TGIF Blogcast: Et tu, Chauncey?; Suing Colorado; Passkeys; Mexican diesel

Just One Thing: The NBA-tied gambling scandals bring out lots of great nicknames

I said something wrong yesterday about the use of card-shuffling machines in the poker scam. I thought that the machine put the cards in a particular order to benefit the scammers. That's not the case. Instead the machine had technology that communicated (wirelessly) to the scammers what the cards were (and in what order, obviously) when they were dealt so the cheaters knew who had the winning hand. How betting cheaters used technology and sports pros, according to authorities | AP News Also worth noting that Texas Hold 'Em uses a rather small number of cards: (up to) 5 cards in the center of the table for all players to use and then only 2 cards per player. Makes this sort of cheating MUCH easier versus having to know, for example, 5 cards in each player's hand if you were playing 5-Card Draw.

I love the nicknames: From the son of a legendary Mafia capo to a wiseguy poker pro— these are the mobsters charged in the NBA gambling scandal

When you know The King is injured...LeBron James injury information leaked to bettors, indictment suggests

Former CU star and NBA Hall-of-Famer Chauncey Billups was actually involved in both scandals but only charged in the one regarding rigged poker games, not the one regarding throwing NBA games or individual players tanking their own performances. Chauncey Billups allegedly tipped off NBA gambling ring Trail Blazers planned to tank upcoming game: feds

Oy veh: Reputed mobster 'Tommy Juice' arrested as part of major gambling bust

The attorney for one of the accused called him “a man of high character” and claims that the NBA already investigated and couldn’t find anything: The Latest: NBA coaches and player charged in sports betting and Mafia-backed poker schemes | kens5.com

And Chauncey Billups' attorney called him "a man of integrity": Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier arrests escalate sprawling NBA betting scandal - The Athletic (subscription may be required)

An incredible choice of words for the guy involved in a massive poker cheating scandal:

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Andrew Cuomo's now-deleted ad against Zohran Mamdani

Wow

Unsurprisingly the left HATES it: Cuomo condemned over racist AI ad depicting ‘criminals for Zohran Mamdani’ | Andrew Cuomo | The Guardian

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Another ad gone bad - Trump cancels trade talks with Canada

Please read and subscribe to my Substack! Trump halts trade talks with Canada - by Ross Kaminsky

President Trump canceled trade talks with Canada due to an ad (first video below) against US tariffs posted by Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario.

Trump Says He’s Cutting Off Trade Negotiations With Canada - The New York Times

The audio in the ad, which apparently was taken from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation's archive (or at least they claim it belongs to them) and then lightly edited, caused the Foundation to post a note complaining that the ad misrepresented Reagan's original comments, which the Foundation then also posted (second video below). Watching Reagan's remarks, it seems to me that the Canadian use of the words is not misleading in any important way. Yes, it leaves out Reagan's mention of one exception to his rule against tariffs. (That was trying to stop Japanese "dumping" of semiconductors and the trade agreement surrounding it was interesting and maybe not what you'd think: The U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Trade Conflict.)

Exceptionally thin-skinned of Trump to stop talks over an ad that's quoting Reagan in a way that is essentially accurate. But maybe the take is really that he'll take any excuse to avoid reducing tariffs.

I remain of the view that tariffs will (probably fairly soon at this point) start to do measurable harm to some segments of the economy. As for whether it's enough to cause a recession, that's a different question, especially because so much of our economy is in services rather than goods. Still, if tariffs cause higher consumer prices on everything from clothing to automobiles to new homes to food, that will filter through to reduce spending on services as well. On one hand, I hope I'm wrong. On the other hand, I don't see how it's possible to be wrong because the mechanism for what I just described is so simple and obvious.

(Trump also claimed that Reagan loved tariffs, which is an outright lie.)

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Today's Guests

Paul Taske is co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. We'll talk about their lawsuit against Colorado regarding the Colorado law (HB24-1136) entitled "Healthier Social Media Use by Youth" which I note had bipartisan support. In opposing the law, NetChoice describes it as "a law mandating that websites which host free speech display state-approved “warning” messages to deter users from using online services and to promote the government’s controversial views on social media. That’s the government compelling private companies’ speech and therefore unconstitutional."

Paul Taske - NetChoice

NetChoice v. Weiser (Colorado) - NetChoice

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Andrew Shikiar is Executive Director and CEO of the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance. In an age when passwords are less and less protective due to web hacks and more powerful computers trying to crack them, one current solution is Passkeys. We'll talk about what they are, how they work, how to use them on different devices, etc.

FIDO Alliance: Reducing Reliance on Passwords

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Other Stuff
The latest CPI report came out this morning. It came in at a 3% increase (year-over-year) for prices, and the same for the "core" (excluding food and energy.) There was some expectation of 3.1% so 3%, even though it's higher than the Fed's target and higher than is comfortable for American consumers, is causing an initial reaction of an increase in stock prices and small decrease in interest rates as it's viewed as tame enough to keep the Fed on track cutting rates: Consumer Price Index Summary - 2025 M09 Results

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Wouldn't surprise me if the persistence of Jimmy Sengenberger in reporting this case had something to do with the outcome: Judge halts Lakewood's shell game | Jimmy Sengenberger - Colorado Springs Gazette

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Speaking of criminal organizations... How a ‘dark fleet’ of tankers helped a Mexican cartel build a fuel-smuggling empire | Reuters

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Federal gov't tells Colorado to stop bringing in wolves from Canada: US Fish and Wildlife Services tells Colorado: No more wolves from Canada, Alaska - Colorado Politics

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IgNobel 'Butt Breathing' idea from 2024 moves closer to real treatment

Safety and tolerability of intrarectal perfluorodecalin for enteral ventilation in a first-in-human trial: Med

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Oy veh (or however you say that in Turkish): Husband Forced to Compensate Ex-Wife for Saving Her Number as ‘Chubby’ in His Phone

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This is probably the right move. Obviously whatever is done should be done with a reasonable degree of care for the wildlife. But I'm tired of wildlife being used to stop important development, especially development that only takes up a small percentage of the physical land.

Trump OKs drilling in Alaska wildlife refuge

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I agree 100%, as I mentioned yesterday...the ties between the Binance guy and the Trump family's new crypto wealth cannot be seen as coincidental. Note that Joe Lonsdale is a huge Trump supporter...

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Today's Video

This has been around for a while and it's just as good as ever