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Ethereum Foundation Sold 20K ETH Worth $97M At Its All-Time High – Benzinga – Benzinga

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

The Ethereum Foundation, the company behind the development of the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) blockchain ecosystem, sold a significant amount of their ETH holdings at the assets peak price in November 2021.

What Happened: According to a transaction observed on the Ethereum blockchain by Twitter user Edward Morra, on November 11 last year, the Ethereum Foundation cashed out 20,000 ETH on crypto exchange Kraken.

At the time, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap was trading at a price of $4,800 and the collective amount sold was worth more than $97 million.

Related Link:Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Regain Some Composure Why This Analyst Thinks This Crash Is Not Like The Ones That Came Before It

Ethereum has lost at least 40% of its value since its peak price last year and was trading at under $2,500 at the time of writing.

Morra highlighted that in 2021, the Ethereum Foundation cashed out 35,000 ETH on May 17 incidentally, this was also at the assets previous all-time high and two days before the wider crypto market crashed.

The Ethereum Foundations wallet address is called EthDev and has a total of 353,318 ETH worth $827 million at current prices.

Ethereum Foundation Sold 20K ETH Worth $97M At Its All-Time High - Benzinga - Benzinga

How to Manage Volatility as Bitcoin and Ethereum Fluctuate Wildly – Motley Fool

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

On this Jan. 12edition of "The Crypto Show" on Backstage Pass,Fool.com contributors Chris MacDonald and Jon Quast discuss volatility in the crypto world, and how to handle this volatility with cryptocurrencies such asBitcoin(CRYPTO:BTC) andEthereum(CRYPTO:ETH).

Jon Quast: Let's kick it off here at the very beginning and let's talk about what's been going on, crypto movements. It's been volatile, Chris.

Chris MacDonald: Yeah. Interestingly, declines in Ethereum have been following the same pattern over recent weeks and we've seen there's a little bit of a recovery in the market today. It's interesting.

We're going to get to some of the inflation data later, but the market is interpreting seven percent inflation as a good thing today. That's interesting. What we're seeing is a recovery across-the-board. Bitcoin has been a little bit less volatile than the other tokens, and I think probably being viewed more as a store of value. We're seeing Bitcoin's volatility, it's up five percent today but down five percent for the week, and Ethereum, it's been a little bit more volatile lately, so we're seeing a bigger increase today and a bigger decrease over the past week, and that's what we've seen in some of the Altcoins, and a lot of the more higher momentum meme tokens and other interesting ones that are grabbing a lot of investors' attention right now.

Jon Quast: It's incredible when you think about it. Bitcoin, I don't know what the exact market cap is right now, but roughly a trillion dollar market capitalization. You look at Ethereum, I believe last I checked somewhere in the ballpark of 500 billion market cap.

Moves like this -- up 10 percent, down 10 percent. It's very, very surprising to me at this stage of the game. We didn't have this in the notes, but I just want to ask, how much sleep are you personally losing over the daily fluctuations of crypto? I'm asking a little bit facetiously.

Chris MacDonald: Well, for me, personally, I've got a small percentage of my portfolio in the crypto in general. For me, the volatility is somewhat expected. I think a lot of people that follow the crypto space or have followed it for a little while know about how volatile these tokens are and expected. I think that's the expectation you have to have going into it that with the returns that these tokens have provided, alongside that comes a lot of volatility.

Over the short-term, these moves are expected, and that goes to the thesis too of, will these ever be true currencies because do you want to get paid in something that goes up double-digit percentage every week or down. You want something a little bit more stable, so we're going to talk about some stablecoins today too. I think that's a little bit of a segue there, but that is an interesting aspect of the crypto world. I think viewers on here have to expect that volatility a little bit.

Jon Quast: Yeah, and definitely, when you are dialed into long-term investing, you really have to lay some of those day-to-day gyrations. You have to lay them to rest, put them out of your mind. Personally, I haven't even checked my cryptocurrency portfolio value in 2022. Because frankly, I know that it's been volatile. I don't want to do that to my own psychology and I'm still hanging on for the long term. The reasons that I invested still apply today, so I don't need to check it personally for my own psychology.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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How to Manage Volatility as Bitcoin and Ethereum Fluctuate Wildly - Motley Fool

Why Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Crypto.com Coin All Jumped Today – Motley Fool

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

What happened

Cryptocurrencies were experiencing a nice rebound on Thursday after feeling pressure earlier in the week. The broader stock market is up, and tech stocks, in particular, are moving higher, which generally helps cryptocurrencies. But the bigger news was about a new venture capital fund being raised by Andreesen Horowitz.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) was the biggest cryptocurrency to make a significant gain Thursday: It was up by 4.1% at one point in the last 24 hours and at the time of this writing is trading 3.4% higher. Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) rose by as much as 4.8% and is now up 3.9%, while Dogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE) was up by as much as 4.7% and is currently 2.6% higher. Crypto.com Coin (CRYPTO:CRO) was up by as much as 9% and is currently 8.4% higher for the day.

Image source: Getty Images.

The biggest news on the cryptocurrency front actually came out of Russia, where the country's central bank and the Federal Security Service (FSB) have called for a ban on trading cryptocurrencies, and that ban may extend to mining crypto as well. Many crypto mining operations have set up shop in the country. China was the first major country to ban cryptocurrencies. For numerous reasons, it wouldn't be surprising to see Russia follow a similar path.

Cryptocurrencies would like a bigger global audience, but the market clearly doesn't see Russia's actions as something to worry about right now.

More consequential news came from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which is reportedly interested in raising $4.5 billion for new Web 3.0 and cryptocurrency funds. Initial reports indicate that a $3.5 billion fund will be dedicated to traditional venture investments in companies building for Web 3.0 and the cryptocurrency environment, while $1 billion will be invested in digital tokens.

Andreessen Horowitz has already been one of the most successful cryptocurrency investors to date, and this could solidify its position as the biggest player in this emerging industry.

The news out of Russia is generally a negative for cryptocurrencies, but not surprising. However, I would recommend paying more attention to the moves Andreesen Horowitz makes in the space. The firm has been a key player in helping to build out infrastructure for cryptocurrency and NFT trading, but this investment round could take its involvement to another level.

Long term, the reason I'm bullish on cryptocurrencies generally is the underlying innovation and utility that can be built on these platforms. And the cryptocurrencies that developers are building applications on are the ones that will be successful long term. That's at least one reason the crypto market is moving higher Thursday.

Volatility certainly plays a role as well. The crypto market continues to be volatile, but also correlated with the broader stock market overall. With the market heading higher Thursday, it's not surprising that some of the biggest cryptocurrencies are rising as well.

Continue reading here:

Why Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Crypto.com Coin All Jumped Today - Motley Fool

Ethereum whales diversify to MATIC as altcoin integrates proof-of-stake mainnet with FTX – FXStreet

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Ethereum whales are adding altcoins to diversify their portfolio. Analysts are bullish on MATIC price recovery and predict a trend reversal in the altcoin.

The cryptocurrency market suffered a bloodbath today. MATIC price posted 13% losses overnight. The altcoin launched its staking program on Bitfinex, offering the exchange 90 million tokens. Proponents expected a bullish impact on MATIC price after the launch of the staking program.

MATIC network has integrated the proof-of-stake mainnet with FTX. Users can now deposit and withdraw the altcoin on either chain. Therefore, the Polygon network hit two significant milestones with the launch of staking on FTX.

@Trader_XO, a pseudonymous cryptocurrency analyst evaluated the MATIC price trend and predicted a spike in the altcoins price. The analyst believes that there is only one direction for the altcoins price, and that is upward.

@BitQueenBR, a crypto analyst and trader, believes that MATIC price is approaching a trendline that has been respected since 2021. The analyst believes that breaking down the trendline could fuel a bullish narrative; however, if MATIC price breaks previous higher low, the downtrend could continue.

Analysts argue that MATIC price has set a bull trap for traders and expects recovery from altcoins price.

FXStreet analysts believe that MATIC price could fall below critical support. This could drive the altcoin to $1.7, continuing the downtrend.

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Ethereum whales diversify to MATIC as altcoin integrates proof-of-stake mainnet with FTX - FXStreet

Someone Just Sent $50M In Ethereum To An Anonymous Wallet – Benzinga – Benzinga

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

What happened: $50,427,300 worth of Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) was just moved between 2 anonymous cryptocurrency wallets in a single transaction.

This mysterious persons Ethereum wallet address has been identified as: 0xca436e14855323927d6e6264470ded36455fc8bd

$50 million worth of Ethereum was sent to an unknown recipient, with Ethereum wallet address: 0x6571d6be3d8460cf5f7d6711cd9961860029d85f

Why it matters: Cryptocurrency whales that own millions of dollars in Ethereum tend to move markets single-handedly. If the whale decides to exit this Ethereum position, there could be enough market impact to push down the price of ETH. It takes about $15 to $30 million of sell pressure to move the price of Ethereum down 2% on any given exchange.

You can view more details about the transaction here

According to Glassnode, there are 92,262 Ethereum wallets with over $100,000 in ETH.

See Also: Best Crypto Apps 2021 and Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers

Price Action: Ethereum is down -7% in the past 24 hours.

The Best Ethereum Casinos for Real Money Gambling in 2022 – The News Minute

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

If youre a player whos invested some money into their crypto wallet, you might be interested in finding the best Ethereum casinos around.

Ideally you should be on the lookout for some red flags before making your final choice - suspiciously good reviews, slow payout systems, and poor customer support are a few that come to mind.

Were ensuring that our top picks avoid these drawbacks while offering easily redeemable Ethereum casino bonuses, prompt customer support, leading game variety, and more.

mBit Casino was our #1 pick for their generous crypto match and impressive free spin welcome bonus. However, with 12 additional Ethereum casinos on our runners-up list, theres sure to be something for everyone.

Lets take a closer look!

First Look

Best Ethereum Casino Overall - mBit Casino

Best for no-deposit bonus - Bitstarz

Best for slots - 7bit Casino

Best for sports betting - Cloudbet

Best for reload bonus - Slots.lv

Runners-Up:

Bovada

Ignition

Red Dog Casino

Stake.com

Wild Casino

SuperSlots

El Royale

BigSpinCasino

SlotsEmpire

BetOnline

Sportsbetting.ag

MyBookie

Pros

Impressive crypto match with fair playthrough

300 free spins upon first deposit

2, 700+ casino games to enjoy

Instant, fee-free withdrawals

Accepts 6 forms of crypto

Cons

Finding the best Ethereum casino is like finding a needle in a haystack, but it doesnt get better than mBit. Their generous, 110% crypto match (35x playthrough) combined with an assortment of over 2,700 online casino games to enjoy makes mBit a solid choice for our #1 selection.

Gaming Variety: 5/5

Theres zero room to get bored at mBit Casino. They offer 2,700+ casino games to choose from, so no matter how long youve been playing youre sure to find something new and exciting. Among your choices are 1161 specialty slots, 12 poker variants, 12 types of blackjack, 3 kinds of bingo, keno, and over a hundred table games

The only issue we found with their gaming selection was a complete lack of live dealer games, which took us by surprise. However, theres more than enough on mBits menu to make up for this small shortcoming!

Bonuses: 4.8/5

We were very impressed with mBits bonus offering. Theyll match your first deposit 110% up to 13.2 ETH, and theyll give you 300 free spins to boot. The entire package is attached to a challenging but fair 35x playthrough, which means youll be able to earn your bonus back in a reasonable period of time.

Banking: 4/5

Before we say anything else, you should know that fiat currencies are not accepted here. Instead, youre limited to betting with 6 forms of crypto - mBit takes BTC, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Tether.

They offer a low deposit minimum of 0.01 ETH (the equivalent of $32), and they provide instant, fee-free withdrawals to your crypto wallet.

Theres not much to complain about here other than their refusal to accept fiat currencies, but if youre an Ethereum enthusiast youll have no problems placing your bets.

Customer Support: 4.5/5

Their customer support team is fantastic, and they offer 24/7/365 assistance to players via live chat, email, and phone. We were able to get a real person on the phone in under 15 minutes, and we got an email reply from them in under 24 hours.

Pros

20 free spins upon sign-up (no deposit)

Instant, fee-free withdrawals for players

Crypto match up to 28 ETH + 180 free spins

Accepts 6 forms of crypto

3,524 games to enjoy

Cons

Fairly high 40x playthrough for all bonus offers

No fiat currencies accepted

No live dealer games in sight

Bitstarz is a solid second pick for our review - aside from being the only Ethereum casino on this list that offers players a no-deposit bonus, you can take advantage of their huge initial crypto match and enjoy a staggering assortment of over 3,500 casino games.

Gaming Variety: 4/5

Bitstarz understands the importance of being able to find something new and exciting to play no matter how long youve been involved with them. Thats why they offer more than 3,500 casino games in total - among them, youll find 840+ slots, several poker and blackjack variants, bingo, baccarat, and a few versions of roulette.

While they fail to offer players live dealer gaming, they make up for it with their otherwise vast selection of slots, table, and specialty games. As Bitstarz continues to update their catalog, you can bet on finding something new to enjoy every time you log on.

Bonuses: 4/5

The casino offers players the opportunity to take advantage of 20 free spins upon making an account. Bitstarz is the only ETH casino on our list to offer a no-deposit bonus! However, when you do make your first deposit, youll receive a 100% match up to 13 ETH along with 180 free spins.

The only downside to speak of here is their comparably high 40x playthrough requirement. Youll earn your bonus back, but it might take more time than absolutely necessary. On the other hand, their no-deposit bonus is pretty sweet and gives you more room to work with.

Banking: 3.7/5

Again, we have to reiterate that no fiat currencies can be used at this casino. Once you get past that, youll be able to bet with 6 forms of crypto. Bitstarz takes Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Tether.

They offer a low deposit minimum of 0.01 ETH and an even lower deposit minimum of 0.0002 BTC, which we appreciated. Moreover, they provide instant and fee-free withdrawals to your desired crypto wallet.

Wed like to see them accept fiat currencies eventually, but for Ethereum players, Bitstarz is a great fit.

Customer Support: 5/5

Bitstarz goes above and beyond to provide high-quality customer support for all players. Aside from adhering to the industry standard of 24/7/365 assistance via live chat, email, and phone; they can also be reached on Twitter and Facebook.

Additionally, if theres a lengthy expected hold time when you call their phone line, their automated system will call you back when a real person is available to speak with you. No more listening to terrible elevator music!

Pros

1,200 slots for players to enjoy

Accepts fiat currencies and offers fiat match

65 ETH welcome package over first 4 deposits

Low deposit minimums all around

Instant crypto payouts

Cons

7bit Casino was our obvious pick for slots lovers - 93% of its games comprises of quality slot titles. Its mainly leaning towards crypto-focused online gambling. However, they dont discriminate against fiat currencies and in fact offer a generous deposit matches all around.

Gaming Variety: 3.5/5

This casino may be slots-heavy, but it doesnt mean you wont enjoy other classic casino games in this site. While 7bit is mainly slots-focused, it still offers a good selection of table games, poker, specialty games, and even bingo.

Bonuses: 3.5/5

You can take advantage of fiat and crypto match deposits alike, but you wont find any sort of no-deposit bonus here. Their 100% crypto match extends to 65 ETH and 100 free spins over your first 3 deposits, and additionally, they offer a fiat match deposit of 100% up to $100.

While were glad 7bit has come around to accept various forms of fiat currencies, we were a bit disappointed to notice their comparably high 40x playthrough requirement for earning back your fiat and crypto matches.

Banking: 4.5/5

In addition to accepting 6 forms of crypto (BTC, Litecoin, ETH, Dogecoin, USDT, and Bitcoin Cash), you have the option to make your deposits with Visa/MasterCard, Maestro, Neosurf, and Skrill/Neteller.

Moreover, they offer low deposit minimums all around - youll only need to deposit $10 or the equivalent of 0.01 ETH to start placing your bets here. Finally, they offer instant crypto withdrawals and 48-72 hour fiat payouts.

Their wide variety of available deposit methods (combined with their low deposit minimums and speedy payout times) encouraged us to give them a 4.5/5 rating.

Customer Support: 4/5

Their customer support was easy to get in touch with. They offer 24/7/365 assistance via live chat, email, and phone. We emailed their team and got a response back in under 24 hours. When we called their phone line, we were able to speak to a real person in just under 20 minutes. No complaints here!

Pros

20+ sports available to bet on

Live dealer baccarat, blackjack, and roulette

Impressive crypto match up to 65 ETH

Accepts 12 forms of crypto

Broad selection of games to enjoy

Cons

No phone support available

Sports odds arent the most competitive

No fiat currencies accepted

Link:

The Best Ethereum Casinos for Real Money Gambling in 2022 - The News Minute

Bitcoin Manages A Greenish Hue As Ethereum, Dogecoin Keep Flashing Bright Red: Is The Crypto Bloodbath Ne – Benzinga

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) held its head above the water Monday evening but most major altcoins remained subdued as the global cryptocurrency market cap decreased 1.6% to $1.7 trillion.

What Happened: The apex coin traded 1.4% higher over 24 hours at $36,450.99. Over a seven-day period, it has plunged 13.7%.

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, traded 2.7% lower over 24 hours at $2,422.50. For the week, it has dropped 24.5%.

Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) was down 0.8% over 24 hours at $0.14 over 24 hours. Over the last seven days, it has fallen 20.1%.

DOGE-rival Shiba Inu (SHIB) declined 5.5% to $0.00002 over 24 hours. It has lost 27.2% of its value over the week.

The three largest gainers over 24 hours were SAFEMOON (SAFEMOON), Maker (MKR), and Cosmos (ATOM).

SAFEMOON shot up a whopping 210% to $0.0000015, ATOM spiked 4.8% to $1,904.38, and ATOM was up 2.3% at $35.71 in the period.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) Falls 5.01% Monday: What’s Next for This Bearish Rated Crypto? – InvestorsObserver

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Ethereum Classic (ETC) gets a bearish rating from InvestorsObserver Monday. The coin is down 5.01% to $22.91 while the broader crypto market is down 4.18%.

The Sentiment Score provides a quick, short-term look at the cryptos recent performance. This can be useful for both short-term investors looking to ride a rally and longer-term investors trying to buy the dip.

Ethereum Classic price is currently below support. With support set around $23.45 and resistance at $24.99, Ethereum Classic is potentially in volatile territory as selling pushes the crypto's price below recent support.

Ethereum Classic has traded on low volume recently. This means that today's volume is below its average volume over the past seven days.

Due to a lack of data, this crypto may be less suitable for some investors.

Click here to unlock the rest of the report on Ethereum Classic

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Ethereum Classic (ETC) Falls 5.01% Monday: What's Next for This Bearish Rated Crypto? - InvestorsObserver

As Markets Break Down, Traders Favor Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Two More Altcoins, According to Cryp… – The Daily Hodl

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

An autonomous bot thats been outperforming the crypto market by using data from weekly surveys of traders shows strong demand for Ethereum and three other altcoins.

The Real Vision Bot was co-developed by quant analyst and hedge fund CEO Mortiz Seibert as a way to obtain signals and gauge trader sentiment from fans of the financial content platform Real Vision.

Real Vision says the bot has had an astonishing record of outperforming the aggregated bucket of top 20 cryptos by more than 20% simply by surveying the preferences of traders.

The latest survey results show that while leading smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH) remains popular with investors at 64% overweight compared to the bot, layer-2 scaling solution Polygon (MATIC) has climbed to the exact same level.

Just a single percentage point behind at 63% is decentralized finance protocol Terra (LUNA) in third place.

Bitcoin (BTC) fills the fourth slot with 62% of respondents voting to overweight their holdings with BTC, despite the rough ride its been on since hitting an all-time high back in November.

Smart contract platform and ETH alternative Solana (SOL) rounds out the top-5 crypto assets at 48%.

Interoperable blockchain ecosystem Cosmos (ATOM) was a hair behind in sixth place, followed by layer-1 smart contract platform Avalanche (AVAX) and the enterprise-grade blockchain platform Fantom (FTM).

Completing the top-10 list are cross-chain interoperability protocol Polkadot (DOT) and decentralized oracle network Chainlink (LINK).

Participants in the Real Vision Bots surveys dont necessarily have to own the crypto in question in order to cast a vote for it. In an interview with Real Vision, the bots co-creator Moritz Seibert describes it as a hive mind that is able to beat other entities in the crypto ecosystem.

This bot is really fascinating because it started as a research project, where we linked it up with a Real Vision Exchange to run paper portfolios based on weekly surveys, where what we wanted to find out is if theres a Real Vision hive mind that can beat the markets and that can also beat the interviewees, the professionals that are interviewed on the Real Vision platform.

And so, as it turns out, there is a hive mind crypto portfolio thats far ahead of the bot run crypto portfolio and the experts and the market.

Featured Image: Shuttersock/vectorpouch/Natalia Siiatovskaia

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As Markets Break Down, Traders Favor Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Two More Altcoins, According to Cryp... - The Daily Hodl

GeForce RTX 30 and Radeon RX 6000 average prices fall as Ethereum price weakens and GPU availability improves – Notebookcheck.net

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Reviews, News, CPU, GPU, Articles, Columns, Other

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GeForce RTX 30 and Radeon RX 6000 average prices fall as Ethereum price weakens and GPU availability improves - Notebookcheck.net

Ethereum inventor wants to replace pregnant women with synthetic wombs – The Next Web

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Crypto bros never tire of sharing their utopian visions, but their big brain ideas arent always embraced by the proles.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder and inventor of Ethereum, has become the latest victim of this insolence.

The 27-year-old had pitched a bold solution to the gender pay gap: synthetic wombs.

Synthetic wombs would remove the high burden of pregnancy, significantly reducing the inequality, he tweeted on Tuesday.

The proposal gained support from several tech bros but incurred the wrath of feminists.

They argued that biological gestation isnt the main barrier to gender equality. Instead, they pointed to the high costs of childrearing, limited governmental support, and widespread sexism.

Some pointed to the positive aspects of pregnancy or suggested that Buterin was disconnected from reality.

Buterins technoutopian solution emerged in a discussion started by the ultimate tech visionary: the self-described utopian anarchist, Elon Musk.

The Tesla tycoon had been expressing his long-held concerns about population collapse:

We should be much more worried about population collapse If there arent enough people for Earth, then there definitely wont be enough for Mars.

Synthetic wombs would presumably provide Musk with the workers that his Martian colony requires.

Musk and Buterin have several things in common. Both have founded lionized companies, joined the billionaires club, and cultivated the image of brilliant polymaths.

The duo is also capable of laughing at themselves in a weirdly self-aggrandizing sort of way.

Buterin last week asked for the most unhinged criticisms of him on Twitter. After 20 hours, hed received over 2,400 responses.

HT Molly White

Excerpt from:

Ethereum inventor wants to replace pregnant women with synthetic wombs - The Next Web

Ty Seidule on Exposing Robert E. Lee, Lost Cause Myths, White Supremacy, and Treason – History News Network

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

I grew up with a series of lies that helped further white supremacy. Thats uncomfortable. To see the real agony, think about the millions of people who lived their entire lives enslaved, knowing that enslavement would be the future for their children and their childrens children. Think of living with the violence of the Jim Crow era as an African American.

Ty Seidule, Robert E. Lee and Me

In his candid and searing recent memoir, Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerners Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause (St. Martins Press), retired US Army general and renowned professor of history Ty Seidule recounts his odyssey from youthful hero worship of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and an indoctrination in racist myths of the Lost Cause to acclaim as a historian devoted to challenging the poisonous white supremacist lies about slavery, the Civil War, African American inferiority, Jim Crow segregation, and the deified Lee.

As a distinguished scholar of history, a decorated soldier, and a native of the South, Professor Seidule writes with rare authority about race, the Civil War, and the myths and lies about the war that he learned from an education presented through the lens of racism and Confederate mythology. He explains how his early beliefs were shaped by white supremacist ideology that demeaned and dehumanized Black citizens. These racist views imbued Southern culture and were widely shared throughout the country in textbooks, popular periodicals, and the media, with movies such as the award-winning Gone with the Wind and Disneys Song of the South rife with degrading stereotypes of African Americans.

And Professor Seidule vividly describes his path to understanding and his emergence as a leader for historical truth and for a reckoning on race. He demolishes the myths about the saintly Lee and, based on extensive research and overwhelming evidence, concludes that Lee was a traitor to his country who fought to preserve slavery. And, as Professor Seidule describes the militarys veneration of Confederate leaders in naming of bases and other actions, he rejects honoring of those who fought to preserve slavery and committed treason in the effort.

He further details how he became a scholar of our deeply conflicted past, and how that study revealed the noxious, insidious influence of racist ideas that have poisoned white minds since the dawn of slavery. And he considers the timely and vexing issue of how otherwise seemingly admirable people could embrace the odious tenets of white supremacy and the oppression of others.

Professor Seidules powerful personal observations and insights are especially timely as our nation continues to suffer serious divisions on issues of race and democracy. He urges that understanding our past is critical to confronting and stopping the generational transmission of pernicious racist ideas.

Ty Seidule is Professor Emeritus of History at West Point where he taught for two decades. He served in the U.S. Army for thirty-six years, retiring as a brigadier general. He currently teaches history and serves as the Chamberlain Fellow at Hamilton College as well as a New America Fellow. He is the author or editor of six books of military history, three of which won distinguished writing prizes, includingThe West Point History of the Civil War. Also a leader in digital history, Professor Seidule created and co-edited the award-winningWest Point History of Warfare, the largest enhanced digital book in any field. His video lecture Was the Civil War About Slavery has had more than 30 million views on social media. He also serves as the vice chair of the Congressional Naming Commission, which will rename Department of Defense assets that honor the Confederate States of America. He graduated from Washington and Lee University and earned his doctorate at Ohio State University.

Professor Seidule generously responded to questions about his work and his new book by email.

Robin Lindley: Congratulations Professor Seidule on your candid new memoir Robert E. Lee and Me and thank you for considering questions. You have a distinguished background as a military historian and author. What inspired you to write your revelatory memoir now on your indoctrination in the myths and lies of the Confederate Lost Cause and your rigorous exploration of the reality of our history of racism and white supremacy?

Professor Ty Seidule: When I was at West Point, I chaired our memorialization committee. We created a new memorial room to the 1500+ Academy graduates who gave the last full measure of devotion to the nation from the War of 1812 to the present, including more than 100 alumni killed since 9/11. One decision caused a ruckus. Should the West Point graduates who fought and died in Confederate gray be included in the new Memorial Room? I argued, stridently, no! After all, Confederates abrogated their oath, killed US Army soldiers, and committed treason for the worse possible reason: to create a slave republic. Yet, I lost. The superintendent wanted to include the names.

I went home, defeated, to tell my wife. She asked me if I had told everyone why I was so passionate. Why the issues were so important to me? No, I told her. Im a historian. I tell other peoples stories. She told me if I wanted to convince anyone, I needed to be honest and tell my story.

Then, in 2017, Washington and Lee University invited me to give a talk in Lee Chapel, where Robert E. Lee is buried. I told my story and called Lee a traitor for slavery. The audience gave me a standing ovation. I realized that if I was honest about my own story, I might be able to convince others about the facts of the Civil War and the Lost Cause more readily. So, I decided to do what few historians do. Use my own story to try to reach a broader audience.

Robin Lindley: In your new book, you describe your virtual reverence for Robert E. Lee, and how your education as a child and young adult was imbued with Confederate myths and racist history. At one point as a child, you ranked Lee as an 11 out of a scale of 10, and ranked Jesus at five. How do you see the origins of your adoration of Lee? Did your parents and teachers encourage your embrace of Lost Cause myths and the veneration of Lee when you grew up in the 1960s?

Professor Ty Seidule: Every aspect of my life encouraged me to see Lee as the epitome of a Southern gentleman. I wanted to be a Virginia gentleman because that meant status. My first chapter book was Meet Robert E. Lee. Lee looked like a military god on loan from Mt Olympus, framed by a gigantic Confederate flag. Today, its hard to imagine just how reverential Lee was to the white South, especially in Virginia.

Robin Lindley: What was your view of the causes of Civil War and its outcome as a child and young adult?

Professor Ty Seidule: It wasnt something I remember thinking about. My culture focused on the romantic, underdog Confederates who fought nobly for a doomed cause. But honestly, I dont remember thinking or hearing anything about the cause, the purpose. That was the problem. The purpose of the war and the war itself werent linked.

Robin Lindley: You vividly describe your college experience at Washington and Lee Universitya veritable shrine to Robert E. Lee, who was seen as the paradigm of the Southern Christian gentleman. What did you learn about Lee and the colleges efforts to deify Lee, the former president of the college?

Professor Ty Seidule: The entire history of the school revolved around deifying Lee until very recently. Fundraising was successful for years by its association with Lee. Lee Chapel was called by the University in the 1920s The Westminster Abbey of the Confederacy. In fact, Lee Chapel is more a reliquary to a saint than a chapel. His basement office remains untouched from the day he died in 1870. Traveller, his warhorse, buried outside Lees crypt, often has apples left by tourists.

The fact that Lees statue lies on the altar in the Chapels apse clearly shows who is venerated and its not Jesus. When my wife saw it for the first time, she understood that the school literally worshipped Lee. Her reaction? Get me out of here!

Robin Lindley: It may surprise some readers that so many bases and other US military facilities are named for Confederate leaders. Why did the US military honor traitors to the US in this way?

Professor Ty Seidule: Yes. Several of our most prestigious army posts honor the enemy. The War Department named them during WWI and WWII when the army was a segregationist institution, and the South was a racial police state.

Black people did protest these names, but they had been violently excluded from voting and could not change it. But to me its outrageous that the US Army, the most diverse workforce in the country, honors the enemy. An enemy who fought for slavery and killed US Army soldiers. Some like Henry Benning and John Brown Gordon never served in the US Army. Others like Braxton Bragg, Leonidas Polk, John Bell Hood and other West Point graduates chose to fight against the country that educated them. Lee served in US Army for over 30 years before choosing treason to preserve slavery.

Robin Lindley: You had a distinguished teaching career at the US Military Academy at West Point. You note that Lee casts a long shadow there with numerous tributes to the Confederate general. What are a few examples of this admiration for Lee at West Point that struck you?

Professor Ty Seidule: I lived on Lee Road, by Lee Gate, in Lee Housing area. At West Point our barracks are named for Americas greatest military heroes, Washington, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Bradley, Scott, Sherman, Grant, and Pershing. We recently named our newest barracks after Benjamin O. Davis, Jr, the first Black West Point grad in the twentieth century. But one barracks bears Lee name. When was it named? The early 1970s. I counted more than a dozen memorials to Lee at West Point.

The first Lee memorial came about in the 1930s and the last in 2002. Thats part of what changed me. West Point was an anti-Confederate monument in the nineteenth century. No Confederates in the prestigious cemetery. No Confederates in the Memorial Hall. None on the towering Battle Monument to the US Army dead from the War of the Rebellion.

Duty, Honor, Country, West Points motto is anti-Confederate. West Point in the nineteenth century saw Lee and his Confederate comrades as traitors. Lee made a comeback when West Point moved towards equal rights and integration. And that really informed my understanding of Confederate memorialization. Its always about white supremacy.

Robin Lindley: Thanks for that striking observation. Youre a retired general and renowned expert on military history. Was Lee a good soldier and general?

Professor Ty Seidule: For years, I let the smell of gunpowder seduce me into answering that question. No more!

Lee chose treason to preserve slavery. His army kidnapped Black people during the Antietam and Gettysburg campaigns and brought them back for sale in Virginia. Lees army depended on enslaved people for much of their logistics cooks, teamsters, nurses, engineers, farriers, and servants. The Army of Northern Virginia was an enslaving army. And Lee desperately wanted more enslaved labor throughout the war. Think of that for a minute. What other army depended so thoroughly on enslaved labor for its logistics? Also, Lees army routinely executed Black prisoners of war. Too often, we look at the tactics of war and forget the purpose.

I cover Lee as a strategist and tactician only after I clearly talk about treason and slavery.

Robin Lindley: Lee was an enslaver. How did he treat enslaved people? Did he ever emancipate slaves or call for abolition of slavery?

Professor Ty Seidule: Lee was a cruel enslaver. He enslaved people from the time his mother died soon after his graduation until 1863. When Lees father-in-law died in 1857, Lee took control of three enslaved labor farms for more than two years (I wont call them plantations, which evoke images of the wind whispering through the Spanish Moss. Plantations are more Dachau than Disneyland).

Lees father-in-law recognized enslaved marriages and kept families together. Lee tried to maximize his profits at the expense of enslaved people by using the hiring system to break apart all but one family. He also ordered Wesley Norris and his sister whipped, telling the constable to Lay it on well.

As for emancipation, he once said that freedom would come on Gods time. He certainly fought for slavery, not emancipation. Lees actions are what count to me.

Robin Lindley: Your verdict on Lee is straightforward: He was a traitor who fought to preserve slavery. What was the most important evidence you considered in reaching this verdict?

Professor Ty Seidule: For treason: The US Constitution lists only one crime. In Article III Section 3: Treason againstthe United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No court convicted him, although he was indicted.

I write as a historian but also as a US Army officer who served nearly 36 years. Lee also abrogated the oath he had taken only three weeks earlier on his promotion to colonel. In fact, he didnt even wait three days to let his resignation process before he accepted a commission in the Virginia militia. Of the eight US Army colonels from Virginia in 1861, all West Point graduates, Lee and only Lee chose to fight for the Confederacy, chose treason.

As for slavery, thats easy. Everyone knew thats why the white South seceded. They told everyone. It wasnt a secret. If senior officers fought for the Confederacy (especially one as smart as Lee) they knew damn well what they fought for slavery. Then there are Lees comments after he heard about the Emancipation Proclamation on January 10, 1863, calling it,

A savage and brutal policy which leaves us no alternative but success or degradation worse than death, if we would save the honor of our families from pollution, our social system from destruction.

He fought for slavery because he believed in slavery.

Robin Lindley: Was there a moment or incident that sparked you to challenge your admiration of Lee and question the Lost Cause lies?

Professor Ty Seidule: Like many changes in life, it came gradually and then very fast.

First, my identity became army officer, not Southern gentleman. Second, I married a woman incapable of lying. My culture lied constantly. She really changed me. Third, I became a historian at West Point and then a historian of West Point.

I understood the Civil War was about slavery, but for too long, I held romantic notions of Lee. Then, when I started studying West Points memorialization of Lee, I just became outraged that tributes to Lee came at the same time as integration. That made me not just a historian but an activist for change.

Robin Lindley: How do you see views of the Confederacy and Lee evolving, if at all?

Professor Ty Seidule: Radical change! The US Congress created a commission to change the names of the army posts that honor Confederates, and then overrode President Trumps veto by a supermajority. I serve on that commission. Memorials to Lee in Richmond, Charlottesville, and the US Capitol are gone. Wow! I would not have taken a bet with high odds in my favor that those iconic statues would be taken down in one year.

In a very short time, many (but not all) Americans see the values of the Confederacy as antithetical to our values and that gives me hope. My home state of Virginia is leading the way.

Robin Lindley: You write powerfully of how you felt betrayed by your education, your indoctrination with the lies of the Confederate Lost Cause, adoration of General Lee, and more. What would you like to see todays students learn about our history?

Professor Ty Seidule: Everyone has a history. Every school has a history. Every town has a history.

I would love to see more students research their own lives. I taught a course on West Points history for years. We become better citizens, better people when we understand the history of where we live. And not just the myths, but the tough history: slavery, segregation, and redlining. A better understanding of our local history will, I think, make us more empathetic.

At West Point, our mission is to educate and inspire leaders of character for the nation who live the values of duty, honor, country. How do you teach character? Nothing works better than history. What we research and write can change our character, at least it did for me.

Understanding local history, through primary sources, made me a more empathetic and honest person.

And, for anyone teaching the Civil War, please, please have students read the Southern States Ordinances of Secession and Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens Cornerstone Speech. If you start with those documents, a teacher is on the right path.

Robin Lindley: I was struck that you received hate mail and even death threats in 2015 after you stated your viewand that of virtually all academic historiansthat slavery was the cause of the Civil War. How are readers responding to your candid new book on Lee and the Lost Cause?

Professor Ty Seidule: The reception this time is far better, mostly. For the 2015 video I did on the cause of the Civil War, the online comments ran at least 20 to 1 negative. Now, its probably 10 to 1 positive. However, I still have plenty of one-star reviews on Amazon. There also seems to be a few folks who make videos debunking my argument.

If I receive hate mail in any form, I take it positively. I hope that my writing is clear enough that no one would mistake my message: treason for slavery. The Lost Cause, Confederate monuments, Jim Crow laws, disenfranchisement, and lynching all created a system of white supremacy to ensure white political power. Of course, history is dangerous because it challenges our myths and identity. When I challenge peoples identity, the reaction can be ferocious, but Ive faced far tougher foes than on-line trolls.

Robin Lindley: Your book Robert E Lee and Me is bound to become a classic study and it deserves a wide audience. Is there anything youd like to add about your book or your insights on history and the time we live in now? Where do you find hope as a historian and professor?

Professor Ty Seidule: I have no shortage of hope. Through the political process, statues dedicated to white supremacy have come down all over the country. Remember that commemoration is about our values. These statues demise tells us that our values, at least in many places, no longer tolerate traitors who fought for slavery. The military is now in the process of ridding itself of Confederate commemoration. Now, of course, that doesnt mean weve ended racism; we still have far, far to go, but for me as a soldier and a scholar, its a start. The only way to prevent a racist future is to first understand our racist past.

Robin Lindley: Thank you Professor Seidule for your thoughtful comments and insights, and congratulations on your moving and powerful new book. And best wishes on your new position at Hamilton College.

Robin Lindley is a Seattle-based attorney, writer and features editor for the History News Network (history news network.org. His work also has appeared in Writers Chronicle, Bill Moyers.com, Re-Markings, Salon.com, Crosscut, Documentary, ABA Journal, Huffington Post, and more. Most of his legal work has been in public service. He served as a staff attorney with the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations and investigated the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His writing often focuses on the history of human rights, conflict, medicine, art, and culture. Robins email: robinlindley@gmail.com.

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Ty Seidule on Exposing Robert E. Lee, Lost Cause Myths, White Supremacy, and Treason - History News Network

Op-Ed: As Democrats push for federal takeover of elections, Wisconsin forbids ballot harvesting and absentee ballot drop boxes – The Center Square

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

In the runup to the 2020 election, several states altered their voting procedures under the guise of the pandemic. In most cases, these far-reaching changes were instituted by governors under the premise that they could unilaterally do so because the pandemic afforded them emergency powers.

Americans should be outraged over this because according to the U.S. Constitution governors do not have the authority to single-handedly change voting rules pandemic or not. Per Article 1, section 4, The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers tasked the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) with revising the rules for voting in the 2020 general election after his request to the state legislature to do the same was rejected.

However, according to a recent ruling from Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren, the voting changes instituted by WEC for the November 2020 election are illegal.

Specifically, Bohren ruled that WECs guidance regarding absentee ballot drop boxes violated the Wisconsin Constitution, which states, voting by absentee ballot is a privilege exercised wholly outside the traditional safeguards of the polling place.

Moreover, the Wisconsin Constitution notes, the privilege of voting by absentee ballot must be carefully regulated to prevent the potential for fraud or abuse; to prevent overzealous solicitation of absent electors who may prefer not to participate in an election; to prevent undue influence on an absent elector to vote for or against a candidate or to cast a particular vote in a referendum; or other similar abuses.

Suffice to say, creating a network of absentee ballot drop boxes is probably not the best way to prevent the potential for fraud or abuse.

Neither is ballot harvesting, which was also stricken down by Bohren.

Interestingly, Bohrens ruling comes as Democrats push national voting laws that would increase absentee voting and ballot harvesting, among many other provisions that would make it easier to vote under false pretenses.

Over the past few months, Democrats have argued that the federal government must circumvent the states by passing sweeping voting reform bills. Moreover, they have argued that anyone opposed to a federal takeover of state elections must be a racist.

Here is President Joe Biden, comparing those who oppose his call for the federal government to supersede state voting laws to infamous racists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?

Biden failed to articulate how opposing his partys national voting bills actually makes one on par with the president of the Confederate States of America because that comparison is laughable on its face.

Biden also failed to mention that the vast majority of Americans agree with many of the commonsense rules states have in place to deter voter fraud. For example, recent polls show approximately 70 percent of Americans support voter ID laws, which Biden and Democrats claim is akin to voter suppression.

Whats more, in 2020, voting percentages among minority groups increased across-the-board.

Over the past several decades, great strides have been made in ensuring that all Americans eligible to vote are able to cast ballots. This achievement should be celebrated by all Americans, regardless of party affiliation.

As we enter 2022, with midterm elections on the horizon, it is imperative that states retain their sovereignty concerning voting procedures. Make no mistake, when elections are overseen by states rather than the federal government, the odds for corruption and election malfeasance are dramatically reduced.

In conjunction, the odds of a nationally disputed election and loss of confidence in American democracy are also less likely when elections are decentralized and run by states rather than the federal government.

Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is senior editor at The Heartland Institute.

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Op-Ed: As Democrats push for federal takeover of elections, Wisconsin forbids ballot harvesting and absentee ballot drop boxes - The Center Square

Letters to the editor for Sunday, January 23, 2022 – News-Press

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Letter writers| Fort Myers News-Press

A recent article which quoted Fort Myers City Council member Fred Burson, stated that the coral-color parking garage is the "ugliest downtown building, and it doesn't fit in with the city's downtown image of grayish and white buildings nearby.""We would like it to complement all of the nearby facilities to create a charming downtown."

What Councilman Bursonand other like-thinkers don't consider is that with no originality and diversity, we are creating a monochromatic, look-alike area that resembles every other city.Fortunately, we have perhaps the last vestige of visual diversity already in place.Let's improve on what we have and let it draw attention to an otherwise increasingly mundane setting.

Since the mid-'90s, my wife and I have regularly visited Fort Myersand watched it grow.Every visit we noticed the very Florida color coral parking garage.Yes, it stood out, but it was a warm reception to the Fort Myers area.

Take advantage of what you have, and instead of destroying it, improve on its ability to garner attention, and make it an asset rather than a liability.Perhaps a large palm logo (for the City of Palms). Some of the most interesting features of an area are what some people may consider ugly, while others appreciate their aesthetic diversity.A little innovational thinking will, hopefully, keep us from being an all gray/white city.

William Bond, NorthFort Myers

Brandon Jetts guest opinion on the legacy of Martin Luther KingJr. was spot on. But one thing he failed to mention was what we here in a county named after Robert E. Lee can do to address racism and that is remove the portrait of the Confederate general that hangs so honorifically in the chambers of our County Commission.This portrait says a lot not only about the values of the county we live in but also the values of the men we have elected who sit under it.Failure to remove this portrait is disrespectful to our Black community and the many others who recognize the portrait as not-so-subtle support of the Confederate cause.It is time for this portrait to be taken down and for our county commissioners to lead the way.And the time is now.

Charlotte Newton, Fort Myers

Robert E. Lee was a son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III. Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. Lee served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican-American War, and served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy. He was the husband of Mary Anna Custis Lee, adopted great-granddaughter of George Washington, and Arlington National Cemetery is on their property. When Virginia's 1861 Richmond Convention declared secession from the Union, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his desire for the country to remain intact and an offer of a senior Union command. During the first year of the Civil War, he served in minor combat operations and as a senior military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Gen. Robert E. Leedied a nationally recognized champion of peaceful American reconciliation.

Stop judging the historical figures of America's past by 21st Century values. These men were a product of the customs and culture of their times. It did not stop them from doing what, in good conscience, they thought was the right thing to do for their country.

At the end of the war these menswore a new oath of allegiance to the United States of America and the Constitution. As part of the healing, Lincoln, against considerable pressure, decided to not take draconian measures against his countrymen. He chose compassion and reconciliation over occupation.

Return Lee's monument to its rightful place.

Cookie Shepard, Fort Myers

Let's try and think logically for a minute and try to get past the emotion, rhetoricand outrage. You say you want freedom and you want the government to get outof your private life. You're against mask mandates and vaccine requirements, right? No government is going to tell you what you can and can't do! OK, got it.

Now, help me understand how it can possibly be OK for that same government to insinuate itself -- literally -- into a woman's body and tell her she cannot choose to have an abortion. A choice of the most private kind -- one that should be between a woman and her doctor.

So, all of you freedom fighters, either mask up and get vaccinated or GET OUT OF MY UTERUS!You can't have it both ways.

Ricki Baker, Naples

In Kathleen Passidomos blog about current legislative events, she reports that Senate President Wilton Simpson stated (we want Florida to) succeed without the heavy hand of the government telling (us) how to live.

And yet he IS the government and this Florida Legislature is considering a 15-week abortion ban for all women in the state. How is this not heavy-handed?

Lets be clear, this is very heavy-handed and totally hypocritical.

Jane Graham, Naples

Recent letters to the editor have claimed that President Biden is "the worst president in our history."The objective criteria for such profundity?Inflation is the highest ever (patently false), empty grocery shelves (not close to reality),Afghanistan (where four U.S. presidents have struggled with policy), and vaccine mandates (where the health of the population has become a cultural issue).

Have we become a country where the idea of shelling out $15 more on a tank of gas for our Audi SUVs requires pangs of sorrow from the rest of the world?Has the face of Americanow become a bunch of whiners, complaining about the sad situation where the grocery story is out of Raisin Bran and we have to settle for Cheerios?Is it really fair to condemn the current president for the tragedy of the Afghanistan exit, when four other U.S. presidents had presided over the inconvenient truth of the horrific loss of American and Afghan lives for 20 years?And finally, can a president be faulted for the cultural wars over vaccine mandates, when his sole purpose has been the well-being of the population in whose service he governs?

At least now we have president who actually governs. He engages his adversaries with respect; he passes legislation which will assist all Americans and not just the select few; and, amazingly, he has compassion and empathy for those he serves.

When a sitting president incites a mob to destroy the seat of U.S. democracy, watcheshis followers in their attempt to overturn a presidential election, and takes no action to stop the violence; those would be some valid criteria for the "worst president in our history."

Manny Cacciola, Fort Myers

To blame Biden for all the ills in our country conveniently forgets that inflation is worldwide, supply issues are worldwide, gas price hikes are worldwide. As much as I like Joe I dont think his reach extends that far. Many, if not most of these problems, are due to the pandemic, which doesnt seem to want to disappear when politicians wave their fairy dust. Dont forget to blame him when Russia invades Ukraine;after all, its his sons fault.

Philip Wyckoff, Fort Myers

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Letters to the editor for Sunday, January 23, 2022 - News-Press

US Security in the Shadow of Insurrection by Anne-Marie Slaughter & Heather Hurlburt – Project Syndicate

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

In the year since a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters ransacked the US Capitol, America's political divisions have only grown deeper. Democrats and Republicans alike must recognize that without measures to shore up democracy at home, the country's international standing and security will continue to erode.

WASHINGTON, DC The anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol has come and gone, and many Americans are deeply depressed that the countrys political divide has only deepened. Though most Republican Party leaders condemned the attack at the time, the GOP has since internalized former President Donald Trumps web of lies and falsehoods about the 2020 election, which he lost by seven million votes. Republicans have largely refused even to participate in the congressional investigation into the matter.

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A year after a sitting president tried to overturn the results of a fair and lawful election, the effort to identify and prosecute those responsible now must compete for attention with other security crises: Russian troops massing near Ukraine; Iran nearing the threshold of nuclear breakout; and humanitarian catastrophes in Afghanistan and Yemen. Faced with all this, American leaders will be tempted to draw a bright line between home and abroad. But doing so would be both risky and wrong.

Americas profound polarization reflects a society whose members no longer share a core understanding of what it means to be secure. Americans tend to have widely divergent experiences across racial, religious, and gender lines with US domestic security institutions. Trust in the US military and security forces used to be consistently high; now, it is falling, alongside trust in the rest of Americas government institutions. Americans no longer agree about who or what constitutes a threat, with Democrats much more likely to cite internal cohesion and political violence, and Republicans more concerned with traditional nation-state foes. Moreover, Americans are divided by ideology and age over whether people and ideas from elsewhere are an opportunity or a threat.

These divisions, and the resulting policy gridlock, would be bad enough in isolation. But the rest of the world is watching, and it sees a society that cannot agree on what democracy is, or on who belongs to the demos. In the World Banks Combined Polity Score index, the US has been downgraded from a longstanding score of ten, the highest for a democracy, to a five, meaning it is on the verge of anocracy: a democracy with authoritarian characteristics.

Around the world, those who have been inspired by leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., are now haunted by images of the Confederate flag being waved in the halls of Congress. Allies whose ties to the US go back to World War II now see US elected officials embracing Holocaust deniers. Neither friend nor foe believes that the US can or will deliver on its long-term promises anymore, whether in the realm of vaccine distribution, climate accords, or nuclear deals.

If you are American and this description sounds exaggerated, you should look to your northern neighbor. In Canada, with which the US shares the worlds longest unfortified border, top media outlets marked the January 6 anniversary with a debate over, What to do about the likely unraveling of democracy in the United States. Back at home, American political scientist Barbara Walter, a leading global expert on civil wars, writes in a new book, Most Americans cannot imagine another civil war in their country. But this is because they dont know how civil wars start.

Our newest magazine, The Year Ahead 2022: Reckonings, is here. To receive your print copy, delivered wherever you are in the world, subscribe to PS for less than $9 a month.

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Americans need to recognize that the erosion of their democracy is as much a foreign-policy matter as it is a domestic one. Those Republicans and Democrats who are still willing to work together on key international issues need to accept that this also requires working together to shore up core democratic norms at home.

Those norms are foundational to everything the US wants to achieve abroad. At a minimum, they include a rejection of violence and hate speech, strong protections for voting rights, and non-partisan election administration. Conservatives who urge the Biden administration to act tougher abroad should stop to consider what constant right-wing harping about the Big Steal looks like to the rest of the world. US leaders from across the political spectrum could send a far more compelling message by demonstrating a willingness to repair the cracks in American democracy. The capacity to do that has historically been one of Americas greatest strengths.

After all, we have been here before. A half-century ago, American democracy was tested by a president who was forced to resign and by a security establishment that misled the country into a catastrophic war. This prompted a broad effort to address systemic flaws. And while the solutions were imperfect, they nonetheless succeeded in restoring the prestige of US institutions for the next four decades both at home and abroad.

What might such an effort look like now? Senator Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, recently mustered the courage to buck Trump, telling ABC News: The election was fair, as fair as we have seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency. That is a good start. But without progress in tackling the full range of problems with US elections who gets to vote and how the votes are counted neither Republicans nor Democrats can hold their heads high in the court of global public opinion.

The responsibility doesnt lie only with Congress, of course. In its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance published last March, President Bidens administration made clear that, our role in the world depends upon our strength and vitality here at home. Since then, Biden has signed bills and implemented policies allocating billions of dollars to research and development in strategic industries, physical infrastructure, and a better social infrastructure.

Again, that is a good start. But suppose the administration took its own logic a step further and declared openly that threats to our democracy are also threats to our security? The Director of National Intelligence has already warned that violent political extremism a euphemism for domestic terrorism poses a greater risk to Americans than Islamist terrorism does.

With Americas crumbling political norms and violence-tinged factionalism, is it any wonder that only 17% of the worlds democracies view the US as a country to emulate? It is time for Americans, or at very least those who aim to represent the US in the world, to see themselves as others do, without excuses and rationalizations.

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US Security in the Shadow of Insurrection by Anne-Marie Slaughter & Heather Hurlburt - Project Syndicate

How Black senators controlled the narrative on a historic day at the Capitol – Mississippi Today

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Note: This analysis first published in Mississippi Todays weekly legislative newsletter.Subscribe to our free newsletterfor exclusive early access to weekly analyses.

Sen. Derrick Simmons sensed his Black colleagues were growing more and more frustrated.

During Jan. 21 debate of a bill that seeks to ban the teaching of critical race theory, white senators were arguing that the existence of systemic racism was a subjective myth. They argued that Mississippi children should not be taught about how racism permeates society, that the teaching of racism was similar to the teachings of Karl Marx.

The personal, emotional pleas of Black senators during the debate were being ignored by their powerful white colleagues.

So Simmons, a Black man from the Mississippi Delta who serves as the Senate Democratic leader, hatched an idea. One by one, he approached the desks of his 13 Black colleagues and got their approval.

When the vote for final passage was called, Simmons stood up and requested a roll call vote. That meant instead of a typical voice vote, each senator would be called upon individually to vote yea or nay.

As the Senate clerk began calling the roll, all 14 Black senators stood up and walked off the floor. The decision by Black senators all Democrats to walk out ultimately meant nothing for the final outcome since Republicans alone have enough members to pass any bill they want. But the symbolism of their decision ran deep.

In the state with the most sordid and violent history of racism, Black lawmakers employed a principal strategy of the civil rights movement organizing a walkout to protest passage of a bill that threatened the teaching of that very history.

It was an unprecedented moment in Mississippi history. In 1993, Black caucus members left before then-Gov. Kirk Fordice delivered his State of the State speech in protest of his policies. But no Capitol observer can recall an instance of members walking out in protest before a vote on a bill.

The greatness of America is the right to protest for what you think is right, Simmons told Mississippi Today. Together we believed that this was the right thing to do, to walk out. So thats what we did. We decided that nonsense wasnt worth our votes.

READ MORE: Every Black Mississippi senator walked out as white colleagues voted to ban critical race theory

One great irony: It couldve been a historic day for such different reasons.

A few minutes after the critical race theory bill passed, the Senate passed what would be the largest pay raise for public school teachers in decades a critical moment for the nations lowest-paid educators.

The teacher pay plan was Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemanns top legislative priority in 2022, one he and his staff had worked on for months. Hosemann, who did not preside over the debate of either bill on Friday, sent a press release following the eventful day touting passage of that bill.

But Hosemann garnered few accolades about his teacher pay plan on Friday because the Black senators had complete control of the narrative of the day.

They owned the headlines across Mississippi, and television stations across the state led with B-roll of their walkout on primetime news. The walkout went national and international. Simmons appeared Saturday on MSNBC to discuss the implications of the bill and the historic decision by Black lawmakers to skip the vote.

The people who threw rocks at Ruby Bridges for trying to go to school are now upset that their grandchildren might learn that they threw rocks at Ruby Bridges for trying to go to school, Simmons said. To improve Mississippi and America, the truth must be told. White children, Black children, my children, your children should hear the history of slavery, the civil rights movement, the uncontrolled killing of Black Americans. They should hear that history and decide they want to make Mississippi a better place together.

Simmons continued: Racism is part of our history. We have to acknowledge it exists, and we have to talk about it.

Several Black senators went to the well before the final vote, laying out clearly where they stood on the bill and what they thought of its passing.

There are 14 Black senators in this chamber, and these 14 are telling you that this bill is morally wrong, said Sen. Barbara Blackmon, D-Canton. Yet you ignore the thoughts, positions of these 14 members of this body. So it must be something if all 14 of us feel or think that something is wrong with this bill.

Perhaps the most powerful plea made from the floor was from Sen. David Jordan, a freedom fighter during the movement. The 88-year-old Jordan taught for 33 years in Mississippi public schools and 20 of them in integrated public schools.

As Jordan put it, many white Mississippians didnt want him teaching their children. But he taught them the way hed taught all his students: by providing facts, science and truth.

Its sad weve wasted so much time on something thats not necessary, Jordan said from the floor before the vote. Mississippi has come a long way together. If anybody has suffered from racism, its people of color. We feel that we dont need this bill. We are satisfied without it; what do you need it for? We have been the victims of it (racism). We cannot continue, Christian friends, stumbling into the future backwards. Thats what this bill does for us. We have more important things to do. We need to show more cohesiveness and progress.

1) The consideration of critical race theory legislation stands to jeopardize relationships between white and Black legislative leaders.

In the Blackest state in America, where a major constituency is often ignored or left behind by policy passed in Jackson, these relationships are a very big deal. Black leaders have continued to project good will toward white leaders following the June 2020 state flag change. After decades of effort from Black lawmakers, white leaders finally chose to work with their Black colleagues to change the flag, the last in the nation featuring the Confederate battle emblem.

You couldnt help but to feel good after what we did together in June 2020, Simmons said. You had this mindset as a Mississippian that we can move forward in a spirit of being inclusive, not exclusive. And then here we are less than two years later, we allow what goes on in the nation (critical race theory debate) to come into the state to divide us. We had so much hope and optimism after the flag. But on Friday, you almost feel completely deflated.

2) What will the House do?

The Senate critical race theory bill was relatively mild compared to legislation proposed in other states. And the House is led by Speaker Philip Gunn, who has made his intention to address critical race theory very well known. Will the House bill be more restrictive in terms of what Mississippi teachers can or cant teach? Having seen the broad public outcry from the Senate vote, will House leaders accept the Senate version and move on to other issues?

Black caucus members in the House have a big head start now to prepare for how theyll respond to whatever happens. The debate will almost certainly be more dramatic in the House, where pretty much everything is more dramatic.

3) Is this all worth it?

This push to ban critical race theory is rooted in national political rhetoric a red meat issue pushed by out-of-state interest groups. Republican Sen. Mike McLendon, the bills author who defended it on the floor last week, said himself that his constituents pushed the issue based on what they saw on Fox News. McLendon nor any other politician can point to a single instance of critical race theory being taught in the state a fact confirmed by state education officials.

White Republicans are pushing this bill knowing definitively that it will hurt their relationships with Black colleagues and their Black constituents. That harm cuts deep, and it will linger for a long time. In November 2023, when those Republican lawmakers are running for reelection, will their constituents remember or even care about this hot-button issue thats gotten play on Fox News in recent weeks?

4) Mississippi teachers are, once again, caught in the middle of a major political fight at the Capitol.

Another great irony of all this is white legislative leaders are simultaneously pushing massive pay raise proposals for teachers while effectively telling them what they can and cannot teach. That reality could stand to further sow distrust of lawmakers among educators, who already deeply distrust lawmakers.

There are more than 30,000 educators (plus their families and loved ones) in Mississippi. Thats a major voting bloc that could remember all this when legislative and statewide elections come up in 2023.

Central to our mission at Mississippi Today is inspiring civic engagement. We think critically about how we can foster healthy dialogue between people who think differently about government and politics. We believe that conversation raw, earnest talking and listening to better understand each other is vital to the future of Mississippi. We encourage you to engage with us and each other on our social media accounts, email our reporters directly or leave a comment for our editor by clicking the button below.

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by Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today January 24, 2022

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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How Black senators controlled the narrative on a historic day at the Capitol - Mississippi Today

Sports Bettings Next Big Election Battles Are in California – The New York Times

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

TEMECULA, Calif. Legal sports betting in the United States accelerated in 2021 as a flurry of states either overcame legislative logjams, as Ohio did just before Christmas, or signed off on online wagering, as New York did just after Election Day.

But those efforts are likely to pale in comparison to the all-out lobbying, campaigning and legal jousting in 2022 involving what a DraftKings executive recently called one of the holy grails in sports betting: California.

By November, Californians may be asked to vote on as many as four sports betting initiatives. Thats why deep-pocketed interests, including national sports books and Native American casinos, have been gearing up to spend $200 million to persuade voters in California to support their particular proposal or to reject the others.

One measure that has already qualified for the state ballot, sponsored by powerful tribes in California, would add sports wagering, but only in person, at tribal casinos or horse racing tracks. Online betting initiatives, now gathering signatures, dangle the prospect of making bets anywhere through the internet. Others offer a middle ground.

If one of the measures passes, nearly two-thirds of Americans will live in states that allow or regulate sports betting. And with California and New York on board, sports wagering would essentially be national in scope, fueling a market that Goldman Sachs recently estimated could grow to $40 billion in revenues in a decade from $900 million now.

Yet gambling expansion in California has often fallen short or been torpedoed by competing interests. Indeed, Californias card rooms, which primarily operate around larger cities and offer a more limited range of games, just filed a lawsuit to invalidate the qualified tribal measure.

Were never going to get sports betting figured out at any level unless California comes on board, Jason Giles, executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association, said at a recent sports betting conference at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. That will be the game changer for the United States.

Since the Supreme Courts decision in 2018 to strike down a federal law banning commercial sports betting in states other than Nevada, more than 30 states have authorized sports wagering, including about a dozen in the last year. More than 20 states have gone live.

New York just started mobile sports betting after awarding licenses for it to two coalitions featuring marquee names, Caesars Sportsbook and Ballys Interactive. Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio signed a bill legalizing sports betting in late December. And legislators in Wyoming and Arizona, among others, quickly approved sports betting.

Look at this massive expansion across the country and where we are its becoming very mainstream, said Brandt Iden, a former state representative in Michigan who pushed to legalize sports betting in his home state. Iden is now head of government affairs for Sportradar, which collects and analyzes data for sports books. I talk to legislators who say, you know what, I dont support gambling, but everybody is doing it.

Of the holdouts, Texas considered several bills in 2021, and some lawmakers expect momentum when the legislature reconvenes in 2023. Florida, meanwhile, is a mess: A federal judge recently blocked the Seminole Tribes new sports betting app, and DraftKings and FanDuel are racing to gather enough signatures to get a referendum on the 2022 ballot.

In California, gambling mostly on slot machines and blackjack has been legal for two decades on tribal lands under compacts negotiated with the state. The state also permits gambling at horse racing tracks, which was legalized in 1933, and card rooms, which trace their lineage to poker-playing miners during the Gold Rush.

Any changes would require constitutional amendments through a voter referendum, or legislation backed by the voters.

Previous attempts have bogged down; online poker, for instance, failed in part because the tribes themselves were split. But now there appears to be less resistance on moral and philosophical grounds.

If we think about progressive legislation, or legislation to protect consumer welfare, California lies at the forefront, whether we want to talk about minimum wage or privacy protection, said Marc Edelman, a law professor at Baruch College who has written extensively on sports gambling. If California legalizes sports gambling it becomes very unlikely that another state would arise as the consumer-oriented opposer of sports gambling.

This time, the push to expand gambling began before the pandemic, from a coalition of 18 tribes that have dominated casino gambling in the state.

Across the United States, tribal gambling generated $27.8 billion in revenue in its fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020, despite the pandemic. California is the biggest state, with 66 tribal casinos on federally recognized lands, mostly far from the coast, yielding about $8 billion, with much of that coming from slot machines.

Under the tribes initiative, which is backed by a political action committee that has raised more than $13 million, sports wagering would be permitted at tribal casinos and horse tracks. Roulette and games played with dice, such as craps, would also be allowed under the proposal, which qualified for the ballot in May 2021 after collecting more than one million valid signatures.

One thing that is not included is online betting, because the initiative is intended to be a very measured, incremental step, said Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseo Indians in Riverside County.

We think this is the right thing to do for tribes and tribal sovereignty, he said at the conference here. Theres enough skittishness out there about what could happen to brick-and-mortar facilities.

The initiative would also create a new civil enforcement tool allowing anyone suspicious of any illegal gambling operations to file lawsuits. It is this provision that has fueled two separate but related efforts by Californias card rooms to defeat the tribes, and to get their own sports betting measure passed.

California has more than 80 card rooms ranging from pub-like places with a few poker tables to sleek behemoths with 270 tables accompanied by restaurants and plentiful A.T.M.s. Collectively, they employ 23,000 people in urban areas, many of them Asian, Black and Hispanic, and pump in $300 million in federal, state and local tax revenues each year, according to the California Gaming Association, a trade group.

Many municipal budgets rely heavily on the card rooms to finance vital services and bolster juvenile justice and other programs, said Mayor Tasha Cerda of Gardena, which has two card rooms. She has backed an initiative that would permit sports betting at the card rooms, tribal casinos and racetracks, as well as allow for internet sports betting. That initiative has raised $450,000 to date. Meanwhile, some of the bigger card rooms have poured more than $24 million into a No campaign against the tribes initiative.

During a recent tour of Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, adjacent to SoFi Stadium, the host of the Super Bowl next month and the College Football Playoff national championship in 2023, Deven Kumar, the casinos general manager, estimated sports betting could increase revenues already hurt by the coronavirus pandemic by 20 percent to 25 percent. He and James T. Butts Jr., Inglewoods mayor, warned that the tribes civil enforcement provision could drain their existing business by up to 75 percent, compounded by the inevitable legal costs.

They are attempting to make gambling a monopoly at the expense of others, Butts said. They are not the disenfranchised group they once were. The minority majority cities deserve the opportunity for equity as well.

In the city of Hawaiian Gardens, where the Gardens Casino supplied 68 percent of the tax revenues in the 2019-20 municipal budget, Keith A. Sharp, the casinos general counsel, said sports betting could transform Sundays at the casino now mostly empty into bustling periods where customers could wager on N.F.L. games while also playing baccarat or other games.

If the card rooms were hobbled, however, Nary Chin, a longtime card dealer and single mother of four, said she feared for her future.

I learned English in the card room, not school, said an emotional Chin, who immigrated from Cambodia in 1984. I am very grateful. This is my home. If I didnt have this job, I dont know what Id do.

The third initiative comes from online sports books, including DraftKings and FanDuel, that want to enter California for the first time and offer online betting.

The measure requires those companies to partner with tribes, and its supporters say voters can pass both their initiative and the tribes in-person one. Most of the states profits would be dedicated to homelessness measures, and to the tribes themselves. It would also allow betting on nonathletic events, like award shows and video game contests, but not youth sports or elections, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office.

We view brick-and-mortar as very complementary to mobile, Jonathan Edson, FanDuels senior vice president for business development, said at the sports betting conference.

California is one of the holy grails in sports, added Jeremy Elbaum, senior vice president for business development at DraftKings.

The supporters, buffeted by an initial $100 million from seven sports books, have lined up mayors in Long Beach, Oakland, Fresno and Sacramento, plus advocates working to combat a homeless crisis. They are confident they will collect enough signatures to be certified by the June ballot deadline.

We are focused on ongoing stable revenue to fund the key programs that we know we need, said Tommy Newman, vice president for engagement and activation at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. If were honest, this is regulating and capturing value from something that is happening, for people in communities that absolutely need the investment.

In November, a fourth initiative arrived supporting both online and in-person betting, backed by a different group of tribes, including the Rincon Band of Luiseo Indians and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Out-of-state and international gaming operators want to rewrite the balanced system California has created so that the future belongs to them, paying a pittance to serious local and statewide social problems, and trying to divide the Tribes by offering temporary riches to a few while taking future growth opportunities away from the rest, the tribes wrote in their application to the California attorney general.

A lawyer for the tribes, Scott Crowell, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Some gambling analysts believe that a plethora of initiatives may confuse voters, who may just say no to everything. Another wild card is a lawsuit filed in December by two card rooms claiming that the qualified tribal initiative violates the state constitution, which says initiatives can focus only on one subject, because the tribes are trying to add retail sports betting as well as add more table games.

Still, no matter the outcome of the lawsuit or the ballot measures, many sports and technology companies are building audiences through free-to-play games, contests, fantasy sports and national marketing campaigns, even in states where sports betting has not yet been cleared, said Rob Phythian, founder and chief executive of SharpLink Gaming, a technology company.

Teams like the Minnesota Vikings have hired companies like SharpLink to build fantasy games. That could be consequential in California, where there are 19 teams in the N.F.L., M.L.B., N.B.A., N.H.L. and W.N.B.A. by far the most of any state.

Were just a bridge to betting, Phythian said. Its sort of like training the muscle.

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Sports Bettings Next Big Election Battles Are in California - The New York Times

Gov. Charlie Baker would be happy to sign sports betting bill if state lawmakers pass one this session – masslive.com

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday said hed gladly sign a bill to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts if state lawmakers pass one this session as he closes out his second term.

Speaking with reporters at the State House a day before his final State of the Commonwealth address, Baker said closing the deal on a bill that would open a burgeoning market to Massachusetts is one of several things hes hoping for in 2022.

There are many things that would make me happy before I leave office, if I have the chance to sign them, Baker said. One of them would certainly be a sports betting bill. Lieutenant Gov. [Karyn Polito] and I filed one several years ago, and filed it again after that. I know its a difficult issue with a lot of elements to it. And it would be my hope, of course, that our colleagues in the House and Senate would find a way to get to yes on that before the end of the legislative session.

He acknowledged sports betting is just one of many issues that state lawmakers and his office are working on, including a bill addressing mental health that he described as a critically important.

Sports betting is now legal in 31 states and Washington, D.C.

In a virtual discussion last fall with state Sen. Eric Lesser, who introduced a sports betting bill last year, gaming attorney Daniel Wallach noted that four out of the five states that border Massachusetts allow sports betting.

Some analysts and state lawmakers say the state is effectively giving away tens of millions of dollars in potential tax and licensing revenue as Massachusetts residents drive across state lines to place their bets.

Varying House and Senate proposals have called for offering sports betting licenses for casinos, race tracks and mobile apps that run digital sports books.

Last year, state Rep. Jerald A. Parisella told MassLive that retail operators and mobile partners could seek nearly a dozen combined licenses, leading to at least $70 million in application and licensing fees alone.

Earlier this month, nearly 90 bars, restaurants and private clubs pressed the Massachusetts Senate to legalize sports betting this year.

The business owners made the case that a boost in revenues tied to sports betting could help them better overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. And legalizing sports betting at local businesses is crucial, they said, to ensure customers are not lured away to casinos.

In a letter to all 40 state senators, the group of business owners and managers endorsed a sports wagering bill from Sen. Adam Gomez, writing it would increase tax revenue for Massachusetts, bolster geographic fairness for residents who do not live near casinos, and provide a safe option for betting.

Ways to make money online through sports betting – The Sports Bank

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Sports betting is no longer an outcast in society. Nowadays, it is more common to place bets on football games, golf tournaments, and the Super Bowl than ever before.

Sports betting has become so mainstream that some even consider it a job. The question isnt whether or not you should bet on sports; rather, the question is how you can get started and make money while doing it, as well as enjoying free bets. If you are looking for more information about sports betting, check out freebets.org.uk.

Here are the best ways to make money from online sports betting:

When youre new to the gambling scene, its easy to jump on websites that are questionable. However, if you want your money and information protected at all times there is no better choice than using an established site with positive reviews from users like yourself.

Sports betting sites are the best when it comes to betting because you can bet on sports with confidence knowing that your information is safe at all times.

No matter what type of online gambling site you choose in terms of sports betting, there is always a bonus code that can be used. Bonuses are the best way to make money because they provide you with an extra boost of cash without requiring any action on your part.

In order for this strategy to work effectively its important not only find reputable sites but also ones where bonuses come often and are easy to use.

Cash game sports betting is the most profitable because it requires no skill and can be done with little effort on a daily basis without knowing anything about each team or sport being played.

Cash games are simple; you place money into an account, pick a team to win, wait for the results and collect your money. The higher percentage of cash you put in versus what you take out equals more profit over time.

This may seem like a risky strategy but its actually one of the best ways to increase overall profits. This is because youre placing bets on teams that are less likely to win, which means there will be higher payouts if they do happen to pull off a victory.

For example: Lets say Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl. If youre betting on Atlanta, which is a favorite to win and has better odds than New England; there will be lower payouts if they actually happen to lose while bets placed with New Englands underdog status may have higher payouts in case of an upset victory.

Live sports betting is also a great way to make money because it is like playing the stock market without having to worry about getting in over your head. The downside of live betting is that you dont know the outcome until after each game, so theres no chance for profit if one team fails miserably and blows out their opponent.

Online gambling is meant for entertainment purposes only, so theres no need to take losing hard or get too wrapped up in the game while betting on sports online.

It doesnt matter if your favorite team loses a football game; just get back up, try a different strategy and keep betting on sports as much as possible. Thats the best way to make money from online sports betting.

It doesnt matter if youre just starting out or have been in it for years, there are always ways to increase your profits and manage risk effectively when gambling on football games, golf tournaments and other sporting events of interest. The key is to be smart, use the right tools and keep things fun so your bankroll will increase overtime.

To conclude the article, we would also like to mention that while some people gamble for fun and enjoyment, others end up spending more than they can afford, or use gambling to distract themselves from everyday problems. This is not healthy and we want to make sure that you know that theres lots of support available, both online and in case you decide to visit one of the specialized centres. You can check out Begambleaware.org for more details. Happy betting!

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Ways to make money online through sports betting - The Sports Bank

Sports betting: The 49ers have had the Rams number lately – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Had to laugh when it was pointed out that San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is 15-4 against the spread when his team is the underdog.

More like his defense is 15-4 ATS, was a common response.

This season, the 49ers are 4-1 against the spread as underdogs, with more impressively four wins outright. Theyve beaten Dallas, Green Bay, and the Rams twice.

The Rams, who will host Sundays NFC championship, blew a 17-point lead to San Fran on Jan. 9 and nearly had one of the all-time playoff gags on Sunday before beating Tampa Bay at the buzzer. They were just 7-9 against the number as a favorite, but covered four of their last five at home. The exception being the game against the 49ers.

Three other things to know about the 49ers-Rams (Sunday, 6:30 p.m., Fox29):

The 49ers have won the last six meetings. The last two played in Los Angeles were on walk-off field goals by Robbie Gould, who drilled the winning kick at the buzzer Saturday night to beat Green Bay.

The Rams have been favored in the last four meetings by an average of about 3.5 points, which is where this Sundays line generally opened. The over/under is 46.5.

Garoppolo is 4-1 in his career as a playoff starter. He has two touchdown passes and five interceptions in those five games, and is on the verge of taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. Thats hard to do.

The Chiefs opened at -6.5 in some places, -7.5 in others. That could be a crucial difference for both bettor and bookie. The line had settled into Chiefs -7 by Monday.

READ MORE: Joe Banner: Eagles should move on from Jalen Reagor this offseason

The big move was in the over/under, which opened at 50.5, but quickly jumped to 54 shortly after Sunday nights track meet when the Chiefs eliminated the Bills, 42-36, in overtime.

Three other things to know about Sundays game (3 p.m., CBS3):

Kansas City is 11-1 after starting the season 3-4. At one point, the Chiefs were +1600 to win the Super Bowl. They are the clear favorites today.

K.C.s only loss in that span was at Cincinnati on Jan. 2. The Bengals were 3.5-point dogs and won it with a 20-yard field goal by Evan McPherson in the final seconds. The Chiefs led, 28-17, at the half, and the over (51) hit early in the third quarter.

The Bengals have covered their last five as road underdogs with outright wins at Pittsburgh (+3), at Baltimore (+6), at Denver (+3), and at Tennessee (+4). They lost at Cleveland in the final week of the season while resting most of their regulars, but still covered the +5.5-point spread.

BetMGM/via SportsOddsHistory.com

Feb. 8, 2021, vs. Jan. 24, 2022

Cincinnati: Was 80-1, is 8-1

Kansas City: Was 6-1, is approximately 1-1

L.A. Rams: Was 12-1, is 2-1

San Francisco: Was 16-1, is 9-2

READ MORE: Thats on us to continue to build: Eagles GM Howie Roseman assesses Jalen Reagor, wide receiver corps

NFL: The Chiefs are +120 to win the Super Bowl, but Patrick Mahomes to win Super Bowl MVP is +180.

NFL: A money-line parlay on the four winning teams this weekend would have paid out somewhere around 30-1. Had the Bills (up three with 13 seconds left and kicking off) beaten the Chiefs, that payout would have been about 37-1.

College basketball: A FanDuel customer turned a $10 four-team parlay (in-game) into $64,170 with four college basketball underdogs on Saturday. Three needed to win in overtime on the road, including Army erasing a 27-point deficit in the first half to shock Navy.

NHL: Just how rough has it been for the Canadiens? On Jan. 1, they played at Florida and the Panthers were -650. It was the highest line for a hockey game many in the industry had ever seen. Over the weekend, Montreal played at Colorado and the line was even higher; the Avs were -700. Montreal forced overtime, but Colorado won it. It was the Avalanches 11th win in 12 games. Montreal had eight wins all season entering Monday.

NHL: File this away for later in the week: Overs are 18-6-1 in Florida Panthers home games. Their next is Thursday against Vegas, which has an 11-5-0 mark for the overs in road games. Florida entered the week second in the league in goals per game (4.00). Vegas is sixth (3.46).

There were two NFL games on Saturday, 11 in the NHL, three in the NBA, 130-plus in mens college basketball, plus the Aussie Open, and a full UFC card.

Days like today are the ones you just want to get through no matter how as a bookmaker, tweeted Rex Beyers, risk manager of SuperBook in Las Vegas. The informed players have a significant edge based solely on sheer volume of games where we have to put up a number and wont have all the pertinent info.

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Sports betting: The 49ers have had the Rams number lately - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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