JOHN LOTT WRITES A LOT ABOUT GUNS And he is one of the best data hounds I've ever seen when it comes to presenting clear data about guns and their use in society. He's also been dipping his toe into checking some data that could point to some voting irregularities in the last election. I've got him on to talk about both those things at 1, as the Biden Admin is trying to make hay over ghost guns or some such nonsense. Read about his voter study here,
THE WINE YOGI IS BRINGING IN COLORADO WINES AND FOOD And if you want to find any of the stuff we talk about today at 2, just click here.
GRANT'S NEW PODCAST IS UP! And this one is with Scotty Landes is a screenwriter, producer, and co-host of the Bananas podcast with Kurt Braunohler. He wrote the hit movie "Ma," and has written on numerous television shows such as "Workaholics." Scotty lives life to the fullest, whether it be flying a chicken up in a hot air ballon, or jet skiing across America, but he understands the value of the people he has surrounded himself with, and that is what means the most to him. Listen to it by clicking here!
COOL NERDY STUFF IS CHANGING MEDICINE Dave and I were talking about this the other day. Medicine used to have to do time consuming and very expensive things in order to experiment and find new drugs or treatments. A group of nerds who are brilliant have just used AI to solve a problem that will now allow biologists to "skip ahead" by being able to correctly map the proteins that are the building machines of our bodies and pretty much every living thing. It is SUPER cool tech and there is a great explainer on how it works in this article. This is a great article on how this will be used to solve some of medicines biggest mysteries in a timely fashion (we hope) instead of years and years instead. We live in amazing times!
WE OWE DENVER CITY COUNCILLOR KEVIN FLYNN A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE Because he asked the right questions during a debate on banning concealed carry at Denver parks and buildings. His questions about how many crimes were committed by concealed carry holders was spot on, and the data apparently was NOT available, so when he asked what problem this law would solve he got crickets. The bill was tabled and may be dead for now, but perhaps Denver City Council should read this before they go after law abiding citizens. Concealed Carry holders are FAR less likely than any other group to commit crimes. The data is incontrovertible. Here is a little snippet for ya:
By The Numbers
The average male is 18 times more likely to be arrested for committing a non-violent crime than the average male CHL holder.
The average male is 7.7 times more likely to be arrested for committing a violent crime than the average male CHL holder.
The average female is 13 times more likely to be arrested for committing a non-violent crime than the average female CHL holder.
The average female is 7.5 times more likely to be arrested for committing a violent crime than the average female CHL holder.
That from this study on concealed carry in Texas.
WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THE EL PASO GOP? I've been told by MANY people who went to the Assembly that the El Paso GOP delegates, most of whom were associated with Ron Hanks and Joe Oltmann, were disruptive and caused chaos at the Assembly. Now they've been ordered by a judge to redo one of their ballots because an ineligible voter cast a vote for another Oltmann candidate that knocked the incumbent off the ballot. There was a lawsuit, and now they have to redo it. The GOP chair down there Vicki Tonkins appears to be running things however she wants with no regard to electability in the state or the rules overall. What a mess.
A TRANS PRISONER KNOCKED UP TWO WOMEN IN A PRISON IN NEW YORK But remember when we were told not to worry about biological men being housed with women? Now two women,who say they had consensual sex with a trans prisoner, are preggo. I'm sure those kids will have all the best chances to succeed.
WHY THE PRESIDENT'S WORDS MATTER I've relayed the story many times about seeing George W Bush speak after he left office and him saying that he appeared to be an idiot so often because he was so carefully choosing his words because when you're POTUS, every word matters a whole bunch. I wish our current POTUS understood that. His latest move to call what's happening in Ukraine "genocide" has set off a whole chain of events including the White House staff once again trying to walk it back as his "opinion" personally and not officially. Even the Biden friendly AP had to do an explainer on the word and why it matters so much that he used it. And they thought Trump was going to start World War III.
IS YOUR CAR ON THE MOST STOLEN LIST IN DENVER? We now have the dubious honor of being the Auto Theft Capitol of the Nation! How cool! Find out if your car is on the list.
THE COLORADO LEGISLATURE IS WORKING TO RAISE THE PENALTIES AGAIN FOR FENTANYL And I think the compromise worked out is doable, as it makes possession of more than one gram of fentanyl a felony again. Zero tolerance is frankly too hard to manage, as most illegal drugs have some fentanyl in them and we don't have the technology to test just how much is in each pill or whatnot yet. Read the story here, but then read this about the reality of felony drug convictions from DA John Kellner:
Read that whole thread, but the notion that refelonizing fentanyl is going to end up with a bunch of felony convictions for low level addicts is simply wrong. As long as we're not talking mandatory minimums (which is a terrible idea on so many levels) judges and DA's can use diversion and treatment while a felony charge hangs over an addicts head. I've now talked to enough recovering addicts to know this can be the thing that forces them to get help. I'm all for that.
TEACHER'S UNIONS DIRECTING BIDEN'S CHARTER SCHOOL POLICY And isn't it interesting that even though traditional public schools have shown flat or declining achievement since the teachers unions really took over in the 70s, the President is focused like a laser on putting CHARTER schools under the control of government. His latest move would create a standard on race that is ridiculous and unnecessary but a burden designed to stop more charters from popping up. To be clear, our President's wife, who is a Dr., is a longtime teachers union stooge and is directing ALL of this. Every bit of it. It's about giving the unions more control over a system they've destroyed.
WHY IS 9NEW SUING TO UNCOVER A CORA REQUEST BUT DIDN'T SUE TO FIND OUT WHICH TEACHERS SICKED OUT IN DOUGCO? JK, we all know the answer. They love a CORA request when they can beat a potential righty over the head with it, they just don't care to use them if your politics are on their side. Read more here.
UPDATE ON THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT "WHIPPING" BORDER PATROL AGENTS FROM LAST FALL You probably missed the report where they were cleared of all wrongdoing after it was ascertained that they whipped no one. You'd think a story that was THAT BIG would get similar updates now, but no. Only Fox News covered it.
AND NOW A BUNCH OF WEIRD STUFF FROM THE INTERNET
YES, KILLING THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE DID MAKE GAS PRICES HIGHER And this column does an excellent job of explaining how. Please commit this to memory for when some bus riding moron tries to tell you he didn't.
CDC MAKES ANOTHER DUMBASS DECISION ON MASKING ON PLANES Remember when the world shut down because covid was going to kill us but planes were allowed to keep flying because of their fantastic ventilation and the ability to get fresh air in the cabin to be filtered out at floor level? Yeah? Me too. So why can I go maskless to Ball Arena and sit with 20,000 fans for three hours and watch a sporting event but I can't fly without a mask until May 8th? Where is the science behind any of this? Trick question, there is none.
ENJOY HYBRID WORK WHILE IT LASTS I'm talking to more and more people whose companies have adopted some sort of "hybrid" model for work. One guy told me he is allowed to work one day from home, but it has to be the SAME DAY every week. One friend has been told she will be in office Monday through Wednesday only. I am guessing that in one year, assuming nothing cray cray happens with covid, we will all be back to work five days a week. Watch it happen. Is your workplace doing anything cool to incentivize you back into the office?
RED STATES GOT COVID RESPONSE RIGHT And a second study is out to show exactly how. The National Bureau of Economic Research, which is a non-partisan economic geek think tank, did an evaluation based on a few factors: the economy, education policy, and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. So who did best? Republican lead Utah. They didn't shut down schools, they didn't shutdown the economy and yet they kept their mortality low. The state that did the worse? Democratic lead New Jersey. New York ranked #42 while Florida ranked #6. Go figure.
LAS VEGAS SCHOOLS ARE OUT OF CONTROL As they wrestle with a spate of student created violence, including one incident that left a teacher unconscious in her room after school. They are now issuing panic buttons for teachers. But what will they do to the students? If they don't arrest the worst of the worst, they will only get more of the same. I'm guessing they won't do that or someone will scream about the school-to-prison pipeline activists love to try to promote.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE IS AN UNMITIGATED MORON AND NEEDS TO SHUT HER FACE This woman is a disgrace to the Republican party. She is just like AOC in that her "brand" is much more important than good governance. She has raised my ire this time by saying that joining the military is "throwing your life away" and I just can't anymore. I'd like to throw her away. Who does she think is going to protect this country if not Republicans? Does she think soy boy, pajama wearing Obama fans are going to take up arms? They can't even look at a gun without weeping. She is such an ahole.
GO ELON, GO! Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter outright for a crapton of money and they should do it. I bet every Twitter employee is crapping themselves over the possibility of free speech returning to their platform.
RUSSIA IS CRACKING DOWN HARD ON DISSENTERS When it comes to the war in Ukraine. It's stories like this that cement my belief that no matter how messy free speech is, it is far superior to being arrested for expressing your displeasure at government.
IT'S LIKE THEY HAVE A CAMERA IN MY HOUSE When you're home alone and hear a noise.
SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN MAY BE UNFIT TO SERVE And this isn't some right wing criticism, members of her own party are sounding the alarm about her memory issues that seem to be getting worse. I'm no Feinstein fan, but this makes me sad because normally people do not live out their aging years under such a spotlight. She is failing, but her position is too important to leave in the hands of her staff. Read more here.