The Chief – Really Right

The NBA Suffers Another Gambling Scandal

Thursday October 23^rd, the year of our lord 2025, the FBI arrested a current NBA head coach Chauncey Billups, a current player Terry Rozier, and a former player Damon Jones. Also arrested were 31 others who included members of four New York Organized crime families. More on this in a moment, first some league history on this.

Tim Donaghy was a former NBA official he resigned in July 2007 after the FBI put out a report, he bet on games which HE OFFICIATED. Donaghy even admitted to making calls to satisfy the point spread, allowing essentially a manufactured outcome. Donaghy admitted when pleading guilty to betting on games during the 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 seasons. Yep. He served 15 months in prison. To show how big of a f**k up Donaghy is, he got released 5 months early, violated his release terms and was SENT BACK TO PRISON. Donaghy has a laundry list of other transgressions such as cheating on the SAT exam, but it’s not relevant here.

Last year reserve guard for Toronto, Johntay Porter, was banned for life for disclosing information to gamblers regarding his own stats, aka prop bets. In essence Porter told folks to bet on him to score fewer points than “Vegas” predicted because he was going to fake an injury. Porter seldom played, so on the occasions he did intentionally do this, it was easy to track the large amounts of bets that “won” compared to the very small amounts of normal bets on him.

Also last year, Terry Rozier was named as being under investigation to do with gambling. Rozier is named above. The NBA cleared him of any wrongdoing in January of 2024. Rozier played a game the night before he was arrested by the FBI. Why was he cleared?

Malik Beasley is a very good player, formerly of the Detroit Pistons, he was named as being under investigation by the NBA at the same time and for the same thing as Rozier. He was cleared as well by the NBA of any wrongdoing. He remains a free agent. Beasley is 28, and as was announced yesterday, has not been cleared by the FBI.

In the case of Rozier and Beasley why did the NBA clear them?

Because the NBA doesn’t care about you the fan or the betters, they only care about $$$. The stench of the Donaghy scandal got me to quit watching the NBA. Rigged and fixed games do not sit well with me. There once was a time when my parents used to have to pull me away from the game to eat dinner. The NBA lost me, and a colleague of mine… both of us agree those games are rigged. Of course, the 90-day guy still watches nightly. He doesn’t care because he thinks its on the up and up.

In this case Rozier, Jones, and Billups are accused of insider sports betting, think like members of Congress doing insider trading. Billups is accused of quite literally passing on to organized crime members that he was going to “tank” or throw a game by sitting his best players moments before a game. Damon Jones is accused of passing on inside information that a player, which appears to be Lebron James, would be sitting out due to injury minutes before a game, hence the Lakers would very likely lose. He did it again as well regarding another star player on the Lakers, Anthony Davis.

Blogger note: Neither Lebron James nor Anthony Davis are implicated or arrested. They did nothing wrong.

Rozier took himself out of the game, also known as faking an injury. This is alleged to have happened more than once and like Porter, there was heavy betting action on Rozier not scoring a certain number of points, Rozier, unlike Porter, was a very high paid star player.

Reality will soon set in for these three, they will be trading in their celebrity lifestyles for prison garb sometime in the future. None will play/coach again. Check out what they are accused of, and some of the proof the prosecutors have in the form of text messages. This is no witch hunt.

Folks, the late NBA commissioner David J Stern said it best when it came to legalizing sports betting in New Jersey.

Criticized New Jersey’s motives: He stated that New Jersey “has no idea what it’s doing and doesn’t care at all because all it’s interested in is making a buck or two”.
Warned of irreparable harm: Stern testified that sports gambling “threatens to harm irreparably” the NBA’s relationship with its fanbase. He feared that legalized betting could shift fan focus from the teams to the betting lines.
Challenged Governor Christie: He took a personal shot at then-Governor Chris Christie, a former U.S. Attorney, for attacking a federal law prohibiting sports betting.
Joined leagues’ lawsuit: The NBA, NFL, MLB, and NCAA, with Stern as a lead voice, filed a lawsuit that successfully stopped New Jersey’s initial 2012 attempt to legalize sports betting.

To be clear, and in full transparency, Stern did change his tune circa 2015 after he retired as commissioner.

The league’s current commissioner, I mean stooge Adam Silver, has always embraced gambling on sports, even online and electronically. Ever since 2018 when the Supreme Court ruled on this leaving it up to the states, the NBA has been sponsored by FanDuel and Draft Kings, among others. My understanding is there are a plethora of online sports books who run ads during the games. Understand gambling is still illegal in several states including the legacy office location of this blog.

The online part I have an issue with, and my biggest concern, is how can one verify an identity or address of someone online? Hell, the Troll is completely anonymous! What stops me from gambling, and claiming my address is in Indiana? No one cares if I lose, but what if I win a big one? I have a feeling that a ton of players are gambling online under an alias or pseudonym. Make it so you must bet in person.

Folks, the only way the league learns is when gambling totally hurts the league’s image. Sadly, that doesn’t happen when large numbers of people continue to watch and attend as if nothing happened. As demonstrated above, this is no one off, it’s a major issue and will only get worse. Check out the gambling by players going on at the collegiate level!

Oh, look worse Tim Donaghy got to weigh in on this issue…

“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg, like you said earlier,” Donaghy told Chris Cuomo on his show “Cuomo” on The Hill’s sister network NewsNation.

“I think maybe you’re going to see a bigger scandal coming out of the college level because you have these young athletes that aren’t going to make it to the next level,” Donaghy said. “Somebody’s going to offer them money to maybe fix a game.”

These athletes take the money “because they’re going to need a way to support their families,” the former referee continued.

Nope. Sorry Tim, you were the tip of the iceberg. You walked so these guys could run.

Here are the games in question,

2:08 p.m. PDT, October 23, 2025

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more about the investigation here, or by scrolling through the posts below.

1:40 p.m. PDT, October 23, 2025

Sports gambling suspensions for pro athletes are on the rise

From CNN’s Alex Leeds Matthews and Annette Choi

Today’s sports rigging and gambling indictments — which included arrests of an active NBA player and head coach — mark the latest in a slate of professional athletes and coaches facing gambling investigations.

Since the Supreme Court declared bans on sports gambling unconstitutional in 2018, at least 23 professional players or coaches have been suspended or permanently banned from their leagues for sports betting violations.

While no major-league professional athletes have faced gambling-related disciplinary suspensions or bans yet this year, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been on paid leave since July due to an MLB probe of sports betting.

The NBA says Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups have been placed on leave after their arrests this morning.

12:58 p.m. PDT, October 23, 2025

What we learned from the indictments about the alleged gambling schemes involving NBA players and the mafia

From CNN’s Elise Hammond

FBI Director Kash Patel leads a news conference in New York on Thursday.

Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Rigged poker games, insider sports betting and mafia ties. And no, it’s not a new Hollywood movie — these are elements of alleged illegal gambling schemes laid out in two indictments today, following a years-long investigation.

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Chauncey Billups, were arrested in connection to the probe. Their initial court hearings will happen later today. A third NBA figure, former player Damon Jones, is also being charged in the investigation, officials said.

Here’s what we know about the dual operations — one centered on an underground poker ring and the other on fixed sports betting on NBA games — from officials and the indictments:

Poker games:

Top lines: The defendants, including members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese New York crime families, are accused of using cheating technology to steal millions from victims during rigged poker games in Manhattan and other parts of the state.
Who was involved: Organizers enlisted NBA figures — including Billups — to sit at the table and help make the games appear legitimate to victims, according to law enforcement.
How it unfolded: The defendants used a shuffling machine to count the cards and predict who had the best hand, prosecutors allege. That information was then transmitted to someone sitting at the table who used signals to communicate it with others in on the scheme. They also used decoy cell phones and marked cards that could only be seen with special glasses, the indictment says.
The financial losses: It is estimated the victims lost more than $7 million in the games since 2019, according to the indictment. One particular victim losing $1.8 million in total, documents say.
Additional allegations: The scheme went beyond just fixing poker games and involved violence, including robberies, the indictment says. The defendants are also accused of laundering money using shell companies and cryptocurrency, documents show.

Sports betting:

What happened: Defendants named in this indictment are accused of exploiting insider information to bet on NBA games, US Attorney Joe Nocella said. The nature of this information included things like when players would be sitting out and when they would pull themselves out of a game due to injury, he said.
How the scheme worked: The player information would be passed a long to other members of the scheme, who would wager money, documents say, mostly on individual player performances and statistics. Noecella said it involved the performance of players on several teams, including the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Injury reports: In one instance, the indictment details how Rozier allegedly faked an injury in 2023. He told another person involved that he was going to leave the game early, allowing members of the group to bet on the “under” of his statistics, as outlined in the indictment. In another example, Jones is accused of leaking information about LeBron James’ injury to bettors, according to court documents.

CNN’s Kyle Feldscher, Amy Woodyatt and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz contributed reporting to this post.

12:25 p.m. PDT, October 23, 2025

Portland Trail Blazers say coach Chauncey Billups has been placed on leave after arrest From CNN’s Jill Martin and Kyle Feldscher

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has been placed on leave.

Scott Kinser/Imagn Images/USA Today Sports/Reuters

The Portland Trail Blazers say Tiago Splitter will take over head coaching duties after Chauncey Billups was placed on leave following his arrest this morning.

“We are aware of the allegations involving head coach Chauncey Billups, and the Trail Blazers are fully cooperating with the investigation. Billups has been placed on immediate leave, and Tiago Splitter will assume head coaching duties in the interim. Any further questions should be directed to the NBA,” the Blazers said in a statement.

Billups has been the coach in Portland since 2021.

CNN has also contacted the Miami Heat, which declined to comment separately on the arrest of guard Terry Rozier and directed CNN to the NBA’s statement on the investigation. Rozier has also been placed on leave, according to the league.

10:50 a.m. PDT, October 23, 2025

These are the NBA games at the center of the betting probe

From CNN’s George Ramsay

Then-Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier shoots the ball during an NBA game in New Orleans on March 23, 2023. He left the game after nine minutes.

Derick Hingle/AP

The US Justice Department laid out in detail this morning how several NBA players and coaches, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, allegedly used non-public information about upcoming NBA games to allow others to profit on betting.

These are the relevant games listed by the Justice Department in a news release:

March 23, 2023 — Charlotte Hornets vs. New Orleans Pelicans

Rozier allegedly tipped off longtime friend Deniro Laster that he planned to leave the game early due to a supposed injury. He then left the game after 9 minutes, “generating tens of thousands of dollars in profits,” according to the DOJ.

March 24, 2023 — Portland Trail Blazers vs. Chicago Bulls

Defendant Eric Earnest allegedly “received, and then passed on, insider information from a longtime friend, an NBA coach at the time, that several of the Blazers’ top players would sit out a game against the Chicago Bulls,” the DOJ said.

April 6, 2023 — Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

A co-conspirator allegedly “leveraged a relationship” with a Magic player to learn that several of the team’s top players would sit out a game against the Cavaliers, the DOJ said.

February 9, 2023 — Los Angeles Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks and January 15, 2024 — Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Former NBA player Damon Jones allegedly “shared and sold insider information on numerous occasions about undisclosed information relating to NBA games, such as lineup decisions and pre-release medical information, to his co-conspirators,” according to the DOJ. One of these exchanges came ahead of a game in which superstar LeBron James did not play.

January 26, 2024 — Toronto Raptors vs. Los Angeles Clippers and March 20, 2024 — Toronto Raptors vs. Sacramento Kings

Former Raptors player Jontay Porter allegedly told connections that “he would prematurely exit the games” due to supposed injuries, the DOJ said.

How does that make you feel folks? You bet on games that had a predetermined outcome! This stuff is as fake as that WWE wrestling BS. It’s all scripted. But hey, do not listen to me, keep paying $300 a month for cable to watch rigged games.

The Chief

PS, the NBA also has a long history of their draft “lottery” having very odd outcomes in favor of preferred markets. It’s held behind closed doors in what appears to be a smoke filled room.

PSS I know the arrests had to do with 2 types of crimes involving organized crime. I care about the inside information. I don’t give a great God about a rigged poker game in the basement of mafia/mob/wannabe/crime family types. If you are stupid enough to go to a poker game in a basement or house of a bunch of randoms, you deserve to lose all your money.

The Two State Solution that will Never Be

Folks, the ceasefire is already cracking, is anyone really surprised?

William did a great job with his blog and thoughts, and I wanted to add a couple of my own.

The term “terrorist” is an arbitrary term that really could be anyone. Let’s think about it for a second. Just like what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan that term could apply to any man or woman between the ages of 18-65. There is no “army or military” in Gaza just folks who are terrorists, there is no way to tell them apart from people who are not.
Some/most? People in Gaza are probably really good folks, who are just stuck and trapped. They cannot leave. Jordan and Egypt do not allow them or want them, and Israel isn’t taking them, so they must live among terrorists. See above.
Netanyahu is a war criminal. Yes, I will admit it. We have some in the USA as well who are always itching to go to war. Trust me John Bolton and Dick Cheney would be bombing Russia if they were in power. Netanyahu wants all of Gaza, it will likely happen, the “truce or ceasefire” is just to appease his Arab neighbors.
Israel’s neighbors hate them. Trust me Jordan and Egypt cooperate only because the USA supports Israel, more on that next. Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia want them to quit. But again, look at point 5 below.
The USA is and has always been and always will be in their back pocket. The USA has the world’s strongest military, it’s a fact. Maybe China could make an argument but let’s be honest, Russia is struggling against a rag tag army in Ukraine. The US is always behind Israel; we even moved in a massive Navy unit when they went on an offensive just to make sure none of our NATO or Arab allies would retaliate. Think I/we are wrong? Israel dropped a bomb killing 3-4 Hamas negotiators in Qatar. We, the USA and Qatar, claimed we had no idea that was happening. So, none of our air defense nor Qatar’s could pick up Israeli fighter jets? You don’t need to be too good in math to figure it out? I call BS. Oh, by the way, we have a massive base in Qatar. I think it’s called Al Udid or something look it up.
Turkey has seen enough. Turkey’s President, Tayyip Erdogan, has the fourth biggest/best army in NATO (to be clear I rank US #1, Finland #2, Sweden #3) only because the other two were unaffiliated prior to joining NATO recently. Turkey armed the rebels who overthrew Syria’s government (a good thing btw) and armed Azerbaijan when they took back land from Russia backed Armenia. If the USA wasn’t all in on Israel, it wouldn’t exist. Call me a stooge but Turkey has an army that would go through Israel like a hot knife through butter.

Are you convinced yet? There will be no peace or solution.

The Chief

A CA “Conservative” Shows Faux Outrage

Blogger’s note: I could not find anything on the interwebs supporting the claim that rapper/performer “Bad Bunny” is transgender.

The other day, apparently the NFL’s Superbowl committee announced the halftime performer as singer/performer/rapper (to be honest I do not know) Bad Bunny. 90-day guy was predictably outraged. He announced this and I wondered aloud…. Is “Bad Bunny” like the opposite of Easter Bunny? Like does he steal your candy like some Hollywood created Grinch who stole Christmas?

He declared Bad Bunny is transgendered and he was so outraged about it. How dare the NFL do this.

I asked if he was still going to watch the game. He had the sad puppy dog face and said, “yes of course.” There you have it folks. He is so mad that he will still watch it. He is addicted to TV, just like someone addicted to drugs or alcohol. He cannot step away for even 15 minutes.

*Just to clarify, Bad Bunny is a citizen of Puerto Rico. Reportedly, all his music lyrics are in Spanish. He is scared of ICE deporting him. Puerto Rico is a US Territory and thus he is a citizen. However, I kind of understand his not wanting to perform at the venue. I guess it will be performed abroad? Makes no sense, but I found nothing about this bogus transgender claim. Seems like made up outrage just to be angry about nothing.

Look at it this way, the NFL was very supportive of Colin Kaepernick “kneeling for the anthem” before they did an about face. Oh, that was his team of rooting choice by the way. The NFL, just to point it out, during the height of BLM movement had “Black Lives Matter” “End Racism” and “”It Takes all of Us.” Painted in the endzones. Of course this bothered him until the games came on, then “Viola” it wasn’t an issue. Again, like the alcoholic/drug addict, he just can’t keep away. He cannot help himself.

Stepping away from the Super Bowl halftime show is something I do each year at the party I attend. It’s a social gathering, not so much a “hang on the every play” event for me. It’s a large gathering and we usually hit the potluck food spread at halftime. No need to be entertained by people who likely do not share my beliefs. It’s also the reason God invented the mute button on the remote control.

The NFL, like any other TV/entertainment provider, understands this. They are very aware folks like me could give a rip less about their products. They also know there are millions like the 90-day guy who love to talk a good game, but revert back almost immediately. Does anyone think for a second he wouldn’t be glued to the television? The guy watches about 12 hours a day.

The other issue with that much consumption is you are likely to find shows that contradict other feelings you have. I have a feeling that on Sean Hannity’s program last night that he was advocating a boycott, 90-day guy, having no clue why to boycott, made up that this guy is transgendered. I frankly could not care less. When I view these games at my gym or any other place, I view it as entertainment. All he knows is someone is trying to tell him to be mad…. And folks, unlike Howard Jarvis, he is “mad as hell and going to watch anyway!”

This is what I mean by a California Conservative. William would agree. They are all talk, no action. Imagine saying you are so mad about a halftime show you decide you are going to watch it anyway? This is why we have a major mental health crisis in our country. These people do not know the difference between fantasy land and the real world. He figured he wouldn’t be challenged on his claim, and when challenged, he immediately admitted it was faux outrage. I guess Hannity didn’t prepare him with additional talking points.

But hey I’m sure the NFL will get the point by you “being so angry you watched the halftime show anyway!”

The Chief

Oh, here is more trivia about Bad Bunny, A.K.A. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio.

Outside of music, he performs in professional wrestling. Bad Bunny began making appearances on WWE programming in 2021 and made his in-ring debut at WrestleMania 37. He is a one-time WWE 24/7 Champion and has wrestled at the 2022 Royal Rumble and the 2023 Backlash pay-per-view events. Bad Bunny has also starred in multiple films, including Bullet Train (2022), Cassandro (2023), Caught Stealing (2025), and Happy Gilmore 2 (2025), for which he is credited under his real name.

Bad Bunny

Mamdani = Trump …. No Seriously hear me out

For those of you paying attention or not, Zohran Mamdani is running to be the next Mayor of New York City. If you believe the polls, he is going to win. The current Mayor Eric Adams is running but had to be pardoned by Trump and is deeply unpopular. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo is running, but again he is pretty unpopular. A token whacko Republican, Curtis Sliwa (founder of the Guardian Angels), is running, (I say whacko because he is running as a Trump disciple in an area where Trump is very unpopular).

Mamdani is a full out socialist, actually I would even say he is bordering on being a communist. Some of the things he supports are fare-free city buses, city owned grocery stores, $30 an hour minimum wage, free public child care, massive increase in affordable housing units, public safety reform (aka decriminalization), and a tax increase on corporations and those earning more than 1 million annually.

So how is he like Trump?

Isn’t it obvious? The democrats are undergoing their own “MAGA” transformation. Sure, Mamdani’s ideas are wild and crazy, and without much of a doubt I can say they will not work/be put into place. However, what makes him similar to Trump is he is speaking directly to a growing base of people in this country…. The left behind.

Trump did this same exact thing. He ran an unorthodox campaign, speaking while wearing a red hat saying “Make America Great Again.” It was simply an acronym MAGA but he was speaking directly to a group of people as well … ones who believe they are subsidizing other people’s lazy, drug/alcohol, criminal, and homeless lives. It worked, as he was nominated by a major party from a pool of what seemed like 20 really good candidates.

When I say unorthodox, I really mean it. He is a populist not a conservative by any means. He has no issue with the spending/debt levels in this country. He wants tariffs on all other countries, no tax on tips, ending all global conflicts, removing all illegals, and bringing factory jobs back just to name a few. Please tell me what political box he fits into? The answer is none.

In the opinion of this blogger, Mamdani is doing something similar. While it is a whacky agenda, he is very likely to win election next month. First, to stop him, Cuomo or Adams must have dropped out already. In essence they are splitting the liberal vote with Mamdani 3 ways. Then factor in Sliwa taking the conservative/center right vote and Mamdani only needs about 29% or so to guarantee victory. This parallels Trump’s victory in the primaries in 2016. When neither Ted Cruz nor John Kasich refused to drop out, all Donald needed was 34% to keep winning primaries. Cruz and Kasich and their supporters never understood this and as a result Trump was the nominee.

Negative campaigning and attacking his socialist agenda is well and good, but at this point in the campaign, Mamdani’s supporters aren’t going to switch allegiances. Again, similar to Trump.

I know some folks on the Right are beaming with glee. They are happy to see New York City suffer. This is their Superbowl or World Series win. Do not be so sure. Folks, while his policies may not win, and yes New York City may well go into a spiral, the folks who can leave will leave. They will re-locate just like many “California Conservatives” have over the years. It’s a bad thing because CA has gotten bluer and bluer while the surrounding states have somehow gotten bluer and bluer as well. Do not fool yourselves, this is not a good outcome. Seeing people suffer is never good.

Mamdani is not a person, he is a way of life we do not need in this country. He is a modern-day Santa Claus. His followers all figure there “has to be something in that bag for me.” The words “free”, and “government run” are what he knows, how will he pay for it? That isn’t for him to answer, he will be on to the next office by then. Leaving the taxpayers holding the bag.

Just remember back a few years. It was claimed that Trump was running in the wrong primary, he was a liberal plant, he can’t win. His policies make no sense. He wears a stupid red hat. One by one, other candidates dropped out, then he got nominated. But he still wasn’t to be taken seriously. Hillary barely engaged with him, kind of half-assed debated him. No one really gave him much of a chance. He won. Shocked the establishment. Then 8 years later he won again, pulling off in my opinion a bigger shocker.

My point? If Trump can win the presidency, Mamdani can win the mayorship of New York City. If Mamdani can win the mayorship … Gavin Newsom can win the presidency as well. Say what you want but if I told you 25 years ago Donald Trump would be president, you would have thought I was insane.

Ignore the New York City results at your own peril Republicans. Fear not, AOC will be only a 1-term congressman, you said. Gavin will never be governor, you said. Mamdani can never win the New York Mayor primary, you said. Crazier things can happen.

The Chief

Joe Rogan Might be Surprised … I am not

So, I came across this opinion article that quoted the Joe Rogan Program about the “Left’s response to the Charlie Kirk Murder.”

“The fact that they were cheering when he died, normal people — housewives, moms, f–king people working at banks, in various industries, celebrating a man getting shot in front of his kids, in front of the whole world. What the f–k is wrong with us?”

Those remarks came during his discussion this week with The Red Clay Straws, a country band. Rogan went on to clarify that he was talking specifically about the left’s response. “People on the Left, they’re supposed to be ‘progressive.’ These are supposed to be the kind, compassionate inclusive people that are celebrating gun violence, like public execution — that’s insane.”

Don’t get me wrong, Rogan is not wrong about that take in the slightest. There were many a person on the Left in all careers of life cheering or applauding the death of Charlie Kirk. However, there are many on the Right who would have a similar reaction if it was a Left leaning person or Democrat killed as well. Don’t even attempt to argue that point with me. I watched Jorge Riley spew absolute hateful BS at CRA and Sac County GOP meetings unchallenged. I received an email from Tony Andrade (rip) after Barack Obama got elected showing a watermelon garden and Kool-Aid in front of the White House. Again, unchallenged by the so called Right. A former CRA member about my age called for the firebombing of Planned Parenthood. A colleague of mine had an ear-to-ear grin when I asked “what if it were AOC instead of Charlie Kirk?” Trust me, the whack jobs are on both sides.

What the F**k is wrong with us is not the wrong take, it’s the correct one. But it applies to both sides.

To attack the Democrats, use this logic on them. They viewed Kirk as a Hitler, check out who they mourned….

Rogan speaks for a great many people who are just plain gobsmacked by the left’s capacity to excuse violence, which was evident this week after the death of Assata Shakur, a well-known leftist radical and convicted cop killer whose poetry was praised by those mourning her passing. Kirk, on the other hand, is not being remembered fondly by the left, which is of course their right—but when you have kinder things to say about an actual killer than you do about someone who merely used provocative language, it communicates something about your priorities.

Yikes. But again, check out similar martyrs; George Floyd, Michael Brown, and Daniel Abrego Garcia. That’s who you are going with?

Folks before you say Rogan is far right, he actually is fairly middle of the road, just like Bill Maher is not far left, he is an old school liberal.

The mainstream is starting to take notice of both sides veering further away from “the middle.” For example, there is a growing belief Israel is going too far and the US is allowing them to bring instability to the Middle East. Another is the rise of drug abuse, homelessness, and crime in our large cities making them uninhabitable. How about college campuses being allowed to have anti-Israel protestors take over entire lecture halls? All while the “leadership looks the other way or joins them.” How about allowing BLM/Antifa to take over a couple city blocks in Seattle or “Chaz/Chop” and allowing them to burn down businesses in the name of “outrage or feelings.” How about BLM rioters destroying city blocks because again feelings.

I am intrigued by what the future holds politically for both parties. While some will point to AOC or Gavin Newsom being the future of the Left, or DeSantis or JD Vance being the future on the Right, what about a person like Sen John Fetterman, a Democrat who supports Israel? Or Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky who is more of an old school conservative/libertarian type? It’s odd to think about because the way we are going politically seems to be inching further and further apart as opposed to closer to the center in terms of positive change.

The Chief

PS at my High School (Jesuit High) we had a speaker about a year after 9/11 address the student body, he called President George W Bush a war criminal, and in the same sentence called Saddam Hussein a humanitarian. In college in Marin County, the department chair for the Business School, upon seeing my Bush/Cheney 04 shirt said she wanted me “sent to Iraq and have my head blown off.” The incident, caught on video, was sent to the Dean of the business school, he claimed it was a violation of school policy for recording her without her permission. So, we sent it to the President of the University. He claimed it was freedom of speech. Folks, in both cases, they were wrong. The setting was public so the idea of being illegally recorded with an open camera doesn’t apply. Second, the First Amendment does not cover hate speech. This crap has been allowed at college campus’ forever. I will say it was nice seeing a sea change. Too bad it took the murder of Charlie Kirk for this to happen. But I too share the views of Joe Rogan. What the F**k is wrong with people.

Ford CEO Jim Farley Sums up his Generations Failures

The CEO of Ford recently held a conference where he made remarks to his employees about a future with Ford. He revealed he had a personal “epiphany” about “essential economy.”

Most people I know that have an “epiphany” either found God, their soul mate, or came to a realization of something later in life they wish they knew. In the case of Farley, it was this half-baked nonsense below.

Speaking with Bloomberg’s David Westin at Michigan Central Station, Farley said he came to this realization during the United Auto Workers strike of 2023, when he was especially struck by stories from young factory employees. Many of them said they could not support themselves by working at Ford alone. “When I met with my entry factory workers, they were saying [they] had to have three jobs.” He said they would also work at places like Walmart and an Amazon fulfillment center: “‘You know, I get six hours of sleep, and I got three jobs.’”

This would be a surprise to no one who is a millennial and below, but to those like Farley and the older generations, it’s a foreign concept. Working multiple jobs just to eke out a living is very common now, it shouldn’t have to be this way. Its neither a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s a bipartisan one.

To further enhance my point about Farley’s generation, check out this verbal diarrhea.

In the short term, Farley said, Ford’s signature element in its new labor agreement was to get full wages to entry-level workers. But beyond that, he began looking at the labor shortage in trade work, starting with technicians. Farley described a revelation about the erosion of what blue-collar work used to represent—stability, pride, and a single income that could support a family.

A signature element! There you have it folks, he wants full wages to entry level workers! My goodness, stop the presses. He now cares about the labor shortage for trade jobs? Interesting, I’ll address this a little later.

Farley was blunt about the nationwide labor shortage. He estimated the U.S. is short roughly 400,000 technicians and a similar number of factory workers, repeating talking points he has been citing in his push on the essential economy. He warned that millions of well-paid jobs are going unfilled because they require specialized skills. Putting the salaries for these jobs at $100,000 and above, Farley argued that they require training. “You can’t work on a diesel F-150 if you haven’t been trained for five years, at a minimum five years,” Farley noted. It’s not a demand problem—there’s plenty of work—but a dire shortage of young people choosing and staying in the trades.

More verbal diarrhea. This Farley dude must have the worst breath in history. Those jobs start at 100k? I highly doubt it. Sure, they require skills but why would it take 5 years to be trained on this? Why not start out with an easy area, and progressively build up to more difficult specialized work? This is something Farley cannot compute.

As for a solution, Farley offered a nothing burger.

Farley called out declining investment in skilled trades, poor productivity, and bureaucratic hurdles as key obstacles facing the essential economy. He challenged large employers and community leaders to act, advocating for more robust apprenticeship and vocational education programs, and lamented the lack of progress at federal levels despite President Trump’s push to de-emphasize four-year degrees in favor of trade schools.

“I see a lot of momentum with mayors, county leaders,” Farley said. “They get it. But they’re in the same boat we are. They don’t have a lot of resources. They’re struggling to get these projects done.” He said there’s a general attitude of frustration, a sense of “How the hell do we fix this?”

More bunk. Community leaders do not wish to act. If they did, why not get rid of needless and useless red tape, environmental reviews, committee hearings, permitting, community meetings, and NIMBYism prevents investment by communities. No one wants a factory near them. Worse yet, the process in certain states takes years to even be close to shovel ready!

As far as large employers, well Farley, fat cats like you have eaten up all free cash flow by mandating “dividends and share buybacks” as ways to juice returns for yourself and shareholders. Simply put, you have no capital to deploy so you count on a city or municipality to do so!

As far as vocational school, apprenticeships, and trade schools; your generation is the reason for these jobs going unfilled. For years in High School, 20 years ago for me, I heard your generation telling us if we didn’t go to college that we were failures. Turning a wrench or working in a factory was for screw ups. What did we get? A generation with 6-figure student loan debt and worthless job prospects. We all work in government jobs as paper pushers. Hence permitting takes forever. We told our kids “learn how to code” now those jobs are going away.

Even if you work in a factory, you are not viewed as an asset, you are a liability. If you are actually a worker not a contractor or vendor, you do not make 100K, I guarantee it. Your healthcare is likely watered down garbage, and you are likely pressured about working harder and faster constantly. When the economy slows down you get “laid off” or the plant might be idled. Worse yet, due to zero investment by the company in the factory you work in, one bad quarter means it could be shut down, and your job shipped 3 states over or to a whole other country. Gotta keep the investors happy! While the county or city suffers due to a loss of working-class jobs. But hey, Amazon is hiring at $20 an hour plus benefits!

Farley and his generation have screwed this country up so badly and now they are trying to quickly cover their tracks. Ha! What a joke! This will be part of a series that I will dive deeper into. The 90-day calendar is killing us. We are suffocating our own future generations for nothing but higher bonuses and salaries for Farley and his ilk. If you work at a factory, do not believe Farley for a minute, they will shut the plant down if it saves money, they could care less about you having to work 3 jobs to get by.

Matt Dowd Disciple Shoots Up ICE Facility

Well, another day, another unhinged Democrat decides to shoot up completely innocent people. Nice work Matt Dowd. You successfully radicalized another whack job! Dowd, as you may recall, was terminated from his job as a propagandist on MSNBC not long ago. He thought Charlie Kirk deserved to die based on his beliefs.

The bullets fired and unspent had anti-ICE messages on them. Similar to Charlie Kirk’s killer’s bullets. Dowd you are doing great! Let’s all come together and turn down the rhetoric, huh? It doesn’t matter that the shooter likely has no connections to Matt Dowd, all that matters is Dowd and his ilk on the far left made ICE agents out to be the Gestapo or Nazis, and as a result, innocent people are being threatened and shot at. For the sake of journalism, a trait Dowd will never be accused of having, this whacko had such a bad aim that he shot detainees not ICE agents. Wild plot twist there. Hell, Dowd can’t even get folks to shoot the targeted folks he calls Nazi’s.

Sure, I understand that Matt Dowd didn’t fire the bullet nor was he at the scene, but in my opinion, he is just as guilty as the shooter. The statements he made for years on MSNBC, along with this fellow “journalists,” have caused folks to become radicalized. Your hateful rhetoric about the President, Republicans in general, folks who hold different beliefs then you, folks who practice organized religion, and the everyday working man. As a result, the whackos (they exist on both sides) have taken up arms and are using them.

Now Dowd and his ilk want to use the “thoughts and prayers” and “let’s come together as a country and turn the temperature down” to try to take the moral high ground. Dowd, you have blood on your hands! You wanted this, and you got it. There are now innocent people just working at their jobs being shot at by your disciples!

Let me address the whack jobs here for a minute. President Trump quite literally ran on this, he said he was going to deport the folks here illegally, especially the criminals. It’s a breath of fresh air seeing an elected actually do what he promised! This should not have come as a surprise to anyone with an IQ north of single digits. Mayors and governors not allowing the feds to do their jobs are seeing the National Guard deployed there. It’s about safety, not deporting the guy who mows your lawn every other week!

We will continue to call every shooter a Matt Dowd disciple, even though he is off the air. He wanted this, and he will get what he deserves. Innocent people should never be gunned down, but in Dowd’s twisted fantasy land, he wanted this.

The Chief

Matt Dowd Lied, Charlie Kirk Died

Matt Dowd is a former talking head on MSNBC, a very large network that reaches millions each day. He is a hateful, evil person who masquerades as a commentator. Dowd has zero redeeming qualities in life. The only, and I literally mean only thing, he has going for himself is he was Former President Bush’s Chief Strategist for the 2004 election. He since shed his Republican label and became Independent, he then re-registered as a Democrat. However, at MSNBC, “former Republican” is a title that gets you job security as no actual Republican would want to work at that network.

Dowd would spew his verbal sewage daily about Trump/Republicans in general. In the case of Trump or other electeds, while I disagree with the things that are said about them, I guess it’s the First Amendment, right? Honest criticism, I’m ok with, but in the case of Dowd, it was pure hate speech. Yes, I believe Dowd is evil. He made statements about someone who was not elected.

I am not sure the exact timeline of events, but it has been odd watching the change at cable news networks. It used to be actual news, now it is quite literally politics and mass shooting coverage on a continuous loop. Commentary has been added and name calling has taken a front seat. Republicans have been called; Hitler, rapists, racists, Fascists, dumb, stupid, idiots. It has expanded to include things that are flat out false like Republicans taking away Social Security, health care, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, work from home, free vaccines, etc. The problem is none of those are true.

To be clear, I know Matt Dowd didn’t fire the gun, but his constant inflammatory statements caused someone to. Here is the actual trash spewed by Dowd after the shooting went down.

During his appearance on Katy Tur Reports, Dowd suggested that Kirk’s rhetoric may have contributed to the violence that claimed his life. Kirk, 31, had a history of rightwing provocation an d Christian nationalism, and frequently espoused bigoted rhetoric about Islam, women , LGBTQ+ communities and people of color.

“Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” Dowd said, adding: “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.”

Dowd also speculated about the circumstances of the shooting, saying: “We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration. So we have no idea about this.”

So, his opinions warranted someone to murder him? Really Dowd? Maybe it was a celebratory bullet that was shot? How does your brain even come up with this trash? You obviously do not have a functioning brain. Imagine if he was reporting on a rape investigation? Dowd(probably): I’ve got to see a photo of what the victim was wearing as she may have wanted it or brought it on herself.

Dowd issued this statement after MSNBC terminated him, to their credit they did so immediately and yanked him off the air.

Writing on Bluesky, he said: “My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize for my tone and words.

Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind.”

That last sentence, yikes. His comments were intended to stir up hate, and evil on this earthly plane. He is only sorry that he got fired. He is trying desperately to save face; no major network will touch this guy for a long while. He and his comments are all over the internet and social media. Make no mistake Dowd and his ilk have been saying and doing this type of thing for about 20 years. This murder is the fruit of their labor. As I have chronicled in other blog posts, how many political shootings need to happen before this rhetoric is changed? Heck, a deranged whacko fired a bullet at the local ABC10 affiliate in Sacramento because he thought someone at that office was responsible for cancelling Jimmy Kimmel! Oh, and the shooter had a note essentially naming Kash Patel and Pam Bondi as targets too. Notice how Dowd stirred up the hornets’ nest and is now doing the “we need to come together as a country” BS? Violence is terrible. The shooter is evil. Stop spending time trying to figure out if he is a Republican, Democrat or Independent. Stop the rhetoric and the shootings likely subside.

You see Dowd and his ilk didn’t fire the bullet, but as mentioned above, they stirred up the hornets’ nest. We have too many people who are mentally whacked in this country, and sadly with easy access to firearms, this will continue to occur. We have people who watch way too much tv; specifically, political type shows/news. These folks are also in deep corners of the internet where conspiracies and flat out untruths are being told as gospel. These folks become radicalized and then you get; January 6^th, political assassinations, mass shootings, and Charlie Kirk being killed. The really sad thing is some folks cheered Kirk’s death, others took to social media and lost their jobs over what they said. Celebrating someone’s death who isn’t Putin, Hitler, the Ayatollah or Castro is just plain wrong.

One day I hope this all changes for the better, but I do not see it happening.

The Chief

Charlie Kirk: Autopsy on the Fly

If this is America, I am happy I have no wife or kids. It was Friday and the news of the day was Charlie Kirk’s killer was caught. I was on a shuttle to the rental car lot in Seattle when this news broke.

The ensuing “autopsy on the fly” as I call it left me speechless. This is something news agencies and political groups have become famous for lately. I call it “trying to justify a wrong.”

I communicate with my friend group mostly through WhatsApp, here is a sampling of messages that were coming through. Mind you I do not subscribe to hivemind, so friends of varying backgrounds are in these chats.

#1 The killer’s parents were MAGA… so he must have been a Republican!

False, and this is a horrible jumping to conclusions. Turns out the kid had become radicalized on the internet/news media and took action. He is not a Republican or MAGA. Sadly, he brought unwanted attention to his family. I can guarantee you that they are/were being looked at as accomplices to the crime.

#2 The killer’s roommate was a male to female trans lover.

True, but really how is this relevant? Sure, there was a “Charlie Kirk hates this person’s lifestyle component” but it doesn’t mean the roommate had anything to do with it.

#3 Kirk trafficked in hate speech, and he deserved it.

Again, unnecessary commentary. If you don’t like his views/beliefs change the channel. Last time I had cable, there was a ton of channels to watch, surely something else would pique your interest.

#4 Utah’s universities are deeply conservative

Whether this is true or not again, I’m not seeing relevance here. Texas is a red state; Austin is very blue.

The point of this blog is simple. Check out the mental gymnastics done here to try to place blame on an ideology rather than the shooter themselves. Folks, does it really matter if Charlie Kirk was killed by a; Republican, Democrat, Independent, straight, gay, trans, male, female, non-binary, etc.? It doesn’t. A wife is without her husband; she is now tasked with raising 2 children aged 1 and 3. These children could very well grow with hate in their hearts when they find out their dad was murdered simply for having an opinion that differed from the garbage spewed on tv and the internet.

Nowadays, it’s more important to be first than to be right. What happened to Charlie Kirk should scare everyone. The subsequent media reaction should as well. The killer was a radicalized Leftist. His roommate being trans just made him collateral damage. The text exchange confirms it. The roommate/lover didn’t care much for Kirk nor his views yet was furious when he heard his roommate/lover killed him. This is the correct response. Unfortunately, the killer’s family, friends, and acquaintances are getting a full proctology exam. No stone will be unturned here and there will be more arrests; mark my words. The old man who claimed to have shot Kirk was just arrested because when authorities detained him and searched his phone they found images on underage naked children.

Folks, does it really matter the personal life/beliefs of the person who pulled the trigger? It doesn’t. It won’t bring back Kirk, and now a family is more known for their son being a killer than anything else.

Sad all around.

The Chief

Charlie Kirk RIP

Those calling for blood in the streets got what they wanted today. Charlie Kirk (he was a Republican, but affiliation doesn’t matter here) was killed today while speaking at Utah Valley University. Ironically reports/video show he was fielding a question about deaths from mass shootings when the fatal bullet was shot. Do not watch the video footage, it is gruesome. It pierced his main artery in his neck, his body went limp, and a literal river of blood shot out. It looked as like something from a horror/sci-fi/war movie. I texted the Blog Father “no chance he lived.”

Kirk leaves behind a wife, and a 1- and 3-year-old. Also, online footage of his death will be circulated/still on the interwebs likely into eternity. Imagine when those kids grow up, they can view the video of their father shot and killed. Oh, also the ensuing comments celebrating his death.

But this blog is not to memorialize Charlie Kirk or attack the left. It’s to make a point that we live in the equivalent of a Banana Republic or third world country.

Folks, just in the past roughly 12 months we have had; 2 attempts to kill Donald Trump, 2 Minnesota State electeds shot, 1 fatally, a judge murdered by a Sheriff in Kentucky, The United Health CEO murdered, and an arson at the house of PA Gov Josh Shapiro. The violence is condemned, thoughts and prayers are offered up, pro-gun vs anti-gun happens, then right back to where we started. Oh, prior to these events, Gabby Giffords was nearly killed, and Steve Scalise likely would have been killed had the secret service and Sen Rand Paul not been present at the scene of that shooting.

I guess it’s now ok to kill folks you don’t agree with politically? That seems to be the message sent on all forms of media, electronic and televised.

Trust me when I say this, it’s not representative of all Americans, it’s a growing fringe on both left and right…. Yeah, even the right.

When at the gym, I will occasionally have the news on in front of me, granted subtitles skew the content a little bit, but both sides are playing to the extreme. Online media is the same exact way, who cares about being righ,t its more important to be first.

The root causes of this issue are as follows; we have so many shootings in this country we have become numb to it under the guise of “violence happens” in that part of town. Check out the local news at night. We allow violent video games, I know, I know, research shows no correlation but there has to be something there, our young people are the trigger pullers in most cases now, and violent video games were a thing in my youth, and still are to this day. This de-sensitizes you to death, oh, and in some of these games, you are the “bad guy” shooting at the police…. Where have we seen that before? Political nonsense being spewed on tv and electronic media is another form. Now imagine consuming many hours of this garbage and thinking it’s gospel. Again, I’m talking left and right. This is the straw that stirs the drink.

I overheard a fellow Republican at a CRA meeting say “The DNC is a great spot for a terror attack… think of how great it would be with that scum gone.” I objected and was told by another member to “shut up.” Yep. Again, CRA is a “right leaning organization.” I do not think many sane people advocate blowing up a mass of the population unless they have multiple screws loose.

Similar statements, but not political in nature. I work with someone who has never missed early morning and prime time tv. They had this one several years ago; Russia had been massing troops at the Ukraine border at the time. “Come on Putin, move in and fire a bullet, I want the stock market to go down and have people panic sell so I can buy on the cheap.” Yeah, he wanted a war and people dying in large numbers so he could buy a stock cheap. Digest that for a minute. Innocent people…. Dying. Or this great hit from the same guy regarding Chipotle’s e-coli outbreak a decade ago. It is was caused by an investor who is short (betting the stock goes down) the stock. So let me get this straight, some guy somehow instructed a huge storefront operation to get high numbers of people sick…. On purpose, mind you. This is tin-foil hat right/left wing BS. It also shows a big disconnect from reality.

Fear not, the left does it as well, but what scares me is the right is now starting to have more and more fringe actors like the ones mentioned above. This creates a scary situation. For example, Sean Hannity. I caught his opening monologue yesterday and boy I wish I hadn’t. He has been lost since Rush Limbaugh died and it shows. He dedicated the beginning to not Charlie Kirk but going off about how deranged and mad the left is. Sean, we know this. A deranged, Palestinian supporting leftist attempted arson on Democrat Josh Shapiro’s home. Shapiro is Jewish. Monologues like this do not help, they actually hurt. It stirs up folks who have no view of humanity.

A final word comes courtesy of Alexandria O’Casio Cortez.

“From the moment I was elected, I have felt that I accept a certain level of risk in doing this job,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters. But she added that security protocols for members of Congress are “for a bygone time. … They’re not designed for a digital threat environment era.”

AOC and several other members of Congress have cancelled outdoor events and are thinking of hiring private security. The type of thing yesterday should scare lots of people, but not for the reasons you think. Charlie Kirk is really a “JAG” (Just a guy) if you think about it. He is a relative unknown outside of the political spectrum. He isn’t elected. Has no voting record outside of “he voted.” He was murdered. In front of his family. A sniper from long distance, in what appears to be a long thought-out and planned attack.

How do we stop this?

We really can’t. Political rhetoric, especially on the podcast fringe from both sides. Some of what I think is the solution is the same as Brian Kohberger. When this perp is arrested simply declare you caught the guy. Do not name him or put out any info. Try him after you have an airtight open and closed case that not even the public defender’s office even really wants to touch. No plea bargain. Federal terrorism/hate crime charges. Death penalty! Upon conviction, again as an unknown to the world population, make it clear any appeals are expedited to a judge immediately. The goal here is a needle/electric chair/firing squad within 5-7 years of conviction. This may not stop the shooting, but it helps to remove the scum and the attention they want from this earth. As opposed to Kohberger who like I mentioned will be around awhile to continue to seek out attention for what he did.

The Chief

PS Matthew Dowd formerly of MSNBC fame, I’m coming directly for you next week in this space.