Welcome to the Kim Monson Show podcast. Kim Monson is your host. American by choice. Guest Host Brad Beck talks with Anders Ingemarson, who grew up in Sweden, about choosing this country. Author Michael Hancock joins on his recent essay When Music Becomes Abundant, What Still Has Value? Plus Mint Financial Strategies’ Jody Hinsey on AI 3.0: Beyond Searching. ————————————————————————————– The Kim Monson Show airs on KLZ 560 AM every Monday thru Friday, 6-8 AM MST. You can listen to the live stream by going to www.klzradio.com
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It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
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The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water. What it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
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The latest in politics and world affairs.
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Under this guise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it’s actually tapping down the truth.
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Today’s current opinions and ideas.
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On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
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Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
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Indeed. Let’s have a conversation. Welcome to the Kim Monson Show. I’m Bradley Beck, and I’m fortunate enough to be guest hosting. And Kim’s away for a day, so let’s have a conversation. And we’ll do that today with two fine gentlemen who are in studio with me. I’ll introduce in a moment. But thank you for listening. Each of you are treasured and valued. You have purpose. Today, strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. We were made for this moment in history. And thank you to all the good people here at Crawford Broadcasting. And producer Joe always greets me with a smile. Good morning, Joe. Morning, Brad. How are you doing this morning? I am doing unbelievable. Had a great weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio, attending my granddaughter’s graduation college, University of… Cincinnati, and it was just amazing. So good to be back, and if you ever get a chance to go to Cincinnati, do it. It’s a great city, clean and historic, and really enjoyed myself. But always good to come back to Colorado and see those beautiful mountains covered with snow. So we need the moisture, right, Joe?
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Absolutely, we do. It’s been barren up there for the last couple of weeks, and now we got something. It’s nice.
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And we got more coming, I hear. So batten down the hatches. Kim’s website is kimMonson.com. Sign up for Kim’s weekly email newsletter. You’ll get the first look at all her upcoming guests, as well as the most recent essays. And you can become a member of the Kim Monson community. This is a place to connect and converse and contemplate ideas and issues. I’m a member of the organization now and happy to do so. Got to listen to Alan Thomas, who is a friend and who’s doing the Federalist Papers. And I’ve enjoyed that so far. So you can join as well. There’s different levels. And you can always email Kim at kimMonson.com. That’s K-I-M-M-U-N-S-O-N. At K-I-M-M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. And in studio with me, I have two esteemed gentlemen, both who are authors and friends. And it’s good to see them both in this morning. Anders Ingmarsson, good morning.
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Morning.
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How are you, sir?
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m great. Good to be here.
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It’s always good to have you around. And Michael A. Hancock, not to be confused with Michael Hancock, who is trying to run the city of Denver. You’re much better than that.
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I try. I do try. Thanks for having me here, Greg.
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It’s always a pleasure to see you both. And we’ll be talking to both of the gentlemen during the show. So we’re lucky to be here. And we’re fortunate to have good sponsors like the Harris family who are gold sponsorships of the show. And they do a great job supporting Kim and all the listeners out there. as well as Hooters Colorado. Now, if you don’t know Kim’s story about Hooters, you’ve got to go look in her archives because it’s a fascinating story. But Hooters is the neighborhood wing joint, home of the world-famous Hooter Girls and the craveable wings that make game day legendary. Whether you’re catching up the Avalanche, who I hear won the other day, as well as the Stanley Cup UFC, or just meeting up with the crew, Hooters is where energy is high, the beer is cold, and the wings are always saucy. I like that, saucy. Wednesday at Hooters is the wing Wednesday. Buy 20 wings, get 10 free all day long. You can dine in or to go. However you get on your wing, we’ve got you covered at Hooters. And you can do it on the all-you-can-eat wings just for $16.59 on Saturdays at Hooters Colorado. where the kids are always eating free as long as the adult purchases an entree all day Saturday. So bring the family, catch up on the game, and let Hooters handle the food and, most importantly, the cleanup. That’s the important part because if you don’t clean up, Mama gets mad, so might as well go out and let somebody else do it. We always have a word of the day, and I thought, well, since we’re going to be talking about a variety of subjects, especially with Anders on immigration, the word immigration, and it’s spelled E-M-I-G-R-A-T-I-O-N, as opposed to immigration. Boy, there’s two words. They sound the same, but they mean different things. And immigration is a person who leaves her or his country to live in another indefinitely. First used in the 1640s, the noun immigration derives from the late Latin meaning removal from a place, and it often happens when people leave their native country to seek out a better life in another country. For example, you may have had a great-grandpa or grandma who were from Ireland and they settled in, let’s say, Albany, New York, where they worked on the railroad, they went for a better life and had a better vision of things. So immigration refers to entering a new country and used in a sentence. Hundreds of thousands have immigrated since the end of communism in the 1990s. And so that’s immigration. Use it in your vocabulary and press your friends and you’ll get brownie points from Joe if you see him out and about today. The quote of the day is a quote from Emma Lazarus. She was somebody who was a poet and wrote prose. She lived from July 22nd, 1849 to November 19th, 1887 and was an American author. as well as an activist, and she is remembered for writing the sonnet, The New Colossus, which was inspired by the Statue of Liberty in 1883. And her quote is, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest taught to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. End of quote. Great sentiment. Have either of you ever read that at the Statue of Liberty? Been to New York and seen that? No? I’ve been, yes. You’ve been there, so it brings a lump to your throat, doesn’t it?
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Yeah, and especially the neighboring island, Ellis Island, is a very emotional experience, too.
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It is, and I had grandparents who went through that, and it’s interesting that they’ve preserved it so well, and the stories there, and the different kinds of people that came through that journey. That portal, if you will. So it’s quite a place to go and see. In the headlines this morning, there is so much to talk about. As I mentioned, I was in Cincinnati Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So I had to look up what was going on in good old Denver and Colorado. And those creatures down at the Golden Dome are always up to something. And I’ll get your comments on some of these, gentlemen. In the Senate, the Senate Democrats advanced a high-profile proposal this week, including SB 26-146, which would require restaurants to withhold utensils and other items unless requested, raising concerns about added burdens to small businesses. I mean, it’s just unconscionable that our Senate in Colorado wants to have that kind of control over an independent business. Michael, any thoughts on that?
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Well, after laughing a bit, almost insanely, yes. Our progressive legislature has no bounds on how much they want to intrude on our lives. A business should be able to make those sorts of decisions themselves. And to what benefit to anybody is that piece of legislation? None. except that it gives them more control over how we behave.
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Absolutely. And, you know, I wonder if they’ll get fined if they give an extra little packet of ketchup or soy sauce. Anders, any thoughts on that?
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Yeah, I will go as far as to say that it’s immoral because it’s a flagrant violation of the rights of the individual rights of the business owners to manage their business as they see fit.
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Absolutely. Well, not to be outdone, the House likes to punch back. And it was a contentious week in the House. I’ve read that the Democrats narrowly passing HB 26-1281 on a 33 to 32 vote. And it’s a bill that lowers penalties for certain extreme indifference in murder cases, allowing parole eligibility where life without parole previously applied, drawing strong opposition from Republicans who argued it would weaken the accountability of most serious crimes. So they want to empty the jails. They want less criminals to be held behind bars. And to me, this is just crazy. Anders, any thoughts on that?
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No, I agree with you. I don’t know what the details of the bill is saying, but on the surface, it seems like a move in the wrong direction.
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Yeah, definitely. Michael, thoughts?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, again, it’s just a continued effort to make people less accountable for their behavior and immoral.
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Yeah, yeah. And then coming up this week, you’re going to be looking at all kinds of fun things happening in the final stretch of… of the session and uh… one of the things that i’m concerned about gentleman is that the colorado bill could lock excel customers into decades of power there’s a house bill twenty six dash thirteen twenty six The Colorado Public Utilities Commission sunset bill that cleared its first committee on April 23rd and would let the PUC direct investor-owned utilities to use, quote, secularization under 2019 Colorado Energy Impact Bond Act. The measure continues the PUC through 2037 while expanding its authority beyond voluntary utility applications. And what that would do in secularization allows for a utility to issue bonds back by decades-long charge to guess who? You, the ratepayer. So they want to do more with probably things that we are well aware of that are not regular, like coal or nuclear. And they want to probably put them to renewables, quote unquote. But that’s secularization. And it’s a word that… You know, you have to scratch your head. Why don’t they just use English, right? It blows me away. And then the last one I have before we go to break is there’s a $3 million campaign behind Colorado’s COCO, they’re terming it, a cute little name, Rail Tax Proposal. This is to get the new rail line from Colorado. Pueblo all the way up to Fort Collins started. And what they want to do is use $3 million to pay for polling, coalition building, town halls across many counties where this is going to be, and create friends of the Front Range Rail. Now, they haven’t even finished the fast tracks from Denver to Boulder. They were promised 30 years ago. And now they want to build a rail line all across the state. Anders, what are your thoughts on that?
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Well, I think we should leave it to private businesses to explore whether we should have a rail line or not. And if there is no interest, then there is probably no reason to have a railroad. I mean, we’re living in a State that is, I mean, the greater Denver area, okay, there may be an argument made for transportation solutions. But if you drive just north and especially south, south of Colorado Springs, there’s nothing. Nobody lives there. So building a railroad to Pueblo, I’m sorry, that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
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There’s good people down there, but they don’t need a railroad.
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They are perfectly happy with their cars, I can tell you.
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Michael, your thoughts?
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Well, it’s sort of like a bridge to nowhere, right? We look at how much money they’ve actually wasted in California building that railway. My view is that ultimately what ends up happening is that you’re going to have a lot of money spent, and it will be viewed historically as a total waste of taxpayer dollars.
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Absolutely.
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Just like we see all the empty RTD trains in the greater metro area. Yes.
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Do you strive for excellence as you work with your clients and customers? Does it make sense for you to add a unique and focused branding opportunity to your marketing portfolio? Would you like to access a broad customer base that loves our country and wants to make life better for ourselves, our neighbors, our colleagues, our children and our grandchildren? Then you may be a perfect fit as a sponsor or partner of The Kim Monson Show. To learn more, reach out to Kim at kim at kimMonson.com. Kim would love to talk with you. Again, that’s kim at kimMonson.com.
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And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. I’m Bradley Beck, filling in for Kim today. Glad to be here with two fine gentlemen. We’ve got Anders Ingvarsson and Michael A. Hancock, as opposed to the mayor of Denver, a better man in the studio. And behind the boards is Joe, and we’re glad to be here. You can check out Kim’s website at kimMonson.com and join the community. or you can email Kim anytime at kim at kimmonson.com. And thank you for contributing for the support of Kim’s independent voice and exercise to join our fight and the right for freedom of speech. And through all Kim’s work with veterans, she’s honored to highlight the USMC Memorial Foundation and all that they’re doing to raise money to remodel the official USMC Memorial, which is located right here in Golden, Colorado at 6 Ann Colfax. Paula Saris is the president of the foundation. She’s a Marine veteran and a Gold Star wife. And Paula and her team are working diligently to make that remodel a reality. And you can help by donating to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That’s usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And there’s so much in the news. I just sometimes you’re overwhelmed. And I like to read the news as opposed to listen to the news because you get all the little idiosyncrasies. And one of the things while I was gone, I noticed it’s, you know, when you’re out of town, you don’t pay attention to a lot of this stuff unless the usual substance hits the fan. But anyway, I was unaware until I got home. It was May Day. And of course, our friends on the left always have their big parades. And now it’s become even more rancorous. And it got me thinking, why the heck isn’t there a capitalist day or a free market day? Or as Anders mentioned to me earlier, our friend Mike Williams has this idea of a day of the mind. And Anders, what are your thoughts on something like that?
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Well, I think May Day in general is a relic that has, if it ever had a function or a purpose, it has certainly ceased to have that. And as you said, it has morphed to something new. I think this year there were ties into No Kings and basically a plethora of different grievances that they kind of collect and go out and demonstrate about.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we had the King of England here recently, and they all applauded him in Congress. So there wasn’t something going on there. I don’t know.
SPEAKER 06 :
It was kind of funny. Speaking of no kings, I saw that in different countries they use different expressions. So the Canadians, I think, use no tyrants instead of no kings because they have a king. Right.
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They’re part of the Commonwealth, and that’s their head of state. So it is interesting. Michael, what are your thoughts on that? It blows me away that that still is a date that people celebrate the collective as opposed to the individual.
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Yeah, you know, I don’t think actually that they celebrate it. These things are very well organized. And so you had, I think, I recall hearing about in Chicago, the teachers were leading students out into the street. And in Chicago… If you take a look at the performance of students in schools, there’s like over 50 schools where mathematics No kid, 0% of kids actually achieve what they should be learning in that. So basically it’s like the blind leading the blind. And these days it seems like more of that happens. Kings, no kings, right? All of that stuff. It just makes no sense to anybody who is educated historically and or civically about what this nation is all about.
SPEAKER 04 :
And they bring in more queens on Queen’s Reading Day for the children. But, you know, talking about the American founding, we’re coming up to 250 years. And I’m not sure how you gentlemen are going to celebrate. But, you know, it’s amazing to me that more people aren’t aware of their history. And we’ll get into that a little bit in both of your segments. But so many people have no idea of what their personal responsibility is as a citizen. And we’ll get into that with Michael’s article a little bit later. One of the things that befuddles me is why aren’t we teaching more of this, the civics, in our schools? Anders, you had to go through it when you came to this country.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and I actually, but to be honest, the Swedish education system that I grew up with, it wasn’t great in teaching any American history. So I basically learned it on my own much later on. But yeah, I mean, the fundamental problem is that we have a government education system that is violating the rights of parents, of educators, of businessmen who would like to get into education. And the only solution is, long-term solution is to phase it out. I mean, we see some promising signs in terms of homeschooling and charter schools, maybe a transition, but eventually education should be handled just like any other industry. by private individuals who, by mutual consent, come together. Parents, they choose a school based on their values and their wallets. And that really is the only solution to the massive problem we have with education in this country.
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Absolutely. Well, you give me a great segue because Kim’s pleased to welcome a new sponsor, Excalibur Classical Academy. And they are looking for something more. If you are looking for some more for your children’s education, Excalibur Classical Academy is a new private school opening this fall and centennial. serving kindergarten through third grade with 100% scholarship fund tuition available. Their classrooms are rooted in a classical Christian tradition where students grow through phonics, math, music, art, and the great books that have shaped generations. We believe young minds thrive on wisdom, virtue, and truth. Give your child a strong foundation for life and enroll them in what’s now a limited space opportunity. You can visit them at ExcaliburClassicalAcademy.org today. That’s ExcaliburClassicalAcademy.org. And we have great sponsors as well as Classical Academies. We have Karen Levine.
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The Kim Monson Show is expanding and augmenting our voice and reach. In addition to the Kim Monson Show broadcast, we have created the Kim Monson Newsroom and the Kim Monson Community. We call them the three presses, and they are foundational to free speech and engaging in responsible self-governance. Go to kimMonson.com, click on the newsletter tab. and sign up for the weekly email newsletter and the Daily Digest. And join the Kim Monson community, which is a modern salon where you can contemplate, connect, and converse around the principles we cover daily. Sign up today at kimMonson.com.
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SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back. I’m Bradley Beck, filling in for the great Kim Monson, who’s away today. And she always asks me to ask you to sign up for her weekly email newsletter at Kim’s website, kimmonson.com. Join the community, be part of her interactive news and great programs that just had John Eastman on. And right now, Alan is… doing the whole thing on the Federalist Papers. So great opportunities for learning and connecting there. Thank you all for contributing to support Kim’s independent voice and the exercise of our freedom of speech. And talking about freedom of speech, you can get that by having financial freedom, and it’s shaped more and more, more than just numbers. It’s shaped by planning for the realities of your life. Admit financial strategies, Jody Hensley and her team help you assess your current reality while planning your future. Additionally, Mint Financial Strategies helps you navigate through your emotions regarding the economy, your career, and the market, while encouraging you to evaluate family dynamics that could influence your financial well-being. These insights help Mint Financial Strategies to design a strategy that fits your life, Take those steps to financial freedom and call Mint Financial Strategies today at 303-285-3080. Again, that’s 303-285-3080. And before we went on break, we were talking about this new classical academy, Excalibur Classical Academy. And Michael, you were telling me during the break, your granddaughter’s going to be attending.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, yeah. We went to their grand opening not too long ago, and my My granddaughter is actually the very first student, the official student.
SPEAKER 04 :
Congratulations.
SPEAKER 09 :
And received a scholarship. We’re so thankful to the Academy for doing that.
SPEAKER 04 :
That is beautiful, and I think more kids need that classical education focused on the virtues, focused on morals, and reading, writing, and arithmetic. Go figure, right? Instead of international basket weaving, I learned in college. So I are a college graduate, and I always wonder, what the heck did I pay all that money for? But back then, it wasn’t a lot of money. Yeah. You could get a loan from a bank and go to college. Now you’ve got to have mortgaged your life to go to college. Well, in studio, as I mentioned earlier, we have Anders Ingmarsson, and he’s an author. He wrote a wonderful book, actually in its second edition, Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right, a 21st Century Citizen’s Guide. He writes essays on Substack by the same name, and he’s a graduate from the Stockholm School of Economics, and he’s written for The Federalist and many other papers. and periodicals, and Anders, as he mentioned earlier, was born in Sweden. He’s an American by choice. So, Anders, welcome.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
And just curious, you know, what was life growing up in Sweden, and what, in your mind, you knew you needed to come to America to be an American citizen?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it actually took a while. Growing up, you know, you grow up in a country, you don’t have any references or frame of reference, so you don’t really question a whole lot of things. So through my childhood and teens, there wasn’t really… much remarkable going on. I encountered the author Ayn Rand when I was in my late 20s and that really changed things because one of the things she did was that she opened my eyes for the United States of America, as the only country being founded on an idea, the idea that has expressed in the Declaration of our individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And if you know anything about Europe, it is that it has a very… hate-love relationship with the United States. Europe absorbs all the cultural expressions of the United States with Hollywood and everything, good and bad. But politically and philosophically, it’s not diametrically opposite, but it’s a very contentious relationship, let’s put it that way. And, you know, I grew up in that environment, and the U.S. was not looked upon back in the late 70s, early 80s, was not looked upon as a fountain of freedom, if you like. And it wasn’t until I read Ayn Rand that I got a different perspective, and it actually made me curious about the country and made me want to move here and check it out. And fortunately, I worked for a company at the time that… I was able to get transferred, stayed with them for a few years, got my green card, and then I was free to go and move to Denver.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s awesome. What was your first book that you read from Rand?
SPEAKER 06 :
That was Atlas Shrugged, her book. novel about how the minds of society go on strike and we shouldn’t give anything away here for people who haven’t read it. I can just recommend everybody to pick up a copy and read it and you will never regret it and it will change your life hopefully.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a great book. I know Michael’s read it. Oh, yeah, I loved it. When I first read it, I started it three times because I didn’t get it. And then finally I had a mentor who kind of opened my eyes and I went, oh, that’s what they’re talking about.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it’s so interesting how people get to it. You know, I was hooked from page one, and other people like you, they come back to it a few times, and then finally the coin drops, and wow, this is amazing.
SPEAKER 04 :
It was a psychedelic experience for me, you know. So, no, I appreciate what you say on it. And Ayn Rand was an immigrant herself, and she saw what was happening in her home country of Russia, and what the communists were doing at the time, and You know, you see people coming to this country, taking advantage of things today. But back in that day, and I’m sure when you came here, it was different. And I’m curious, what was your experience going through the process of coming to America and then ultimately becoming a citizen?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, I was very fortunate in the fact that I had a company that sponsored me coming here, and they had immigration attorneys that took care of all the practical needs. So for me, compared to many of my friends and such, now that you hear the horror stories of how difficult it is to actually get in there legally, For me, it was a really smooth process. I became a citizen in 2002, so that was basically seven years after I arrived here. And part of that was I delayed it a little bit so my wife could come and join me on the same ticket, so to speak.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s unbelievable. Well, I know you’ve written quite a bit on immigration. I was born in the People’s Republic of California. I think Michael was born in the free state of Texas. And go horns, right? Yes. And, you know, we all had an experience of growing up here. But it wasn’t until a program that I went here, and I know both of you gentlemen went through the leadership program of the Rockies, that I really got a foundational understanding of of what America was all about and is all about, that idea. And you bring that up in your article, and you’ve got several in your substack, which I encourage people to look up, Anders Igmarsson, and that’s spelled I-N-G-E-M-A-R-S-O-N. And you have one here, The Moral Solution to the Immigration Wars. And of course, this was written in last year, but I think it’s still… prevalent because most people don’t understand we need immigrants. We just need them to come here a certain way. You have a little different take on that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so the fundamental principle here is, you know, what is expressed in the Declaration that we are, have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And that principle is universal. It doesn’t just apply to people who happen to be born in America. I mean, that is a fact of human nature. So it doesn’t matter if you’re born south or north of the border, if you’re from Toronto or Tijuana, you have individual rights. And in an ideal society, an ideal world, You know, there would be free movement of people, just like we have free movement or reasonably free movement of products and services. That it doesn’t know any borders. We’re not in that situation, obviously, today. We have a history of immigration restrictions and going way back. in this country but there was a time in the 19th century when we basically had open borders and you know somehow we managed it right so at some point I would like us to get back to that because that is the only moral solution now I fully realize that that will take quite a while But what we currently have is just preposterous. We don’t have an immigration policy. Our politicians, both on the political left and right, they have used immigrants as a punch bag, basically, for furthering their own interests. and stirring up sentiments in the population, both left-leaning and right-leaning people. But if you look at the different surveys that organizations do, you can see that Americans in general are positive to immigration, but they just don’t want open borders. And that’s fair, right? You have an organized way of getting into the country, And once you’re here, you’re welcomed, you’re being part of the society. If, as I suggest, that you would stop all possible federal funding of immigration and let the American people and individuals who come here, you know, they will work, they will pay their way. And for those who are unfortunate for some reason and fall on hard times, there is plenty of benevolence in the American people to help them out until they’re back on their feet.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think one of the problems I think most people say, and this I hear all the time, is there’s this welfare state, and they come here for all the freebies. And I think that’s probably right with some cases, but most cases I think people just want a chance.
SPEAKER 06 :
to have a better life. Absolutely. And I often say that a country gets the immigrants that it deserves. So if you look at an immigrant, let’s say someone sitting in Syria or somewhere and looking out and saying, I want to go somewhere else because this sucks. And if they have the mindset of wanting to be taken care of, where do they go? They go primarily to a European welfare state where they get paid for years. If they wanted just the freedom to live their life, well, then it’s the United States of America that attracts them. Now we get a fair share of that other group too, because we do have a welfare state that supports some of this. And I’m saying that let’s phase out that support and we’ll get even better immigrants.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you bring up a good point because if you’re going to come to this country, you should assimilate. That doesn’t mean you should get rid of your culture, but you should know the basics of what America is all about, that idea you mentioned in the beginning.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, there should be. I don’t. There doesn’t need to be any laws or regulations about assimilating. People will just assimilate. And we know from history that sometimes, you know, There is an interesting pattern in immigration. Normally, if you take a little village in Italy going back in the 19th century, you had some people full of initiative. They left, and then they started to send home money to pay for their siblings to come or something like that. And some of those people who came, they were not full of the same initiative. They may have lived in a neighborhood. They spoke Italian for the rest of their lives. That’s not a problem for you and me as long as they don’t use our tax money or something like that. But their kids obviously grew up knowing English and their grandkids don’t remember anything else from the old country than the food and some cultural traditions, right? So the assimilation will happen. Now, if you don’t get state support, then you’re probably assimilating a lot quicker because, you know, your job requires you speaking English. And… having a job and working is the best way of assimilating that there is, because you get, basically, you’re forced to assimilate or you won’t eat.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. And you not only bring these issues up, but you also have solutions. And some of your solutions are unique. I know from my experience in the flour industry that we’re an agricultural-based industry, And we need workers to go out and pick flowers. And they treat them very well, whether they’re here in this country or in Columbia or anywhere else they’re grown. And a couple years ago, I picked up the idea that Helen Grebel from the Red Card Solution had about having a system to bringing people here to work and to do the jobs that many Americans will not do. So why not vet them, bring them over from wherever they’re at, and have a way for them to pay their taxes and And then they move on to the next job or go back to their home after they’re done. Well, I brought that to Washington, D.C. in a trade organization, and you would have thought I had three heads because they looked at it as, well, we have to have comprehensive. We have to finish it all. And whether it’s the hotel, hospitality industry or industry in general, they’re looking for ways to get workers here who can do a job and then go back to wherever they need to go. And that is such a foreign concept to our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. Wondering your thoughts on that, Andrew.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, yeah. So you mentioned that I have some unique solutions, and I think they’re still unique. Hopefully they will not stay unique. But I’m proposing a marketplace for immigration. And what I mean by that is that there is a very limited role for the government. The government is, as you’re saying, vetting immigrants. You know, if you have a criminal record in a foreign country, according to U.S. law, then we won’t let you in. If you have an infectious disease of some kind that can spread here, yeah, then maybe we have to press the pause button and you have to wait until you’re rid… you become healthy again. and then set a number, an annual number, for how many we can take in, and that is a number that can slowly increase, I think. But let’s just say 1% of the US population. That would be 3.5 million a year. We could easily absorb it, and as you mentioned earlier, it would actually be a benefit because we’re not making enough babies here, so we need immigrants to take that place. But other than that, what I’m proposing is a trading platform, basically. where you buy spots. So like a stock market, but you trade spots for immigrations. So in the beginning, you basically have everybody who wants to sign up, and then we have a drawing. And one, two, I saw some number that there are around the world, 160 million people who would like to come to the US. Whether that is real or not, I don’t know. And obviously we can’t open the doors and let 160 million in at the same time. But if we do it with the number that I mentioned, or a little bit more than that, it’s perfectly manageable. But we’re having that initial drawing. If you’re lucky, you get number one. If you’re not, you get number X million or something. And then you know when you will come in, if it’s in year two, three, four, 10, or something like that. But the next part is that you can trade up. So this marketplace, prices will be set. And for early admission, of course, the price will be higher, right? And if a company wants a software engineer, maybe they’re willing to pay that higher price to get them into the country as soon as possible. An agricultural farm that needs farm laborers, well, you know, they probably can’t pay that much, so they will either have to wait a few years, or maybe there’s a trade association that gets together, maybe the food industry see a benefit in helping the farmers to get labor into the country, and they buy spots on this immigration marketplace.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s a great idea. Well, you have a lot more ideas. We’ll continue on these because these ideas make things happen. And also all things that are mortgage, you can find out from Lauren Levy.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’ll be right back. We’ll be right back. Lorne Levy can help you understand the process and craft solutions that are unique to your circumstances. To explore how a reverse mortgage might help you, call Lorne Levy at 303-880-8881. That’s 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 21 :
April 26th, 1777. Colonel, the British are raiding Danbury and burning the town. I’ll go tell them. 16-year-old Sybil Ludington mounted her horse and rode 40 miles through night and pouring rain. That’s twice the distance of Paul Revere to sound the alarm.
SPEAKER 17 :
Quickly, assemble at my father’s house.
SPEAKER 21 :
The Kim Monson Show is our modern-day Sybil Ludington, bringing us the latest breaking news in the battle for truth and freedom. Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling is proud to stand with Kim. Will you stand with us? Get engaged with the issue that keeps you up at night so that you can influence your school and community with truth and justice. And for quality craftsmanship at a fair price, call or text Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling at 303-995-1636. That number again is 303-995-1636.
SPEAKER 08 :
With all the chaos and confusion in our world, how can you plant yourself on a foundation based on truth and clarity? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim examines news, politics, and opinion through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom, and shares human interest stories that will inspire you and make you smile. Tune in to The Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m., with encores 1 to 2 p.m., and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM, the KLZ website, and the KLZ app. Shows can also be found at KimMonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. I’m Bradley Beck, filling in for Kim, who’s out today. And you can check out Kim’s website at kimMonson.com. And Kim always likes to promote the various sponsors that make her successful. And one of them is the Center for American Values, which is located in Pueblo on the beautiful Riverwalk. The center is focused on foundational values of America, which are honor, integrity, and patriotism. Through their K-12 educational programs, training for educators, and portraits of valor of over 160 Medal of Honor recipients, the Center is helping to instill honor, integrity, and patriotism to our next generation. Check out their website. It’s AmericanValueCenter.com. That’s AmericanValueCenter.com. And with me in studio is my friend Anders Ingmarsson. He’s the author of the book, Think Right or Wrong. Not Left or Right, a 21st Century Citizen’s Guide. And he writes on Substack and originally from Sweden. And he’s an American by choice. And, Anders, we were talking about some ideas on immigration that are unique, I think, and interesting. could be implemented in a way that would make a marketplace, you started to mention. So you talk one example in this article that you have on your Substack, The Moral Solution to the Immigration Wars, about a bank setting up some kinds of funds.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, this is just one other example. You know, maybe a bank would see a business opportunity here in financing immigrants coming to this country. So the bank could finance these spots on the immigration marketplace that I mentioned. And if you’re a student from Indonesia or Vietnam, engineer from Africa somewhere, you want to come to the U.S., you don’t have the funds to buy a spot early on, but an American bank might see a business opportunity, or a foreign bank for that matter, finance it for you, you move here, you start working, you have a job, and you just pay off this loan for the spot on the immigration marketplace like you pay off your mortgage or any other loan.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think that’s a wonderful idea. And I’m curious, has any elected representative ever contacted you on these or have you talked to them?
SPEAKER 06 :
No, I think the pressure of this would have to come from the people. Well, you’re a people. The bottom line here is really that what we have today, I mean, we really don’t have an immigration policy, unfortunately. But when we have had it and to the extent we have had it, it’s this centrally planned solution and we know that central planning doesn’t work in any area and it becomes a a tool for for war between pressure groups so whether you are whether you want need farm workers or whether you want refugees coming into the country. You know, it becomes this political process. What I’m suggesting with the marketplace is that let the American people decide with their values and their wallets. And if you are concerned about refugees from a certain part of the country, well, put your wallet your money where your mouth is, you know, and get together with your fellow citizens and sponsor these immigration spots in the marketplace to bring these refugees to the country. You help them find a job and so on and so forth. And I don’t have all the solutions, and that’s the whole point with the marketplace, you know. let the ingenuity of the American people decide where this goes and so on. Just have the government set these basic parameters of how many we let in every year and then vetting the ones who are actually on their way here.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think it’s a great idea. One of the things that you mention in several of your articles is American in mind but not born in the wrong country from around the world and I always call it American by choice, but I love the phraseology you use, Americans in mind. What does that mean to you?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it goes back to the… If you go back to the Declaration of Independence and to the fact that we have individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and what we said that this is a universal condition, basically its own, just that the United States is the only country that has codified it into a first the Declaration and then the Constitution. but it applies to everybody everywhere and people whether they are aware of it or not you know it’s it’s part of human nature to to want to be free i mean not everybody wants to be free but there are a lot of people around the country who are american in mind in the sense that they want to be left free to pursue their own happiness They may never have heard of the Declaration of Independence, but it doesn’t matter. And this is what attracted all the immigrants over the past 200 years to this country, or most of them, the fact that they were leaving behind oppression and the fact that they couldn’t live their lives as they saw fit.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ll put you on the spot here. You talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and I think people have a misunderstanding of happiness. What is happiness, Anders?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you decide what’s happiness for you. But it’s important to emphasize that it’s the pursuit of happiness. America doesn’t guarantee you happiness, but it guarantees or should guarantee you that you’re free to pursue whatever you think makes you happy.
SPEAKER 04 :
And that’s the beautiful thing because you’re free to succeed or fail, learn from your failures and go on. And I know you and I both, we know people that have done things that had an idea, didn’t work out. and they pulled themselves up and started something else or went somewhere else.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’ve had ideas that didn’t work out. You probably had ideas that didn’t work out.
SPEAKER 04 :
My wife tells me all the time I have bad ideas, and I try to work them out. It’s interesting because, to me, the perspective that somebody who was not born here truly has an appreciation for this country and the freedoms it allows, as even though things are over time have have devolved, I would say it’s still the greatest place in the world in the greatest time. And we have so much opportunity and people just have to. I heard an old Italian saying once that the streets of America are paved with gold. all you have to do is bend over and pick up the gold. It’s there in front of us. And rather than complaining, there is so much out there that the use of your mind can help you create.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and we have what I call this opportunity window. Right now, this is, in Ronald Reagan’s work, the shining city on a hill. And there are so many people who want to come here, ambitious, intelligent people, And we’re losing out by not letting them come here as a country. We have an opportunity here to attract the best and the brightest from around the world, whether they are engineers or software developers or farm workers. People who are ambitious come in all forms and in all professions. And our country would be much better if we allowed more of them to come.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. And, you know, it’s so important to have these conversations because I don’t think people realize that the food on their table, the hotel they stay at, we just had the Kentucky Derby. You have all those people who are taking care of the horses. Most of those are immigrants, and we’re lucky to have them.
SPEAKER 06 :
The winners from Puerto Rico, which is technically not an immigrant, but, you know, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
There is so much out there. Anders, we just have a few minutes. How would you like to wrap this up?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I would encourage people to check out my Substack, Anders Ingemarason.substack.com. And if you just put immigration in the search field there, you’ll get these articles if you’re interested in learning more about the ideas about an immigration marketplace. And then, of course, as always, you know, if you’re interested, pick up a copy of my book, Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right. And it’s out in its third edition.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a great book. I encourage everybody to read it. Anders, thanks for being in studio today. And today, ladies and gentlemen, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideas, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. You are not alone. God bless you and God bless America. And stay tuned for hour number two.
SPEAKER 10 :
I don’t want no one to cry, but tell them if I don’t survive.
SPEAKER 16 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 19 :
The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water, what it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
SPEAKER 05 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 19 :
Under the guise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it’s actually tapping down the truth.
SPEAKER 05 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 19 :
On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
SPEAKER 05 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 04 :
Indeed, let’s have a conversation. And we’ve had a great conversation this morning in the first hour with my friend Anders Ingmarsson talking about immigration. And we have in the second hour, my other friend, Michael A. Hancock, not to be confused with the other Michael Hancock who needs, actually this Michael Hancock in studio probably could help Michael Hancock in Denver. But welcome, Michael. Glad to have you here.
SPEAKER 09 :
Look, I am so happy to be here today. to have this opportunity to spend a couple hours chatting with you, so this is good. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good, good, good. Well, we’re happy to have you, and welcome, folks, to the Kim Monson Show. I’m Bradley Beck, and I’m thrilled to host the show today. Kim’s out, but she’ll be back tomorrow, so let’s have a conversation. And thank you each for listening. You are trusted, treasured, and valued. You have purpose. Today, strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, your body. We were made for this moment in history. And hello again to producer Joe, always has a smile, lets me in the door, usually has a cup of coffee. We’ll have to talk about that. I had to bring my own this morning, but Joe, how are you today?
SPEAKER 03 :
I’m doing unbelievable, Brad. How are you, sir?
SPEAKER 04 :
I am unbelievable too. I use that when I get on a plane and people usually say to me, that could be good or bad. And I’ll say, yes, it does. And I’ll walk away. And they’ll say, hey, wait a minute, is it good or bad? And I’ll say, I’ll let you decide. So have an unbelievable day today, whatever you do. And Kim’s website is Kim at Kim Monson dot com. That’s her email. She’s Kim Monson dot com. And you can sign up for her weekly email newsletter. You get the first look at all her upcoming guests as well as the most recent essays. And Michael, I think you’re going to be starting to write some essays for Kim.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, I spoke with her just the other day and she invited me to begin to do that. And I’m in.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you’re a wonderful writer, and we’ll talk about your book and some of the articles on your substack called The Undercurrent. And so thank you all for contributing to the support of Kim’s independent voice and the exercise of our freedom of speech. And our show comes to you because we have great sponsors, such as the Harris family for their gold sponsorship of the show. We thank them. And from Parker to Golden, Little Richie’s Pizza and Pasta is your go-to for real New York-style pizza, hearty pastas, and unbeatable local vibe. Making me hungry already. It’s early in the morning. I want some pizza. Little Richie’s is serving up daily specials, quick and tasty weekday lunch deals, and a happy hour that locals actually build their plans around. Whether you’re bringing the crew, catching up with friends, or flying solo for a hot slice, Little Richie’s is your neighborhood hangout. And as the tradition is on the Kim Monson Show, she always has a word of the day. And since earlier we were talking about immigration, I have a word called immigration with an E-M-I-G-R-A-T-I-O-N. We encourage you to use it. in your daily activities. It’s when a person leaves his or her home country to live in another country. It was first used in the 1640s. The noun immigration derives from the late Latin, meaning removal from a place. So use it today and your friends will be impressed. And the quote of the day is from Emma Lazarus, born in July 22, 1849, and passed away November 19, 1887. She was an American author, wrote poetry, prose, as well as translations, and she was an activist. And she wrote the sonnet, The New Colossus, which was inspired by the Statue of Liberty in 1883. And it goes like this, or at least the part of it that I’ll speak about. Quote, And that’s on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. And we do have some great sponsors and great things to talk about in this segment. But first, I’d like to get to the great Jody Hensley from Mint Financial Strategies. How are you, Jody? I’m good, Brad. How are you? I’m doing, as I’ll always say, unbelievable. And thank you for being a sponsor for Kim Monson. You have some interesting perspectives because you see all types of people in various stages of their financial literacy as well as their financial stages in life. I’m getting to the point where I’m going to be retired probably sooner than later, at least from my day gig. And what recommendation do you have for folks that are getting or nearing that retirement age?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, first thing, you’ve got to have a strategy and a plan. So we start out with that, whether you’re in your 20s or in your mid-50s to 60s and getting ready to retire. Because if you don’t have a blueprint, how can I make recommendations in terms of what’s suitable for investing? So we always start with a plan. And we use a unique strategy called the bucket plan. which is just a time-segmented approach to taking income in retirement. So if you haven’t looked at it, Brad, you should definitely check it out or schedule a complimentary consultation with Mint Financial.
SPEAKER 04 :
And Mint Financial does a lot of things for people that help them get that plan together. And I’m curious, are you using or how do you think AI is going to impact the future of planning for those strategies?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, we’re embracing AI. I think it’s making me a better financial advisor. And so we love it. In fact, we have an event coming up, which I’ll tell you about in just a minute. But I think AI is changing the world. It’s certainly changing our industry, too. But we’re embracing it. And I think it’s helping us. It’s making tools more easily accessible. And it’s making our industry better in terms of planning software. analyzing different investments. And so I think it’s a good thing for our business.
SPEAKER 04 :
How do you see, you know, there’s so many things on the internet these days, and one piece of advice will tell you one thing, another will tell you another. I guess it’s about the individual and how their future is being planned out as opposed to a one size fits all for people. And I think people get confused to that. I know I have with Social Security and planning for that and putting an IRA, a 401k, a Roth. What are your thoughts on what’s out there?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think it’s important with financial planning that you treat everybody as an individual and everybody needs to have a customized plan that’s built for them. There is no cookie cutter approach. And I think that is the problem with those AI type of things, if that’s all you’re using. So while we’re embracing AI, you still have to do your due diligence and make sure that you are knowledgeable enough to take the information that you’re reading and deciphering it and really taking that into account and building a plan that is customized around your particular situation.
SPEAKER 04 :
And, you know, if you’re a young person out there listening, and we hope you are, what are some things that somebody could do today in their 20s who’s just perhaps gone through college, going out of high school and doing a trade? What should they be doing today?
SPEAKER 17 :
Start early. Don’t get into the debt trap. So, you know, some debt is OK, like buying a first home. But I strongly recommend, you know, limit the amount of student loan debt that you’re taking. Don’t go out and buy that first car the minute you get out of college. And, you know, just plan wisely and start saving and investing the minute you can.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, that’s great advice. And if people wanted to get a hold of you, how would they do that? And what’s important for them to bring to the table when they first start off with you?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think, you know, you can get a hold of us at 303-285-3080, or you can check out our website as well, which is mintfs.com. Same kind of email, jodyatmintfs.com. And, you know, just bring an open mind when you come to meet with us. We’ll talk you through just kind of that planning process and help you define those goals and objectives and talk about next steps.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s awesome. And Jody, we appreciate you being a sponsor of the Kim Monson Show and Mint Financial Strategies and all that you do. Thank you. And I’m sure Kim will be talking to you next week.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right. Thanks, Brad.
SPEAKER 04 :
Have a great day. And we’ll be right back after these messages.
SPEAKER 18 :
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SPEAKER 01 :
Do you strive for excellence as you work with your clients and customers? Does it make sense for you to add a unique and focused branding opportunity to your marketing portfolio? Would you like to access a broad customer base that loves our country and wants to make life better for ourselves, our neighbors, our colleagues, our children, and our grandchildren? Then you may be a perfect fit as a sponsor or partner of The Kim Monson Show. To learn more, reach out to Kim at kim at kimMonson.com. Kim would love to talk with you. Again, that’s kim at kimMonson.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. I’m Bradley Beck, filling in for Kim. I’m pleased to host today, and Kim is away, but she’ll be back tomorrow. And Kim’s website is kimMonson.com. You can sign up for Kim’s weekly email newsletter. You’ll get the first look at all her upcoming guests, as well as the most recent essays. And her email is kim at kimMonson.com. Thank you for contributing to support her independent voice and the exercise of our right of freedom of speech. And through all of Kim’s work with veterans, she’s honored to highlight the USMC Memorial Foundation and all the work that they’re doing to raise money to remodel the official USMC Memorial, which is located right here in Golden, Colorado at 6 and Colfax. Paula Saris is the president of the foundation. She is a Marine veteran, a Gold Star wife, and Paula and her team are working diligently to make that remodel a reality. And you can help by donating to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And a new sponsor and somebody who is going to be excited to send their granddaughter there is the Excalibur Classical Academy. And Michael Hancock’s in the studio. His granddaughter is going to be one of the first students there.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep, yep. We’re anxious to get her started.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good, good. Well, she’ll have a good foundation. And if you’re looking for somewhere where your child or grandchild could learn about the classical Christian opening and centennial for this fall, from kindergarten to third grade, every student is offered a full scholarship tuition, which is just fabulous. And they’ll learn math, phonics, music, grammar, and the timeless classics. They cultivate wisdom, character, and the love of learning. This is an education with a purpose, and seats are limited, and enrollment is now open. So discover a better beginning at ExcaliburClassicalAcademy.org. And in studio with me is my friend and an author and somebody who I can’t wait to talk about. He’s got a great new book called Rules for Restoration, A Countermanifesto to Radicalism. You can read him on Substack at his Substack entitled Undercurrent. And he’s got so many things I can talk about. We could be here for days, Michael, but welcome. You’re a former teacher. You you’ve had so many different aspects of your life and professional, uh, in, uh, working with software companies and just innovating. And, uh, I’m so glad to have you in studio.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. You said teacher. Well, I wouldn’t consider myself a teacher, um, professionally, right. I do engage with people and I love, uh, engaging with kids that actually do have a desire to learn.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, this book is a learning opportunity for all of us. And it’s kind of the antithesis of Rules for Radicals, a Saul Alinsky book. This is the positive aspect of getting involved, but knowing what the opposition is thinking and doing, their tactics, their strategies. And you offer some great solutions on the other side of how to engage take those things into consideration and come back with something positive.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, you know, the thing about Saul Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals, is that when I first came upon it, I consider myself to be somewhat of a radical in the high-tech world. And I came across that book. I started reading it. And when it said in the introduction that it was dedicated to the world’s first radical, Lucifer, I knew that something was up. And so to some extent, I think people think that the demise, if you call it in American culture, is something that is just a natural decay. My point in the book is that that’s not true, that there are people who are actively engaged in undermining the thing that the founders created, something that is supposed to constantly improve the situation in this nation to achieve better outcomes for everyone. But that’s not what Saul Alinsky is about, and many other people.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and to understand the radical mindset, you have to understand what they’re trying to do. And I think a lot of people are so busy with their lives, they don’t know that so much is happening around them to undermine their foundations. And you bring that to the forefront. You talk about what Alinsky, his rules are.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And then how to be aware of that first. You have to have an awareness.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. And I do you the luxury of not having to go and buy his book, buy mine.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. But yeah, you know, that’s the thing is that, you know, as my wife and I, as you know, have gotten involved in politics. This stuff started to come up to the surface. And one of the big things that we were grounded in in our work with the leadership program of the Rockies is getting re-familiarized with the founding of this country and what the principles are and what the goals of this nation are. In the fourth grade, I had to memorize the Gettysburg Address, okay, in the fourth grade. And those words meant something to me. They inspired me to not just love this country, but to be a better person and to seek truth. and to make a difference. And I think that’s one of the big things that’s missing in our culture today is that people are just sort of checked out, and they have checked out because of all of the fighting and partisanship that goes on in our nation. And the thing that’s missing is civics, understanding what government is supposed to do, what the role of government is, and also understanding what our responsibility as citizens are. I think Dr. Thomas Cranterwood wrote an article just recently published on his Substack that challenges us all to think about citizenship and what that really means. Is it just enough to be related to somebody to claim yourself a citizen or just that you happen to be born in this country is a citizen. Citizenship is far more than any of that, right? You’ve got to be a person who appreciates morality, right, and practices morality. I think a free society is based upon the notion of a moral people. And if you don’t, if all you do is simply claim your First Amendment rights but you don’t own making this nation be all that it can be, then it falls a little flat.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, like you, I’m a big fan of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. I’ve been to D.C. and seen the Lincoln Memorial. Those words are in blazer, 262 words. I think that fundamentally put America back on track to the second American founding, if you will. And the idea of rededicating ourselves, I think, as Kim often says, we’re in an inflection point today with freedom versus force because so much that happens locally here in Colorado under the dome takes away our freedoms. And yet we have a responsibility not to abdicate to our representatives. We have a responsibility to ourselves, our families, our communities to to be active and engaged. And if we’re not, and we don’t know what that is, we advocate to the people that are going to run our lives.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. Our job is to hold the people we elect accountable for doing the right things for us. The catch to that, though, is you’ve got to know what the right things are, right? And where you go to understand what that is is you go back to the founding principles of this country. it’s based on the notion that we’re all created equal. And yet somehow the lie has been spread and become somewhat infectious that we aren’t equal, right? And there’s just this big divide. And a lot of times what will happen is slavery is used as a perfect example of that. And the fact that, well, what people will say the fact that the, the nation was created by a bunch of old white men. Well, that’s not true. These are fairly young folks, right? In their 30s or something like that, right? But extremely wise, extremely passionate about freedom. And there’s always been that tussle between free, right? Living free and being forced to live in a certain way. And I think our country, is headed right now in a direction that is literally scary. I mean, if you’ve ever been to an Aurora City Council meeting… That’s scary.
SPEAKER 04 :
That can be scary, right?
SPEAKER 09 :
And what ends up happening is they scare people and people don’t show up. And so then what ends up happening is the loudest voices… are really a minority, but they appear to be the people that are influencing how everything goes. So I think that we’ve got to stand up. We’ve got to start standing up. We’ve got to start showing up. We’ve got to start treating each other with respect and dignity in these forums.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we have lots to talk about because you’ve written a great article that’s in your sub stack as well as you just published it in a couple of newspapers, local papers. And we’ll talk about those ideas about being a responsible citizen after this commercial break.
SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
The Kim Monson Show is expanding and augmenting our voice and reach. In addition to the Kim Monson Show broadcast, we have created the Kim Monson Newsroom and the Kim Monson Community. We call them the Three Presses, and they are foundational to free speech and engaging in responsible self-governance. Go to kimMonson.com, click on the Newsletter tab… and sign up for the weekly email newsletter and the Daily Digest. And join the Kim Monson community, which is a modern salon where you can contemplate, connect, and converse around the principles we cover daily. Sign up today at kimMonson.com.
SPEAKER 21 :
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SPEAKER 13 :
All Kim’s sponsors are in inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. I’m Bradley Beck, and I have the great privilege of sitting in the big kid chair here in the middle of the studio. It’s a beautiful day here in Colorado, and we’re so glad you’re joining us. Kim’s website is kimMonson.com, and you can sign up for her weekly email newsletter and join the Kim Monson community. And I encourage you to do that. I am a member and it’s a great place to connect and converse and contemplate ideas and issues. And Alan Thomas, he just taught the Federalist Papers, the second class, and it’s really enjoyable. You’ll learn a lot. And Alan’s an engineer by trade, but I tell you what, that gentleman knows his history and he’s leading us through the Federalist and what it means and how it applies to today. And I’m really fortunate to be taking that class. And the first seminar they had with John Eastman was, I think, a week and a half ago. Outstanding. And if you’re a member, you have access to it live. And then there are also recordings. We encourage you to join Kim and her community. It’s a yearly pledge, and I think it’s worth your time, your effort, and your energy. Plus, you get to have the support of an independent voice on the radio with Kim, and you can always email Kim at kimmonson.com. And Kim appreciates that you’re helping support her independent voice and the exercise of the right of freedom of speech. And in studio with me is my friend Michael A. Hancock, who is an author, and he has several substacks that I wanted to cover, one on citizenship. But before we do that, Michael, you were one that really intrigued me about music. You’re a musician or have worked in the music industry. I know Stephanie, your wife, is a great singer. I have her CD, and I just love listening to her. And you have an article that talks about the music industry and the control of the few, the scarce resources of the industry. And now it’s become democratized with technology.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, it’s becoming more democratized, I would say, with the advent of AI, if you will. I think lots of people are in an uproar over that. But just like in all of the other stuff that’s going on with AI, it’s a tool. And that tool is actually reorganizing how the value chain works and where the value ultimately ends up being. I think is being pushed more back into the actual creator, the writer, the composer, right? And away from record companies and those people. And so it’s quite exciting what’s happening. I, as a writer, can actually be extremely productive, more productive than I ever have been before and have more control over how my product goes to market and the quality of what that is. AI allows that allows that to happen. And I also think that what’s going to go on is that we’re going to have more really great music being created. And the result of creating more great music is going to be a higher demand for that music to be heard live. So I think ultimately it ends up benefiting also the live performance and the live musicians.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I love live music. I go to venues all the time. I’m sure you do. Whether it’s a classical concert or a pop or rock or jazz or anything, any of those venues. I love bluegrass. It’s fun just to sit there in a park and listen to the music. I think it feeds off of each other because if you like live music and they’re a good band, you’ll buy their CD or streaming and vice versa. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. You’re going to see all sorts of, I think, new business models emerge as a result of that. So, for instance, if I’m a great writer and I’m writing great music and then ultimately there’s a demand for it, then I’m going to hire great musicians to perform. Now, one of the things is because I didn’t have to spend as much money producing it, now I can share in the income from the actual recording. When that live group goes out and plays a phenomenal performance, and they sell CDs, well then the live musicians can take part in the benefit, the value created from selling those CDs. And there’s just all sorts of arrangements, new arrangements that I think that are going to emerge.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and so often in an industry, there was a gatekeeper. And I think at the time of development and taking the risk, they were an important part of the industry at the beginning. But so much of it was control as opposed to creative. So much of it was control. Taking more than they really deserved than giving to the artists. We hear about all the great musicians at like Stax or Motown or people that were at Sun Records that didn’t get their due. Plus, you didn’t know the musicians who were playing.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, you didn’t know. Oh, have you ever seen the documentary? called Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, my goodness.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. It tells that story so well. But from my perspective, what people buy, first and foremost, are songs, right? Musicians, ultimately, and writers write the songs, but they actually consume the songs, not the personalities. Personalities sort of follow. And I think that what’s happening is we’re moving back toward the song being the really important component because I think it’s the message in the song that actually moves people to either be happy or sad.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 09 :
That sort of thing.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and it’s a connection at the heart.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
And if you connect the heart, you can get to the head.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 04 :
And music’s emotional.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. And to a large extent, the industry has done some things with music And the kind of music that is put out that is being used to really depress society, right, rather than uplift it. And so I think that these new tools are going to allow good music, great music, uplifting music to come back to the forefront.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, a guy like Pharrell Williams who did Happy. I mean, I go around singing that all the time. And if you’re not a happy person, you hate that song. I love it. I mean, it’s got a great beat. It’s got great music. The video’s great. There’s a visual component. But your point being that AI can help move forward the industry and give those who are independent or don’t have a connection an opportunity.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, absolutely. And the thing that I see happening so much is that there’s this tendency of people to be afraid, right, of this new thing. And my view is that embrace it, learn to use it. If you’re a good person, you’re going to do great things with it. Bad people will do bad things. So I encourage all the great people to dig in and produce really great music.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, if I ever was a country star, I’d get my truck, my dog, and my girl back, you know? That’s the kind of music I would do. Okay. When I was a younger person, I was in a country band, Rick Tucker and the Good Time Band. Okay. And our lead guitar player was Pete Anderson, who went on to produce Dwight Yoakam. But we got to go to Clovis, New Mexico and record with the great Norman Petty. Wow. And Norman found out my handle was The Kosher Cowboy, spelled with two Ks. And Norman came up to me and said, Brad, I hear you’re The Kosher Cowboy. I said, yes, sir. He said, we should record you. I said, Norman, I can’t sing. He said, don’t worry about it. Neither can Kinky Friedman, who is the original Texas Jew boy. Right. Back then, if they had AI, I could have been a singer. You could have been a singer. The country Milli Vanilli. Who knows? Exactly. Beautiful. It’s amazing to me that the technology helps artists, but it also will further their agenda of being better. Yes. You know, we want good music, you know, and the stuff that’s less likely to hit the marketplace. I mean, there may be people who like certain genres, but for the most part, I think it’s AI is there to help.
SPEAKER 09 :
It is. I think, you know, I’m experimenting with it right now. And what I’m finding is I’m getting some really jaw dropping results. And ideas are coming about how, what it means for me as a, a creator of music. Now, I could actually use AI to generate four different versions of a song that are great versions for four different genres. In the current industry, a record company would never do that. They do one, they invest, they make their money, and they’re gone, right? But the message in that song might apply to people that listen to any number of genres. So the tool can help you tailor that message to those particular audiences. It’s just phenomenal.
SPEAKER 04 :
I went to school at Loyola Marymount, and one of my old neighbors, who also happens to be Tommy Tedesco, he taught at Loyola for a semester of the music industry. And I know his son, Denny, and he created the movie or the documentary, The Wrecking Crew. Oh, yes. It’s a great movie, kind of like we were talking about in The Standing in the Shadows of Motown. Yeah. But I remember Tommy coming to class, first class, he brought his guitar, and he said a producer came to him and said, can you play flamenco music? And he played something, a little tune, a little riff, and it sounded flamenco. And he says, how about Puerto Rican music? And he played the same riff. you know, just had different expressions. And the producer said, that’s great. Can you do any country? And he did the same riff, you know, but the producer didn’t know, you know, he was just, oh, that sounds great. You know, he’s just different look. And it was the same thing. And my point being that, that music is subjective.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, it is.
SPEAKER 04 :
And there is technology today that can do that. You had a great artist like Tommy who could inflect and could do a certain riff. And if you’re watching any of these reels on Facebook, they’re always talking about the music and the techniques that the engineers were doing. And there’s so much going back behind the scenes that you are not even aware of.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, yeah. We’re living in a time… From my perspective right now, that’s just absolutely amazing. And AI is transforming the world. It’s helping to transform the world. But my perspective is that it transforms the world for those people who are really experts at doing what they do. Because AI also can be extremely biased, and it will tell you exactly what you want to hear, right? So you’ve really got to dig in and know your profession, know your skill, be knowledgeable about what it is that you’re doing. Then it can be very, very beneficial. Outside of that, though, it can probably lead you into some pretty bad places.
SPEAKER 04 :
So quick question for you before we go to break. Do you start with the song or do you start with the tune?
SPEAKER 09 :
I start with melody. Okay. Right. A great melody. And or sometimes I might. might start with what I would call a vibe, sort of a harmonic, rhythmic structure. I lay that down, and then over that I will superimpose a melody. And then the next thing you know, I’ll call Stephanie. Sweetie, come write some words to this. That’s a great way to do it. That’s the way to do it. And we’ve written some great songs. I’ll share with you. We’ve written some great songs that way.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, no, and as I mentioned earlier, I have Stephanie’s CD, and I enjoy listening to it, Kathy and I, when we go down the road. So people should look that up, Stephanie Hancock. Yeah. But one of the things I think is important about music is it can change people’s minds, their emotions. And, you know, you think about it when you go to a building, they have that music in the elevator. It can change how you are connecting with people.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely, absolutely. Over my lifetime, you know, a song, the beat, the vibe can be absolutely great. You know, you’re out on the dance floor, you’re dancing, and then maybe months later you finally start listening to the words and you say, what the heck am I doing? What was that all about?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, my wife accused me often of dancing by myself because when I’m out there, I’m out there. Oh, you mean there’s a partner?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, you know, my daughter, Andrea, she has fun sneaking and recording me dancing.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, yeah. That’s probably not pretty like me. No. Well, we have great conversations like this because of our sponsors, and we’ll have more talk about Michael’s latest article, and it’s the Citizenship Default. Aurora needs more participation and better citizenship, which will kind of dovetail into why he does music and why I like music, and we’ll be right back after this.
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SPEAKER 08 :
With all the chaos and confusion in our world, how can you plant yourself on a foundation based on truth and clarity? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim examines news, politics and opinion through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom and shares human interest stories that will inspire you and make you smile. Tune in to The Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m., with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM, the KLZ website, and the KLZ app. Shows can also be found at kimMonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 04 :
And welcome back. I’m Bradley Beck filling in for Kim Monson, who’s out today. She’ll be back tomorrow. And you can check out Kim at her website at kimMonson.com. Sign up for Kim’s weekly email newsletter. You’ll get the first look at all her upcoming guests and her most recent essays. I’ve got one coming out in a couple weeks, so I’m looking forward to being back. And you can always email Kim at Kim at Kim Monson dot com. And something that you should put on your bucket list is go down and visit in Pueblo the Center for American Values. Located on the beautiful Riverwalk in Pueblo, the Center of American Values was co-founded by Medal of Honor recipient Drew Dix and Emmy Award winning documentary maker Brad Padula. The center is focused on honoring our Medal of Honor recipients. and teaching and upholding the principles of America, which are honor, integrity, and patriotism. And for more information, check out their website at AmericanValuesCenter.org. And if you get a chance to listen to Drew Dix and Brad Padula’s podcast, it’s fabulous. And Drew Dix has just a great American bass voice and I love listening to him. So I encourage you to do that. In studio with me is my friend Michael A. Hancock. And he is a writer, wrote a great book I encourage you to read called Rules for Restoration, a counter manifesto to radicalism. He also writes for several local papers in a sub stack called The Undercurrent. And Michael, your most recent article is The Citizen’s Deficit, Aurora Needs More Participation and Better Citizenship. Tell us a little bit about what this article is about and why you wrote it.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, the thing that inspired me to write that article is wrestling psychologically with what my wife and I have experienced in the city council experience in terms of people coming and protesting. And this all started almost two years ago with the unfortunate killing of a A guy by the SWAT team, a person shot him, and the parents started showing up along with what I would call people who were protesters, to some extent professional protesters. And they came and their immediate demand was that that officer who had shot and killed the person should be arrested, thrown in jail, fired from his job, that sort of thing. And it struck me that these people don’t know how the government works. It’s not the role of the city council to do any of that. There’s a whole process, a legal process that has to be undertaken to come out with what one would consider to be a fair and judicial result. In essence, that’s how justice is… That’s how justice occurs in a self-governing society. But these people are really so… angry and upset that they’ve experienced this death. And I sympathize with that. But they just are not going about it in the right way. And actually, the right way for them is only one that results in what they want. And so no matter what the process is, unless you give them what they want, firing a of the policeman that did this and his place in jail, they’re not satisfied. So they’ve made, in essence, the city council meetings totally almost unbearable for the last two years.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we should, and for transparency, we should say that your wife, Stephanie… Is on the city council. Is on the city council. And so you have experience by being there and observing and hearing. And like yourself, I have had many opportunities to be at school board meetings or town hall meetings or go down to the Capitol to testify. And one of the things that… citizens should understand is there is a process and a decorum. And to yell and have theatrics is one thing, which usually doesn’t persuade people. But just like music, you have to appeal to not only the heart, but to the head. And you have to be civil about it. And in your article, you talk about the first phase of citizenship. And most people, there’s an absence. And then you talk about
SPEAKER 09 :
participation but you have to understand what the civic process is and we’re not teaching people on that process yeah i mean we we encourage people to one know their rights we encourage them to to vote right then we encourage them to uh understand well not really encourage them to understand institutions but we have institutions there they they they’re in place they’ve got there’s rules and regulations right that’s that’s one part of it right the other part of it is though You have to be a person who takes responsibility, right? And part of responsibility has to do with making sure that when you’re engaging with people, you’re doing it in a respectful way. Right. The First Amendment doesn’t say that you get to act out and shout at people and call them white supremacists and racists and stuff. And then in your next breath, you’re saying, oh, gee, well, if you you just have lunch with me. Right. That just doesn’t work. You’ve got to you’ve got to come at all of this from a moral perspective. standpoint. You can’t just simply be emotional and expect to get any sort of results that’s going to be satisfying for you and or the community that you exist in.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and one of the things that are important when you have the opportunity to speak to your elected representatives is that you have to be clear and concise. And I know people who come to Toastmasters, we have a thing called table topics. They get two to three minutes at a city council meeting. You get two, maybe three minutes, and that’s it. So you have to be clear and concise. And often I find people either read with their head down, which is better than not. They can be respectful. But people that look their representatives in the eye and talk from a standpoint of the heart, I remind them that Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address was just over about two minutes and 15 seconds or thereabouts. So it’s important to understand that you can get a really strong message in a short amount of time.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, absolutely. And one of the things that you’ll see at these city council meetings is that you’ll have people that are reading, and you’ll have 40 people that read the exact same statement and then upset if somebody on the dais there might not be paying strict attention to what it is that they’re doing. But the presentation is something that’s very off-putting. And because those the city council people are there to do things like make sure the streetlights are running, make sure that the police are there to keep everybody safe. They’re not there to adjudicate murders or incidents where the city, a policeman, excuse me, a policeman has actually killed somebody. That is not. the role of the city council. So you see quite often people coming and addressing the city council with issues that the city council has nothing to do with.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and you write in your article that disorder does not expand democracy, it narrows it. Oh, absolutely. So when people are yelling or screaming or calling names, they really hurt the others that want to give their piece of advice or their experience. And there’s a process, as you mentioned earlier, for that adjudication of the police officer. You don’t know that side of the story, but the other side of it is if you want to do that, that’s fine. Let the city, let your citizens, fellow citizens know about the situation and how impassioned you are. You’re not saying don’t talk to the city. You’re saying if you’re going to do it, Do it with respect, but do it also in a way that gets people to go, you know, I need to get involved in that rather than being repelled.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. And people are being repelled. So what ends up happening is you have less and less people coming to city council meetings. Well, guess what? Now you have less and less people voting. Right. And less people that participate, the more. ground you see to people who are small but very organized and very loud. And so now we end up being governed by that very small and loud and sometimes obnoxious group of people. And, you know, on one level I sort of understand some of the emotion, but we’ve got to get better at educating people about where to go with their problems and what sort of things to expect when they show up in places like school board meetings or city council meetings.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. And reading your substacks are a good first step in people understanding what their responsibility is, but also taking an active interest in learning how the process works.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, learning about government. Learning that we have three co-equal branches of government. A government that was formed to prevent kings from coming into place. No king days. No kings, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Michael, it’s been a pleasure having you on. How would you like to button this up? What can people do and where can they find out more about your writings?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I write on Substack. I have a Substack called The Undercurrent. I write for the Denver Gazette. Also, at times, published in Colorado Politics. The Rocky Mountain Voice carries a lot of my stuff. And coming up here pretty soon, I’m going to start publishing stuff on KimMonson.com. That’s awesome. And so, again, all of those places you can find me. My book is called Rules for Restoration. You can actually find that on Amazon. And I’m coming out with the audio version of that real soon as well.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ll look forward to that.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s a great read. Yeah, and please don’t hesitate to contact me.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, your contact information is on your website or on the Substack. And I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised and enlightened by what you write there and in other venues. Thank you, Brad. Thank you for being here today. You’re really a treasure to have and love to see all the things that you’re doing, my friend. My pleasure. Welcome for being here. The quote of the day, the end of the quote, is to achieve great things, two things are needed, a plan and not quite enough time. And that was from Leonard Bernstein, great composer and somebody who I know Michael likes and a great, great composer of music. So, ladies and gentlemen, today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, Michael will agree with that, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideas, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. You are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America, and God bless Kim Monson for allowing me to be here today. Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER 10 :
And fast on a rough road Riding high through the mountains Climbing, twisting, turning further from my home Young like a new moon Rising fierce to the rain Enlightening, wandering out into this great unknown And I don’t want no one to cry But tell them if I don’t survive
SPEAKER 16 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
