by Charles Bonniwell | Mar 4, 2022 | Editorials
Dr. Dawn Comstock, Former Executive Director, Jefferson County Public Health
Colorado’s politically savvy Governor Jared Polis was the first Democrat governor to declare the COVID-19 pandemic to be over and ended all state mandates. Of course, 75% of Coloradans remained under mask and other mandates imposed by local health authorities, so nothing really changed other than Polis being hailed by the left wing and right wing as a man of the people.
Our progressive City and County of Denver loved its mask mandates, social distancing, and lockdowns. Denver’s problem was if all the surrounding counties of Jefferson, Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas did not follow suit the slow ruination of downtown and the city would be accelerated with businesses and residents deserting it for the suburbs.
That was why the rise of the Colorado health officials was so important. Dr. John Douglas of Tri-County Health (Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas) and Dr. Dawn Comstock of Jefferson County Health, along with their respective boards, could lockdown and mask up those counties without any say of the citizens and their elected officials and they did so with relish.
No amount of public protestation mattered. Schools went to “virtual learning” (meaning no learning at all) to the delight of schoolteachers’ unions who demonstrated that their highest goal is to be able to get full pay with little or no work. Parents did notice that Catholic and other private schools stayed open without any increase in COVID-19, but their teachers were not unionized.
Dr. John Douglas, Executive Director, Tri-County Public Health
It did not seem to matter to Dr. Douglas that he was slowly destroying the state’s largest and best-known health department. First Douglas County, then Adams County, and finally even Arapahoe County withdrew from Tri-State Health destroying the jobs of over 600 health professionals and staff. The most employable of that health department have exited to new jobs while the people filling those vacancies were so substandard that having Tri-County on your resume is now considered a black mark.
Dr. Douglas did not seem to care as mandates and lockdowns were more important to him than anything else. It did not seem to matter to him that masks and lockdowns appear not to slow the spread of the virus or its severity, and may have caused more deaths from suicide and other causes than it saved. Being 68-years-old Dr. Douglas did not have to worry about getting a new job as he can retire on a highly generous public pension and his co-workers be damned.
His counterpart in Jefferson County, Dr. Comstock is not quite as fortunate. She was hired in February of last year replacing Dr. Mark Johnson who retired as the head of Jefferson County Health after over 30 years to become the president of the Colorado Medical Society. He went out with unanimous praise and honors.
Dr. Comstock got her board to reinstate the all-important mask mandate in the fall of 2021 along with other anti-COVID measures. She didn’t seem to notice that the public had turned against her. She even went to court to try to force three private Christian schools to bow down to her mask mandate. She was the only witness in a daylong hearing with the court packed with parents who did not want their kids masked all day long, especially since the cloth masks were deemed ineffective in stopping the spread of the virus. She won the court battle but lost the war.
She was hauled before the Jefferson County Board of Health on February 7 for a two-hour executive session where she apparently refused to back down on the mask mandates and was required to resign. The Board then quickly lifted the mandates.
Because of health official tyrants like Drs. Douglas and Comstock many people in Colorado have learned not to entrust their lives to unelected bureaucrats even if they have the appellation “Dr.” before their names.
Lord Acton’s admonition that “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” applies to all manner of men and women no matter what their profession.
by Peter Boyles | Mar 4, 2022 | Blasting with Boyles
March 2022 Website 
I am no longer a fan of professional sports, with the one exception of pro wrestling, the only true sport left. I have triggered up tens of thousands of Broncos fans in my award-winning career as Denver’s most hated on-air radio guy.
How many times have you sat in a bar, listened to one of your relatives who’s been at the stadium, listened to sports talk radio, or heard your drunk Uncle Billy say, “My Denver Broncos” or ladies and gentlemen, your Denver Broncos? As I’ve said before and will say again, if you really think these are your Denver Broncos, try and go to the game for free. Or better yet, ask for a free hamburger, beer, or even to park for free, and find out how quickly this is not your team.
Now your Broncos are officially on sale. Most people that I respect believe they will carry the greatest price in North American sports history. The Bowlen trust, God, would I like to be a part of that, has valued the team, according to my close personal friends, right under $4 billion. The last huge sale that I could find was the New York Mets, which sold for $2.4 billion. However, they play more games. Checking on the internet, the Carolina Panthers sold for $2.2 billion in 2018. You know orange and blue is going to go for a hell of a lot more than that.
Let’s turn to the beloved Bowlen family, who cut each other’s throats and couldn’t get along, making the movie Knives look like a documentary. If you remember, Pat Bowlen bought the Denver Broncos from another lucky sperm club member, Edgar Kaiser. I’ve read he paid $74 million. And remember, Edgar tried to buy it back. And they chased him down the street like a red-headed stepson. Edgar passed away in 2012, Mr. Bowlen in 2019, so now, to the best of my knowledge, there are seven who have the golden ticket in the Willy Wonka bar.
Now remember you paid for their brand-new stadium. I remember once asking if people wanted to kick in and buy me a new radio station. I was turned back. So how much tax subsidy did you personally pay? How about sales tax? The Coors Field tax that was left over? The Metro Sports District? All of this now goes to the family. I’ve said this before, I can’t do math and I can’t do marriage but if you divide the magnificent seven into four billion it works out to $571 million each.
Now the obvious question is what about me? As I’ve heard many women say to me what about my needs? Should you and I get part of the action? Should we be getting a portion of the sale? I love the idea of supporting the blood of the city who screamed at the Glendale PD, “I know the mayor.”
I know the mayor, too. Both in Glendale and Denver. For what it’s worth, I watched one officiate the marriage of the other. So how does that entitle me to jack? Take care of yourselves.
Go Broncos.
— Peter Boyles
by Regan Bervar | Jan 21, 2022 | Editorials
“When we clutter our lives with imagined obligations, unnecessary activities, and distractions that only kill time, we dilute the power of our lives.” — Anne Katherine
by Luke Schmaltz
For the last 200,000 years, the human psyche has been overarchingly concerned with the physical world — aka the Outernet.
Even after the invention of the printing press in 1440, the focus of most humans was on food, water, shelter, weather, the changing seasons, the nighttime sky, flora, fauna, and other groups of nearby people.
The fascination with inward worlds, other than stories passed on through hieroglyphs and the oral tradition, most certainly began with the written word. Yet, it did not explode across the mindscape of civilization until complex ideas could be produced en masse. While the printing press has most certainly been an inimitable tool in the furthering of civilization through the sharing of information, it also gave rise to the desire for an ever more efficient way of exchanging ideas.
Progress In Overdrive
The printing press, while part of the Outernet, could be considered the proto-Internet.
Then, in the 1990s, the rising popularity of a global computer network — aka the Internet — began to deliberately eclipse the Outernet. In a span of less than 30 years, this phenomenon has completely changed how most Americans interact — not only with each other — but with the world around them. For some, the importance of the Outernet is becoming increasingly dismissed, as folks who are immersed in the digital world delve deeper into a set of stimuli which the human brain and nervous system are not equipped to handle on a full-time basis.
In scenarios of extreme overuse — such as video game addiction — too much screen time can ruin your life, and at the very least, can waste large portions of it while infecting you with twin cases of depression and social ineptitude. Yet, just as the bastard children of the printing press are tabloid newspapers, social media platforms are the unholy spawn of the Internet.
According to a June 2021 report on a study performed by the Reboot Foundation, “There is a disconnect between how people see the impact of social media on society and how they view it on an individual level. Despite their concern about social media’s impact on public mental health, most individuals seem ambivalent about the role of social media in their own lives. To put it bluntly, everyone seems to think their own relationship to social media is healthier than the average. This was clear in the survey. Over 70 percent of users said they would not give up their social media accounts for less than $10,000. Even more surprising, more than 40 percent said they would give up their TV, car, or pet before they disabled their social media pages.
Instead of gaming, thumb-typing, and scrolling all day — you can learn music or do something otherwise productive.
But despite being open to giving up Fido for Facebook, only about a third of respondents reported taking steps to limit their social media use, like turning off phones periodically or limiting content on their feeds.”
A Host Of Hindrances
While social media and gaming are among the most popular Internet/screen time fixations, these activities are rivaled (and accompanied) by instant messaging, email, gambling, watching videos, shopping, banking, streaming music, swiping through dating apps, and the list goes on and on. Plainly put, many people are spending too much time online and in front of LED screens. In doing so, they are becoming increasingly depressed and unable to effectively interact with the Outernet. Thankfully, there are a few strategies which, if applied deliberately, can help you extract yourself from the digital world and rediscover the other world that has been waiting just outside your field of vision.
Using the alarm clock app on your cell phone can seriously diminish the quality of your sleep.
Wake Up With Analog
Before you go to bed, consider turning your phone off for the night and using the antiquated yet time-tested method of awakening to an alarm clock. This way, you can remove the temptation of scrolling through your Instagram feed as you lay in bed at night and waking up to a bunch of notifications of things that happened while you were asleep.
Turn Them Off
Speaking of annoyances, if you disable your visual and audible notifications permanently, you can minimize how often you are distracted by an incoming email, a social media like, or an instant message. By doing so, you can take back autonomy over your time and your ability to focus on the task at hand rather than constantly being pulled away from what you are doing by tiny digital signals.
Put It Down
Whether your smartphone is glued to your hand 24/7, or if you are a semi-casual user, it is important to look forward while crossing the street, to drive undistracted, and to take in a sunset without checking your email. Plus, if you go for a walk without your phone, you might end up having a conversation with a neighbor, watching the fall leaves flutter down from the tree branches, or avoid walking into one of these trees because you’re staring down at your phone.
Replace The Habit
Too much screen time, gaming, and social media can be bad for one’s health.
If gaming is becoming a full-time fascination and you haven’t showered for a week or seen the sun for as long, perhaps it’s time for a new hobby. Since you love the competitive, exciting nature of video games, consider hiking, martial arts, team sports, or regular trips to local amusement parks. If you’re a computer nerd at heart, perhaps applying your aptitude by learning to write code is a viable pursuit. If your imagination craves stimulation, you can forgo your Instagram feed for a dip into a thick, handheld piece of fantasy fiction — aka a good book.
Use Your Hands
Incessant scrolling, texting, and game console handling are all manual skills which take repetition and coordination to develop. What they do not develop, however, is an auditory talent which can help you connect with others. Rather than twiddling with your phone and fidgeting with your keyboard all day, consider learning to play the guitar, the piano, the harmonica, or some other musical instrument. These highly cerebral endeavors have much of the same effort/reward effect as gaming without the negative, addictive elements. Plus, playing music carries a far more long-term sense of accomplishment and fulfillment than just about any online activity.
It is a fact that the Internet is here to stay and is essential to the functions of modern life. But the Internet is predated by the Outernet, which the human psyche is far more attuned to for achieving genuine happiness and personal fulfillment. By all means keep your phone, just turn it off every once in a while, gaze out the window, and see what happens.
by Regan Bervar | Jan 21, 2022 | Feature Story Bottom Left
“Politicians wanted to mine the Grand Canyon for zinc and copper, and Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘No.’” – Douglas Brinkley
by Luke Schmaltz
For the last century, the internal combustion engine has been the driving force behind the industrialized world. But, just as landlines were (mostly) replaced by cell phones, the use of fossil fuels to transport people is being systematically eclipsed by electric vehicles (EVs).
Currently, most major auto manufacturers are offering an EV model, and nearly all have announced a plan to become carbon neutral within the next two-to-three decades. The EV revolution has introduced a new type of propulsion technology into the mainstream — the lithium ion battery. Additionally, the EV marketplace is abundant — practically saturated — with dozens of startup companies looking to carve out a niche in this booming industry.
Copper is the lynchpin of the EV revolution, as it is uniquely ideal for wiring electric vehicles due to its conductivity and compatibility with high temperatures. Aluminum is the closest alternative, but in terms of cost and efficiency — it doesn’t even come close.
Meet The New Boss
Electric vehicles are set to replace gas-powered internal combustion engines.
The role of copper wire is in EVs somewhat comparable to how a fuel line feeds an internal combustion engine (ICE). The wiring network carries an electric charge from the lithium ion batteries to the vehicle’s electric traction motor. Additionally, copper wire feeds power to the rest of the vehicle’s electric infrastructure and motorized functions such as windows, lights, thermal system, etc. This results in the use of a substantial amount of copper per EV — in the batteries, the charging port, busbars, motors, rotors, and much more. According to copper alliance.org, the average EV contains 83 kg of copper — compared to the average 23 kg found in most ICEs. Thus, large-scale adoption of EVs has placed a premium on the value of copper worldwide.
A recent report published by copper.org estimates that the known copper resources across the globe are somewhere around 5.8 trillion pounds. Currently, only about 12% of this ore has been mined, processed and put into circulation — most of which is still being utilized in some capacity today. While it is true that copper has been dubbed “the world’s most reusable resource,” as demand increases, so too will the need to extract more copper from subterranean deposits.
A Worldwide Resource
The Environmental Protection Agency can insist that vehicular transportation does not encounter copper potholes.
In terms of global consumption, copper is the third most popular metal next to aluminum and steel. It is pervasive in trace amounts in every ecosystem, partially due to human activity. According to a recent report by The Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program, the largest deposits of copper are in the Chilean Andes, Utah, New Mexico, and the upper peninsula of Michigan, with smaller claims being mined in places such as China, Poland, Canada, Zambia, the former Soviet Union, and more. Dartmouth’s research revealed that mining copper, especially using the sulfide-ore method, can be highly toxic to the environments in proximity to mines, smelters, refineries, and other production facilities — reducing air quality while polluting lakes, streams, forests, and farmlands. High levels of copper toxicity can adversely affect the human respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract as well as the circulatory, liver, and endocrine systems. Further, high levels of toxicity from copper sulfate have been known to cause psychological distress and death from nervous disorders and kidney failure.
Support Sustainability
Copper mining can pollute the environment.
What this all boils down to is that, in an attempt to reduce pollution from burning fossil fuels, mining copper to power the cars which are supposed to deliver humanity from poisoning the earth could instead put civilization back in the slow lane. Thus, it is the onus of future consumers of EV transportation to insist that the companies who earn their business also provide transparency concerning their acquisition of the raw copper that makes EV mobility possible.
Otherwise, this 21st Century attempt at “progress” and “sustainable energy” may be nothing more than another spin on the ages old “two steps forward, one step back,” “robbing Peter to pay Paul” merry-go-round. Extracting copper from relatively accessible deposits in a responsible, regulated manner could result in less pollution, but the key to progress is to insist that car manufacturers establish a market protocol for recycling old EV batteries for the production of new ones. This standard can be further reinforced if regulatory agencies such as the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are pressured to establish eco-friendly regulations on copper acquisitions — primarily through recycling.
Thankfully, as “the world’s most reusable resource,” copper can be recycled fairly easily and put back into production as soon as the vehicles it helps power become inoperable. The difference between reusing copper from old batteries and purchasing newly-extracted copper is a slim margin on the profit ledger. While opting for the latter over the former will save a few pennies along the way, cutting that corner — as far as the environment is concerned — is hardly worth it.
