8/11/25 Blog: I'm BACK, And Jared Polis Hates Oil And Gas

I'M GLAD I TOOK LAST WEEK OFF And thanks to all of you who said a prayer or sent good energy or just thought kindly of me last week after my total hysterectomy. The surgery itself is really cool, if you want to see an animated version of it here.

I will say I have had some serious brain fog because of the anaesthesia (which I've been told takes one week per hour you were under to fully get out of your system) but other than that and not being able to drive yet, I'm doing FANTASTIC. Thanks again, peeps, for being so great.

POLIS HATES OIL AND GAS AND IS INTENT ON DESTROYING THAT PART OF OUR ECONOMY And the Rocky Mountain Voice has been doing a series on just how much he hates it and just how much damage has been done to our industry here because of it. Rocky Mountain Voice editor Jen Schumann joins me at 1 to talk about the series of article, which you can find here, and here, and here. The damage is far worse that you might already think, and he does not care how much our power bills are because he's rich. Too bad the rest of us aren't. The long and short of it is that Polis has empowered ordered a few agencies to go after small oil and gas producers. It makes sense, as the bigger oil and gas companies would have already filed the federal lawsuit that one smaller provider is now pursuing. Put the little guys out of business and it's easier to deal with the big ones I guess. I'm very interested to see how this federal lawsuit pan out, but this is absolute abuse of government power and it's all being done at the behest of the Governor. I've got Rocky Mountain Voice Editor Jen Schumann on today to talk about it at 1.

HIGH ENERGY COSTS ARE A FEATURE, NOT A BUG To my earlier point, Jon Caldara writes here that the pie-in-the-sky "affordable renewable" energy schemes endorsed and promoted by our Governor are just that, complete fantasy. What will it really cost to "decarbonize" our state? How about 67 times more than they initially thought? Oh, and you and I will be footing the bill. Read it here. This last bit is really important:

Oh, and if it matters, even if we were to reach the state’s unreachable emission reduction it wouldn’t make a difference to global emissions. You’re going to have to talk to China and India to make that happen. But it will economically flatten Colorado and your family.

China's construction of coal fired power plants hit a ten year HIGH last year. India just brought on 38gW of new coal fired power. China is a well known funder of the environmental movement here. I wonder why they would do THAT while building more coal fired plants. It's a mystery.

FEDERAL JUDGE CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT PARENTAL RIGHTS ARE In the case brought by parents of JeffCo students unhappy that students on overnight school trips would be expected to sleep in the same bed as a student of the opposite sex, she ruled that parental rights ONLY apply IN THE HOME. This is so stupid. Read this bit:

“Thus, while parents may have the right to instill moral and religious values in their children on topics like a child’s gender identity, sexual modesty, and interactions with the opposite sex at home,” wrote Rodriguez in an Aug. 7 order, “they have no right to dictate Jeffco’s curriculum around these issues and its efforts to ensure that transgender students are part of an educational environment where all students feel safe and ready to learn.”

She also noted that, in practice, children are “neither being exposed to” nor exposing themselves in bathrooms or locker rooms to potentially transgender students at Outdoor Lab — a week-long residential camp that serves 5,000 participants each year. Even then, families can seek accommodations, such as only attending the camp during the day.

Except there was a very recent Supreme Court decision that clearly states the opposite. This part is what really got me:

“Nothing about Jeffco’s policy prohibits parents from teaching their children certain values,” she wrote. “Requiring implementation of Plaintiffs’ views on sex and gender identity at Jeffco at the expense of making a transgender student feel unsafe or unwelcomed in an educational environment (emphasis mine) falls outside the fundamental right to direct the care and upbringing of one’s child.”

No word on the female students being forced to share a bed and a room with a child with a penis being uncomfortable or feeling unsafe because boy feelings are clearly more important than girl feelings. I hope these parents appeal. This judge is an absolute idiot.

TRUMP WANTS TO CLEAN UP DC And it's about dang time. Homelessness is out of control in the Democrat led city and he's now going to boot them out. If I lived in a surrounding community I'd be very, very concerned. Read more here.

TWO MORE DEAD MOTORCYCLISTS One on I-25 and one on Hampden. I feel like there are more of these stories here and here than I've seen before or maybe I'm paying closer attention? If you ride a motorcycle, please pay attention.

THE DO BETTER DENVER FLAP HIT WHEN I WAS GONE And after the initial flurry of activity from the article by the Denver Post and a follow up column by my friend Krista Kafer, it seems so far is that the only thing that's happened is Do Better Denver got more followers. Jill Oso, one of the people "outed" by the Post for doing CORA requests and submitting videos, wrote a very good response with her side of the story, which you should read here.

I am more convinced than ever that the Johnston Administration was 100% behind this story. Between this and the story of the Governor using agencies to target one oil and gas company and this, it's clear that Democrats have no problem weaponizing whatever they can to get what they want.

THE NEXT EXPOSE: YELP REVIEWS This is a very funny parody piece about the crack reporting done on contributors of Do Better Denver. It's worth your time and will give you a chuckle if you like good snark.

WHY IS MICHAEL BENNET RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR? Dick Wadhams asks the question and it's a good one: why is he even running? Other than hating Trump, he's not really offered a vision for Colorado or how to fix our many, many issues. It's a good question.

HERE COME THE HIPPIES The Rainbow Gathering as it's called is a gathering of a bunch of people who long for the 60s, do a lot of drugs and often leave a mess behind. Now it's coming to San Miguel county during the height of fire season. Yay.

THE COOLEST GUITAR IN HISTORY Must be this one.

REMEMBER WHEN WATCHING FOOTBALL WAS CHEAP? It's not anymore. If you want to watch EVERY NFL game (and really, who has time for that) it's gonna cost you big and Dov Kleiman broke it down.

AROD DID THE INCLINE! I'm super proud of him and now I have to do it before I'm too old.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT STARTS WITH DISCIPLINE I've been talking about this issue for YEARS now. Not just because it's horrible for the kids, but it makes teaching, which is already a hard job, way, way harder. I'm talking about lax discipline in schools that allows disruptive and sometimes dangerous students back in the classroom. Now a new editorial gives some sobering statistics and I want to ask the question: why are parents afraid of school shootings but not afraid that their kid won't be able to learn because of other kids with discipline issues? In a new report by the Common Sense Institute about discipline in schools they found:

Chronic absenteeism affected over 28% of students statewide in 2023-24, with rates as high as 43% in Pueblo’s School District 60 and 40% in Aurora Public Schools.

Colorado’s Springs’ Harrison School District 2 reported 389 “behavioral” incidents in general per 1,000 students — nearly triple the average of the 21 districts analyzed.

Aurora Public Schools reported the most third-degree assaults — specifically, fights — with 27 per 1,000 students. That was 44% more than the next-closest district.

And those districts with higher absenteeism and discipline issues had lower scores across the board. This can't be surprising. You can't learn if you aren't there.

SPEAKING OF FOOL'S FIGHTING In today's episode of why I don't sail Carnival we have this from outside the Long Beach Cruise Port:

This after a fight at the swim up pool at Coco Cay on Royal Caribbean, which you can see here. I don't understand grown people who fight. Especially like this, it's so stupid.

DENVER HAS DONE AWAY WITH PARKING REQUIREMENTS It will be interesting to see which developments include parking spaces (the high end ones) and which ones won't (the not-so high end ones) from here on out, but you better pay attention to whether or not you have a space when you buy or rent downtown. Read more here

This is a crazy idea but not a bad one if I am not expected to bring a gift. But how many people did they invite to have THAT MUCH money left over? Watch below or click here.

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DEMOCRATS EMBRACE CHEATING TO WIN And I wish I were kidding but here we are. As Republicans in states that allow them to do so are rushing to redistrict before the next midterms, Democrats who trapped themselves in states who use things like Fair districting (like we have here unless Dems try to overthrow it) are having a fit. This column by David Strom at HotAir.com lays out just HOW MAD they are and what longtime Dems are suggesting should be done to "fix" things. And I don't mean like they are broken, they mean "fix" things so they will win all the time. I mean, part of me is glad the gloves are off and they are just being honest, but it's really outrageous and would be covered in a much different fashion if Republicans were doing it. Former Rep. Yadira Caraveo is urging Colorado Democrats to crap all over the will of the people in Colorado to embrace partisan gerrymandering now. Of course she is, she's trying to win a seat back. For the record, I hate gerrymandering and want it ended, but I can't force other states to do the right thing. And inevitably, eventually, the pendulum swings back the other way and will be used against the party who does it. Eventually. Vice President JD Vance reminds the world that Blue States have already gerrymandered things quite nicely.

CAN'T LET MEN IN WOMEN'S SPORTS, CANCEL WOMEN'S SPORTS That's what Minnesota Fencing did. In order to get around recent White House orders they have done away with the Women's category completely.

That'll show those stupid dames!

AWFLS REALLY ARE THE WORST EVER Have you heard about AWFLs? They are Affluent White Female Liberals and they HATE YOU. THEY HATE YOU SO MUCH. And they think that all immigrants are here illegally. How do I know? This woman, who I have no idea who she is, had the following to say about people who voted for Trump, but if you are offended by bad language she really loses it at the end so be prepared to be offended. But you should see it, they hate you this much.

WHY ARE THE GAY GAMES A PROBLEM? Apparently there is a kerfuffle because Denver is a finalist for the Gay Games in 2030. What are the Gay Games? They are like a gay olympics with athletic competitions and whatnot. Like what? Well Westword went to the website and found:

It lists 5k and 10k runs, artistic swimming, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, bodybuilding, bowling, cheerleading, cycling, dancesport, darts, diving, dodgeball, eSports, figure skating, flag football, a half and a full marathon, golf, ice hockey, kickball, martial arts, pickleball, powerlifting, roller derby, rugby, soccer, softball, sport climbing, swimming, tennis, track & field, triathlon, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.

Now Tomi Lahren of Fox News has found out they are a thing and made a bunch of snotty comments about them. I have no experience with the Gay Games, but I had a lot of experience with the Gay Rodeo in Orlando I can share. It was a bunch of super fit hot gay cowboys who were an absolute delight to be around and tipped SO WELL. That's it. That's the whole thing. We really need to get over this. By the way, ANYONE can participate in the Gay Games, so her argument that they are asking for separate treatment is a dumb one. It would be a boon to Denver in 2030 to have the Gay Games here. Especially for tipped employees.

CANADA CAN'T KILL PEOPLE FAST ENOUGH Their almost ten year old assisted suicide law is a booming success and they can't keep up with all the people asking to be killed.

REMINDER: BOXING CAN BE FATAL As not one but TWO Japanese fighters in different fights on the same card died after fighting from brain injuries.

WEAR BUG SPRAY IF YOU'RE OUTSIDE Because West Nile Virus can be horrible for some, and you don't know if you're in the SOME group until it's too late. It's also here. With our humid and wet summer, mosquitoes are bad this year.

PETTY TIMES TEN But also funny times ten. President Trump moved Obama's portrait to a restricted area out of the public eye. This is middle school girl stuff by I laughed out loud.

WHY ARE THERE SAND TRAPS ON GOLF COURSES? Watch this to find out, or watch below.