News Round-Up (09/24/2026)

 And that's the way it is.......

Bo French is a horrible candidate, he should lose. But if you think that changing the name of the Texas Railroad Commission to the "Texas Oil and Gas Commission" is the MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE in this race? You might be an idiot as well. Clearly the author is.

Horrible people doing horrible things. This Carrot Top situation is weird. The problem is I think there are no good actors on either side.

A quick note to the marijuana legalization folks: Legalization does not eliminate the black market. If anything it can strengthen it. As illegal bookies and offshore books what the elimination of PAPSA did for them. Hint: It did not hurt them. That's not to say there's not some benefits to going down this path, but poking the cartels in the eyes is not it.

Democrat Socialists avert your eyes. The best say to get things done is sometimes by utilizing the resources of the private sector who have skin in the game. I suspect that might be the case with the Colorado River watershed.

Just another reminder that The WNBA is NOT a sports league. It's a grievance machine for certain groups. Nothing more.

My feeling is that Deion is done. Yes, Colorado will let him craft the circumstances of his exit, but I'd be very surprised if he was the coach of the Buffalos next year.

Big Plans for Greenspoint. Of course, you'll have to root out the gangs who have set up shop in the former Macy's location first.

This is a good read on ESPN College GameDay and how it's contributing to the fall of College Football. They've changed their mission from highlighting the glory of the sport, to becoming a marketing arm for ESPN/SEC.  That's bad for everyone. (Same with FOX and Big Noon Saturday)

This season of America's Got Talent taught us that NO, it really doesn't. 8 of the top 10 finalists were not American, and the winner was Thai. Don't get me wrong, this is not a nativist rant, just an observation.

Once you get your claws into Houston area government, there's always a place to continue your grift off of the taxpayers. Mary Benton understands that, how to play the local game an endear herself to Houston's ruling class.

This is possibly the most racist article you'll read today. From the idea that Hispanics cannot compete, that all White's are exploitive to providing a sounding board to a fringe Democrat Socialist activist who wants to dismantle Capitalism. It's bad. I'm not sure why it's just a given that the local Hispanic population lacks the intellectual chops to thrive in this boom?

The thing about running a con is this, You have to possess at least a modicum of intelligence. It's becoming increasingly clear that Dr. Malcom Tanner does not. Popcorn time.

FIFA DOES have the intelligence to run a con. And, judging by the tax bills that American's are going to have to foot for their quad-annual Futbol extravaganza, they've perfected the art.

And finally,

This is from a couple of weeks back but I thought it worth mentioning: Las Vegas Tourists are Richer, middle-aged and gambling less.

Based on my last trip to Las Vegas (August 2026) this checks out. I saw fewer younger folks and more people my age (mid-50's, so middle-aged). And while there was foot traffic the casino floors were not near as full as usual. I know that I cut my gambling budget in half, and found myself having much, much more fun as a result.

When I want to gamble I go to Tulsa, or Coushatta (not Lake Charles, LA anymore, a subject for a future post) or Florida. I still like going to Las Vegas, but not primarily to gamble. I would even say it's 4th on my list of things to do there. Just incidental to other activities.

Las Vegas biggest problem is that it is no longer "The Gambling Capitol of the World". Hell, it's probably not even in the top 5 these days. In terms of sports betting Nevada is fringe top 10. Think about that.

What this means is that Las Vegas is going to become way, way more recession sensitive, and many of the things they took for granted won't be able to be taken for granted any longer.

You don't hate the media enough. (Sidney Sweeney Edition)

Another month, another ginned up 'controversy' by the media. This time we're focusing (again) on Ms. Sweeney prattering around our television screens in various stages of undress which has, for some unexplained reason "set women back 100 years".

But, has it? Really?

Because 100 years back would be 1926 and, last I checked, their wasn't a flood of 3/4 naked women in advertising back then. As a matter of fact, that was an era where "showing some ankle" was considered risqué. 

First it was the American Eagle good jeans ad (aside: The most shocking thing about that, to me, was that American Eagle is still a going concern) and now it's a sports betting (yes, prediction markets are betting) website NoVig.

So, of course, per the linked article, female Olympians (what???) are shocked and appalled. 

It should be of some note that they were decidedly NOT shocked and appalled when fellow Olympian (and all around bad person) Meghan Rapinoe appeared in ESPN the magazine's body issue totally nude, nor were they when any of the other athletes (many Olympians) did the same. No, they reserve this state of utter disbelief for when an actress, known primarily for her racy, nudity baring role in the HBO Max show Euphoria (which I can safely say I've never seen) shows up in shoulder pads and......yeah.

Look, by all accounts Sidney Sweeney is an attractive lady. She is fit and has a traditionally attractive body. Looking at her is not unappealing. Now, she's young enough to be my daughter so yeah, well outside of my attractiveness wheelhouse. That said, as a heterosexual male, she is undoubtedly very easy on the eyes. That I haven't seen anything she's acted in makes me unworthy of being someone who can comment on her talent as an actor. No clue.

But she seems to understand that her figure and her looks are marketable right now and, despite some people being mad about it, companies are willing to pay her what I'm assuming are large amounts of money to appear in their ads in a sexualized capacity.

Enter the media, who have never had a groupthink outrage that they didn't feel they could exploit. If there is no outrage, go out and find some former Olympians who most Americans have never heard of and whip one up. Hell, Meghan Rapinoe is always good for an "I'm pissed off about x....." quote when you need it right? I mean, she has to desperately try and stay relevant somehow.

This is not something new to the media. They have a long history of inventing outrage for things they don't like. During the Estes Keyfauver mob hearings the Publisher of the Washington Times, a staunch anti-gambling activist, practically invented a gambling related, mob-fueled crime wave (that didn't exist) to push public opinion toward his hearings. That they backfired spectacularly, and basically were responsible for driving the Mob to Las Vegas in droves, creating the town and ushering in it's golden age, is irrelevant. What's important is the media manufactured an outrage that really shouldn't exist.

But, is anyone REALLY mad about Sidney prancing around mostly naked in an ad?

No, they're not. Most people probably don't even know the ad itself exists. If they do know they probably spend just about as much time thinking about it as you do thinking about the OpenAI breakthrough that's creating an 'existential crisis' in the field of mathematics. 

In other words, no time at all.

I do have serious questions regarding the sustainability of the sports betting market in it's current form and the health of young men in the face of what is, at heart, a predatory market. And, make no mistake, sports betting in its current form is very predatory, especially toward young men.

The point here being that there is no great, societal outrage over Sweeney's commercials. There's just not. The media is trying to desperately work one up because a) They suspect Sweeney might be more right leaning politically than they want her to be and b) they still are very anti-gambling. The easiest, and currently they believe the most effective, cudgel to use against them is feminine empowerment.

So they're running with it. And they're going to keep on running with it until they're ratings or page views or numbers continue their slide down the cliff until they are irrelevant. (which, some might say, they already are).