing at work can unify people but can also hold you back if you want to climb the corporate ladder.
THESE CONJOINED TWINS ARE QUITE THE INSPIRATION
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BURGER IS LEFT IN A CLOSET FOR 27 YEARS?
OUR SANCTIONS SEEM TO BE HELPING PUTIN'S SUPPORT AT HOME And this is what I was afraid of, as Russian media is protecting the invasion as well. Right now, Putin is seeing his support soar as sanctions make lives so hard for everyday Russians. Who do they blame? Us of course.