PRedictions, PRojections, PRaise, and PRedators: Idiots, Traitors, and Fake Olympians

I wonder if the “athletes” of fake sports get mocked in the Olympic Village. Like, if you’re a hyper-focused, ultracompetitive track star who’s trained for this moment all your life, wouldn’t you resent the 54-year-old curlers and ping-pong players?

Hey, their Olympic medals count just as much as yours!

But whereas the Olympic wrestlers are puking up meals to make weight — and the gymnasts are training and/or rehabbing injuries 24/7 — the curlers and ping pong players are drinking beer and watching TV. Doesn’t seem fair.

‘Course, behind the scenes, those Olympians are doing, ahem, other stuff, too. (Woohoo: It’s a new world record!) 

No medals given for THAT activity: These kids are doing it for the love of the game.

Speaking of fake athletes, let’s talk about chess players. (Which some people think should be an Olympic sport, too.) Did you know that playing chess burns an INSANE amount of calories? Chess players burn more calories than many Olympic “athletes.”

From ESPN:

Robert Sapolsky, who studies stress in primates at Stanford University, says a chess player can burn up to 6,000 calories a day while playing in a tournament, three times what an average person consumes in a day. Based on breathing rates (which triple during competition), blood pressure (which elevates) and muscle contractions before, during and after major tournaments, Sapolsky suggests that grandmasters' stress responses to chess are on par with what elite athletes experience.

"Grandmasters sustain elevated blood pressure for hours in the range found in competitive marathon runners," Sapolsky says.

Thinking is a calorie-intensive activity. Your brain is only 2% of your body weight, but it consumes 20% of your energy.

Which raises an utterly fascinating philosophical question: Do smart people burn more calories than stupid people?

If thinking burns calories and smart people think more than dumb people, then shouldn’t smart people have higher metabolic rates? There will always be exceptions, but on average, there’s probably a statistical correlation between obesity and stupidity.

Therefore, skinny people are smarter than fat people!

But it’s also possible to look at it the other way: Maybe dumb people are constantly working their brains WAY harder than smart people — because they HAVE to!

Otherwise, they can’t keep up.

A really smart guy can put his brain on automatic pilot and still function fine. But if you’re a complete and total dumbass, you’ve got to squeeze every juice of energy out of your brain cells simply to chew gum and walk straight. 

Your poor brain is constantly overheating!

At my local pub, I asked my pal Larry, an avid tennis player, what he thought. He voted for dumb-people-burning-more-calories theory:

“If I had to play tennis against Roger Federer, I’d be overthinking every shot: What’s he gonna do next? Will his next ball go long or short? What’s he tricking me into? But Federer wouldn’t have to think at all: He could beat me while half-asleep. That’s because he’s a tennis genius — and I’m a tennis dunce.”

Which way do you vote, dear readers? Let’s hear it in the comment section.

PRediction: I haven’t written about the Nancy Guthrie case yet, because I tend to focus on largescale geopolitical stories. Her (apparent) abduction, although very sad and frightening for her family and friends, doesn’t rise to that level of international importance.

At least, so I thought.

But the reality is, the American people decide what’s important — not me. PR pros, influencers, and media outlets can try to steer the conversation, but ultimately, the American people go where they want.

And, for a slew of reasons, the Guthrie case is now the #1 story in the country. (Chief among ‘em: the celebrity factor, the psychological importance of feeling safe at home, and guilt/fears about our elderly loved ones.)

If you’re following the case, here’s a PR tip: Whenever there’s a whirlwind of police/FBI activity, tons of new leads, and fast-breaking investigative news, it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any progress.

The opposite is also true: silence doesn’t mean stagnation.

Usually, when media outlets report lots of exciting, fast-breaking investigative news, it’s because the police/sheriff/FBI/whoever is leaking like an incontinent grandma. It’s not necessarily a good sign at all.

And when the media (sadly) says there’s nothing new to report — no new leads or new evidence — it doesn’t really mean there’s nothing new to report!

It means that the media is in the dark, because the investigators aren’t leaking.

Usually, it reveals more about media access than anything else. And in a case like the (apparent) Nancy Guthrie abduction, with a missing 84-year-old in poor health, there’s absolutely no reason to try the case in the media. 

Especially since the perpetrators, it seems, are coveting the spotlight, which is why they’re sending ransom notes to TMZ.

Just focus on recovering Nancy.

PRojections: What happens when the America First movement meets the Olympic Games? It’ll mean mercurial athletes like Eileen Gu will lose their U.S. citizenship status for representing China.

Gu is a U.S. citizen who was born in San Francisco and attended Stanford, but made gobs of money by switching her alliance to communist China. As far as we know, she’s still an American citizen.

From Yahoo Sports:

Ever since Eileen Gu decided to compete under the flag of China, and not the United States where she was born, her citizenship has been the subject of scrutiny and controversy.

Born in San Francisco, she said her decision to switch allegiance back in 2019 had everything to do with “inspiring” children from the country of her mother at the Olympics in her home country. That would be the 2022 Beijing Games, where Gu won two golds and a silver for China in freestyle skiing.

Why would she forsake America? “The answer to all your questions is money”:

She’s since become a millionaire many times over, mainly do to her online presence and endorsements, not her skiing. She was the fourth-highest earning female athlete in 2025, earning upwards of $23 million. According to Sportico, all but $20,000 of that $23 million came from endorsements.

Now, she’s back in the Olympics, still competing for China and, reportedly, being paid handsomely to do so.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Gu and Zhu Yi, a fellow American-born figure skater who now competes for China, were paid a combined $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025 for “striving for excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.” In all, the two were reportedly paid nearly $14 million over the last three years.

When U.S. skier Hunter Hess said he had “mixed emotions” about representing his country in the Age of Trump, Gu condemned Trump’s criticism of Hess: “It really runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be.” 

But you won’t hear Gu criticize China’s abysmal record on human rights:

She doesn’t believe it’s her place to comment on, say, China’s checkered human-rights record. For example, the U.S. government has accused China of abuses against its majority-Muslim Uighur population. “I’m not an expert on this,” she says. “I haven’t done the research. I don’t think it’s my business. I’m not going to make big claims on my social media.” But as a Stanford international-relations major, she could surely do her homework on this issue, no? “I’m just more of a skeptic when it comes to data in general,” says Gu. “So it’s not like I can read an article and be like, ‘Oh, well, this must be the truth.’ I need to have a ton of evidence. I need to maybe go to the place, maybe talk to 10 primary-source people who are in a location and have experienced life there. Then I need to go see images. I need to listen to recordings. I need to think about how history affects it. Then I need to read books on how politics affects it. This is a lifelong search.”

Nor will she comment on her U.S. citizen status:

Questions about Gu’s citizenship status, rather than the dramatic victory, dominated the post-event press conference. Olympians must be citizens of the country they represent, and China does not allow dual citizenship. But no evidence suggests that Gu has renounced her American citizenship. So did China make an exception for Gu? During an hours-long interview in the Scharnitz rental house she’s sharing with Yan, Gu declines to engage on the citizenship question. “I don’t really see how that’s relevant,” she says. (The Chinese Olympic Committee did not respond to a request for comment.)

That kind of attitude won’t sit well with the American people. 

There’s a political dimension to all this, and someone in the MAGA movement will seize upon this issue: Why should Gu continue to enjoy the perks of U.S. citizenship after switching her alliance to America’s #1 global competitor?

The entire conceit of the Olympics is nationalism: Athletes from all over the world represent their countries on a global stage, to see who’s the best of the best. That’s why we have flags, medal counts, and national anthems: Nationalism drives the Olympics’ business model!

If Gu wants to represent China, that’s her choice; she’s a de facto Chinese citizen. But five years from now, when her knees are shot and her career is over, she shouldn’t be allowed to return to America with full voting rights and citizenship benefits.

I wouldn’t be surprised if President Trump grabs the issue first. It’s tailor-made for him.

PRaise: I’ll give myself a pat on the head for getting this prediction exactly right: On Feb. 10, I declared “The Epstein List Is the New McCarthyism.”

But I don’t want to be unfair to Sen. Joe McCarthy, so let’s establish our terms:

On a macro-level, McCarthy was exactly right: The communists really did have a deep, sophisticated spying network that imperiled U.S. safety and security. From the atomic bomb to top-secret military plans to the identities of undercover personnel, those traitors endangered the lives of every single American citizen.

But on a micro-level, McCarthy was wrong: He accused the wrong people. He exaggerated his own knowledge, claiming he had an ironclad “list of names.” He overpromised and underdelivered.

And because he got it so wrong on a micro-level, his opponents weaponized his errors to discredit his larger, more relevant point: Communist spies had infiltrated our government — and we needed to do something about it ASAP.

As for the Epstein List:

Just like Sen. McCarthy, Congressmen Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) “have a list of names” — only this time, instead of communist sympathizers, collaborators, and spies, it’s the so-called “Epstein List.”

[…]

Being accused of sex-trafficking and/or pedophilia isn’t a trivial thing. Getting falsely outed as a communist in the 1950s certainly wasn’t desirable; it ended careers and the PR blowback was brutal.

But being falsely outed as a pedophile is so much worse.

It’s catastrophic for Epstein’s victims because — just like McCarthyism — critics will use any false claims to discredit the allegations that are actually true. It’ll become a PR smokescreen that lets the criminals and rapists walk free.

Yet once again, legislators are claiming they “have a list” — and they’re leveraging it to elevate their public profile, land media coverage, grow their brands, and enhance their own careers.

Just four days later, I wrote the follow-up story: “The Epstein Conspiracy Collapses: Rep. Khanna ‘Outs’ Innocent ‘Epstein Associates’ on House Floor.”

After all that buildup, Rep. Khanna finally revealed the names of the “wealthy, powerful men” who were “likely incriminated” in the Epstein Files. Just one itsy-bitsy problem: They had NOTHING to do with Epstein!

.@RepRoKhanna and @RepThomasMassie forced the unmasking of completely random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup- men and women. These individuals have NOTHING to do with Epstein or Maxwell. https://t.co/9nPAMCU83n

— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) February 13, 2026

From the Guardian:

The Guardian spoke with two of the men whose names Khanna read out on the floor. They both strongly denied knowing Epstein at all; one said he didn’t realize his name had been mentioned on the House floor in connection to Epstein until the Guardian contacted him. The two men acknowledged they were arrested by the NYPD in the past for unrelated crimes, which could explain how their photos ended up in a photo array assembled by law enforcement.

Salvatore Nuarte, of Queens, New York, said he called Khanna’s office after hearing that his name was mentioned. “I don’t know if they know what they are doing over there at the justice department,” he told the Guardian. “But how can I clear my name?”

[…]

Leonid Leonov, whose name was incorrectly listed as Leonic Leonov in the files, but whose photo and birthday matches the file, is an IT manager in Queens. He vigorously denied knowing Epstein. “I don’t even have a second or third degree connection to him. Never worked for him, nothing,” he said when reached via phone.

The two other men Khanna named, Zurab Mikeladze and Nicola Caputo, could not be reached.

I knew Khanna and Massie would overplay their hand, but you’ve gotta admit, a four-day turnaround from prediction to vindication is pretty dang good!

But it’s not a happy story. Because of Khanna and Massie’s SNAFU, the real villains of the Epstein story will skate away free. Their ineptitude created an opening for plausible deniability: The next guy who’s accused will roll his eyes and say, “Here we go again. They were wrong before, so what makes you trust them now?”

Let that sink in, because the implications are staggering:

Khanna and Massie’s self-aggrandizing “We have a list!” political stunt has enabled real, actual pedophiles to evade justice.

(That’s probably something the voters in Kentucky should consider during the ’26 congressional primaries.)

PRedators: When you think of President Ronald Reagan’s best qualities, what comes to mind? Like, if you were to announce Ronald Reagan Day, what would you highlight?

You’d probably consider the rebirth of conservatism as the dominant American political philosophy, tax-cutting, “government isn’t the solution to the problem, government is the problem,” winning two landslide GOP elections, the Reagan military buildup, restoring American confidence, “peace through strength,” “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” and winning the Cold War.

Now, if you had to choose Reagan’s greatest missteps, your options are (mercilessly) limited: Iran-Contra, perhaps. The size of the federal deficit. Or the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which offered amnesty to 3 million illegals, yet its promise of stopping future illegal immigration wasn’t just unfulfilled — it became a siren’s call for millions more. 

By the time Joe Biden was president we were up to at least 14 million illegal immigrants; others estimated it was 20 million.

But hey, no mortal man is perfect — not even Ronaldus Magnus. Still, the history is what it is. Can’t change the past, right?

Check out how Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed Ronald Reagan Day in the state of California:

Though born in Illinois, President Ronald Reagan was a Californian at heart. With a sunny optimism and faith in the future, he moved millions around our country and the world. After working his way through college in the Midwest, President Reagan embarked on a successful acting career that led him to serve as the president of a major union, spokesman for conservative causes, governor of the State of California and eventually, president of the United States.

Even amid an assassination attempt just 69 days into his time in office, the President’s energy and spirit remained bright. President Reagan helped usher in a peaceful end to the Cold War and enacted comprehensive immigration reform that provided a path to citizenship for thousands of undocumented immigrants.

Today we hold President Reagan and his family in our hearts, especially as we continue their later work to support families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim February 6, 2026, as “Ronald Reagan Day.”

It’s true what they say: You don’t hate them enough.