Donald Trump has been kicked out of the mile high club. In a 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Trump is ineligible to be on the ballot in the state under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. "The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate." For now, the decision is stayed, giving the Supreme Court time to weigh in on the matter. Will this be the court decision that finally takes America to that Grand Junction where history drops a Boulder on Trump's campaign, providing the kick in the Crested Butte and the punch in the Rocky Mountain oysters that makes Trumpism Telluride off into the sunset, maybe all the way to Aspenitentiary, as democracy's Aurora rises once again? Don't get your Castle Rocks off just yet. I don't want to predict how this SCOTUS will rule, but I wouldn't be surprised to find Clarence Thomas out shopping for a new RV over Christmas break. There's not much doubt Trump incited an insurrection (we all saw it with our own eyes). The bigger question is whether the 14th Amendment applies to someone running for president. The even bigger issue is whether we want courts to save America from a lying, criming, insurrecting, Hitler-quoting monster that somehow still holds sway over his enablers and his base, or whether we want to trust that there are enough sane voters to get the job done. The idea that this is even a serious contest is enough to make me want to get Rocky Mountain high from now until the election. 2The Heat of the ByteThe world has a lot of computer servers putting out a lot of data ... and a lot of heat. As AI takes hold, we'll need more and more massive data centers. In some cases, in addition to powering applications, they're heating homes. Consider the Danish city of Odense. "Since 2020, Meta’s hyperscale data center—spanning 50,000 square meters on an industrial estate on the edge of the city—has been pushing warm air generated by its servers into the district heating network under Odense. That heat is then dispersed through 100,000 households hooked up to the system, with Meta providing enough heat to cover roughly 11,000." What Happens When Facebook Heats Your Home. (I don't need Facebook to heat my home. My family and I push our personal devices hard enough to keep us in undershirts all winter...) 3This Rings True"For centuries, Bigelow 224 stretched sunward while history unfolded below. The tree witnessed the rise of industrialization and the devastation of Native communities. It watched Arizona become the nation’s 48th state in 1912. Generations lived and died, wars were lost and won, humans walked on the moon and transformed Earth. Still, the tree has survived." After 2023, Bigelow 224 is telling a new story. "It is a silent distress signal sent by one of Earth’s most enduring organisms. A warning written in wood." Sarah Kaplan in WaPo (Gift Article): Written In The Wood. 4Conan and the Barbarians"I didn’t know anything about him. So my reaction to Conan behind that desk was similar to everyone’s reaction, which was, 'Why is this guy here? Who will be the real host?'" That's David Letterman in this GQ Oral History of Conan O'Brien's Wild First Year. 5Extra, Extra+ Fat Chance: "The US has reached an agreement to secure the release of six wrongfully detained Americans and four other Americans held in Venezuela ... The deal will also include the extradition of Leonard Francis, the former military contractor known as 'Fat Leonard' who orchestrated the largest corruption scandal in US Navy history." 6Bottom of the News"Everyone in bro podcast land is clamoring about nose breathing, of all things. And believe it or not, experts say there’s a reason why thisof all things is filtering through the zeitgeist: the schnoz is resoundingly the best way to breathe." This Was the Year of Breathing Through Our Noses. Get a copy of my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store.
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