STEPHEN MOORE HAS BEEN STUDYING THE STATE RESPONSES TO COVID And he and couple of other eggheads did this economic report on the devastating impact of government choices on covid had in various states. I talk to him at 1 about it. Read the report here.
HEIDI GANAHL IS ON THE BALLOT! And she got there twice, once by petitioning on and once by getting enough delegates at the State Assembly a couple of weeks ago. She faces Greg Lopez in the primary and I believe Greg gave himself a politically fatal wound by announcing he would pardon Tina Peters if she's convicted, it's Heidi for me. Find out more about Heidi and support her campaign by clicking here.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT RON HANKS AND TINA PETERS AND JOE OLTMANN ONE MORE TIME? Because I am still getting emails from Tina Peters supporters who really believe that a woman currently UNDER INDICTMENT is going to beat Jena Griswold. Please understand that I am in support of making our elections more secure in Colorado and other places so everyone will know their vote matters and it matters very much. That being said, there is nothing that can be done to that effect if Republicans remain a hopeless minority in Colorado as they are now. And nominating people who are running on a "Trump really won" platform in a state where Trump lost by 13.5% is not going to get any Republicans elected, so your fears about voting integrity will NEVER be addressed EVER in this state. I believe Joe Oltmann is a grifter who is more than likely lining his own pockets by lying to disappointed Trump supporters about his pile of evidence of voter fraud he allegedly has. He's being sued by Dominion Voting Systems and rather than produce this evidence he keeps not showing up for court and writing more inflammatory stuff on Telegram. Ron Hanks is even worse, because he doesn't seem to have perfected the grift that Oltmann has, he's just running around saying Trump won. If you currently support these people, consider that your disappointment about the last election has clouded your judgment and these people are not electable statewide. If you believe they are electable statewide, please email me how you think that is going to happen to mandy@koanewsradio.com and I'll show you where you are wrong.
FORMER MAYOR PENA TAKES ON DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE UNION And he does so because even Democrats know the current Boards actions, which are all about protecting and giving power to the teachers unions, are indefensible. He lays out the absolutely TERRIBLE test scores for children especially black and brown children and then points out that the Board has not even had a DISCUSSION about how to help kids. Read this part:
Our district desperately needs a new strategic plan that provides more flexibility and autonomy for our educators to help them dramatically advance academic achievement in our schools. We need a strategy which makes clear how our schools will begin to recover from the interrupted learning and trauma caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. And we need to know how the district will prioritize academic excellence for Black and Latino students.
Instead of prioritizing a strategic plan (after the prior plan expired two years ago), and focusing on our students, the board is distracted by dismantling the work their predecessors did for the benefit of increasing flexibility for educators. And, in the process, the board members are shirking their responsibility as elected leaders to meaningfully engage families, educators, students and community leaders.
To be clear, what he is saying here is that we need to free teachers from union restrictions. The phrase "more flexibility and autonomy" means letting schools and teachers decide how to teach the kids in their building without union contracts or interference. Instead, they took put innovation schools back under union control. This board is bought and paid for by the unions.
SINGLE AND READY TO MINGLE? WATCH OUT FOR STDS We are seeing a huge outbreak in Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Colorado, with Chlamydia, Syphilis, and Gonorrhea making a huge comeback recently. It would be helpful to know some demographic info about who is getting these, but I found this information about which demographics are being hit hardest. Yes, young people are hit hardest, but STD rates for people over 60 have been on the rise for years. To be safe, wrap that bad boy up! You know what I mean.
YES, THE COLORADO LEGISLATURE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE WITH FENTANYL And rather than fix it, they are nibbling around the edges pretending that anyone caught with fentanyl will automatically be charged with a felony (that's not what the law says or would say). This is a GREAT editorial by a candidate for CD-7 Tim Reichert that breaks down the numbers to show just how deadly the bill passed in 2019 really was.
DEMOCRATS JUST MADE IT WAY EASIER FOR TEACHERS UNIONS TO BUY ELECTIONS Because even as they capped individual donations to a school board candidate at $2500, they raised the limits of "small donor committees" to $25,000. Who makes up those "small donor committees"? If you guessed teachers unions you'd be right. This means that teachers unions can spend huge sums on candidates while normal people will have to struggle to raise those funds. Unless, of course, we create our own small donor committees too. Just a thought.
A CHEF REVIEWS FOUR FROZEN PIZZAS And you can see which one the chef liked the best here. I agree, by the way.
THE KIFFNESS HAS A SINGING BABY FOR YOU
GUN BUYBACKS DON'T DO ANYTHING TO REDUCE GUN CRIME The short answer on whether or not gun buy back programs do anything to reduce crime is no. Not at all. So says...CNN?
PHILADELPHIA'S NEW INDOOR MASK MANDATE ISN'T GOING WELL And businesses in other places would do well to pay attention to this. As the City of Brotherly Love instituted ANOTHER mask mandate things are different this time, with businesses and citizens suing over the new mandate. They say the city doesn't have the authority to institute the ban, and that the board that put in in place overstepped it's bounds. Here's hoping they are successful to set a precedent that would dissuade other cities from doing this. We are all done with covid restrictions.
HOW MUCH TIME DID YOU SPEND DOING YOUR TAXES? Americans will spend 6.5 BILLION hours doing their taxes this year. You read that right, BILLIONS. This is one of the reasons I am a big fan of the Fair Tax, it would eliminate this entire exercise. Here are some last minute tips if you waited until the last minute.
TRYING TO FIND A LAST MINUTE TAX PREPARER? Be careful and don't just hand your stuff to ANYONE. Here are some red flags you need to be aware of.
COULD MRNA TECH FIX HEART ATTACK DAMAGE? That is the goal of new research happening that could be done on humans in the next two years. The goal is to use the same tech the covid vaccines use to either stop cells from dying during an attack or help them repair themselves after an attack.
IF SIZE MATTERS, U.S. MEN MAY HAVE AN ISSUE Because their members are only 59th in the world when it comes to average length. Read more here, if only to make sure you beat the average. (You know you're going to look, just do it.)
WANT AN IDYLLIC RETIREMENT? CHECK OUT PORTUGAL Portugal has been on my list for a long time, and now it's even higher up to visit. Apparently it's quite the retirement destination, with affordable rents, good healthcare and a friendly visa program for expats with some income. Read more here.
THE LYRIDS METEOR SHOWER SHOULD BE LIT THIS WEEKEND And yes, I saw what I did there. Read all about.
DEFUND THE POLICE CHAMPION SPENDS 300K ON PRIVATE SECURITY Because Rep. Cori Bush isn't stupid, she doesn't want to be unprotected, she just wants you to be unprotected. Read all about her massive expenditures as she gives speeches on how bad cops are here.
IF YOU WANT TO BUY A KIA GET YOUR CHECKBOOK OUT Because they make up 8 of ten of the biggest price increases in the new car shopping market. The others are one Hyundai and the Chevy Spark which is still hella cheap. Read the rest here.
WE'LL CALL THIS ONE: IF YOU'RE GONNA BE STUPID YOU BETTER BE TOUGH At least the snapping turtle part.
A PROFESSOR ACCUSED OF MISGENDERING WINS BIG And good, I'm glad this has started and I hope more sue over crap like this. A professor was punished for refusing to call a male student who said he identified as female by female pronouns. The professor sued, and he's been awarded $400,000 by the courts.
BETTER SCHOOLS ARE NOT THE KEY, BETTER FATHERS ARE This is a GREAT column about comments made by Coach Tony Dungy (who is an outstanding human, Christian and dedicated family man) remarking that kids need fathers. This should not be a controversial statement, but it sure was. This author picked up those comments and shares about his own life and how the lack of a father affected him. Fathers matter, and not just for child support.
AND NOW, A DUDE PUNCHES A MEAN KANGAROO