That Filter On The Receiver Built Into Your Brain

   Everyone I know has a favorite song, or favorite songs. Songs that hit them in a special way that is fairly indescribable, songs that hit them in such a way as to cause abrupt changes in their moods or dispositions.

   Songs they just absolutely love and can listen to over and over and over again.

   The weird thing is, If I asked fifty of my friends and associates the name of the particular song that is their favorite song and why, I'd get fifty different answers and fifty different explanations.

   I've proven that to myself over the course of the past several decades, because one of my favorite conversational ice breakers is "What do you consider the worst song you've ever heard?" 

   I ask that question simply because I nearly always get an instant reply, much different from when I ask "What do you consider the best song ever written?"

   Ask a person what song they consider the worst song ever and they'll shoot off an answer as if it had been sitting on a launch pad waiting for the "go" signal, and there is rarely ever the need to ask for an explanation why, as that is always part of the answer to what they consider to be the worst song.

   Songs they just absolutely hate and hope they never have to ever listen to again.

   I have heard a wide range of people declare with ferocity everything from brief statements that such-and-such by whomever is the worst song ever because "It sucks, and the band couldn't play their instruments to save their lives" to "Well, when you consider the complete disregard for harmonics, an apparent aversion to melody or rhythm, aural textures that visually would resemble oatmeal, and a compositional structure that defies all known musical contexts, such-and-such by whoever must be viewed as infantile and without a shred of merit, much less listenability."

   However, when I then ask the follow-up question, what do you consider the best song you've ever heard, I get a lot of hemming and hawing, and, usually, a broad range of quantifiers for best songs in specific genres, from specific points in history, and from a very large and diverse spectrum of performers.

   For example, I'll hear "Do you mean best Pop song, best Hip Hop song, best Classic Rock song, best old school Soul song, best Country song, best old school Classic Pop Soul Country Hip Hop song? The list goes on and on...and the explanations for the various songs considered the best are just as diverse...everything from lovely poetic lyrics to great power chords to incredible bass lines to beautiful voices to fantastic rhythms to soothing gossamer-smooth guitar strumming...it's amazing how much people will elaborate on what a song they love does for them.

   About the only commonality to the answers regarding worst or best songs is that almost everyone universally agrees that they knew the first time they heard the particular song they consider worst or best is that it was indeed, the worst or best song they had ever heard. 

   It seems very few people (in my experience) gradually grow to hate or love a particular song..it's hate or love at first listen.

    Also, most people that give me answers to the question regarding the worst song will add comments such as "and I hope I never have to hear it again, or, "that's the sort of music that South American Dictators use to break down political prisoners," while most people that give me answers to the question regarding the best song will add comments such as "this is the song that changed my life," or "This is the song that opened my ears to what music really is and could do." 

   

   

Bonfires In The Wasteland Of The Past

In his mind it's still 1999

And ain't nobody going to convince him anything other

He's paid up on his rent so don't get hellbent

On his fixation with being itinerant

Still thinks Norton was f'n great in Amex History X

And was cheated out of Best Actor by that Italian funnyman

Hitchhiked across the country to get to Rome (NY)

Turned out to be 3 days of heat, expensive water, and a bad high

Yeah, he really loved being 21 in 1999

Yeah, he wastes a lot of time wishing he was still stupid enough

To believe it was always going to be a party forevermore

To believe he would always be able to simply score

 

The Man Who Lived In The Moment, Each & Every Moment

 

People wondering about him, toiling over preconceived notions

About what he was thinking, about what he wanted, about who he really was

Not a one of them had the slightest clue and he never gave an indication

He wasn't anyone or anything they had ever experienced before

Didn't have an agenda, wasn't lookin' to get over on anybody

Just wanted to enjoy each and everyday as much as possible

Never asked questions, didn't want to know anyone's history

Didn't care at all if you liked him or not

Never pushed any buttons, never let on if his had been

Smiled as if the whole world was simply full of friends

Didn't demand proof that intentions were good or untoward

Just wanted to enjoy each and everyday as much as possible

Just wanted to enjoy each and everyday as much as possible

Just Like

Just like flowers

Just like sunsets

Just like waves crashing on a rocky shore

Just like a walk down a shady lane

                          On a blazing hot day

Just like colorful tropical fish

Just like the aroma of fresh baked bread

Just like the view from the 86th floor

Just like hot chocolate with little marshmallows

                          On a cold winters day

Just like kittens

Just like puppies

Just like an engrossing book on a long flight

Just like the flash of orange, brown, yellow and gold

                           On trees in the fall

Slightly Crazy Weather

 

Up And At 'Em

Nothing gets one out of bed quicker

Than waking up next to someone you know

But never actually wanted 

To wake up next to.

Unintentionally Sadly Funniest Thing I've Read All Week

   Read an article this morning about former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Michael Madigan (D, Ill.)

   The article was somewhat of a recanting of a tragedy, and I'm using the definition of tragedy as it applies to the commission of a serious crime.

    The serious crime(s) that was/were committed (I am not writing "allegedly" here due to the fact that the gentleman was convicted of Federal bribery, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges in a trial that lasted over four months and featured an overwhelming amount of evidence (taped conversations, documents, photographs) and testimony from sixty (60) witnesses were enough to grab headlines at least nationwide, if not globally. 

   Or at least should have been, but I'm betting this is the first you are hearing about it - makes one wonder what the gazillion content-hungry news media sites on the web are reporting on. Let me check real quick:

   Oh yeah...Car Sun Shades Make A Difference On A Hot Summers Day, Trump Bad, The Best Sales To Shop This Weekend, Trump Bad, Oldest Heavy Metal Icons Still Alive, Trump Bad, 15 Embarrassing Red-Carpet Moments, Trump Bad, Flight Attendants Say Not To Wear Shorts, Diddy Bad, Punk Icon Posts Tribute To Brian Wilson, Florida Bad, Israel Drone Strikes Hit Iran, Iran Drone Strikes Hit Israel, Texas Bad, Ukraine Hospitals hit by Russian Drones, Russian Military Bases hit by Ukranian Drones, Funk Revolutionary Sly Stone Dies At 82, Trump Gets Military Parade, No Kings, Shark Attacks Swimmer, 5 Clever Ways To Use A Leaf Blower, Trump Bad, Heatwave Predicted For Next Week, Help Eliminate Tartar From Your Dogs Teeth, Trump Bad, Costco Benefits You Didn't Know You Had...

   Wait a minute...right there on MSN.com...if you scroll down past the articles about The 14 Must-Have Albums Every Rock Fan Should Own and What Makes Jimi Hendrix Such A Good Guitarist and Ten Funny Pun Signs That Will Make You Laugh, there it is, on your far right...The Longest-Serving Legislative Leader In The U.S. Will Be Sentenced On Corruption Charges...28 sentences dedicated to a recap of a trial that began in October of 2024, was concluded in February of 2025, and has finally reached the sentencing phase.   

   And this is the first time you are hearing about it. The single-most powerful elected official in the sixth most populous state in the U.S. being convicted of fairly grievous crimes...the man had a fifty (50!) year career in the illinois legislature (forty of those years as House Speaker), and was Chairperson of the Illinois Democratic Party for twenty (20!) years...setting the political agenda for the entire state, handpicking candidates for political office, in complete control of the manipulation of legislative and congressional lines every ten years to favor his political party...and this is the first time you are hearing about it.

   Okay, I'm making a gross generalization, some of you may have heard about this from the get-go and have followed it as closely as you follow your favorite sports team or favorite celebrity-centric television program...but I asked 12 random people at my gym this morning, a woman that was getting coffee at the Q-Stop when I was, and two guys I work with about this very topic and not one person had heard about it. Heck, the woman I asked at the Q-Stop mused for a second and then asked if I was talking about the Illinois governor that was caught trying to sell Obama's U.S. senate seat...which, FYI, was Rod Blagojevich and happened 17 years ago...I gave her a half-point for remembering that fiasco though.

   But I digress...back on topic. The unintentionally Sadly Funniest Thing I've read all week was a quote from one of Michael Madigan's lawyers pleading for leniency in sentencing for his client.

   That quote was, "Mike Madigan is a good man who has selflessly done an exceptional amount of good for others. He is widely respected for his dedication to honesty and integrity."

   That right there..."widely respected for his dedication to honesty and integrity"...that is the unintentionally sadly funniest thing I've read all week.

   See, this is why it's important to get good legal representation when you are on trial...good legal representation will lie for you and distort reality like a psychopath on medical grade cocaine.

Gotta Get Goin', Hoping Like Everyone Else That I'll Get It Right

   Today is one of those rare days that have me flummoxed.

As in, I have no idea where I should start with all the various projects I have in front of me.

   To paraphrase the immortal words of Mike Reno & Paul Dean of the Canadian rock band Loverboy, I guess I better start from the start.

   Yeah, that lyric, so succinct and insightful.

Sacrifices Would Have To Be Made

                                                   

She didn't want him to go away 

Forever

Just for a few months, or maybe a year

Just long enough so the desire 

She once felt for him

Could return

'cause she knew it would return

 It always did

Just as the feeling that she wanted him to be gone 

Would

She wished she could find a way to explain

That it wasn't his fault 

It was nothing he did

She had not met someone 

Better than him

She hadn't found someone

 Who was more attractive

Or funnier

Or sexier

Or more dependable

She just had gotten to the point where she knew

They had to be apart for awhile 

And she had no idea why

She just knew that being apart was the only way 

They would have a chance 

Of staying together

For the long haul

 

The Fleeting Fancy Of Being Asea

For the briefest of periods in the early months of 1992

He had considered fulfilling one of his wildest dreams

That of finding work as an ordinary seaman on a merchant ship

His thoughts in those short few weeks focused on what he'd have to do

In order to get aboard a ship and become part of the crew

He was sure he could keep watch, swab the deck or maybe work as a cook

The idea of being at sea and working on a boat under sail

Thrilled him as much then as it did when he was a little kid

Standing on the docks and watching as the ships came and went 

Eventually the feeling passed and he returned to his usual routine

Of going to work, watching the news, reading a popular book

It would be years before he returned to the shore 

  

And Here You Thought It Was Only You The World Had It In For

Franklin got up when his alarm went off and stepped on a Lego as he made his way to the bath.

Nora made it all the way back to her desk before anyone told her the hem of the back of her skirt was caught in the band at the top of her panties.

Floyd violently sneezed at the exact moment the car in front of him braked suddenly, resulting in him rear-ending that car...a 2024 convertible Corvette.

Alice seemed to forget how to speak right in the middle of a presentation to the board, held her breath as she tried to look as if she was recalculating figures while desperately trying to remember what she was going to say, then promptly fainted. 

Luella had been certain she had mailed out her completed tax returns in early April...until she found them wedged above the passenger side sunvisor in mid-May when she decided to let Carl drive them home from the Realtor's office.

Lester thought he was having a great day - he worked from home and was doing great, filling orders and prospecting online for new business, feeling productive and sure his employer would notice and that a raise was no doubt in the works. When his cell started ringing and it was the ringtone he reserved for his boss, he was smiling as he answered. He greeted his boss with an enthusiastic Hello! that oozed charm...his smile faded though as his boss explained that the company released the quarterly performance reports today, which had revealed that the division he was part of was bleeding money like a stuck pig and thus was being shut down and every employee was being let go, effective immediately.

Mayetta had been trained to use the forklift. She had demonstrated considerable skill with the forklift. She was a trusted and relied upon forklift operator. Until the day she decided that she was so good with the forklift she no longer needed to bother with the safety checklist when moving what she believed to be well-secured pallets, and lifted a load of 5 gallon containers that were not in fact well-secured...and dropped eighteen 5 gallon containers of honey from a height of 16 feet above the warehouse floor.

Harj was sure enjoying the conversation he was having with his girlfriend. He had been on his cell phone with her for well over ten minutes of his daily walk before he realised that people around him were laughing...at him...as he walked straight onto the freshly poured concrete sidewalk that the workmen had just troweled smooth.

Diego liked to dance, and he was good at it. He was happy to dance at his brother's wedding reception with anyone who cared to join him, and was happy to exhibit his skills a solo performer if no one was willing to. He was graceful and had excellent rhythm and could improvise floor work like nobody's business. He was enjoying himself immensely right up until the moment the pants on his rented tuxedo split right down the middle revealing that he had gone commando that afternoon.

Cathy had purchased an expensive bike and an expensive bike lock with which to secure it. She rode her expensive bike to her favorite hangout and secured it to a lamppost just outside the bar with her expensive bike lock. The large truck that slammed into the lamppost made the bike, lock, and lamppost quite the modern art masterpiece. 

The Accident On Exposition 06/03/2025

 

Volkswagen TDI Jetta Sports Wagon With Police Emergency Lights Blows Through Red Light In Lakewood, Co

 

 

   At the light at northbound So. Kipling & Exposition. A 2012 (or so) Volkswagen Jetta Wagon gets in the left turn lane which has the green arrow. However, instead of turning left, it starts flashing police emergency lights (that's red and blue in the U.S.) and instead of the left turn the VW Jetta wagon proceeds to blow through the red light and continue northbound.

   There is the possibility that the VW Jetta wagon is an unmarked police car, but there are a couple of reasons that I don't believe that to be so.

   1) The Buy American Act restricts the purchase of vehicles by U.S. law enforcement agencies to U.S. automakers, primarily Chevrolet, Ford, & Dodge.

   Plus, I checked on www.https://www.policecarwebsite.net/westside/gov/code.html and they did not have it posted as a marked police vehicle (if a vehicle has emergency police lights, it's considered marked).

   2) As can be seen in the pics, there is a rocket box and a snowboard attached to the roof rack.

   I suppose the VW Jetta wagon could be a deep undercover vehicle, as I know the DEA has used confiscated exotic foreign cars like Lambos and Ferraris in undercover operations, but I somehow doubt it. The roof rack with the snowboard and rocket box is just a touch more clever, eh? 

Have You Heard The News? There's Good Rockin' In Creston

    Went to Creston, Iowa for a short visit. Saw a lot of Murals

    

  

  

 

I think every town in Iowa is required to have one of these

"Daddy, That Man In The Nice Convertible Looks Like He's Trying To Get Into Our Lane."

I travel over the road a lot, primarily for the job.

Which means I see the occasional automobile accident.

Wednesday I saw one that involved an Aston-Martin Vantage roadster (think James Bond) and a GMC Sierra 2500 (quad cab).

Apparently, the driver of the Aston-Martin Vantage roadster (not James Bond) was trying to merge from the far left (HOV) lane into the lane to his right and somehow forgot about the whole "two objects of equal mass cannot occupy the same space and time" dealio.

Note: Jousting at 75mph, not a good idea

P.S., Remarkably, no one was injured.

P.S.S., Wonder if that Aston-Martin Vantage roadster will have to be totaled? Has to be an incredibly expensive repair.

Enjoy Your Unpaid Vacation / Staycation, Denver

   The City of Denver, Colorado announced today that each and everyone of the 15,000 city employees will have to take anywhere from two to seven mandatory unpaid furlough days at sometime in the remaining seven months of 2025.

   That includes all 1,400 of the city of Denver employees that work at Denver International Airport, despite the airport operating independently of Denver's general fund.

   See, the Denver general fund is short some fifty million dollars this year.

   Fifty million dollar shortfall...hmmm...property tax revenue in Denver has more than doubled in the past ten years...sales tax revenue since 2018 is up an estimated 30% (or a bit higher - really difficult to get accurate numbers on that from the opaque government agencies that control access to those numbers).

   BTW, Denver receives around 45% of it's operating revenue from sales taxes and fees, which is unusually high for a city - for comparison, the city of Boston, which is located in that wonderful state nick-named "Tax-achusetts" by it's residents, receives about 15% of it's operating revenue from sales taxes and fees, Kansas City gets about 22% of it's operating budget from sales taxes and fees, and Seattle receives 23% of it's operating revenue from same.

   Those furloughs being due to a $50,000,000 shortfall in Denver's operating budget really begs the question, "What the hell has happened to all that money?"

   Oh, wait a minute...there was that ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) for migrant aid that was made public a year ago.

   Or course, that could just be correlation, not causation.

   I know what you're thinking right about now. You're thinking, "WTF Cripes, you wrote a diatribe basically in favor of migration about about a year ago, didn't you?"

   The answer to that is yes, yes I did. However, I also wrote a diatribe suggesting that all those NGO's (non-governmental organizations, such as the International Rescue Committee, Alight, Catholic Charites USA, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Church World Services, etc.) aiding and abetting the migration of all those people from (primarily) Central and South America making their way to Denver fork over the $$$ to house, cloth and feed those very same migrants.

   I mean, to just drop people off at the doorstep of a government agency and say, "here you go, now use all that money you are taking from the citizenry of your fair city to house, cloth and feed these poor and unfortunate migrants." is not just incredibly unethical, it's also incredibly immoral.

   A huge percentage of the NGO's are church organizations...churches that operate tax free...why are they not being made responsible for what they have wrought?

  Yeah, I know, a few actually are making efforts to help ease the budget strain caused by the migrant crises, but not nearly enough.

   And all those services the religious organizations are providing for the migrants that have landed in Denver? Again, this might just be correlation and not causation, but the past year has seen a huge uptick in the homeless population in these parts...the natural-born homeless population, who are suddenly finding it very difficult to find available short-term housing and other necessary services.

   But what the hell do I know, heck, I'm not even posting links to sources for the numbers I'm using in this little rant.

   Maybe you should get on the good ol' Google and double-check those numbers...I could be lying or at the least exaggerating...or maybe I'm possibly even underreporting the numbers...either way, it'll give you something to do.

The Reunion & The Release

   We had all agreed to lunch at Trafangler's, which was in and of itself nothing short of miraculous. The agreement to have lunch part, not the choice of a restaurant.

   It had been awhile since we had all gotten together, probably close to four years. Oh, I'd seen a few of the guys here and there - Jake at his brother's wedding, Jorge and Trent at the bowling alley on 4th st., and of course Gary, who still worked in the same department as I did - heck, we run into each other quite a bit, but it was never planned and we didn't talk much, just exchanged pleasantries and went our separate ways.

   The group had been tight in the beginning, but that's how it always is when a group of strangers are thrown together to work on a somewhat dangerous, long-term project. Once the project was completed though, we all just fell out of contact - not intentionally or with any animosity, we just all sorta went back to doing what we did before we had to work together.

   Somehow, someone (it might have even been me), got the idea we should all get together and catch up with each other, see how everyone was doing, etc., etc.

   The remarkable thing was that all fourteen of the guys were still around and had the time and inclination to get together.

   And that's how, on a cold, windy early Spring day in late April we all found ourselves gathered together around a large rectangular table (which was actually three smaller square tables joined together by the very accomodating restaurant staff).

   Everyone spent at least ten minutes chatting with whomever was next to or across from them, and several guys (Don, Anthony, Trent) didn't even sit down until they'd walked the perimeter of the table and exchanged greetings with everybody present - the wait staff (there were two assigned to us) had a dickens of a time getting the drink orders in, but handled it without a single misstep.

   By the time the drinks (second round) and food orders had all been served, I'd spoken with everyone at least for a few minutes. It was nice, as far as these gatherings go - no one had suffered any major setbacks, everyone was still working and above water financially - at least that's what was reported.

   About halfway through my salad, Jer, who was seated to my left, threw out a conversational gambit, asking everyone in general if they were all satisfied with what we had accomplished. A lot of nodding of heads and "Yes's, yeah's," and "of course's" followed by a call for a toast to "Team Arcanum!" was the answer.

   Then he turned to me and almost half-whispered another, more specific question. With a far more serious intensity, Jer said, "Do you think the project was your greatest accomplishment?"

   I turned to look straight at him and replied, "No Jer, not my greatest accomplishment. I regard simply surviving this long, you know, not dying, or at least not suffering a major injury, my biggest accomplishment."

   Ever have one of those moments when everyone has inexplicably quieted down at the same time you say something not intended for everyone to hear? Well, that's what happened to me right then.

   The quiet was deafening, as they say.

   Which was broken by Jer's loud laughter and the almost roar from Blaine exclaiming "Don't we all, don't we all!", and the concurrent laughter of everyone else at the table.

   That's when I realised everyone had been holding the same thing inside that I had been for the past four years, and now we had all just let it go.

   

Memorial Day May 26th 2025, Pvt Joe P. Martinez

 

A Tale Of 3 Workers...& 3 Work Ethics And/Or Skill Levels

Always A Touchy Subject

 

The Giant Trout That Ate The Sky

 

The giant cloud fish seen along Colorado 14 in the late evening

The Lakewood Labyrinth

   Somehow it never occured to me that I might one day desire to walk a labyrinth. However, as I was driving home a few days ago I saw a message posted on the digital sign that advertises services, classes, lectures, and events held at the Mile Hi Church Center For Spiritual Living (located at the corner of Alameda and Garrison) that stated "Walk our labyrinth anytime".

          The digital message board on the Mile Hi Church Center For Spiritual Living in Lakewood

  Which sparked my curiosity, not solely to walk the labyrinth mind you, but for the fact that it was something I could do anytime. Thoughts of getting up at 3:00am and driving to the labyrinth bounced around in my head as I drove. 

   I also had thoughts along the lines of "Why does the Mile Hi Church Center For Spiritual Living have a labyrinth? Is it like the labyrinth of Greek mythology that was designed to keep the Minotaur imprisoned? Is it full of confusing corridors that branch off left and right and have dead ends that force a person to turn around and try a different right or left turn? Or is it more like a Victorian era hedge maze that people meander through but can't really get lost in because the hedges are kept short so the way out can readily be seen?

   My knowledge of labyrinths being fairly limited (just the Greek mythology and David Bowie movie is about all the labyrinth knowledge I possess), I decided yesterday that I needed to investigate the Mile Hi Church Center For Spiritual Living labyrinth.

  But not at 3:00am. I figured it was best to approach what could possibly be a confusing maze in the middle of a sunny afternoon.

   The Mile Hi Church Center For Spiritual Living is a huge complex - it sits on 15 acres and can boast the largest domed building in Colorado. That dome is both unique and impressive - I can clearly recall it being built back in 2008 because of the method used to build it. Basically, a huge balloon was inflated (well, a huge half-balloon), then a huge rebar skeleton was built around the entire balloon, then the rebar-reinforced balloon was coated with concrete - seriously, that's how it was done. It was interesting to watch the process.

   knowing all that I was prepared for a labyrinth of impressive stature. 

   That is not the case.

   This is the Mile Hi Church Center For Spiritual Living labyrinth:

    

   So, yeah...not too challenging as far as labyrinths go. And apparently, it's not meant to be challenging. The intended use is for quiet, meditative walks.

   Short, Minotaur free walks, so don't bother bringing a shield and sword.

   BTW, This is not an endorsement, but if you're interested you can learn more about the Mile Hi Church Center For Spiritual Living here: 

https://www.milehichurch.org

The Occasional Overwhelming Desire To Discover & Explore

I'm going to take a trip, going to take a real long drive

Not sure where I'm going to go just know I gotta drive

Get up early friday morning eat a light breakfast and go

There are places I've never seen and I can't wait to arrive

At a place I've never been

A new adventure ready to begin

Maybe go to Hopkinsville or to Lyndon

Overland travel is a thing I really enjoy

Open throttle driving along with a trucker convoy

There is just so much to see, so much to discover

Relive the feeling of being an insatiably curious schoolboy

Crossing bridges over rivers wide

Stopping for a huge ball of twine along the roadside

Don't need a map, don't need a tour guide

The feel of the steering wheel in my hands, foot on the pedal

Stop in small towns filled with bars, churches & happy people 

No reasons for the visit, just like to roam and explore

See the heartland of the country at it's most fundamental 

Get to know life outside the big city

From North Dakota down to Mississippi

Birmingham, Fayetteville, maybe even Kankakee

Spot The Heron

 Took a photo at Standley lake and didn't realize I'd snapped a pic of one of the herons. It's there, but you have to look for it.

Martha Was A Very Popular Girl...Sorta

Found a high school yearbook from 1962 that had belonged to a graduating senior named Martha. It was filled with short & sweet platitudes from friends and acquaintances of Martha, who was apparently a very popular girl.

But there was also this:

Man, this was difficult to read...and not just because of the sloppy handwriting. This is the literal definition of forlorn.

BTW, what the hell are advertisements for funeral homes and mortuary services doing in a high school annual?

 

No Old Dudes

 

There Are Reporters, There Are Serious Editors, & Then There Are ChatBots

   Lately I've encountered a number of news articles that have some fairly glaring mistakes in the content, and it's given me a bit of pause in regards to accepting their veracity.

   For example, today on Yahoo.com there was an article published regarding a spike in Colorado drivers refusing to consent to toxicology tests when pulled over for suspicion of DUI, and it contained the following (I added the quotation marks and the italics, 'natch):

  "It's all because the Colorado Expressed Consent Law said Colorado Department of Transportation Traffic Safety Manager Sam Cole.

"Unfortunately, a lot of people do not know that if they are arrested for DUI, they have to take a toxicology test, that's either a blood test or a urine test," Cole said."

   Notice the text cited? Take a look again at the one in the bold font. There's a fairly glaring error in that thar' statement.

   The State of Colorado statute regarding DUI gives a suspect the right to choose between a blood test or a breath test, as outlined in section 42-4-1301.1(2)(a)(I), C.R.S.

   Sure, it's kinda funny to imagine police officers pulling over a suspected drunk driver (especially if it's a woman) and requesting a piss test, but seriously, how did an editor not see this error in the article?

   I mean, I know most media outlets no longer have science editors, but no legal beagles either?

   Was the article actually researched and written by a human? Or maybe the mistake was made by the CDOT traffic safety manager Sam Cole? (that's even scarier though - he should know the law regarding traffic safety inside and out).

   ChatGPT anyone?