Neighbors of Suffolk Downs

East Boston fought hard and successfully to protect their community and their families. 

Cleaning out previous emails, this seems worth re-visiting: 

Neighbors of Suffolk Downs

“Nothing is more dangerous than sincere ignorance or conscientious stupidity.”

-- Martin Luther King Jr.

Dear Governor Patrick,

There comes a time in every leader’s tenure when he or she will come to a crossroads; a point at which they must make a fateful decision that will intractably impact those in their care.  You stand at such a nexus now.  

The decision you make in the next few days will be felt by generations to come in Massachusetts, long after you have moved on.

Governor, I am willing to bet that you have not heard the information that I have provided here.  You will be stunned at what you are about to learn.  You have promised that we would “get it right” here, in Massachusetts, because we have the ability to look at the mistakes of those who have traveled this road before us.

History will either report that you did it right or that you failed the people miserably.  I disagree with you on many topics but I believe you to be an earnest and honest man of integrity and I hope that you apply those traits to this issue.

As you are considering the fine print of the casino legislation that has arrived at your desk, I wanted to provide you with some insight on the business practices of the casino industry.  I am confident that you are not aware of these practices, as they are the “dirty little secret” of the industry.

I work in the field of Business Intelligence.  I design databases that companies use to collect information about their customers and prospective customers.  The data collected are used to decide how to promote their products or services to their patrons.  In other industries, this is a relatively benign practice as it simply allows companies to match up customers with products and promotions.  The hope is that those targeted consumers will spend their money more frequently at their establishments as opposed to their competitors.
Financial institutions also take advantage of this information in order to decide what banking, lending and investing products to offer to their own customers and prospects.  This is why we receive unsolicited credit card offers in the mail.

As financial institutions, the casinos will have access to all of an individual's financial information.  They leverage this specialized status and "loyalty programs" to gain specific knowledge about how much cash and credit a patron has access to, when they use their credit cards in the casinos.  The industry calls this Total Cash Availability.  Additionally, they will also be able to find out how much equity a patron has in their home, car and other assets; this is called Global Cash Availability.  These can and will be taken as equity in exchange for credit.  Casinos will also extend what amount to payday loans at high interest rates.  These will be offered to patrons who are under the influence of alcohol, alcohol, that the casinos will be able to offer free of charge.

The casino industry uses all of this information along with real-time game-play data to make targeted offers to specific people.  They are also able to alter the payout rate and the “near-misses” seen by each person to increase their rate of play and the amount per play.

Governor Patrick, you have acknowledged that there will be more addicted gamblers created by the advent of casino gambling in Massachusetts.  I'm sure we would disagree on the total number but you should understand that this legislation allows the casinos to offer loans directly to those who have been drinking.  Our state is still trying to recover from the sub-prime mortgage lending scandal.  Does it really make sense to introduce an industry that will prey on people by offering them loans while they’re intoxicated? 

Casino industry experts will tell you that they only need to provide loans to “high rollers”.  This is disingenuous.   The legislation does not provide any income threshold or guidance.  All patrons are fair game.
Below are three links, which show how the casino industry collects and uses the financial and game-play data to identify patrons who can be tapped for more revenue.

1)  The video linked below shows that casinos have access to all of your financial information as well as transactions outside of the casinos as soon as you use your credit or atm card in one of their machines.

GCA Casino Share Intelligence

2)  This link is a promotional page which brags about this software’s ability to identify “the most profitable customers and those which can be ‘tapped’ for additional revenue and profit.”  This software identifies these gamblers while they are playing and helps identify them for promotions.  This software targets people to ply with free liquor.  It is not a random offering. 

GameVIZ Software 

3) The following is a link to a patent for a “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY AWARDING BONUS POINTS.”  It also describes in detail how machines can be dynamically reconfigured to generate more revenue while they are being played by increasing the rate of play and reducing payouts.

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY AWARDING BONUS POINTS 

Let me be clear.  The methodology is as follows: 

1.    The casinos identify their patrons and prospects according to their potential value to the casino.

2.    The casinos monitor the play of those patrons and determine when to offer them free alcohol to maximize their spend on the games.

3.    The casinos then dynamically alter the speed at which the machines play and the rate at which they pay out to increase the profit they are making on a specific player.

4.    When the player has exhausted his or her resources on hand, the casinos extend them credit.

Dear Governor Patrick, this is only the tip of the iceberg.  This industry uses this data to manipulate payouts at slot machines to coincide with show times.  It also uses this data to identify patrons who may be slowing down their play and who may increase their play if they were provided with a free drink or two.

Governor, I know that you would not have supported this legislation if you were aware of these practices.  This is simply bad public policy.  If you sign this bill, you will have unleashed these predatory practices on the unsuspecting people of the Commonwealth.  The very people whom you have sworn to protect.

Kind Regards,
John Ribeiro
Winthrop, MA

Recent Announcements Predatory Lending Practices Embedded in Casino Legislation Dear Governor Patrick,There comes a time in every leader’s tenure when he or she will come to a crossroads; a point at which they must make a fateful ...  Posted Nov 16, 2011, 8:17 PM by John Ribeiro Massachusetts Leaders Do Not Have The Facts Massachusetts' elected officials have not conducted an unbiased study on the impact casinos will have on the state and host communities.Call your legislators and ask them to support Senate ...  Posted Nov 16, 2011, 7:59 PM by John Ribeiro Winthrop Town Council to Take Up Casino Issue September 20, 2011 Winthrop, MA - The Neighbors Of Suffolk Downs, a grassroots organization with members from the communities surrounding Suffolk Downs has successfully lobbied the Winthrop Town Council to take ...  Posted Sep 20, 2011, 9:12 AM by Neighbor of Suffolk Downs John Ribeiro on NNN with Chris Lovett 6/24/2010 John Ribeiro founder of the nascent group Neighbors of Suffolk Downs appears on Neighborhood Network News with Chris Lovett on June 24, 2010.  John discusses the impact siting a casino ...  Posted Jul 19, 2010, 8:14 AM by Neighbor of Suffolk Downs WBZ1030's Dan Rea to Host Debate Between Professor Goodman and Mayor Kimberly Driscoll of Salem We are pleased to announce that Dan Rea's Nightside on WBZ Radio (1030 AM) will be the venue for the second public forum on casinos organized by Neighbors of ...  Posted Jul 14, 2010, 7:54 PM by Neighbor of Suffolk Downs Showing posts 1 - 5 of 17. View more »

http://www.neighborsofsuffolkdowns.org/

Waking Up In Vegas

BRILLIANT!  MUST WATCH VIDEOS!

Waking Up In Vegas

In AG race, a clear choice on casinos

By Scot Lehigh

| Globe Columnist April 18, 2014

 

CASINO GAMBLING is an issue that cleaves communities, splits Democrats, and muddies alliances. And now it’s becoming an important divide in the Democratic race for attorney general.

This week, Maura Healey, the underdog, declared that she favored repeal of the 2011 law legalizing casinos in Massachusetts. She said her experience as the former chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau in the state attorney general’s office has led her to that position. Wherever there are casinos, “you see an uptick in personal bankruptcy, in predatory lending, in organized crime, in money laundering,” she said in an interview, echoing arguments she first made in a post on Blue Mass Group, a liberal website.

 

Warren Tolman, the front-runner, took a pro-casino position, saying in a statement that people in towns that approve casinos “want the jobs and economic development that will be created.”
Now brace yourself for the cross-currents and complications.

Healey says that a proposed ballot question asking voters to repeal the casino gambling law should go before voters this fall. That’s a break with her former boss, Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office is charged with deciding which questions qualify for the ballot under the state constitution.

Coakley has rejected the casino-repeal initiative, saying it would infringe on implied contract rights because gaming companies have paid substantial fees as part of the application process.
Healey disagrees, saying that if voters can close down dog-racing tracks via a ballot question, as happened in 2008, they can surely repeal legislation authorizing casinos that have yet to be built.

“That [dog racing] was an industry that had been in place for decades and had ongoing business concerns,” she notes. Further, she says the casino companies went into this process knowing a ballot question was a possibility.

 

Tolman’s statement avoided that issue, saying that “the decision of whether the question will be on the ballot is in the hands of the SJC [Supreme Judicial Court] and the next attorney general has no role in this decision.” When I talked to him on Thursday, Tolman repeated that formulation, saying he wasn’t going to second-guess the legal analysis by AG’s office.

OK, but let’s be clear: Candidates routinely comment on issues they won’t actually decide. It’s a way of conveying their philosophy to voters.

Why the caution? Tolman certainly faces political complications here. Casino gambling is anathema to many liberals, who worry people will squander money they can’t afford to lose; that nearby hospitality businesses will suffer; and that corruption may rear its head.

One prominent casino opponent is former attorney general Scott Harshbarger. When Harshbarger ran for governor in 1998, Tolman was his lieutenant gubernatorial ticketmate. Harshbarger has endorsed Tolman for AG, a nod that helps Tolman counter the notion that Healey is the choice of law-enforcement professionals while he is the favorite of political insiders. But Harshbarger (who didn’t return my phone calls) wants the repeal question on the ballot.

Contrariwise, unions are hungry for casino-construction jobs. Steven Tolman, Warren’s brother, is president of the state AFL-CIO. Inside the labor movement, it’s considered almost certain that the AFL-CIO will endorse Tolman.

Tolman rejected the notion that those complications have muted his voice. “I do what I think is best for the Commonwealth,” he said. In this case, that has apparently meant keeping his head down.
Tolman also aimed a little barb at Healey, noting that she had only recently adopted her anti-casino position. “If she felt so strongly, where was she two weeks ago?” he asked.

For her part, Healey had this to say about Tolman’s non-position on whether the repeal question belongs on the ballot: “From where I sit, if you are going to be a candidate for attorney general, you have to take on the issue.”

On this one, you can accuse either candidate of playing politics.

Still, Healey has taken a clearer, bolder stand. Further, her assertion that the casino-repeal question should be on the ballot strikes me as the kind of aggressively pro-voter perspective an AG should have. After all, there are good precedents for this.

Given that, voters deserve their chance to be heard.

Tolman seems more like a cagey politician trying to finesse a difficult issue.

Or, to put it another way, on this one, Healey stepped up. Tolman stepped sideways.



http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/04/17/tale-two-candidates-and-casinos/D36fR5f0NI0WVbzj2yZuiN/story.html

 

Ignoring the Costs

Another View: Pro-gambling column ignores social cost of gaming expansion

Barney Frank inconsistently favors regulating predatory lenders, but not predatory casinos.

By Dennis Bailey

Along with feeling relieved that he is no longer in a position of responsibility, I was perplexed by former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank's muddled defense of casino gambling ("On gambling, liberals prefer limits," May 12).

For the author of legislation aimed at protecting unsuspecting consumers from predatory lending to suggest that liberals are wrong to support similar restrictions on Las Vegas gambling casinos is contradictory.

Apparently, Frank thinks Wall Street investors are too stupid to make decisions regarding their own money without government swaddling, but the average casino patron is on his own. In fact, Wall Street's predatory practices have much in common with the gambling industry's, except one of them is highly regulated and the other isn't.

Frank has long favored transparency and disclosure in consumer lending, so why wouldn't he want the same for the gambling industry? As it is, casinos aren't even required to disclose the odds of winning the jackpot on their slot machines.

In his column, Frank confessed that he's "not an expert on Republican primary dynamics." He's also no expert on the predatory technology of the modern slot machine.

I would suggest he read "Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas," by fellow Massachusetts resident and MIT professor Natasha Dow Schull, and see if he still feels that government should turn a blind eye to the many individuals, families and businesses that are destroyed by an industry that produces no product or lasting economic benefits.

Gambling casinos are a scam, a complete con job, and I don't know any true liberal who defends shell games and dishonesty. Perhaps Frank should take a cue from fellow liberal Ralph Nader, who sees no philosophical contradiction in opposing corporate casino gambling: "No society is on the rise when gambling is on the rise. It shows a society in decay."

Dennis Bailey of South Freeport has led anti-gambling campaigns with the group Casinos No!

http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/pro-gambling-column-ignores-social-cost-of-gaming-expansion_2013-05-20.html

Anxious to move on....

to higher office, Governor Slot Barns Patrick crammed through a flawed deal, demands the BIA act within 45 days to fulfill his timeline, and ignores the Genting Tribe's failures to submit a completed application.

Predatory Lending and Predatory Gambling are this Empty Suit's legacy to Social Justice.

Don't forget that Taunton has been the only community foolish enough to fall for the false promises.

State pushing hard for tribe's land trust

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

September 06, 2012

 

Although the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has yet to file all the required documents in its application for the federal government to take 316 acres into federal trust, the state sent a letter this week urging "early and expeditious approval" anyway.

 

In a 13-page letter to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs dated Sept. 4, Gov. Deval Patrick's chief counsel, Mark Reilly, details the state's support for the application.

 

The tribe seeks to have 170 acres in Mashpee — in 11 different parcels — and 146 acres in Taunton — a combination of 13 parcels — taken into federal trust as an initial reservation. The property in Taunton, located within the Liberty and Union Industrial Park, is the site of the tribe's proposed $500 million casino, which would include three hotels and a water park.

 

According to a copy of the tribe's application, obtained by the Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, the paperwork is incomplete. Several key reports — the tribe's historic ties to Taunton, its business plan and how it will overcome a U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as the "Carcieri decision" — are not yet filed. Instead, the application contains placeholders that say "to be submitted."

 

Cedric Cromwell, tribal council chairman, issued a statement Wednesday saying the tribe is working on finalizing those documents.

 

"The process of completing our application for land in trust is well under way, and we expect it to be completed very shortly," he said.

 

Critics said the state's support of the Taunton proposal is premature.

 

"We're supporting land in trust and the compact, and I don't know why we're doing that when things are not complete," state Rep. Keiko Orrall, R-Lakeville, said. Orrall represents the East Taunton neighborhood where the casino would be built.

 

But the state refuted her comments.

 

"We are comfortable with the status of the application and feel our comments are appropriate in terms of timing as we continue to work with the tribe to bring new economic development and job creation opportunities to Southeastern Massachusetts," Jason Lefferts, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said in an email Wednesday responding to criticism.

 

The state's support of the trust application was promised as a concession in the tribal-state compact negotiated between Patrick and tribe leaders.

 

Late last week, Patrick sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior asking that the deal struck between the state and tribe be approved within the next 45 days.

 

Federal approval of the compact is by no means guaranteed. Indian gaming experts have told the

Times that the compact likely will be heavily scrutinized because it calls for the state to receive 21.5 percent of gross gambling revenue, a figure that makes it the most lucrative compact for a state in the nation.

 

In exchange, the state offered its unwavering support of the land application, help for the tribe to solidify aboriginal hunting and fishing rights, and assistance with settling land claims in and around Mashpee.

 

"This reiterates (the) commonwealth's strong support of our land in trust, which is integral to our tribe's ability to provide economic development and jobs for our tribal citizens and neighbors," Cromwell said.

 

The state objected to the tribe's land-in-trust application in 2008 when the Mashpee Wampanoag proposed a $1 billion casino in Middleboro. Those concerns were related to environmental impact, transportation, education and public safety.

 

"Most  [Huh?] of those concerns have been addressed in the compact and the (tribe's agreement with Taunton)," Reilly wrote.

 

Reilly added that the state is confident the tribe will work cooperatively in mitigating environmental impacts in Taunton and the surrounding communities.

 

Sure is alot of confidence in a Tribe's future negotiation after surrendering leverage.

 

 

 

Some concerns raised by the state about public safety were not addressed in the compact, Reilly noted. In the future, he said, the state intends to ask the tribe to adopt the state's Civil Defense Act and develop a protocol to allow the Massachusetts National Guard to respond to emergencies on trust land.

 

In closing, Reilly indicated the state's support is preliminary and based on information available at the time.

 

The commonwealth reserves the right to supplement and expand on these comments as the process proceeds," Reilly wrote.

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120906/NEWS/209060322/-1/ENTERTAIN15

Dear Governor Patrick.....

Dear Governor Patrick,

There comes a time in every leader’s tenure when he or she will come to a crossroads; a point at which they must make a fateful decision that will intractably impact those in their care. You stand at such a nexus now. The decision you make in the next few days will be felt by generations to come in Massachusetts, long after you have moved on.

Governor, I am willing to bet that you have not heard the information that I have provided here. You will be stunned at what you are about to learn. You have promised that we would “get it right” here, in Massachusetts, because we have the ability to look at the mistakes of those who have traveled this road before us.

History will either report that you did it right or that you failed the people miserably. I disagree with you on many topics but I believe you to be an earnest and honest man of integrity and I hope that you apply those traits to this issue.

As you are considering the fine print of the casino legislation that has arrived at your desk, I wanted to provide you with some insight on the business practices of the casino industry. I am confident that you are not aware of these practices, as they are the “dirty little secret” of the industry.

I work in the field of Business Intelligence. I design databases that companies use to collect information about their customers and prospective customers. The data collected are used to decide how to promote their products or services to their patrons. In other industries, this is a relatively benign practice as it simply allows companies to match up customers with products and promotions. The hope is that those targeted consumers will spend their money more frequently at their establishments as opposed to their competitors.

Financial institutions also take advantage of this information in order to decide what banking, lending and investing products to offer to their own customers and prospects. This is why we receive unsolicited credit card offers in the mail.

As financial institutions, the casinos will have access to all of an individual's financial information. They leverage this specialized status and "loyalty programs" to gain specific knowledge about how much cash and credit a patron has access to, when they use their credit cards in the casinos. The industry calls this Total Cash Availability. Additionally, they will also be able to find out how much equity a patron has in their home, car and other assets; this is called Global Cash Availability. These can and will be taken as equity in exchange for credit. Casinos will also extend what amount to payday loans at high interest rates. These will be offered to patrons who are under the influence of alcohol, alcohol, that the casinos will be able to offer free of charge.

The casino industry uses all of this information along with real-time game-play data to make targeted offers to specific people. They are also able to alter the payout rate and the “near-misses” seen by each person to increase their rate of play and the amount per play.

Governor Patrick, you have acknowledged that there will be more addicted gamblers created by the advent of casino gambling in Massachusetts. I'm sure we would disagree on the total number but you should understand that this legislation allows the casinos to offer loans directly to those who have been drinking. Our state is still trying to recover from the sub-prime mortgage lending scandal. Does it really make sense to introduce an industry that will prey on people by offering them loans while they’re intoxicated?

Casino industry experts will tell you that they only need to provide loans to “high rollers”. This is disingenuous. The legislation does not provide any income threshold or guidance. All patrons are fair game.

Below are three links, which show how the casino industry collects and uses the financial and game-play data to identify patrons who can be tapped for more revenue.

1) The video linked below shows that casinos have access to all of your financial information as well as transactions outside of the casinos as soon as you use your credit or atm card in one of their machines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gPdcXol6tSk#!

2) This link is a promotional page which brags about this software’s ability to identify “the most profitable customers and those which can be ‘tapped’ for additional revenue and profit.” This software identifies these gamblers while they are playing and helps identify them for promotions. This software targets people to ply with free liquor. It is not a random offering.

http://www.bis2.net/solutions/gameviz

3) The following is a link to a patent for a “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY AWARDING BONUS POINTS.” It also describes in detail how machines can be dynamically reconfigured to generate more revenue while they are being played by increasing the rate of play and reducing payouts.

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090275399

Let me be clear. The methodology is as follows:

1. The casinos identify their patrons and prospects according to their potential value to the casino.

2. The casinos monitor the play of those patrons and determine when to offer them free alcohol to maximize their spend on the games.

3. The casinos then dynamically alter the speed at which the machines play and the rate at which they pay out to increase the profit they are making on a specific player.

4. When the player has exhausted his or her resources on hand, the casinos extend them credit.

Dear Governor Patrick, this is only the tip of the iceberg. This industry uses this data to manipulate payouts at slot machines to coincide with show times. It also uses this data to identify patrons who may be slowing down their play and who may increase their play if they were provided with a free drink or two.

Governor, I know that you would not have supported this legislation if you were aware of these practices. This is simply bad public policy. If you sign this bill, you will have unleashed these predatory practices on the unsuspecting people of the Commonwealth. The very people whom you have sworn to protect.

Kind Regards,

John Ribeiro
Winthrop, MA

Elizabeth Warren's questionable position

Elizabeth Warren's Predatory Gaming Lobbyist Campaign Consultant Pens Email Against Lobbyists
by: Rob "EaBo Clipper" Eno

It must be very tough being a predatory gaming lobbyist and the campaign consultant for a candidate who is supposedly against all things predatory. Especially if you're Doug Rubin, lobbyist for predatory slot machine manufacturer GTech, not to forget campaign manager for Predatory Lender Deval Patrick.

When you serve two masters sometimes you are forced to attack yourself. Take for instance this email, sent under Doug Rubin's name, on behalf of Elizabeth Warren.


As one of Elizabeth Warren's earliest supporters, you know she's a tireless fighter for working families. She's gone toe-to-toe with the big banks and armies of corporate lobbyists -- and won -- and she'll do it again as Massachusetts' next United States Senator.

Rubin is the signatory to that email fundraising request, not Elizabeth Warren. Shouldn't he be disclosing to the recipients of that letter that he is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Northwind Strategies, a consulting and lobbying firm that has among it's clients: Deepwater Wind, GTECH Corporation, Equity Office Properties, and the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans.

So the reason, according to Doug Rubin, to support Elizabeth Warren is that she fights lobbyists. Well that is of course unless she's hiring them to run her campaign.



From a previous article:

"Warren staked out traditional liberal Democratic positions on several big issues: She supports abortion rights, gun control, and gay marriage, but she opposes casinos, even as her political consultant is a lobbyist, Doug Rubin, working on behalf of a major gambling enterprise. She defended her hiring of Rubin, saying it was a practical decision because of his history of managing successful campaigns, most notably his work for Deval Patrick."

From: Facebook and Warren not set to announce a run, but she’s ready for a fight

Beacon Hill Blindly Follows

Despite assurances of Beacon Hill actually "getting it right," common Industry conveniences, such as FREE ALCOHOL and LENDING have been included.

The article below highlights the predatory nature of the practice and Beacon Hill's duplication of "Getting Everything Wrong" --

How casinos lend money to addicted gamblers

Bill Kearney, a former gambling addict who has become a persuasive and effective advocate to stop predatory gambling, speaks out in this Pennsylvania TV story about how casinos lead people into major, life-changing debt. It is a business practice that state government would stop immediately if it was not a full-fledged partner with the predatory gambling trade.

Just Another Victim of Predatory Gambling

Let's stop blaming law-abiding citizens lured by the trap of Predatory Gambling!

United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts is filled with the horrific stories of the victims of a business whose model is predicated on creating GAMBLING ADDICTION.

Local woman left toddler in her car to gamble in a Washington Casino

Everyone knows that gambling can become addictive and make people make bad decisions.

Do they???? You can't turn on television without being bombarded with the glamour and glitz of Gambling. Do you see a disclaimer ???

You can't log onto a web site without flashing lights and gambling promotions.

Why does anyone think Slot Parlors patrol their parking lots??? This is a common problem caused by an Industry that survives on addiction.

Sometimes the bad decisions not only hurt the gambler but many times the decisions hurt family and friends.

It's important to remember that fact, gambling, like anything is addictive if you're risking more than you can afford to lose.

Oregon woman was arrested for leaving her three year old son in her car while she spent nine hours gambling at the casinos in La Center Washington.

The 32 year old Valerie Tran left her son in a car unattended at The Palace Casino in Washington. Tran told the officers on scene that she had left the child since midnight to gamble and she would come out periodically to check on him.

Can we blame this entirely on a gambling problem though? It appearntly [sic] never dawned on the Oregon mother to choose one of the thousands of easy poker sites on the Internet to feed her addiction.

Around 1:30 a security guard at The Palace heard a child crying and called casino staff who then notified police who found the child in the car.

Tran went to court on Thursday to be arraigned and then face a custody hearing. Tran stated she must have mental problems and is seeking help for drinking and gambling problems.

The judge of Clackamas County ordered Tran’s son into foster care and then suggested that Tran get help for her addiction. A sergeant who found the child stated that the windows were so dark that the child would not have been found if he had not been crying.

A few questions remains however, will treatment for a gambling addiction restore Trans motherly instincts? Will her judgment be instantly improved if she refrains from betting? Will her child then come first?

It was about sixty degrees outside but it can get much hotter in a vehicle which could harm the child.

If Predatory Lending is banned, why not Predatory Gambling?

State's lottery is dishonest business

State's lottery is dishonest business

Billed as a harmless way to pump up education revenue without raising taxes, the empathetically named North Carolina Education Lottery was created to compete with surrounding state lotteries, where Tar Heels often dropped thousands of dollars.

Smelling another money-raising avenue, the N.C. Legislature voted the lottery into existence over the objections of many religious leaders, as well as those who feared it would become an indirect tax on the poor.

The lottery was justified by lofty promises that lottery proceeds would directly benefit the state’s educational system, but those promises conveniently soon were forgotten as lawmakers plundered the funds with about the same constraint as investment cheat Bernard Madoff exhibited when helping himself to his own clients’ money.

Although tough times often do call for tough measures — and it certainly can be argued these are tough times — where the lottery was concerned, the state chose to assume the role of a reverse Robin Hood, robbing both the poor and the schools in order to fund other projects.

Meanwhile, back in Onslow and Carteret counties, as well as across the Tar Heel State, residents increasingly struggle with unemployment, rising living costs and the burden of higher taxes. Some have also discovered a new and potentially devastating addiction that many would never have even known they had without government intervention: Gambling.

Gambling is one of the least understood of all addictions, but one of the most destructive. Those who suffer from it often lose everything to its pull, leaving their families with little or nothing. Very often gambling addicts go through their assets before anyone else is even aware of the problem, leaving debt and misery in their wakes.

While there is certainly an element of free will in the purchase of a lottery ticket and many gamble without losing their shirts, government should not actively push gambling or the sale of alcohol, for that matter. If the state needs the money these activities provide, then it should tax them instead. With North Carolina actively exploring the expansion of its lottery ticket sales, the state can now lay claim to the dubious distinction of finding new ways to prey upon its poorest citizens.

If lottery officials have their way, the lottery will grow yet again, with multi-million dollar jackpot drawings four days a week instead of two. The move will add another high stakes pay-out to the lottery; however, the state’s goal isn’t to multiply the chances of a Tar Heel winner but to make more money from desperate people buying lottery tickets they can’t afford.

If North Carolina expands the lottery again, the state should change the name. Education is certainly not its true focus. Instead it should be called the “North Carolina Whatever We Want to Do with It Lottery.” It doesn’t have much pizzazz, but unlike the whole lottery business itself, at least it’s honest.

American Casino

We were all pretty outraged by predatory lending practices that caused the housing meltdown. Jonathan Kim reviews the film about the casino gambling of the banking industry.

.

ReThink Review: American Casino -- Gambling on Timebomb Loans
.
.

.
Said Kim --
.
One thing that struck me while watching American Casino was the official-sounding terms for the tactics used to create this mess. When you hear terms that sound very technical ..., it's easy for part of your brain to shut off, especially if you already feel that you don't/can't/won't understand housing or finance. I was guilty of this myself.

.

This doesn't seem much different from promoting predatory gambling in the Commonwealth that deliberately targets those least able to afford the costs, constructed on a foundation of addiction.

.

A cost benefit analysis seems appropriate.