Thurs pre-vaca Blogcast: A perfect monolith; Unemployed programmers

THE BEAST (the blizzard, not the war movie)

I expect that at least some, and maybe a lot, of today's show will be taken up with stories from listeners and from the KOA News team about the major storm that's developing over Denver as I'm writing this on Thursday night. We'll see whether we get more or less or about the same as forecasts predict...which is a LOT.

This picture is from 4:15 AM at my house this morning...moon so bright that it looks almost like daytime:

STAY SAFE!

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Nerd out with me on this Pi Day!

What is Pi Day? Things to know about the holiday celebrating an iconic mathematical symbol - CBS News

Did you know that Congress actually designated "Pi Day" as an official thing? H.Res.224 - 111th Congress (2009-2010): Supporting the designation of Pi Day, and for other purposes. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Most Pi places memorized | Guinness World Records

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Heading to Egypt with listeners!

Egypt is on the "bucket list" of quite a lot of people...has been for me for years, and apparently for Mrs. Redbeard as well. So my family and I and Dragon and Mrs Redbeard are traveling to the Land of the Pharaohs. We'll visit the pyramids, Abu Simbel, take a Nile River cruise, ride camels, and spend some time in the 3rd-largest city in Africa. (Cairo has over 10 million people.) If all goes according to plan, I'll be back on the air on Monday, March 25...wildly jet-lagged but looking forward to talking with you again!

Today's Guests

Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges, served as the former Commanding General of US Army Europe (2014-2017) and currently serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics and is a Distinguished Fellow with the European think-tank GLOBSEC. 

Ben Hodges | CEPA

Former US Army general Ben Hodges predicts failure in Ukraine could lead to collapse of Russian Federation - ABC News

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Elan Wenzel is Chef and owner of Element Knife Company in Stanley Marketplace. I stopped into the store a couple weeks back and was fascinated by the knives. And I like giving some attention to small businesses trying to make a go of it in niches that require real expertise. Elan is a chef who loves knives and I think that every kitchen should have a couple of fantastic high-end (probably Japanese) knives. Stop in and get yourself something.

Element Knife Company: One Stop Shop for Home and Pro Chefs

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Attorney Mike Burg is a founding partner/shareholder of the Burg Simpson law firm, one of my valued morning-show partners. We'll discuss their new lawsuit against the Gaylord Resort (out near DIA).

http://burgsimpson.com

Gaylord hotel accident: Resort will investigate itself after HVAC collapse | FOX31 Denver (kdvr.com)

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Other Stuff

I probably won't cover this on the show, but you should read it. And focus on science and the truth, not on COVID. COVID is just the raft that the important message is being carried on: Harvard Tramples the Truth | City Journal (city-journal.org)

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There is soooooo much wrong with this: Colorado rental car fee hike would raise money for Front Range and mountain passenger rail systems - The Colorado Sun

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This was inevitable, and there's gonna be a lot less demand for computer programmers, especially mediocre ones.

I’d say this poses a particularly large threat to India and Ukraine and other places where there are very large numbers of folks who have been able to use programming skills to earn better livings than they could in almost other existing field of endeavor in their countries.

Blog (cognition-labs.com)

Cognition AI's Devin Assistant Can Build Websites, Videos From a Prompt - Bloomberg

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I'm for free speech everywhere all the time, especially on college campuses. But it sure is disappointing that so many college students only decide they want more free speech when schools (finally) decide that there are limits on public expressions of wanting dead Jews: Global tensions help fuel free speech debate on college campuses (axios.com)

Meanwhile: Why This Berkeley Professor Is Sleeping in His Office | The Free Press (thefp.com)

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I'm sure they'll underestimate the cost of this one too: Bill to overhaul Colorado’s child care subsidy program advances - Chalkbeat

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Some stuff I owe you from earlier in the week:

Sure it does: Finding some hostages as victims of sexual violence doesn't justify Israeli attacks, UN envoy | AP News

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Love this story: Rare gray whale, extinct in the Atlantic for 200 years, spotted near Nantucket (msn.com)

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Biden Plays Whack-a-Bank With ‘Junk Fee’ Rules - WSJ

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Some people said that buying Family Dollar was a bad move back at the time: Dollar Tree to close nearly 1,000 stores | AP News

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Gotta be careful with data: ‘Laissez-Faire’ Sweden Had the Lowest Mortality in Europe From 2020–2022, New Analysis Shows - Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org)

But:

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I think this is backwards thinking. I think there is upside to black students if they’re enrolled in colleges in a system where people know they got there by merit, whether academic, athletic, both, or some other merit, rather than by political race-based favoritism.

NAACP urges student-athletes to reconsider Florida colleges after state eliminates DEI programs | AP News

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Same-sex parents could conceive children with shared DNA using skin cells: fertility study (nypost.com)

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The modern-day Tulip Mania: Pots of Gold: The World’s Most Expensive House Plants (getpocket.com)

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Samurai Who Weren’t Japanese - Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org)

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Today's Videos

Obviously, this:

A "perfect monolith" appears (again)

A ‘Perfect Monolith’ Appears in Wales – DNyuz

Vacation!

Off to the Land of the Pharaohs

OK, gang, that's it for this week and I'll be out next week, traveling with my family and Producer Dragon and Mrs. Redbeard and a few dozen listeners to Egypt. Probably won't post to the blog while I'm away but I'll tell ya a bunch of cool travel stories when I'm back on 3/25.