No thank you (from both me and Dragon)
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I need a haircut
Tomorrow I'm going to Advanced Hair Restoration for a "touch-up" about 8 years after my first FUE hair restoration treatment. To be clear, my hair already looks very good but Dr Tania Pauls tells me that a touchup, now that the treatment is far advanced from back when I did it, will look even better so I'm gonna do it.
As part of the process, the "donor" areas of one's head need a very short haircut, kinda like a Marine Corps "high and tight", so a couple of my iHeart colleagues (probably Christine and Kat) will join me in studio during the show to give me a buzz.
This evening we're having a big party for KOA's 100th birthday so they might leave some hair on the back of my head saying "100" (and then we'll get rid of that after the party tonight.)
I have no idea why I'm doing this publicly but such is the life of a talk show host
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Just One Thing: The Sydney Sweeney uproar
Because I am an adult, I didn't really hear anything about the ad campaign from American Eagle (for their jeans/denim) featuring the rather attractive actress Sydney Sweeney. Turns out, the tongue-in-cheek use of "Sydney Sweeney has great genes jeans" brought out an amazing barrage of ugly people calling it "Nazi s**t", as if it's some sort of Nazi propaganda for a hot blue-eyed blonde to be happy about the genetics that got her there...or the jean-etics that highlight her assets.
'Jeans' versus 'genes' pun in Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ads puts off some consumers | AP News
I'm glad to notice that lots of people are pushing back against the idiots. Below are three videos showing what the fuss is about, then examples of idiots followed by examples of rationality. (To be clear, I'm sure there are actual white supremacists among some of the folks supporting her but ideas -- i.e. that it's OK for a girl to look healthy and sexy even if she's blonde -- aren't responsible for the people who believe them.)
Oh, remember this? The American Eagle ad is obviously a direct take-off from this...and of course this raises some serious questions about how a young Brooke Shields was treated.
One More Thing: The dentist is (very) guilty
Not a surprising verdict. I think a proper sentence would be to slowly (and painfully) poison him to death
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Today's Guests
Toward the end of the show, if all goes according to plan, I'll be joined by Colorado Governor Jared Polis and by Mark Ferrandino, Exec Dir of the Colorado State Office of Planning and Budgeting, former head of the CO Dept of Revenue, and former Speaker of the State House. We'll discuss the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill on the state budget, whether there will be a special session, and how they think the legislature will handle a likely decline in state revenues of over a billion dollars.
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Ryan Ansloan is Senior Program Counsel for Policy Reform at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (The FIRE). We'll discuss their 2025 report on free speech on college campuses. The good news is that there's been some major improvements. The bad news is that there are still too many colleges that stifle free expression.
Spotlight on Speech Codes 2025 | The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
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Other Stuff
This is a big deal for Colorado, though you'd also think that in a state that has expanded government so much and so fast that it should be possible to find a few percent to save: Colorado lawmakers must cut $1 billion from state’s current budget because of GOP federal tax and spending bill - The Colorado Sun
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Potentially important for the long-term relationship between the US and Israel. It's important to remember that Hamas wants Palestinians to starve and suffer and that these idiot young MAGA folks might as well be siding with the Third Reich. Gaza starvation widens MAGA's rupture with Israel
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Truly terrible policy with MUCH more downside than upside for Americans: Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries – The White House
Copper prices got crushed on Wednesday, all the way back down to where they were before any tariff talk, because the tariffs announced yesterday were on a much narrower segment of copper imports than had been threatened and does not include ore or concentrate or refined copper or cathodes. Per the White House, "The Proclamation imposes universal 50% tariffs on imports of semi-finished copper products (such as copper pipes, wires, rods, sheets, and tubes) and copper-intensive derivative products (such as pipe fittings, cables, connectors, and electrical components)".
But just because the tariffs aren't as bad as they could have been doesn't mean they're not bad. Anyway, the market was expecting so much worse that the sell-off on Wednesday, with futures down 19%, was the biggest one-day decline on record.
Trump issues blitz of tariff announcements on copper, Brazil, small-value imports | Reuters
Copper - Price - Chart - Historical Data - News
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A creepy…but interesting…story: Hospital says it didn't agree to deactivate inmate Byron Black's heart device before execution | AP News
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The way sports betting has evolved has allowed this kind of thing to happen. To be clear, it isn't proven that spot fixing actually happened here, but they're investigating:
Baseball’s ‘Spot-Fixing’ Investigation Now Includes a Star Closer - WSJ
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase on leave over gambling inquiry - ESPN
Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal - Wikipedia
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"Returnless returns" do make me feel better about the vendor regardless of their reasoning: The Surprising Perk of ‘Returnless Returns’: Why Brands Are Letting You Keep Unwanted Items - WSJ
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Isn’t this how we got Spiderman? Radioactive wasp nest found at site where US once made nuclear bombs | AP News
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This seems like fun: Etsy Witches Charge for Jobs, Sunshine and Knicks Wins. Business Is Booming. - WSJ
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What would you need to feel "comfortable"? And how about to feel wealthy? How much money do you need to be financially 'comfortable'?
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I'm going to try to get Sen Lee on the show about this: Lee Introduces America First Deregulation for Coastal Trade - Mike Lee US Senato...
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Don't get scammed when parking in Denver: Scammers are posting fake QR codes on Denver parking signs
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Today's Videos
Why is this person just watching as his/her home is at risk of catching on fire?
Moms need juice too!