Just One Thing
I wish it weren't the case that talking about mass murder had an emotional impact on me and perhaps impacts my show a bit, but it does. Yesterday, I felt some combination of a little angry and more than a little sad, mostly about what actually happened in the Springs, but amplified by truly horrendous behavior by so many people whether on the KOA text line or on Twitter. (Many on Twitter weren't interacting with me; I was just spectating.)
A good friend of mine who holds elected office sent me this yesterday: "Tyranny is exploding. A million individual tyrants. Each has his own broadcast channel. Each wants it his way, now. None have any understanding of the constitution, law or the process."
A leftist prevaricator on Twitter named Laura Chapin spent Tuesday afternoon calling my friend and occasional radio colleague (and very smart and supremely nice person) Krista Kafer a "bigot" and a "monster" for her Denver Post article which was a rather analytical, almost academic, take on the tension between religious freedoms and sexual orientation: Religious freedom is under attack from the left (denverpost.com). When I called Ms. Chapin out on her outrageously hyperbolic rhetoric, she then said that the timing of Krista's article was "ghoulish". I checked the date/time on the article (which you can check for yourself in that link) and the article was published on Thursday. Apparently, some folks are so full of hate that they'll call someone a "monster" for disagreeing with them about how certain rights should be prioritized (e.g. religious freedom vs anti-discrimination law) and call an article "ghoulish" because the columnist had the temerity to write something that touched on LGBT issues two days BEFORE a horrific mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs.
People like Laura cause me to have very little hope for this country, or at least less than I used to. To be clear, there are LOTS of terrible people on Twitter on the right as well. It's not a partisan thing. It's the a-holes versus the decent people. On Twitter, the a-holes are winning although they often pretend that they're decent people. We know better.
All that said, I also need to do better: better at not letting that sort of person have any sort of impact on my mood or my show. Yes, talking about mass murder for days in a row is a gut-punch that you won't understand if you don't have to do it. I've had to do it too many times. The first time I was ever on KOA for a few days in a row was to help cover the Aurora theater shooting. I could not believe how much that experience drained me. In a way, I don't want THAT part to change. What I mean is: I hope that I never have to talk about another mass murder, but I don't hope that it gets so common or my heart gets so hardened that it no longer brings me down. It should bring me down.
But as for the terrible people on social media or on other digital platforms that I may from time to time interact with, I'm going to do much better at ignoring them.
Meanwhile, on a different subject (even though this is "Just One Thing") here's an intense and lovely story: https://www.commonsense.news/p/the-cancer-stories-you-never-hear
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Today's Guests
Lakshman Guruswamy is professor emeritus of law at the University of Colorado Law School. One of his areas of expertise is environmental law and we're going to discuss the recent end of the ridiculous "COP27" climate conference in Egypt which ended with a US cave-in, promising to send your tax dollars to developing countries in the name of "climate reparations". Ugh.
The Other Third | Global Energy Justice Initiative – Addressing Energy Poverty
Biden Signs Up for Climate Reparations - WSJ
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Paul Beale is a physics professor at the University of Colorado and my most frequent show guest. Today we'll talk about the end of the "network-crashing leap second" for at least a century.
Paul Beale | Physics | University of Colorado Boulder
Network-crashing leap seconds to be abandoned by 2035, for at least a century | Ars Technica
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Other Stuff
I suspect the strike will be averted but if's a huge (albeit probably short-lived) risk to our economy if it isn't. Also it puts the wildly pro-union Biden administration in a tough spot: President of largest rail union predicts congressional intervention after ‘no’ vote - POLITICO
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This is just so disgusting, buying votes (far before an election) by piling more debt on our children: White House extends student loan debt payment pause to June | Fox Business
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This fact is a central part of Peter Zeihan's recent book, "The End of the World is Just the Beginning": China’s Birth Rate Plumbs Low Not Seen in Decades, Government Reports - Caixin Global
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Is this the "beyond" part? Beyond Meat factory riddled with mold, other dirty conditions: leaked documents (nypost.com)
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Amazon's "Alexa" smart speakers are very popular...and an ENORMOUS financial loser for the company: Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose $10 billion this year | Ars Technica
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Bitcoin production requires more energy by far than does the operation of any other cryptocurrency. The combination of low BTC prices and high energy prices is deadly for firms whose business is "mining" the cryptocurrency: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/22/bitcoin-mining-giant-core-scientific-ended-october-with-32m-in-cash
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New record for the most expensive drug treatment in the world: Australia's CSL prices hemophilia gene therapy at $3.5 million | Reuters
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For the nerdiest of Supreme Court followers only: A Typology of Supreme Court Justices - by Ilya Shapiro (substack.com)
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That looks very painful. I wish Jay a full and speedy recovery, though you'd have to expect some permanent scarring. Jay Leno discharged from hospital nine days after suffering severe burns | Daily Mail Online
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The stuff you could do if you were Mickey Mantle: Sports auction includes a dirty note from Mickey Mantle (nydailynews.com)
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Kevin McCarthy doesn't only have to cover his right flank: GOP centrists prepare to ‘flex our muscles’ - POLITICO
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Play stupid games, win stupid prizes: Tourist sparks outcry after climbing Mayan pyramid in Mexico (nypost.com)
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Today's Videos
Babylon Bee: Fired Twitter Employee Applies for First Real Job
Because life doesn't have enough otter videos, and DEFINITELY not enough videos with otters making hilarious sounds