State sponsored gambling is a ‘thing’ for me too. Many years ago I worked for a 7-11 in the evenings. There were a couple of construction workers that came in at least 2 or 3 Fridays a month to buy $50 or so of lotto tickets. It was disheartening to see people just throw away their earnings. People become addicted to it I guess, but for government to actually encourage and profit from the behavior is unconscionable.
As an aside, a few years later, our former mayor was appointed to work in the State Lotto office as the CFO. She and 6 other people were shot and killed by a disgruntled employee. The lotto was in the process of shifting from an entirely public entity to public-private, and they were attempting to cut the union out. They said Blogoslawski was specifically targeted as were several other executives.
I agree about state sponsored gambling. Those in banking have seen old people lose everything. Then the taxpayers have to help them live out their lives. I have seen it personally. Not only the taxpayer has to help them, but their children and grandchildren often are using their hard earned money to keep them in needed prescriptions etc.
According to the article they’ve targeted Catholic and Jewish schools. But it didn’t mention Islamic schools. I wonder if they are being treated the same, or if they are being given a wide berth.
Kathaleena, I spent two years when I was a teenager (between my dad’s retirement and his death) living in northern Arizona, 100 miles from Las Vegas. I made friends there, and through the years I returned to visit several times, which meant either taking a Greyhound up from Phoenix or flying into Vegas and taking a shuttle, or renting a car or having a friend pick me up in Vegas or Phoenix. (I’ve done all of those.)
The time I took the shuttle from Vegas, I believe I was the only one on it who hadn’t gone to Vegas to gamble, now returning home. It was mostly older couples sharing the ride with me. The driver, possibly perversely and possibly just with the tour-guide interest that locals have when showing tourists around their town, repeatedly pointed to a bridge or other landmark and told us about a suicide that had taken place right there, and what extremes of loss drove the person to kill himself. The bridge, for instance, was a man who secretly mortgaged his home, and who lost it all but didn’t know how to tell his wife (I believe she wasn’t along on the trip). If gambling sounded interesting to me (it doesn’t), the fact that it is an industry built on human pain and loss, and playing on false hopes, would keep me from participating. It’s kind of like visiting a prostitute or viewing pornography–you are hoping to have pleasure at someone else’s expense. No thanks!
My father spent the last two months of his life (other than the last day) in a hospital in Las Vegas, and we were glad he did not know that. He would go out of his way to drive around Las Vegas rather than go through the city. But for two months his family stayed in Vegas hotels (which were mercifully dirt cheap, $13-15 a night in 1984, in the attempts to lure you so that you would gamble with them) as he was in its hospital, and we were glad he did not know that.
MEXICO CITY — A magnitude 7.1 earthquake jolted central Mexico on Tuesday, collapsing some buildings, cracking the facades of others and scattering rubble on streets on the anniversary of a devastating 1985 quake.
The quake caused buildings to sway sickeningly in Mexico City and sent panicked office workers streaming into the streets, but the full extent of the damage was not yet clear. Mexican media broadcast images of several collapsed buildings in heavily populated parts of the city.
The U.S. Geological Survey calculated its magnitude at 7.1 and said it was centered near the Puebla state town of Raboso, about 76 miles (123 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City.
Puebla Gov. Tony Galil tweeted that there had been damaged buildings in the city of Cholula including collapsed church steeples.
In Mexico City, thousands of people fled office buildings and hugged to calm each other along the central Reforma Avenue as alarms blared, and traffic stopped around the Angel of Independence monument. …
___________________________________
Wandering Views 
Nothing is interesting in the news today.
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Not much, Chas. This has been one of my pet peeves for some time.
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State sponsored gambling is a ‘thing’ for me too. Many years ago I worked for a 7-11 in the evenings. There were a couple of construction workers that came in at least 2 or 3 Fridays a month to buy $50 or so of lotto tickets. It was disheartening to see people just throw away their earnings. People become addicted to it I guess, but for government to actually encourage and profit from the behavior is unconscionable.
As an aside, a few years later, our former mayor was appointed to work in the State Lotto office as the CFO. She and 6 other people were shot and killed by a disgruntled employee. The lotto was in the process of shifting from an entirely public entity to public-private, and they were attempting to cut the union out. They said Blogoslawski was specifically targeted as were several other executives.
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What same-sex marriage has brought to Britain: https://www.spectator.com.au/2017/09/whats-changed-in-britain-since-same-sex-marriage/
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I agree about state sponsored gambling. Those in banking have seen old people lose everything. Then the taxpayers have to help them live out their lives. I have seen it personally. Not only the taxpayer has to help them, but their children and grandchildren often are using their hard earned money to keep them in needed prescriptions etc.
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According to the article they’ve targeted Catholic and Jewish schools. But it didn’t mention Islamic schools. I wonder if they are being treated the same, or if they are being given a wide berth.
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Sorry, that was in reference to Cheryl’s link.
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And continuing our journey on the superhighway to the twilight zone, there is this:
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Oh brother (cotton)
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Kathaleena, I spent two years when I was a teenager (between my dad’s retirement and his death) living in northern Arizona, 100 miles from Las Vegas. I made friends there, and through the years I returned to visit several times, which meant either taking a Greyhound up from Phoenix or flying into Vegas and taking a shuttle, or renting a car or having a friend pick me up in Vegas or Phoenix. (I’ve done all of those.)
The time I took the shuttle from Vegas, I believe I was the only one on it who hadn’t gone to Vegas to gamble, now returning home. It was mostly older couples sharing the ride with me. The driver, possibly perversely and possibly just with the tour-guide interest that locals have when showing tourists around their town, repeatedly pointed to a bridge or other landmark and told us about a suicide that had taken place right there, and what extremes of loss drove the person to kill himself. The bridge, for instance, was a man who secretly mortgaged his home, and who lost it all but didn’t know how to tell his wife (I believe she wasn’t along on the trip). If gambling sounded interesting to me (it doesn’t), the fact that it is an industry built on human pain and loss, and playing on false hopes, would keep me from participating. It’s kind of like visiting a prostitute or viewing pornography–you are hoping to have pleasure at someone else’s expense. No thanks!
My father spent the last two months of his life (other than the last day) in a hospital in Las Vegas, and we were glad he did not know that. He would go out of his way to drive around Las Vegas rather than go through the city. But for two months his family stayed in Vegas hotels (which were mercifully dirt cheap, $13-15 a night in 1984, in the attempts to lure you so that you would gamble with them) as he was in its hospital, and we were glad he did not know that.
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I wonder where conversations between Manafort and the president took place – possibly in Trump Tower?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paul-manafort-was-wiretapped-by-us-government/
http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/09/19/trump-vindicated-manafort-wiretap-report-could-boost-trumps-claim-after-months-media
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😦
Powerful earthquake hits central Mexico, collapses buildings
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/a-major-earthquake-shakes-mexico-city/2017/09/19/b8b8d444-9d67-11e7-b2a7-bc70b6f98089_story.html
__________________________________
MEXICO CITY — A magnitude 7.1 earthquake jolted central Mexico on Tuesday, collapsing some buildings, cracking the facades of others and scattering rubble on streets on the anniversary of a devastating 1985 quake.
The quake caused buildings to sway sickeningly in Mexico City and sent panicked office workers streaming into the streets, but the full extent of the damage was not yet clear. Mexican media broadcast images of several collapsed buildings in heavily populated parts of the city.
The U.S. Geological Survey calculated its magnitude at 7.1 and said it was centered near the Puebla state town of Raboso, about 76 miles (123 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City.
Puebla Gov. Tony Galil tweeted that there had been damaged buildings in the city of Cholula including collapsed church steeples.
In Mexico City, thousands of people fled office buildings and hugged to calm each other along the central Reforma Avenue as alarms blared, and traffic stopped around the Angel of Independence monument. …
___________________________________
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This guy is a traditional conservative. His Tweets can be entertaining.
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