“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:
mungo
noun
shoddy cloth made from shredding old or waste woven material
material of short fiber and inferior quality obtained by deviling woolen rags or the remnants of woolen goods, specifically those of felted, milled, or hard-spun woolen cloth, as distinguished from shoddy, or the deviled product of loose-textured woolen goods or worsted — a distinction often disregarded
low-quality wool
a slang term, sometimes derogatory, for a person who is rough, uncivilized, uneducated, unpleasant, perceived as inferior, etc.
one spelling of a Filipino dish made with mung beans (alternatively munggo)
additional proper names, including parks (2 kinds), people, and places
Used in a sentence
Retrosaria Mungo is a lovely worsted weight yarn made in Portugal. Mungo is made with 50% cotton which making it ideal for warmer weather knits. Mungo is entirely spun from pre-consumer waste generated by Portuguese spinning mills making it an amazing and sustainable yarn!
Shown in a picture
Shown in a video
MUSIC!
Mungo Jerry!
THE STUFF
This is a gift for Gail. It is about a Scottish explorer of Africa, by the odd name of Dr. Mungo Park. It is a brilliant bit of insight into the early days of the British Empire.
Up to my neck in “AI slop” videos about Dr. Park, I found this human-created GEM by pure accident. But it has a very different take.
NOTE: Gail Combs is having very terrible back pains tonight, and WordPiss is acting up, so we have switched Wednesday and Thursday nights. Please pray for Gail’s recovery and healing!
This man, making Christmas calls from the White House, believes the world is a sphere. And he has even flown around it! So has our beautiful FLOTUS, who happens to be his wife!
Truth and common sense must be valued by us, as individuals, in order to lastingly disempower the authoritarian fake news media. This includes the perniciously smarmy science media, which never answers for its errors and lies. I believe that the media has been responsible not only for leftist pathologies like scientism, medical fascism, and radical gender ideology, but also for reactionary movements like modern flat Earth, rejection of all medicine, and Biblical geological literalism.
Just as Wheatie’s Stormwatch Monday Open Thread was created as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions, so, too, is this Thank God Thursday Open Thread, where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This thread is also to be known as Theistic Evolution Thursdays, due to the author’s expected “pontification” about his scientific, religious, and political opinions. You are welcome to pontificate back! Free speech matters!
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
The source of alleged truth matters, not for the truth itself, but for validation.
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
And that’s it. We’re done stealing from Wheatie.
OK – maybe her rules need to be posted.
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
If there is nothing beyond the “W” below, then this is a placeholder. For health reasons, I can’t always post a timely opinion before each Thursday, but I will try. Otherwise, you have this placeholder post, where YOU provide the content. Enjoy!
W
Here we go again! More Thursday THRILLS!
(1) Before Amelia The Goth, there was Amelia Earhart. So what happened to her? Here’s one theory with a lot of evidence, but still…..
(2) America has an ace in the “critical minerals” game. What is it? WATCH.
(3) Fire ants. NASTY. Using flies to kill them? Also NASTY, bit seemingly necessary. DETAILS.
Let’s start the day with scripture from Paul that all of the Democratic Party and its unhinged wackos need to take seriously, but will not.
Romans 13:3-4:
“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;” (NASB)
On with the show…
Women In Politics And Law
No pearl clutching by our wonderful female readers and contributors on here is allowed. Most, if not all of you, will agree with what I will be stating anyway.
What do you see in the info contained in this link?
We see famous patriots from ages 26 to 70. Only seven were 60 years of age or more. That is hugely different than today with so many being 70 and older. Each signed the document knowing it could mean their death and/or the loss of everything they had including families. Those are real profiles in courage.
Eight were actually born in Great Britain. An interesting thing is that 25 of the 56 were lawyers, about 45%. They had studied and were practicing English common law among other legal related aspects. Which leads to another interesting question. After 250 years, how many in Congress today are lawyers? My initial guess was that percentage would be even higher.
Nope, it is less.
For the 119th Congress there are 179 with a law degree out of 541 total members at that point. That means it is about 33% of the total. Unfortunately, that also means more elected officials are full time politicians. Which makes many into opportunists with minimal added value to the discourse in Congress.
From what I can tell from the recent past, this is a consistent representation, that about a third have a law degree. That makes the modern day Congress even more dependent on potentially corrupted political party controlled legal staff support for analysis of legislation, regulations, etc. Based on their media comments, many elected members appear to be clueless about the law and the Constitution. Others weaponize it using lies and distortions. That makes many of them no more than professional actors who are subject to massive manipulation because they do not understand what they are doing. Of course the Democrat Party desires no critical thinking from their members since they are given and generally follow orders to vote as a block and be mockingbird propagandists. Which also makes them operatives of the ideology of others and not leaders.
Anybody want to make the claim that corrupted Mad Max, AOC, Jasmine and other mental midgets in Congress really know their shiz? Didn’t think so.
However, there are more issues to consider lying below the surface. Since we know women were not active in the operation of government during our nation’s formation as well as for many years afterwards, what impact have they made on the discourse and operation of government today as they have become much more active? Currently, approximately 29% of elected members of Congress are female. That percentage has grown steadily in recent times. The political mix is interesting and unsurprising. About 62% are Dem, 112 in total. That means 20% +/- of all Congressional members are raging leftists who cannot focus on what really matters to keep this country afloat. With the demise of alpha males in the Dem party and rise of AWFL’s and Islamist plants, it was just a matter of time before their shrill, propagandist voices were heard much too loudly as we see from the Squad and others.
Please do not mistake this analysis to be anti-woman. It is not. It is anti-leftist ideologue woman as well as man. To refuse to see or ignore it helps the enemies of MAGA.
Now that we have determined the root of this major issue, how many of those 112 females are lawyers? It turns out there are 45 with law degrees. That is over 40%, which is disproportionate to the current 33% being lawyers among all members of the 119th Congress. This group represent 25% of all lawyers in Congress. This is a growing number as the traditional Democratic Party and its supporters are replaced by leftist progressives. An increasing number of beta men and foreigners with illegal immigration backgrounds have also been replacing the traditional segments of that party.
Think about the on-going year long campaign of tough, potty mouth talk from Dems led by Dime Store Obama, Cryin’ Chuck, Gruesome, Murphy’s Law, Pocahontas, AOC, et al. They know. They needed to counter and had nothing left to sell to the alpha males who were leaving and continue to leave the party. Gruesome hit Davos in January and tried to act tough while only increasing the alpha appeal of PDT in the process. The Rules Based Order crowd in Munich that Marco addressed rather directly felt the alpha sovereignty approach up front and personal. Leftists that preceded and followed him were shamed by their incompetence.
The Challenge
However, I think we America First MAGA types have correctly identified serious foes in their own special category of AWFL that we should be targeting in political races to keep this nation on the path to restoration and out of the hands of enemy combatants who have used infiltration over invasion as Q told us. There is still a large block of sheeple who will follow the left’s piper over the proverbial cliff.
Most are not serious people. Their focus is on social justice and minutia to gain power as good little commies do. The fact that they generally support radical Islamists, illegals, domestic criminals, perverts, woke, and the like is strange, but clearly in evidence daily.
We only need to look toward Europe to know where this originates as well as how it will turn out if left unrestrained. Many leftist women are dominating government activities there. The following link indicates that 27% of all parliaments around the world are comprised of women. The good news is the rate of increase is slowing.
In Great Britain the numbers are much higher. In 2024 there were 263 women out of the 650 total – 40%. This is up 6% in five years.There are also 25 Muslims. This tells us that the British culture and ruling government has been moving left at a rapidly increasing rate. We see the effects of that as censorship is on the rise along with related charges and arrests for thought and word crimes.
Cause and effect is on full display. More beta men along with more militaristic leftist women and Islamics. A similar plan has been underway for taking down America as a superpower and making it into the socialist shizhole they can rule in ease and wealth at the expense of the sheeple who do their bidding.
It is a tale as old as time itself.
Many in the leftist camp in America claim to represent the mainstream views of our population. They claim to be Christians, claim to be traditional, claim to be pro family, claim to be patriots, claim to be pro military, claim to be for the Constitution and law. They not only use the fake news, entertainment and social media; they use the institutions within the education industry and church denominations to further their causes. It is an all out, open attack 24/7.
Claims are not truth. Our response is and always has been unashamed, unrestrained truth leading to firm vocal responses and actions being performed openly for all to hear and see. It is not acceptable to be a coward or to shrink from this conflict.
Know the truth and it sets you free. If you fear death and destruction over living for truth, you have lost the battle before it begins. A 23 year old youtuber, Nick Shirley, has successfully taken on the ire of the Democrat criminal machine. He now gets death threats daily and needs security. His response to it all – go public and do more. Now that patriots are in charge, they used his information and went on the attack. That is what it takes from all of us. Be as brave as the 23 year old youtuber who values truth over personal safety and vocal attacks.
Take courage and be prepared to counter the bullshiz from the left anywhere and anytime. You will be glad you did. When I see former friends and family members who are sold out leftists turn and go a different way when they see me I know I have been successful in standing my ground. They prove they were never true friends by their actions. History will judge them. Those with different views who want to have dialog and discuss as adults still remain friends and can reason together as Isaiah 1:18 suggests.
Which was the way of Charlie. Never forget. Check out the TPUSA stats, it is now up to 6300 active chapters. Young people know. The rest of us need to have a similar resolve.
Yes, it is time for the KKKK. There is so much great subject matter in this wacky nation from which to choose. Since we are talking gubmint, let’s roll with a recent Jasmine Crockett take.
She ain’t pickin’ no cotton, y’all. 😂
Well, could not resist one more from Munich.
Remember Wolf’s site rules. Note and label all AI. Please be kind to one another, we are all in this together. May God richly bless America and all of you.
Before all things and people – In God We Trust. Also, trust Trump and the plan.
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
This man, making Christmas calls from the White House, believes the world is a sphere. And he has even flown around it! So has our beautiful FLOTUS, who happens to be his wife!
Truth and common sense must be valued by us, as individuals, in order to lastingly disempower the authoritarian fake news media. This includes the perniciously smarmy science media, which never answers for its errors and lies. I believe that the media has been responsible not only for leftist pathologies like scientism, medical fascism, and radical gender ideology, but also for reactionary movements like modern flat Earth, rejection of all medicine, and Biblical geological literalism.
Just as Wheatie’s Stormwatch Monday Open Thread was created as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions, so, too, is this Thank God Thursday Open Thread, where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This thread is also to be known as Theistic Evolution Thursdays, due to the author’s expected “pontification” about his scientific, religious, and political opinions. You are welcome to pontificate back! Free speech matters!
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
The source of alleged truth matters, not for the truth itself, but for validation.
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
And that’s it. We’re done stealing from Wheatie.
OK – maybe her rules need to be posted.
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
If there is nothing beyond the “W” below, then this is a placeholder. For health reasons, I can’t always post a timely opinion before each Thursday, but I will try. Otherwise, you have this placeholder post, where YOU provide the content. Enjoy!
W
Another assortment of digital trinkets for your fascination and amazement!
(1) I know I’ve showed you this one before, but I always enjoy it. Love the intro, too. Replay!
(2) Language. Humans do it. Crows do it. Well, other primates do it, too. Another anthropology trinket.
(3) Assault machine guns are getting updated. Check out the latest improvements!
(4) Three very fast chess games, with a lot of analysis of every move. CHESS LEARING CENTER! And y’all are LEARING from the very best!
(5) MOAR Christian praise from my favorite digital hymnsmiths!
That’s all for now – as I am CLEARING the tags of LEARING. So to speak. LOL!
Today we venture into the music industry for something different. Most readers recognize that artists of songs receive royalties on sales of product, licenses, streams, etc. Right?
Then there is Artificial Intelligence, that ubholy term, a subject Wolf, Scott and others have chosen to explore at times. So, today is about what happens now with AI in music?
In particular, how do AI, bots, wire fraud, money laundering and all sorts of criminality play into it?
But first to set the tone, let’s review two scriptures of the day from both Old and New Testaments, which are from Proverbs 2:6,
For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. (NASB)
And James 1:5,
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (NASB)
These two timeless scriptures tell the reader to look to the Lord for all knowledge, understanding and wisdom. For this time of existence that would tell the believer to test whatever knowledge one gains from the use of mankind’s AI against the Word of God.
That is a Word to the wise.
The Basics
it is worth a quick read below so you will know how it all works and why the changes are impacting the industry and the music you like.
Once again, more strict and loose to discuss. The definitions,
Strict Constructionist – Literal and narrow reading (interpretation) of the document that limits the powers of the federal government to what it provides.
Loose Constructionist – Views it as a “living document” that is interpreted broadly that adapts to society as it evolves and its needs change..
When it comes to AI and music, you knew it would only be a matter of time until the below reared its head.
One thing we do know is that ultimately the public will probably be the loser and we will regard those 45’s, 33’s, cassettes and VHS tapes as relics of a golden past that we long for again.
AI’s Legal Impact On The Music Industry
To answer this issue, let’s go to an AI horse itself. Here is Brave’s AI (Leo) response. The other couple AI’s I checked were similar in the responses.
The rise of AI in the music industry has created significant legal challenges, particularly around copyright and intellectual property rights. Here are the key legal implications:
Copyright and Training Data
The most contentious legal issue involves AI companies using copyrighted music to train their models without permission. Major record labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Records have sued AI music synthesis companies Udio and Suno for allegedly committing mass copyright infringement, seeking damages of $150,000 per song used in training. This mirrors similar disputes in other creative industries and represents a fundamental challenge to how copyright law applies to AI development.
Royalty Fraud
AI has also enabled new forms of fraud. In a first-of-its-kind prosecution, a music producer was accused of using AI to create hundreds of thousands of fake songs with randomly generated artist names, then using bots to stream them on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, allegedly fraudulently obtaining over $10 million in royalty payments.
Ownership of AI-Generated Works
A critical unresolved question is who owns the copyright to AI-generated music. In the UK, works generated by “computer” are currently protected by copyright, with ownership going to the person who makes the arrangements necessary for creation. However, the UK government has proposed removing copyright protection for computer-generated works, arguing they cannot satisfy the originality test that requires human intellectual creativity. US courts have similarly ruled that AI-generated content without human authorship cannot be copyrighted.
Voice Cloning and Deepfakes
AI-generated “deepfake” songs that mimic famous artists’ vocals pose new legal challenges around publicity rights and artist identity. The viral track “Heart on My Sleeve,” featuring AI clones of Drake and The Weeknd, accumulated 15 million TikTok views in under 48 hours. Tennessee responded by passing the ELVIS Act (Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security), the first US law specifically addressing AI’s impact on music, providing legal protections for artists’ voices and likenesses.
Industry Balance
Governments worldwide are struggling to balance encouraging AI innovation while protecting creators’ rights. The UK government’s December 2024 consultation proposed allowing free use of copyrighted material by AI developers with an opt-out option for creators, but this approach has faced strong opposition from the music industry, including high-profile artists like Sir Paul McCartney. The outcome of these policy debates will likely establish precedents affecting AI content creation across multiple industries.
Leo’s info sources were – pinsentmasons.com; unchainedmusic.io; saul.com; soundverse.ai; npr.org; cardozoaelj.com; joneswalker.com; whatnext.law
Do you see the problems here? There are many existing laws covering various aspects, but none that are comprehensively covering a completely new industry that was obviously not envisioned when the Constitution and related laws over the next 245+ years were passed.
As a result there will be strict constructionist interpretation in settled law areas to go with loose constructionist interpretations where no applicable statutory or case law exists. Now add the challenge of meshing both under one umbrella covering just the AI related industry with just license and copyright law in music. Because the music industry is international in scope, some consideration has to also be given to those legal issues and requirements in foreign countries. Now factor which businesses and performers align with specific points of emphasis, legal positions and political parties.
Can you spell “billable hours” and many, many lawsuits that will take ages to flesh out?
😂
Mamas let your babies grow up to be lawyers? Say it ain’t so…
AI Comedy
Let’s finish with some AI comedy since Wolf has been bringing the AI music. It’s worth your short time investment in my opinion. 🤣
AI can be fun if one knows it is AI. I am going to renege on not doing the AI music. Found one going around that is fascinating to listen to if you like Irish folk music. How about an Irish folk version of Billie Jean?
Back to reality.
Remember Wolf’s site rules. Note and label all AI. Please be kind to one another, we are all in this together. May God richly bless America and all of you.
Before all things and people – In God We Trust. Also, trust Trump and the plan.
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
This man, making Christmas calls from the White House, believes the world is a sphere. And he has even flown around it! So has our beautiful FLOTUS, who happens to be his wife!
Truth and common sense must be valued by us, as individuals, in order to lastingly disempower the authoritarian fake news media. This includes the perniciously smarmy science media, which never answers for its errors and lies. I believe that the media has been responsible not only for leftist pathologies like scientism, medical fascism, and radical gender ideology, but also for reactionary movements like modern flat Earth, rejection of all medicine, and Biblical geological literalism.
Just as Wheatie’s Stormwatch Monday Open Thread was created as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions, so, too, is this Thank God Thursday Open Thread, where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This thread is also to be known as Theistic Evolution Thursdays, due to the author’s expected “pontification” about his scientific, religious, and political opinions. You are welcome to pontificate back! Free speech matters!
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
The source of alleged truth matters, not for the truth itself, but for validation.
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
And that’s it. We’re done stealing from Wheatie.
OK – maybe her rules need to be posted.
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
If there is nothing beyond the “W” below, then this is a placeholder. For health reasons, I can’t always post a timely opinion before each Thursday, but I will try. Otherwise, you have this placeholder post, where YOU provide the content. Enjoy!
W
Howdy, boys and girls! It’s trinket time!
(1) Another fun math problem with a neat solution that makes sense once you see the answer.
(2-5) And now, a CHESS CHEATING SCANDAL SPECIAL! This one requires no knowledge of chess – just tabloid interest in a cheating scandal.
(2) The beginning in the middle…..
(3) More explanation…..
(4) Things get…… LEGAL?
(5) THE CHAMPIRE STRIKES BACK!
SO – what do I think? I’m still suspicious of the board game that started it all. I think Carlsen’s suspicions that it was being cheated, somehow, were potentially valid.
Notice that in the final battle, the game is not on the board – it’s being observed online. IMO, the CROWD observation prevented any and all cheating. I suspect that’s why Carlsen agreed to it.
(6) Iguana hunting in Florida. Followed by iguana tacos. “Tastes like chicken.” Yes, they’re invasive and quite destructive. No bag limits. Public and private venues, crawling with them. Airguns with .22 pellets are the way to get them. “Chicken of the tree.”
More strict and loose constructionism and many of you will start seeing these two principles of Constitution and law rear their heads often through the years. For these Trade stories I am just occasionally substituting federal documents and authority out while using strict and loose with rules and laws on different subject matters that have different ruling authorities. The principles can be applied in many unrelated subjects. Reminders;
Strict Constructionist – Literal and narrow reading (interpretation) of the document that limits the powers of the federal government to what it provides.
Loose Constructionist – Views it as a “living document” that is interpreted broadly that adapts to society as it evolves and its needs change..
The scripture for today is from I Timothy 6:10,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (NASB)
Self explanatory scripture.
What else is determined by those who go by the book and those who add to and subtract from the book as it works best for them? How about…
Professional Sports
Let’s have some fun. How about 8 minutes of Academy Award losing NBA floppers.
Of course what else do you expect from a bunch of pampered woke social justice imposters? Next we move to the NFL where we focus on the striped shirts who actually get paid well to do the following with straight faces. About 13 minutes.
in truth those are just a handful of literally thousands of calls and no-calls of infractions each season that have accumulated through the years that those two sports have existed that are just flat azz wrong or intentionally not called.
Yet, each sport has a thoroughly prepared rulebook that coaching staffs, players, and officials are well informed about. Team owners actually participate in determining rules modifications between seasons. They vote on them and then inform the league’s head of officials, whose staff instructs the game officials. But what you can plainly see is that none of that matters if corruption, personal fandom, or vendettas are involved.
How much did Tom Brady’s reputation suffer for Deflategate as an example?
Not much. He won a bunch of SB rings in a future HOF career that led to an ownership interest in the Las Vegas Raiders team as well a weekly game analyst gig on network TV since playing career retirement.
Both sports are so eaten up with terrible officiating they added replay review. However, that is also controlled and limited in its scope. Bad and corrupted officiating still rules. Agendas and narratives must be maintained, you know.
While on the subject, let’s take a look a Major League Baseball. Watch what happens even with using the replay booth in the more current examples. Add that to the horrible pitch calls.
MLB is probably better than the NBA and NFL with calls now with more extensive replay ability and as a result, more scrutiny. But the sport also has the benefit of less overall player actions during the course of games, making it easier to call. To MLB’s credit they are going to take it a step further to insure more fair treatment. They have been experimenting with automated computer driven pitch calls in the minor leagues for several years. It will start this next season in MLB. However, it will only be on a challenge basis with each team receiving two challenges. Hopefully, technology continues to advance and automated calls are perfected over time so that they are used for all pitches like they are in professional tennis for line calls. That is the only way it will ever be fair to all batters and pitchers.
We can tell from the evidence above that none of the professional sports are all that serious about strict rulebook implementation. Yes, the rulebooks themselves are written in strict constructionist format. However, they are then administered with sport ownership concurrence in loose constructionist methodology to achieve desired results where narratives can be sold to an unwitting, some would say dumb, public that goes along with it all.
Why?
Money. As usual.
In the NFL alone the cumulative take for all team owners was over $23 B in 2024. Add in over $12 B for MLB and over $11 B for NBA teams. For all three sports that is approximately $46 B for 2024 alone. Then add in revenues of associated industries such as television and media, gear, food and household product licenses, security services, and so on.
That action you see on the field or court may be real much of the time, however, the outcomes are subject to being controlled. There is too much money in it to be cleanly administered and called. Besides having eyes, playing as a young man, and knowing the games for over 60 years; how else do I know they have controlled outcomes?
The existence of sports book gambling and television rights.
The latter is simple to understand. How many more eyes will watch a playoff or championship game if the participants are in large markets versus small? More eyes on screens, higher ratings for games, more money charged for advertising. A NY versus LA matchup in any sport would be their dream choice 100 out of 100. As a result, the teams in the large markets receive more exposure and attract more elite free agent players.
The sports driving the bulk of that revenue are the three listed above. Sports book betting will go upwards of $150 billion just this year and is growing rapidly. The sports love it because the activity generates more interest. There is some info on the participants in the link below. You will find the names you see advertising on TV during game telecasts.
So you are saying the leagues and team owners benefit from the book action? The same owners who agree to pay the outrageous compensation many players and coaches make? They are all in on the scam together. Say it ain’t so.
🤫 😂
All of it is legal in America. Can you say “gravy train”? Why would any of the three sports discussed and others decide to act on concerns about the administration of rulebooks when the money tells them to keep doing what they are doing? They just have to make sure the cheating is not overly obvious.
As we can see there exists a major issue that has always been present. Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919 was just a harbinger for the undue influence of sports book gambling that existed outside the realm of honest play on the field and court. All of it as authorities looked away and continued involvement in off site criminal bookie operations throughout the country. Pete Rose was not the only one who participated despite the polished images of the leaders of the sports. With the constant need of governments for more and more revenues, it became easier to accept the unsavory and sell it as a good thing along with the usual “we have it under control” comments to the public.
Now we all can sit in the comfort of our homes and literally bet the house on games and specific actions within games, racing, etc. that have controlled outcomes. But as long as we do it responsibly like their PSA’s say, everything will be fine. If you end up with a gambling addiction and losing everything that matters, they provide a hotline you can call to get help. I am sure doing so will cure your addiction and all will end well in the poor house or a jail cell without your spouse and kids.
😉
Since human nature includes the pursuit of riches and to be greedy, there have been and will be more crashes than NASCAR restrictor plate races at Talladega Speedway. Big ones, all the time. Right, Ricky Bobby?
Which people also bet big bucks on as well.
The economics are simple. $150 B was bet in 2024. Approximately 9-10% was retained by the betting houses. That tells the bettor that the odds are slanted against them in the points spreads and odds to one side or the other. The house take is consistent, they rarely go out of business. Which means they know more than the average bettor. How do they know more? Yup, insiders in the sports as well as points shaving players and such. So, no matter what and how you are playing the odds, their business has been arranged for you to lose over time. To beat those odds and be successful you have to be resourceful, smart and very lucky.
There are real world human lives at serious risk. Families are forever altered and destroyed by addictions to gambling. Sports heroes tube their careers and children lose their heroes and icons. Popular diversions from the grind of life are lost due to the corruption. The integrity of the sports become jokes. People lose focus on what matters most. The leaders of the sports become tyrants with perverted values that leads to the Bad Bunnies of the world being celebrated on the world stage. All because many refuse to follow the rules and seek to skirt the edges or dive into criminality for personal and corporate gains and advantages. Their focus is to seek power, fame and fortune no matter the cost.
Nearly all of the issues described in this example of these three professional sports are easily solvable. But the leaders and participants do not have the will to do so because they might make less money. If they get past that in their minds they know that if they rock the boat they will be booted, blacklisted or worse. So it will continue as long as their targets (marks), We the People, give them permission to cheat and be corrupt.
All that is needed is a heart change followed by inaction from We the People. Choose not to play along. Turn your eyes away and redirect your interests. When you shut off the interest and money, the corrupt and corrupted lose.
Which seems to be a recurring theme with all things in America, doesn’t it?
Conclusion
Returning to the light hearted, enjoy!
Remember Wolf’s site rules. Note and label all AI. Please be kind to one another, we are all in this together. May God richly bless America and all of you.
Trust Trump and the plan.
Time to make an addition to my Conclusion with openers. Carl gave a recent reminder.
Before all things and people – In God We Trust. Always. This world is His. He determines how our story goes.
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:
xyston
noun
short pike used by Greek heavy cavalry
long thrusting lance, used in ancient Greece
long thrusting spear in ancient Greece, measuring about 3.5 to 4.25 m long, probably held by the cavalryman with both hands, consisting of a wooden shaft and a spear-point at both ends
Used in a sentence
The shaft of the xyston was usually made from sturdy wood, such as cornel or ash, which provided the necessary strength and flexibility.
Cornel, also known as the Cornelian cherry, has a wood that is used for spears. That wood is heavier than water and does not float. The tree is actually a dogwood with an edible faux cherry fruit. This video shows both the tree and preserving the fruit.
