In 1995, 'rapper' Ol Dirty Bastard (ODB) from Wu-Tang was being profiled for an MTV biography. He was a big time up and comer at the time, having just released his first solo album (which went platinum) in the same year, and for which he was paid a $45k advance on. (That's a 1995 $45k too, which, according to official CPI numbers which we know are super low end bullshit, is equal to $95k today.) While on camera, ODB loaded up a stretch limousine with 2 of his kids, his wife, (dripping, of course, with garish gold jewelry and sunglasses), booze and whatever the fuck else and proudly pulled up to the welfare office and picked up $375 in food stamps. Here is the video of it if you don't remember or believe me. I actually remember watching this live, just a completely fucking bewildered 9 year old.
'Dirty asked, “You got the camera on? It’s on? Good. It’s free money. Why wouldn’t you want to get free money? The people that want to cut off the welfare, man, I think that’s terrible. You know how hard it is for people to live without nothin’."'
And people loved it. Besides some stodgy republicans, everyone thought this was just great.
Now, I don't bring this up to disparage ODB. I couldn't possibly care less about ODB even if you paid me. I bring this up because it's an illuminating look into the mind of a completely foreign culture and attitude than the dominate culture and attitude in America. It's as nearly as ant-ethical to American values as you can possibly get. Not only was he claiming welfare when he wasn't eligible or clearly didn't need it, but he was proudly showing it off. A rich guy sneakily scamming the system of money that he doesn't need is a disgusting, pathetic, shameful crime. But to do it in on camera? Like, call people to make sure that you're on camera? In a fucking stretch limousine, with $95k (of todays money) in your pocket, and probably tens of thousands of dollars of jewelry on you and your wife? That really is something else entirely. It's alien-like.
I'm talking about this now because it's the same sort of thing going on with the hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud being uncovered in Minnesota right now in real time. I might do a big post on that in the near future, but if you're online at all, you probably know all about it. And besides the obvious, you know what links these two stories? These three words that ODB said: 'It's free money'.
That's the problem, right there. It's a complete failure to assimilate or integrate, even a little bit. 'It's free money' implies 'it's money that comes from people that are not me.' They don't care about The Whole because they don't consider themselves part of it. Whether it's a hood-rich rapper in 1995 or Somalian pirates in fucking Minnesota of all places in 2025, it's the same mindset. They want to take as much money from 'the government' or America or American people as possible because they don't consider themselves part of any of it. And truthfully, at the end of the day, we simply can't have this.
You cannot sustain a system that makes honest people feel stupid for being honest.
I think that just about anyone in America could get themselves signed up for some sort of benefit if they really wanted to. The system isn't designed to viciously weed out corruption because it is literally inconceivable to us that anyone would sign up to get benefits that they really don't need. We're like one of those houses that puts out a big bowl of candy on Halloween and expects everyone to take one piece. We have no frame of reference for a mother instructing her kids to empty the entire bowl (and the kids little painted pumpkins) into their bag, and then get into a truck with their companies name on it. Do you understand the levels of shamelessness here?
And do you honestly expect anything to change? Are Somalians suddenly going to experience a wave of American Patriotism? I actually just chuckled out loud typing that. Of course not, and if anything, it'll probably get worse now that they think they're on borrowed time.
Think of your average Somalian guy trying to get into America. Ask yourself this question: if you told this theoretical Somalian guy that he could get into America and get signed up for welfare, but he had to burn down a house with an American family in it. No one would ever know and he wouldn't get in trouble, but an entire American family of four would be burned to death in their own home. Do you think he would turn that down? Do you think more than, say, 10% of Somalians you put that to would turn it down? Honestly think about it. That's a pretty unnerving thought, isn't it? So I ask again, for the tenth time, WHY are we doing this? What benefit does America possibly get from this kind of 3rd world, hellhole immigration? Anytime you ask a liberal this question, they'll start babbling about how great it is for the immigrant. And sure, that's true. But who gives a shit? Somalians have an entire country to themselves that they're free to live in and run however they want. How can anyone make the argument that we owe these people something? Like, forever? It's preposterous.
Last thing I'll say on this for now is this: if we don't get any real, big time arrests with the situation in Minnesota, then I really think it will be the official beginning of the end of modern America. It will signal to the world that people who steal hundreds of billions of dollars from us didn't even get in any real trouble, so why not try to steal only a couple million? And if you're an honest person who works and pays into the system, you'll feel like such a sucker that maybe you start being a little less honest. Game theory shows that when everyone is cooperating and on the same page, it pays to do the same. But as soon as someone defects and starts cheating, you lose out bad and fast if you keep playing by the rules. Now magnify that feeling times 330 million people spread out across the country. Collapse happens slow at first and then super fast once it gets going.
I'll have more on the Somalian pirates in Minnesota scamming the taxpayers to the tune of $330 billion (more than the entire GDP of Somalia) and counting with fake daycare and autism centers (imagine explaining that sentence to George Washington). The amount of propagandized, mouth breathing, bootlicking people I see online defending them is a whole other breathtaking part of the story too. But for now I just wanted to get this out there and that ODB thing was something that was oddly stored in brain for my whole life for some reason. Like seeing something you're not supposed to see as a little kid, it was burned in my brain. I remember thinking there had to be more to it. Like, maybe I didn't understand something. How did he not get in trouble? Why wasn't he ashamed? 30 years later and I still have the same fucking questions.
Anyways, check back soon because I'll have my yearly bizarro post where I post something completely out of left field around Christmas time. I have a couple ideas already. Lots of NFL action coming up as well. The very ends of seasons are always interesting and usually offer up some juicy spots. I see 3 or 4 good looking free money Wong hedges/spots this week already. Quite a lot of big line moves too. I'll have a yearly wrap up post too, going over betting in 2025 which really was a unique and interesting year betting wise.
From me to you, genuinely, thanks for reading. 2025 was by far my most active year on this blog and it has been fun. Don't forget to follow me on X (@POOGSblog), have a good New Years (amateur night) and talk soon!
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