Promotion of gambling is not cricket
Danny Rose, AAP Medical Writer
The Ashes pose an often undisclosed health risk to Australians, the nation's psychiatrists have warned, pointing to the rising use of sports coverage to promote gambling.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) said it has been "alarmed" at the rise in gambling ads, as well as references to sporting odds, in televised sport and particularly the cricket.
All cases of this promotional activity should be required to carry a warning to emphasise the harms of excessive gambling as well as a helpline for existing addicts to call, the college said on Friday.
"Problem gambling is a real concern in our community," RANZCP president Dr Maria Tomasic said in a statement.
"(Yet) there has been little public debate about the introduction of gambling advertising on sports programs, particularly during the day when children may be watching.
"Frequent exposure to gambling promotion, gambling's association with sport, and the use of commentators and sporting role models to promote gambling and discuss betting odds, can normalise gambling and influence vulnerable people and children."
The college said sports betting problems were on the rise and reform was needed to promote more "responsible levels of gambling activity" and so minimise its harmful impact on the community.
This should include:
- Showing helpline phone numbers whenever gambling odds are broadcast during live sporting events.
- Providing clear warnings at all gambling venues which explain the possible harms that flow from excessive gambling.
- The advice should also contain details on where to seek help, while more counselling services and other forms of help were needed.
- The mathematical odds of winning in luck-of-the-draw style gambling should also be on clear display at gambling venues.
"Problem gambling can result in divorce, suicidal thoughts and acts, illegal acts and bankruptcy," said Dr Clive Allcock, Member of RANZCP's Section of Addiction Psychiatry.
"Those with gambling problems often also have other concerns, such as depression, hazardous alcohol use and smoking, and personality disorders."
Dr Allcock also said more research was also needed to develop evidence-based treatments for gambling addiction, as there was currently "not one treatment which is considered to be the best for problem gambling".
Friday, December 17, 2010
Elves don’t make scratch offs
Elves don’t make scratch offs
This holiday season, The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council of Orange County is encouraging conscientious gift-giving.
Did you know purchasing lottery tickets for youth under the age of 18 is illegal and dangerous? Early exposure to gambling increases the likelihood of developing a gambling addiction. Research shows that 20 percent of New York State youth already have or are at risk for developing a gambling problem. Teen problem gamblers have higher rates of school problems, crime, depression and suicide.
Don’t gamble with a child’s future. Lottery tickets are for adults, not kids.
This holiday season, The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council of Orange County is encouraging conscientious gift-giving.
Did you know purchasing lottery tickets for youth under the age of 18 is illegal and dangerous? Early exposure to gambling increases the likelihood of developing a gambling addiction. Research shows that 20 percent of New York State youth already have or are at risk for developing a gambling problem. Teen problem gamblers have higher rates of school problems, crime, depression and suicide.
Don’t gamble with a child’s future. Lottery tickets are for adults, not kids.
Gambling Addicts cheats Mom
Scheme to cover gambling addiction leads to felony charge for area man
Bilks mom for up to $60,000
— A Rush Springs man admitted to an elaborate scheme to bilk thousands of dollars from his mother to cover a gambling addiction.
Court documents show that Frank Joseph Gaisey, 29, was recently charged with one felony count of obtaining money by false pretense in Grady County District Court.
Information from the District Attorney’s office states that Gaisey attempted to cheat and defraud his mother of cash in the total value of $60,000 by telling her he would go to jail or be killed if she did not pay money to a fictitious lawyer and judge. He also told her that she and her daughter would be physically harmed if the money was not paid, documents show.
“All statements were lies. Judge Williams does not exist and Frank Kirk is merely a name chosen by the defendant in order to execute the crime,” stated the legal document.
Investigator Ricky Rushing with the Grady County Sheriff’s Office reported that Gaisey’s mother told him the fees added up to about $60,000 over the last three years. She did not believe her son had ever been in any trouble.
“Frank would set an alarm on (her) cell phone to go off so that she would think it was ringing. Frank would pretend to answer the phone and act as if he was talking to a Judge Williams. Frank would tell (her) that Judge Williams said it was ok for her to give him the money to pay a lawyer named Frank Kirk.
“If the money wasn’t paid Frank would tell (her) that he would go to jail and that they would poor acid on his body. Frank also told (her) that these people know where their entire family lives and if the money isn’t paid that bad things will happen. After (she) would give Frank the money he would go to the Chisholm Trail Casino and gamble with the money,” court documents show.
Rushing reported that Gaisey began the scheme because he became so far in debt from losing money to his gambling addiction and not being able to pay back loan companies that he borrowed money from to pay for his gambling addiction. The report also said that he made documents himself and gave them to his mother to make her believe they were from a Judge Williams.
Upon conviction, the crime is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for up to 10 years or both.
What about the casino's culpability?
Bilks mom for up to $60,000
— A Rush Springs man admitted to an elaborate scheme to bilk thousands of dollars from his mother to cover a gambling addiction.
Court documents show that Frank Joseph Gaisey, 29, was recently charged with one felony count of obtaining money by false pretense in Grady County District Court.
Information from the District Attorney’s office states that Gaisey attempted to cheat and defraud his mother of cash in the total value of $60,000 by telling her he would go to jail or be killed if she did not pay money to a fictitious lawyer and judge. He also told her that she and her daughter would be physically harmed if the money was not paid, documents show.
“All statements were lies. Judge Williams does not exist and Frank Kirk is merely a name chosen by the defendant in order to execute the crime,” stated the legal document.
Investigator Ricky Rushing with the Grady County Sheriff’s Office reported that Gaisey’s mother told him the fees added up to about $60,000 over the last three years. She did not believe her son had ever been in any trouble.
“Frank would set an alarm on (her) cell phone to go off so that she would think it was ringing. Frank would pretend to answer the phone and act as if he was talking to a Judge Williams. Frank would tell (her) that Judge Williams said it was ok for her to give him the money to pay a lawyer named Frank Kirk.
“If the money wasn’t paid Frank would tell (her) that he would go to jail and that they would poor acid on his body. Frank also told (her) that these people know where their entire family lives and if the money isn’t paid that bad things will happen. After (she) would give Frank the money he would go to the Chisholm Trail Casino and gamble with the money,” court documents show.
Rushing reported that Gaisey began the scheme because he became so far in debt from losing money to his gambling addiction and not being able to pay back loan companies that he borrowed money from to pay for his gambling addiction. The report also said that he made documents himself and gave them to his mother to make her believe they were from a Judge Williams.
Upon conviction, the crime is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for up to 10 years or both.
What about the casino's culpability?
Foxwoods: Just call it gone
From our friends in Philadelphia:
A quick note, straight from Harrisburg, to share with you this excellent news:
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has REVOKED Foxwoods' Philly casino license!
We want to thank all of you who sent in your comments to the PGCB; we were able to deliver more than 50 of them before the meeting started. And we also want to express our gratitude to those who trundled to Harrisburg so many times for so many hearings on Foxwoods -- at long last, your hard work has paid off!
Make a donation to Casino-Free Philadelphia, and let's keep fighting!
The vote was six in favor of revocation, one -- James Ginty, a Philadelphia businessman -- against. Foxwoods still has the option to appeal, although they haven't yet decided whether they will.
We know the fight is not over. Assuming the Foxwoods revocation stands, the PGCB will now seek to solicit new bids from other companies for a second casino in Philadelphia. We'll continue to fight against a casino anywhere in the city.
Our objective now is to prevent the casino rebidding process from taking place -- all while keeping pressure on SugarHouse through our Casino Town Watch, exposing the casino's predatory tactics and making clear the community opposition any casino in Philadelphia will face.
If you feel that this work is important, we hope you'll take a moment to make a contribution to Casino-Free so we can keep fighting.
Donate to Casino-Free and let's make sure Philadelphia never gets a second casino!
We'll be posting more news about this decision as it's released today, on our website and on our Facebook page.
In struggle and celebration,
Lily, Ivan, Dan, Francesca and the Casino-Free Philadelphia working groups
Project management of casino came full circle
The long-delayed South Philly casino will now be called the "Horseshoe," but really "Rodeo Lasso" would be more appropriate, not just because it hopes to rope in gamblers, but because the project is one big circle.
The casino company Bally's put down a bet 15 years ago on 16 acres of vacant land between the Delaware River and Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street. Bally's paid $20 million in options for 10 years, thinking at first the plot would be a good parking lot for proposed riverboat gambling.
Bally's became Caesars Entertainment, which put down an additional $45 million to purchase the land in 2005, six months after the state legalized casinos in 2004.
Caesars was absorbed in 2005 by Harrah's Entertainment, which already had a casino planned for Chester. Harrah's allowed a group of local investors to put down a note to pay $52.2 million for the land once it opened a "Foxwoods" casino in partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut.
The tribe then ran into serious financial trouble. The local investors stumbled when their first replacement partner, casino developer Steve Wynn, signed on to take over the project earlier this year and then stunned them by dropping out of the deal.
So here comes Harrah's - which last month changed its name to Caesars - to save the project, just as the state Gaming Control Board is considering revoking the South Philly casino license.
Caesars plans to brand the casino Horseshoe, which is part of another brand it controls - Bally's.
Gaming Control Board folds on Foxwoods casino plan
By CHRIS BRENNAN
Philadelphia Daily News
CALL IT Foxwoods. Call it Horseshoe. Just call it gone.
The state Gaming Control Board, fed up after four years of delays, yesterday took the unprecedented action of revoking the license for a South Philly casino.
That came as local investors pleaded for more time to build the casino on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street in a new partnership with Caesars Entertainment Inc.
The board zeroed in on three faults: The investors submitted incomplete documents Friday on the Caesars deal; they changed the way charities would benefit from casino profits; and the project as now designed is notably different from the project first approved in December 2006.
The local investors are expected to file an appeal in court but will have to go it alone. An attorney for Caesars, which already runs Harrah's in Chester, said after the vote that his company has no role to play going forward.
Caesars would have become a one-third owner of the casino, previously called "Foxwoods," and would have managed it under its "Horseshoe" brand.
The board's staff in March said such a ruling as yesterday's would mean it would take at least four years for a second casino to open in Philadelphia - including anticipated legal challenges, rebidding and new-applicant approval, as well as the construction of a new casino project.
The revocation is a stunning political blow to Gov. Rendell in his final month in office. Rendell, who is close with the project's local investors, ran for office on casino gambling as a way to raise money for the state.
Rendell, through a spokesman, yesterday said he "doesn't know enough about the facts of the decision to comment, but obviously the process worked."
The vote was 6-1 with just board member Jim Ginty, appointed by Rendell in July to a second three-year term, pushing to give the casino investors more time. Ginty said he was worried about the loss of 650 construction jobs and 1,200 casino jobs, along with delays in local gaming taxes for the city and school district.
Ginty warned that the state General Assembly might grow frustrated and pass legislation to move the casino license out of the city.
Mayor Nutter yesterday said lack of a second casino - the first, SugarHouse, opened in Fishtown in September - would affect the city's five-year financial plan.
Nutter, who helped push the local investors into a failed attempt to relocate the casino to Center City, said the city is not to blame for the project's fatal delays.
"The economy, the recession clearly had a big impact, and I think there were some internal issues," Nutter said. "This matter a long time ago moved way away from the city."
Fred Jacoby, an attorney for the local investors, called the vote arbitrary and unreasonable, and said the investors want a refund for the $50 million fee they paid for the casino license.
Doug Sherman, chief counsel for the board, said the state gaming law has no provision for a refund and the board has no authority to issue one to the investors.
The board, long frustrated by delays in the project, last month set a deadline of last Friday for a signed, finalized deal on what the investors would build, how they would pay for it, who would own it and who would manage it.
Cyrus Pitre, head of the board's Office of Enforcement Counsel, yesterday said the investors submitted letters from two banks that said they were confident but not yet committed in funding $200 million for the $275 million first phase of construction. Pitre said the submitted ownership information had blank spaces and other areas in which information was promised later.
For the other $75 million, $21 million was pledged by Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider and a charitable trust set up by the daughter of New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz.
Real-estate developer Ron Rubin, who in the initial plan had been a partner through a charitable trust, had not volunteered to help fund the Caesars deal, Jacoby said.
Caesars contributed $25 million, and the local investors hoped to raise raise the remaining $29 million. Caesars agreed to provide a $10 million bridge loan if the local partners could raise at least $19 million.
Pitre said the documents showed the deal might not close until as late as May 2011.
The board was clearly unhappy with changes made to an original pledge of 42 percent of the casino profits going to local charities for children, an anticipated $300 million over 10 years.
The new plan would taken sent some of that money, $6 million over seven years, to the Pequot Museum in Connecticut.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs two casinos under the Foxwoods brand in that state, was originally a major partner and planned to manage the casino. The tribe, after serious financial troubles, was now little more than a passive investor.
"I guess there's charity and then there's charity," Jacoby said after the board questioned sending the money to Connecticut. "I hadn't realized that until today."
A small group of Casino-Free Philadelphia members cheered yesterday's decision, but anticipated another casino operator would seek the license.
Casino developer Steve Wynn, who briefly partnered with the local investors, said he would seek the license if it was revoked.
Trump Entertainment Resorts has a federal lawsuit pending against the board, claiming it should be given the license.
"We keep fighting," said Lily Cavanaugh, spokeswoman for Casino Free.
A quick note, straight from Harrisburg, to share with you this excellent news:
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has REVOKED Foxwoods' Philly casino license!
We want to thank all of you who sent in your comments to the PGCB; we were able to deliver more than 50 of them before the meeting started. And we also want to express our gratitude to those who trundled to Harrisburg so many times for so many hearings on Foxwoods -- at long last, your hard work has paid off!
Make a donation to Casino-Free Philadelphia, and let's keep fighting!
The vote was six in favor of revocation, one -- James Ginty, a Philadelphia businessman -- against. Foxwoods still has the option to appeal, although they haven't yet decided whether they will.
We know the fight is not over. Assuming the Foxwoods revocation stands, the PGCB will now seek to solicit new bids from other companies for a second casino in Philadelphia. We'll continue to fight against a casino anywhere in the city.
Our objective now is to prevent the casino rebidding process from taking place -- all while keeping pressure on SugarHouse through our Casino Town Watch, exposing the casino's predatory tactics and making clear the community opposition any casino in Philadelphia will face.
If you feel that this work is important, we hope you'll take a moment to make a contribution to Casino-Free so we can keep fighting.
Donate to Casino-Free and let's make sure Philadelphia never gets a second casino!
We'll be posting more news about this decision as it's released today, on our website and on our Facebook page.
In struggle and celebration,
Lily, Ivan, Dan, Francesca and the Casino-Free Philadelphia working groups
Project management of casino came full circle
The long-delayed South Philly casino will now be called the "Horseshoe," but really "Rodeo Lasso" would be more appropriate, not just because it hopes to rope in gamblers, but because the project is one big circle.
The casino company Bally's put down a bet 15 years ago on 16 acres of vacant land between the Delaware River and Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street. Bally's paid $20 million in options for 10 years, thinking at first the plot would be a good parking lot for proposed riverboat gambling.
Bally's became Caesars Entertainment, which put down an additional $45 million to purchase the land in 2005, six months after the state legalized casinos in 2004.
Caesars was absorbed in 2005 by Harrah's Entertainment, which already had a casino planned for Chester. Harrah's allowed a group of local investors to put down a note to pay $52.2 million for the land once it opened a "Foxwoods" casino in partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut.
The tribe then ran into serious financial trouble. The local investors stumbled when their first replacement partner, casino developer Steve Wynn, signed on to take over the project earlier this year and then stunned them by dropping out of the deal.
So here comes Harrah's - which last month changed its name to Caesars - to save the project, just as the state Gaming Control Board is considering revoking the South Philly casino license.
Caesars plans to brand the casino Horseshoe, which is part of another brand it controls - Bally's.
Gaming Control Board folds on Foxwoods casino plan
By CHRIS BRENNAN
Philadelphia Daily News
CALL IT Foxwoods. Call it Horseshoe. Just call it gone.
The state Gaming Control Board, fed up after four years of delays, yesterday took the unprecedented action of revoking the license for a South Philly casino.
That came as local investors pleaded for more time to build the casino on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street in a new partnership with Caesars Entertainment Inc.
The board zeroed in on three faults: The investors submitted incomplete documents Friday on the Caesars deal; they changed the way charities would benefit from casino profits; and the project as now designed is notably different from the project first approved in December 2006.
The local investors are expected to file an appeal in court but will have to go it alone. An attorney for Caesars, which already runs Harrah's in Chester, said after the vote that his company has no role to play going forward.
Caesars would have become a one-third owner of the casino, previously called "Foxwoods," and would have managed it under its "Horseshoe" brand.
The board's staff in March said such a ruling as yesterday's would mean it would take at least four years for a second casino to open in Philadelphia - including anticipated legal challenges, rebidding and new-applicant approval, as well as the construction of a new casino project.
The revocation is a stunning political blow to Gov. Rendell in his final month in office. Rendell, who is close with the project's local investors, ran for office on casino gambling as a way to raise money for the state.
Rendell, through a spokesman, yesterday said he "doesn't know enough about the facts of the decision to comment, but obviously the process worked."
The vote was 6-1 with just board member Jim Ginty, appointed by Rendell in July to a second three-year term, pushing to give the casino investors more time. Ginty said he was worried about the loss of 650 construction jobs and 1,200 casino jobs, along with delays in local gaming taxes for the city and school district.
Ginty warned that the state General Assembly might grow frustrated and pass legislation to move the casino license out of the city.
Mayor Nutter yesterday said lack of a second casino - the first, SugarHouse, opened in Fishtown in September - would affect the city's five-year financial plan.
Nutter, who helped push the local investors into a failed attempt to relocate the casino to Center City, said the city is not to blame for the project's fatal delays.
"The economy, the recession clearly had a big impact, and I think there were some internal issues," Nutter said. "This matter a long time ago moved way away from the city."
Fred Jacoby, an attorney for the local investors, called the vote arbitrary and unreasonable, and said the investors want a refund for the $50 million fee they paid for the casino license.
Doug Sherman, chief counsel for the board, said the state gaming law has no provision for a refund and the board has no authority to issue one to the investors.
The board, long frustrated by delays in the project, last month set a deadline of last Friday for a signed, finalized deal on what the investors would build, how they would pay for it, who would own it and who would manage it.
Cyrus Pitre, head of the board's Office of Enforcement Counsel, yesterday said the investors submitted letters from two banks that said they were confident but not yet committed in funding $200 million for the $275 million first phase of construction. Pitre said the submitted ownership information had blank spaces and other areas in which information was promised later.
For the other $75 million, $21 million was pledged by Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider and a charitable trust set up by the daughter of New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz.
Real-estate developer Ron Rubin, who in the initial plan had been a partner through a charitable trust, had not volunteered to help fund the Caesars deal, Jacoby said.
Caesars contributed $25 million, and the local investors hoped to raise raise the remaining $29 million. Caesars agreed to provide a $10 million bridge loan if the local partners could raise at least $19 million.
Pitre said the documents showed the deal might not close until as late as May 2011.
The board was clearly unhappy with changes made to an original pledge of 42 percent of the casino profits going to local charities for children, an anticipated $300 million over 10 years.
The new plan would taken sent some of that money, $6 million over seven years, to the Pequot Museum in Connecticut.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs two casinos under the Foxwoods brand in that state, was originally a major partner and planned to manage the casino. The tribe, after serious financial troubles, was now little more than a passive investor.
"I guess there's charity and then there's charity," Jacoby said after the board questioned sending the money to Connecticut. "I hadn't realized that until today."
A small group of Casino-Free Philadelphia members cheered yesterday's decision, but anticipated another casino operator would seek the license.
Casino developer Steve Wynn, who briefly partnered with the local investors, said he would seek the license if it was revoked.
Trump Entertainment Resorts has a federal lawsuit pending against the board, claiming it should be given the license.
"We keep fighting," said Lily Cavanaugh, spokeswoman for Casino Free.
Gaming the system
Gaming the system
This newspaper stands against any action that would spread the social, economic and personal damage done by gambling, on the Internet or elsewhere.
But everyone, pro- or anti-gambling, should be troubled by the Kabuki theater now being staged by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid regarding a bill that pretends to give the federal government control over the global phenomenon of online poker. His efforts to get the bill approved in the rush of lame-duck congressional business is bad policy, and his colleagues on both sides of the issue and both sides of the aisle would be wise to stage an intervention to stop him.
Reid, of course, represents Nevada, where a lot of people have a vested interest in who gets to gamble where. He was narrowly re-elected last month with heavy help from both the management and labor ends of the Las Vegas casino industry and Reid, never all that big on carrying water for the gambling game, obviously owes them something in return.
The apparent payback is a bill that claims to put limits on online poker websites. It does, at least on paper. But it also gives a federally protected advantage in the brave new world of online gambling to the existing (Las Vegas) casinos.
In theory, the bill would allow Americans to play online poker only through websites licensed by the U.S. Commerce Department. And the department would only be allowed to grant such licenses to operations that already have brick-and-mortar casinos up and running. That would, in theory, prevent a rush of online-only gambling sites from setting up shop in North Dakota, fleecing the pigeons until someone objected, then shutting down one URL and launching another.
But, like many seemingly reasonable regulatory actions, that would also amount to a protectionist rule for the companies that already dominate the gambling industry — and already give a lot of money to politicians. Reid is among them, of course, but so is Utah’s anti-gambling Sen. Orrin Hatch.
The bill would also throw a bone to Hatch, Rep. Jason Chaffetz and other Utah politicians by pretending to allow anti-gambling states such as Utah to keep online poker sites from doing business with Utah residents.
Of course, it’s all just as much a fraud as the promise of easy riches from gambling. Law or no law, Utahns and everyone else on Earth can play online poker on sites based anywhere from Aruba to the Isle of Man.
Our leaders are going to have to put a lot more thought into what, if anything, they can do about it. And they should do it in ways that are honest with the American people and not simply designed to curry favor with activists on one side or high rollers on the other.
This newspaper stands against any action that would spread the social, economic and personal damage done by gambling, on the Internet or elsewhere.
But everyone, pro- or anti-gambling, should be troubled by the Kabuki theater now being staged by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid regarding a bill that pretends to give the federal government control over the global phenomenon of online poker. His efforts to get the bill approved in the rush of lame-duck congressional business is bad policy, and his colleagues on both sides of the issue and both sides of the aisle would be wise to stage an intervention to stop him.
Reid, of course, represents Nevada, where a lot of people have a vested interest in who gets to gamble where. He was narrowly re-elected last month with heavy help from both the management and labor ends of the Las Vegas casino industry and Reid, never all that big on carrying water for the gambling game, obviously owes them something in return.
The apparent payback is a bill that claims to put limits on online poker websites. It does, at least on paper. But it also gives a federally protected advantage in the brave new world of online gambling to the existing (Las Vegas) casinos.
In theory, the bill would allow Americans to play online poker only through websites licensed by the U.S. Commerce Department. And the department would only be allowed to grant such licenses to operations that already have brick-and-mortar casinos up and running. That would, in theory, prevent a rush of online-only gambling sites from setting up shop in North Dakota, fleecing the pigeons until someone objected, then shutting down one URL and launching another.
But, like many seemingly reasonable regulatory actions, that would also amount to a protectionist rule for the companies that already dominate the gambling industry — and already give a lot of money to politicians. Reid is among them, of course, but so is Utah’s anti-gambling Sen. Orrin Hatch.
The bill would also throw a bone to Hatch, Rep. Jason Chaffetz and other Utah politicians by pretending to allow anti-gambling states such as Utah to keep online poker sites from doing business with Utah residents.
Of course, it’s all just as much a fraud as the promise of easy riches from gambling. Law or no law, Utahns and everyone else on Earth can play online poker on sites based anywhere from Aruba to the Isle of Man.
Our leaders are going to have to put a lot more thought into what, if anything, they can do about it. And they should do it in ways that are honest with the American people and not simply designed to curry favor with activists on one side or high rollers on the other.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
The Moral Bankruptcy of Washington
It wasn't so long ago that we were a proud nation that cared about each other.
Washington has turned us into Banana Republic residents fighting over crumbs and fighting each other.
It wasn't so long ago that we shared a common purpose.
Now we accuse 'the other' of being the cause of our demise.
The Democrats seek to stick a "Carcieri Fix" into the "Continuing Resolution" that will impoverish that many more of us [Section 2727 from H.R. 3082].
Senator Harry Reid seeks to tuck internet gambling into the "Continuing Resolution" to repay campaign contributors to allow us to bankrupt ourselves from the comfort of our own homes.
The Republicans seek to reward wealthy contributors with tax incentives for shipping jobs overseas.
Open Secrets provides the clues for a Democracy Bought and Sold.
Government should uplift, improve its citizens, support their Common Wealth.
A "Carcieri Fix" was added to the "Continuing Resolution"
House version, then removed from the Senate version.
Now, the Senate is considering passing the House version,
all very confusing and filled with many rumors.
It is important that you call your Senators and your Representatives
and ask them to support removing Section 2727 from H.R. 3082
or vote NO on the "Continuing Resolution."
This would make it possible for the Mashpee Wampanaog to take
Mashpee, Middleboro and Fall River land into trust and construct
Slot Barns in those locations once Beacon Hill approves gambling.
It would also allow the Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard and the
Narragansett Tribe in Rhode Island to do the same.
It would allow this around the country, regardless of community objection.
Section 2727 will amend the Indian Regulatory Act and allow the
Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for all tribes, undoing
the Carcieri v Salazar SCOTUS decision.
Please make the calls to their Washington offices:
Senator John Kerry
(202) 224-2742
Senator Scott Brown
(202) 224-4543
For other Senators:
http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
For the telephone number of your Congressman:
http://www.house.gov/
I'm reminded --
In 1787, shortly after the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a woman interested in the proceedings approached Benjamin Franklin. "Well, doctor," she asked, "what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" The venerable champion of American liberty replied, "A republic, madame, if you can keep it."
Pennsylvania passed Gambling Legislation at midnight on the 4th of July.
How prophetic! Will you call your Senators and Congressman?
Washington has turned us into Banana Republic residents fighting over crumbs and fighting each other.
It wasn't so long ago that we shared a common purpose.
Now we accuse 'the other' of being the cause of our demise.
The Democrats seek to stick a "Carcieri Fix" into the "Continuing Resolution" that will impoverish that many more of us [Section 2727 from H.R. 3082].
Senator Harry Reid seeks to tuck internet gambling into the "Continuing Resolution" to repay campaign contributors to allow us to bankrupt ourselves from the comfort of our own homes.
The Republicans seek to reward wealthy contributors with tax incentives for shipping jobs overseas.
Open Secrets provides the clues for a Democracy Bought and Sold.
Government should uplift, improve its citizens, support their Common Wealth.
A "Carcieri Fix" was added to the "Continuing Resolution"
House version, then removed from the Senate version.
Now, the Senate is considering passing the House version,
all very confusing and filled with many rumors.
It is important that you call your Senators and your Representatives
and ask them to support removing Section 2727 from H.R. 3082
or vote NO on the "Continuing Resolution."
This would make it possible for the Mashpee Wampanaog to take
Mashpee, Middleboro and Fall River land into trust and construct
Slot Barns in those locations once Beacon Hill approves gambling.
It would also allow the Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard and the
Narragansett Tribe in Rhode Island to do the same.
It would allow this around the country, regardless of community objection.
Section 2727 will amend the Indian Regulatory Act and allow the
Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for all tribes, undoing
the Carcieri v Salazar SCOTUS decision.
Please make the calls to their Washington offices:
Senator John Kerry
(202) 224-2742
Senator Scott Brown
(202) 224-4543
For other Senators:
http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
For the telephone number of your Congressman:
http://www.house.gov/
I'm reminded --
In 1787, shortly after the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a woman interested in the proceedings approached Benjamin Franklin. "Well, doctor," she asked, "what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" The venerable champion of American liberty replied, "A republic, madame, if you can keep it."
Pennsylvania passed Gambling Legislation at midnight on the 4th of July.
How prophetic! Will you call your Senators and Congressman?
Mohegan Sun Faux Pas Exposes Business Model
From our friends at Stop Predatory Gambling:
Declining revenues, market saturation and debt burden have combined with the economy to make Mohegan Sun pathetically desperate.
'Sex It Up' suggestion played down at Mohegan Sun casino
CEO says document lists ideas, doesn't represent policy
Mohegan - Mohegan Sun isn't likely to rival Las Vegas' claim to the Sin City moniker anytime soon - its internal communiqués notwithstanding.
A document containing the suggestion that the Sun ought to "Sex It Up" is merely a compilation of ideas tossed out during brainstorming sessions among managers, the casino's chief executive officer said Wednesday.
"It's not a policy; it's nothing more than a bunch of ideas," Mitchell Etess said of the 10-page document titled "Preserve the Core, Stimulate Progress."
The document, which contains the phrase "excitement and entertainment needs to be increased on casino floor (Sex It Up)," was passed out at a recent meeting of about 200 casino managers and was not intended for wider distribution, Etess said.
But, apparently, it found its way into the hands "of someone who didn't understand what it was," he said, leading to a television news report on its existence.
Etess sought to explain what he called "those seven letters" in Sex It Up.
"That's not referring to go-go dancers or sexy outfits," he said. "It's referring to excitement, energy, contemporariness."
Sexing it up, Etess allowed, is not in the cards for Mohegan Sun.
"We don't have the kind of edge like The Palms in Las Vegas or even The Borgata (in Atlantic City)," he said. "Our image has evolved over time, and it has a lot to do with the history and culture of the (Mohegan) tribe. … That (edge) didn't end up getting any traction."
The 10-page document, which also contains such suggestions as paging celebrities on the premises, announcing jackpot winners and adjusting airflows, grew out of regular committee meetings, Etess said.
"In a brainstorming session, no idea is stupid," he said. "You write down everything that anybody says."
Etess said the "Sex It Up" suggestion has generated no official complaints from employees. He said the casino's human resources department has received no feedback about it.
"Within our culture, we would not adopt any idea that would create discomfort for any of our employees," he said.
Declining revenues, market saturation and debt burden have combined with the economy to make Mohegan Sun pathetically desperate.
'Sex It Up' suggestion played down at Mohegan Sun casino
CEO says document lists ideas, doesn't represent policy
Mohegan - Mohegan Sun isn't likely to rival Las Vegas' claim to the Sin City moniker anytime soon - its internal communiqués notwithstanding.
A document containing the suggestion that the Sun ought to "Sex It Up" is merely a compilation of ideas tossed out during brainstorming sessions among managers, the casino's chief executive officer said Wednesday.
"It's not a policy; it's nothing more than a bunch of ideas," Mitchell Etess said of the 10-page document titled "Preserve the Core, Stimulate Progress."
The document, which contains the phrase "excitement and entertainment needs to be increased on casino floor (Sex It Up)," was passed out at a recent meeting of about 200 casino managers and was not intended for wider distribution, Etess said.
But, apparently, it found its way into the hands "of someone who didn't understand what it was," he said, leading to a television news report on its existence.
Etess sought to explain what he called "those seven letters" in Sex It Up.
"That's not referring to go-go dancers or sexy outfits," he said. "It's referring to excitement, energy, contemporariness."
Sexing it up, Etess allowed, is not in the cards for Mohegan Sun.
"We don't have the kind of edge like The Palms in Las Vegas or even The Borgata (in Atlantic City)," he said. "Our image has evolved over time, and it has a lot to do with the history and culture of the (Mohegan) tribe. … That (edge) didn't end up getting any traction."
The 10-page document, which also contains such suggestions as paging celebrities on the premises, announcing jackpot winners and adjusting airflows, grew out of regular committee meetings, Etess said.
"In a brainstorming session, no idea is stupid," he said. "You write down everything that anybody says."
Etess said the "Sex It Up" suggestion has generated no official complaints from employees. He said the casino's human resources department has received no feedback about it.
"Within our culture, we would not adopt any idea that would create discomfort for any of our employees," he said.
All That Is Wrong With Washington
In exchange for generous campaign contributions, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is agressively promoting Internet Gambling that would allow you to bankrupt yourself in the convenience of your own home.
Democracy for sale comes cheap!
State lottery chief eyes Internet gambling measure
CONCORD – The executive director of the state Lottery Commission is closely monitoring a potentially troubling effort on Capitol Hill to legalize Internet gambling, while an outgoing member of Congress calls it an example of Washington at its worst.
Charles McIntyre of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission said Thursday that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's effort to tuck a measure that would legalize online poker into the massive tax cut/unemployment benefits extension bill could hurt lottery revenue to the state, depending on what form a final bill takes.
McIntyre said it appears that the Nevada Democrat's plan would contain an opt-out provision for each state, and, if so, he said, he would "obviously" recommend that New Hampshire not participate.
"Gambling," McIntyre said, "has historically been a states rights issue."
According to reports from Washington, Reid is pushing the plan to help Las Vegas casino companies that contributed heavily to his campaign prior to his narrow reelection victory.
NBC News reported that Reid's draft bill, which he has been circulating among colleagues for about a week, would permit U.S. casino companies to set up their own Internet poker sites and tap into a massive overseas online gambling market.
NBC reported that the proposal was drafted "to make sure that the first licenses would be granted to casinos in states with large and 'established' regulatory programs overseeing more than $2 billion in gambling revenue, guaranteeing that big Las Vegas casino companies would have a leg up over potential competitors, especially Indian tribes in other states."
The measure could generate as much as $10 billion to $40 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years, according to the NBC report.
It is unclear how the Reid plan will fare. He has yet to have it formally inserted into the compromise bill, and some Republicans are reportedly opposed, but his powerful position could give him enough leverage to succeed.
But a source in Democratic New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's office said it is unlikely the Reid plan will ultimately be attached to the tax plan. The source also said Shaheen has heard from Gov. John Lynch's office about it, is aware of the state Lottery Commission's concerns and will monitor the legislation should it move forward.
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has taken no position on the measure, a spokesman said.
Outgoing Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter said the Reid plan is an example of "everything that's wrong with Washington."
She said she opposes expanded gambling in its own right, and also feels Reid's approach is wrong.
Shea-Porter is also vehemently opposed to the overall tax cut extension compromise between President Barack Obama and the Republicans.
"Should we borrow $900 billion to give tax cuts to the wealthy and then do Internet gambling for whatever reasons besides? No," she said.
A spokesman for Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes did not respond to a request for comment.
Lynch spokesman Colin Manning said that since the Reid plan came up "rather suddenly and there is no language, it is unclear what impact it would have on New Hampshire."
Lynch last spring considered briefly proposing Internet gambling for the state, but did not pursue the proposal.
A Lottery Commission plan last summer that would have allowed scratch ticket buyers to check online if their tickets were winners was abandoned amid concern voiced by lawmakers.
Commission Chair Debra Douglas said, "We try to keep our radar active for any kind of legislation, federal and state, that would impact our ability to create revenue for the state."
McIntyre said he has followed the Reid plan closely.
He said that without a state-by-state opt-out provision, "I doubt it would pass constitutional muster. You would be allowing Internet poker gambling in a state that didn't want it."
"Anything that hurts (the Lottery Commission), hurts revenue to the state, and we're cognizant of that," he said. "It would make sense to opt out."
McIntyre said, "There has never been a national game and most states take the opinion that you should not force it on a state without a state's consent."
Jim Rubens of the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling believes the Reid plan has a strong chance of passing.
"It's promising some big bucks, so the budget balancers are eyeing it," he said. "It definitely has a chance. That's why so much effort is being put into this."
Rubens and others have said that Internet gambling essentially potentially brings a gambling site into every home.
Commenting earlier this year on another federal Internet gambling plan, Rubens said, "It would be a disaster for those concerned about social and family health and gambling addiction, particularly teenage gambling addiction."
Democracy for sale comes cheap!
State lottery chief eyes Internet gambling measure
CONCORD – The executive director of the state Lottery Commission is closely monitoring a potentially troubling effort on Capitol Hill to legalize Internet gambling, while an outgoing member of Congress calls it an example of Washington at its worst.
Charles McIntyre of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission said Thursday that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's effort to tuck a measure that would legalize online poker into the massive tax cut/unemployment benefits extension bill could hurt lottery revenue to the state, depending on what form a final bill takes.
McIntyre said it appears that the Nevada Democrat's plan would contain an opt-out provision for each state, and, if so, he said, he would "obviously" recommend that New Hampshire not participate.
"Gambling," McIntyre said, "has historically been a states rights issue."
According to reports from Washington, Reid is pushing the plan to help Las Vegas casino companies that contributed heavily to his campaign prior to his narrow reelection victory.
NBC News reported that Reid's draft bill, which he has been circulating among colleagues for about a week, would permit U.S. casino companies to set up their own Internet poker sites and tap into a massive overseas online gambling market.
NBC reported that the proposal was drafted "to make sure that the first licenses would be granted to casinos in states with large and 'established' regulatory programs overseeing more than $2 billion in gambling revenue, guaranteeing that big Las Vegas casino companies would have a leg up over potential competitors, especially Indian tribes in other states."
The measure could generate as much as $10 billion to $40 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years, according to the NBC report.
It is unclear how the Reid plan will fare. He has yet to have it formally inserted into the compromise bill, and some Republicans are reportedly opposed, but his powerful position could give him enough leverage to succeed.
But a source in Democratic New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's office said it is unlikely the Reid plan will ultimately be attached to the tax plan. The source also said Shaheen has heard from Gov. John Lynch's office about it, is aware of the state Lottery Commission's concerns and will monitor the legislation should it move forward.
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has taken no position on the measure, a spokesman said.
Outgoing Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter said the Reid plan is an example of "everything that's wrong with Washington."
She said she opposes expanded gambling in its own right, and also feels Reid's approach is wrong.
Shea-Porter is also vehemently opposed to the overall tax cut extension compromise between President Barack Obama and the Republicans.
"Should we borrow $900 billion to give tax cuts to the wealthy and then do Internet gambling for whatever reasons besides? No," she said.
A spokesman for Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes did not respond to a request for comment.
Lynch spokesman Colin Manning said that since the Reid plan came up "rather suddenly and there is no language, it is unclear what impact it would have on New Hampshire."
Lynch last spring considered briefly proposing Internet gambling for the state, but did not pursue the proposal.
A Lottery Commission plan last summer that would have allowed scratch ticket buyers to check online if their tickets were winners was abandoned amid concern voiced by lawmakers.
Commission Chair Debra Douglas said, "We try to keep our radar active for any kind of legislation, federal and state, that would impact our ability to create revenue for the state."
McIntyre said he has followed the Reid plan closely.
He said that without a state-by-state opt-out provision, "I doubt it would pass constitutional muster. You would be allowing Internet poker gambling in a state that didn't want it."
"Anything that hurts (the Lottery Commission), hurts revenue to the state, and we're cognizant of that," he said. "It would make sense to opt out."
McIntyre said, "There has never been a national game and most states take the opinion that you should not force it on a state without a state's consent."
Jim Rubens of the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling believes the Reid plan has a strong chance of passing.
"It's promising some big bucks, so the budget balancers are eyeing it," he said. "It definitely has a chance. That's why so much effort is being put into this."
Rubens and others have said that Internet gambling essentially potentially brings a gambling site into every home.
Commenting earlier this year on another federal Internet gambling plan, Rubens said, "It would be a disaster for those concerned about social and family health and gambling addiction, particularly teenage gambling addiction."
Gambling Addict Affects 8 to 10 Others
Gambling problems have affects on relationships
For those looking to put lottery scratch off tickets in someone's stocking this year a gambling addiction treatment specialist has some advice.
If they are under 21 years old, don't do it.
"Our program greatly discourages that," said Jim Thompson, a gambling prevention specialist with a treatment program based at Allen Hospital in Waterloo which serves a nine-county area including Marshall, Tama and Grundy counties.
He said minors don't have the mental development to get involved with gambling at a young age.
He also discourages schools to host casino nights for post-prom activities as it exposes youth to gambling as well.
Thompson said roughly 85 percent of adults gamble with 3 to 4 percent practicing irresponsible gambling.
He said his treatment program treated three people from Marshall County in the first quarter of this year with gambling problems.
Much of the treatment is offered for free or reduced rates, which is good since many people who enter treatment have dug themselves in a hole financially.
"They are very broke or deep in debt," Thompson said.
He said there is usually fallout from those with gambling problems as it affects more than just the one victim.
Between family, co-workers and others that interact with a problem gambler, they can affect eight to 10 people.
Thompson said often gambling is tied with other conditions such as depression.
The good news is gambling problems can be cured with treatment, said Marshall County Public Health Nurse Pat Thompson.
For those looking to put lottery scratch off tickets in someone's stocking this year a gambling addiction treatment specialist has some advice.
If they are under 21 years old, don't do it.
"Our program greatly discourages that," said Jim Thompson, a gambling prevention specialist with a treatment program based at Allen Hospital in Waterloo which serves a nine-county area including Marshall, Tama and Grundy counties.
He said minors don't have the mental development to get involved with gambling at a young age.
He also discourages schools to host casino nights for post-prom activities as it exposes youth to gambling as well.
Thompson said roughly 85 percent of adults gamble with 3 to 4 percent practicing irresponsible gambling.
He said his treatment program treated three people from Marshall County in the first quarter of this year with gambling problems.
Much of the treatment is offered for free or reduced rates, which is good since many people who enter treatment have dug themselves in a hole financially.
"They are very broke or deep in debt," Thompson said.
He said there is usually fallout from those with gambling problems as it affects more than just the one victim.
Between family, co-workers and others that interact with a problem gambler, they can affect eight to 10 people.
Thompson said often gambling is tied with other conditions such as depression.
The good news is gambling problems can be cured with treatment, said Marshall County Public Health Nurse Pat Thompson.
Dementia Sufferer Cheated by Gambling Addict
Family’s disgust over £29k theft from dementia sufferer
CALLOUS thief Ricky Fountain systematically fleeced more than £29,000 from the bank account of a frail 93-year-old woman to fund a reckless spending spree and gambling addiction.
He withdrew large sums of cash in a "despicable" scam and left the pensioner's family being forced to put her house up for sale to help pay her care fees, a court heard.
Fountain, 33, of Fraser Street, Grimsby, admitted 16 offences of theft and two of converting criminal property between September 2008 and May last year.
Laurinda Bower, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the victim of the scam was Margaret Earnshaw, who suffered from dementia and lived in a care home for vulnerable people.
She was the grandmother of Fountain's wife, Heidi Fountain, who became her main carer when Mrs Earnshaw's mental health deteriorated after the death of her husband in May 2008. Heidi Fountain and her brother, Andrew Brookes, were granted joint power of attorney and she had charge of a debit card.
Heidi Fountain admitted she had sometimes given the card and the PIN to Ricky Fountain. In November 2008, Mrs Earnshaw went in to respite care at a local nursing home.
Her brother Simon Brookes today told the Telegraph: "This has put a big scar down the middle of our family that will never be healed. I'm quite a strong-willed person. Nothing really fazes me but this has destroyed me. I don't think I will ever get over it."
Bank statements were checked and it was discovered that about £45,000 could not be accounted for. Ricky Fountain stole a total of £29,187, including withdrawals from cash machines of £1,650 in September 2008, £4,140 in October, £3,540 in November, £4,000 in December, more than £3,000 in January last year, £2,000 in February, £5,211 in March and £980 in April last year.
The card had been used for a total sum of £5,876 at petrol stations, supermarkets, for cashback and for online gambling sites.
The court was told it was not possible to say where the rest of the money had gone.
As a result of the plundering of the cash, Mrs Earnshaw had been left with insufficient money to pay for her care and the local council had been forced to take over some of the cost.
Richard Hackfath, mitigating, said Fountain had been trusted by his wife to take care of the card and its PIN.
"In a despicable way, he took advantage of the position his wife was in," said Mr Hackfath. "He doesn't seek to lay the blame in any other direction. It's him and only him."
Fountain's online sales business got in to difficulties, his gambling escalated and he succumbed to the temptation of stealing the pensioner's money.
"His intention wasn't to take all of this money," said Mr Hackfath. "He wanted to tide himself over and pay it back in the longer term. That plan didn't come to anything. His financial problems got worse.
"He accepts that large amounts of money were used on online betting sites. He became more and more desperate and the amounts he stole went up and up. He got himself completely out of his depth and could not see any way out of it."
Father-of-four Fountain, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for 21 months.
Judge David Tremberg condemned Fountain's "selfish greed" and "despicable" actions in persistently plundering the pensioner's bank account.
"You were able to fritter away her savings to support your business, living expenses, gambling and your debts. It was quite outrageous," said Judge Tremberg.
The court heard that Heidi Fountain was originally also charged with the offences but, after investigation, the prosecution offered no evidence against her.
CALLOUS thief Ricky Fountain systematically fleeced more than £29,000 from the bank account of a frail 93-year-old woman to fund a reckless spending spree and gambling addiction.
He withdrew large sums of cash in a "despicable" scam and left the pensioner's family being forced to put her house up for sale to help pay her care fees, a court heard.
Fountain, 33, of Fraser Street, Grimsby, admitted 16 offences of theft and two of converting criminal property between September 2008 and May last year.
Laurinda Bower, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the victim of the scam was Margaret Earnshaw, who suffered from dementia and lived in a care home for vulnerable people.
She was the grandmother of Fountain's wife, Heidi Fountain, who became her main carer when Mrs Earnshaw's mental health deteriorated after the death of her husband in May 2008. Heidi Fountain and her brother, Andrew Brookes, were granted joint power of attorney and she had charge of a debit card.
Heidi Fountain admitted she had sometimes given the card and the PIN to Ricky Fountain. In November 2008, Mrs Earnshaw went in to respite care at a local nursing home.
Her brother Simon Brookes today told the Telegraph: "This has put a big scar down the middle of our family that will never be healed. I'm quite a strong-willed person. Nothing really fazes me but this has destroyed me. I don't think I will ever get over it."
Bank statements were checked and it was discovered that about £45,000 could not be accounted for. Ricky Fountain stole a total of £29,187, including withdrawals from cash machines of £1,650 in September 2008, £4,140 in October, £3,540 in November, £4,000 in December, more than £3,000 in January last year, £2,000 in February, £5,211 in March and £980 in April last year.
The card had been used for a total sum of £5,876 at petrol stations, supermarkets, for cashback and for online gambling sites.
The court was told it was not possible to say where the rest of the money had gone.
As a result of the plundering of the cash, Mrs Earnshaw had been left with insufficient money to pay for her care and the local council had been forced to take over some of the cost.
Richard Hackfath, mitigating, said Fountain had been trusted by his wife to take care of the card and its PIN.
"In a despicable way, he took advantage of the position his wife was in," said Mr Hackfath. "He doesn't seek to lay the blame in any other direction. It's him and only him."
Fountain's online sales business got in to difficulties, his gambling escalated and he succumbed to the temptation of stealing the pensioner's money.
"His intention wasn't to take all of this money," said Mr Hackfath. "He wanted to tide himself over and pay it back in the longer term. That plan didn't come to anything. His financial problems got worse.
"He accepts that large amounts of money were used on online betting sites. He became more and more desperate and the amounts he stole went up and up. He got himself completely out of his depth and could not see any way out of it."
Father-of-four Fountain, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for 21 months.
Judge David Tremberg condemned Fountain's "selfish greed" and "despicable" actions in persistently plundering the pensioner's bank account.
"You were able to fritter away her savings to support your business, living expenses, gambling and your debts. It was quite outrageous," said Judge Tremberg.
The court heard that Heidi Fountain was originally also charged with the offences but, after investigation, the prosecution offered no evidence against her.
View gambling as an addiction
View gambling as an addiction
New York waited until 1966 for Congress to pass legislation earmarking money for drug treatment and drug prevention programs. How many years will New York have to wait for Congress to accept the truth that gambling can also become an addiction?
Politics aside, I was shocked when the state Senate voted "no" for state funds to continue OTB in New York City. Politics aside, I commend those senators who did not buckle under extreme pressure and voted "no."
I am not naive enough to think the majority who voted "no" did so because they recognized the personal and social consequences inherent in gambling. They voted no because it was politically advantageous to them. What am I given for my "yes" vote?
What a shame that our elected officials will sell their votes for personal and political gain, and ignore the reality of people suffering gambling addiction in New York.
Lew Krupka
Director
Gambling Recovery Center
Guilderland
New York waited until 1966 for Congress to pass legislation earmarking money for drug treatment and drug prevention programs. How many years will New York have to wait for Congress to accept the truth that gambling can also become an addiction?
Politics aside, I was shocked when the state Senate voted "no" for state funds to continue OTB in New York City. Politics aside, I commend those senators who did not buckle under extreme pressure and voted "no."
I am not naive enough to think the majority who voted "no" did so because they recognized the personal and social consequences inherent in gambling. They voted no because it was politically advantageous to them. What am I given for my "yes" vote?
What a shame that our elected officials will sell their votes for personal and political gain, and ignore the reality of people suffering gambling addiction in New York.
Lew Krupka
Director
Gambling Recovery Center
Guilderland
Gambling Addict Gets Early Parole
Convicted AADAC fraud gets early parole
By TONY BLAIS, Court Bureau
A former senior Alberta bureaucrat handed three-and-a-half years in prison for bilking $634,000 from AADAC is out after serving just seven months, the Sun has learned.
According to documents obtained Wednesday from the Parole Board of Canada, Lloyd Carr, 46, was granted both day parole and full parole in a decision made on Sept. 22, five months after he began serving his April 16 sentence, and he was released to a halfway house on Nov. 15.
The parole board says Carr, as a first-time federal offender for a non-violent crime, falls, by law, under an accelerated review provision and the board is directed to release him unless he is likely to commit a violent offence.
The decision has upset many people living in the community of Swan River, Manitoba, where Carr had been living.
“People in Swan River are shocked he is out already,” said one person, who asked to remain anonymous due to the size of the town. “What kind of court system is this?”
The person told the Sun that Carr has been living in a halfway house in Brandon, Manitoba and working in a hog barn and said he was seen in the Swan River Co-op Shopping Mall on Saturday “strolling up and down the aisles with his famous smirk on his face.”
Carr was sentenced to three years and six months on April 16 in an Edmonton court after earlier pleading guilty to fraud over $5,000 for defrauding $634,000 from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC), where he was an executive director.
Court heard between 2003 and 2006, AADAC entered into grant agreements with Action on Smoking and Health and the Alberta Lung Association and payments were made. However, Carr set up bogus contracts for work that was never done to divert AADAC cash into his own pockets.
The fraud was discovered after AADAC officials became suspicious of Carr’s behaviour and advised the Alberta Auditor General’s office, who began an investigation.
The auditor general also learned Carr had a prior criminal record for theft and did not have a university degree in social work as he had claimed in his job application.
Out of the massive fraud, Carr netted $481,413. That money has never been fully accounted for.
A civil case, spawned by a lawsuit launched by AADAC, was settled when Carr paid $375,000 in restitution.
A bombshell was dropped just before Carr’s sentencing when it was learned that he had lied about running a painting business when he had actually been employed as a mental health clinician in Flin Flon, Manitoba and that he had got the job using a bogus university degree.
As well, it was learned that he had taken a medical leave of absence for made-up bowel cancer treatments, using a forged doctor’s note, when he was actually in court in Edmonton being sentenced on the fraud.
The RCMP later charged Carr with two counts of uttering a forged document and one count of fraud and said Tuesday that he is slated to be in court on Jan. 6.
According to the parole board documents, the board was satisfied there were no reasonable grounds to believe that, if released, Carr was likely to commit an offence involving violence before the expiration of his sentence.
The documents say there was no information on his file showing that Carr had previously behaved in a violent manner or had the potential to commit a violent crime.
However, the board did note Carr poses a risk to re-offend in a non-violent manner as a result of his “history of dishonesty,” difficulty managing stress, the fact he had disclosed he has a “serious gambling addiction,” and reports saying he has minimized the seriousness of his crimes.
“The board has serious concerns with regard to your potential to re-offend in a non-violent behaviour. File information portrays you as a dishonest individual who has minimized your criminal behaviour,” it says.
“The extent of your gambling addiction remains unknown and you have yet to adequately address your risk factors while incarcerated.
“However, as noted above, the focus of this decision is violent re-offending. Given the fact that your criminal history does not include violence, the fact there are no stress factors in your release environment which could lead to violence, and no psychological or psychiatric information indicating that you have the potential to commit a violent offence, the board must adhere to the legislation and direct your release.”
As a result of the board’s concerns, Carr had special release conditions imposed on him.
While on day parole, he must take psychological counselling, attend and participate in addictions programming, abstain from gambling and provide his parole supervisor with full financial disclosure.
While on full parole, which, according to the decision, is slated to begin on June 16, Carr is under the same conditions other than the addictions programming.
By TONY BLAIS, Court Bureau
A former senior Alberta bureaucrat handed three-and-a-half years in prison for bilking $634,000 from AADAC is out after serving just seven months, the Sun has learned.
According to documents obtained Wednesday from the Parole Board of Canada, Lloyd Carr, 46, was granted both day parole and full parole in a decision made on Sept. 22, five months after he began serving his April 16 sentence, and he was released to a halfway house on Nov. 15.
The parole board says Carr, as a first-time federal offender for a non-violent crime, falls, by law, under an accelerated review provision and the board is directed to release him unless he is likely to commit a violent offence.
The decision has upset many people living in the community of Swan River, Manitoba, where Carr had been living.
“People in Swan River are shocked he is out already,” said one person, who asked to remain anonymous due to the size of the town. “What kind of court system is this?”
The person told the Sun that Carr has been living in a halfway house in Brandon, Manitoba and working in a hog barn and said he was seen in the Swan River Co-op Shopping Mall on Saturday “strolling up and down the aisles with his famous smirk on his face.”
Carr was sentenced to three years and six months on April 16 in an Edmonton court after earlier pleading guilty to fraud over $5,000 for defrauding $634,000 from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC), where he was an executive director.
Court heard between 2003 and 2006, AADAC entered into grant agreements with Action on Smoking and Health and the Alberta Lung Association and payments were made. However, Carr set up bogus contracts for work that was never done to divert AADAC cash into his own pockets.
The fraud was discovered after AADAC officials became suspicious of Carr’s behaviour and advised the Alberta Auditor General’s office, who began an investigation.
The auditor general also learned Carr had a prior criminal record for theft and did not have a university degree in social work as he had claimed in his job application.
Out of the massive fraud, Carr netted $481,413. That money has never been fully accounted for.
A civil case, spawned by a lawsuit launched by AADAC, was settled when Carr paid $375,000 in restitution.
A bombshell was dropped just before Carr’s sentencing when it was learned that he had lied about running a painting business when he had actually been employed as a mental health clinician in Flin Flon, Manitoba and that he had got the job using a bogus university degree.
As well, it was learned that he had taken a medical leave of absence for made-up bowel cancer treatments, using a forged doctor’s note, when he was actually in court in Edmonton being sentenced on the fraud.
The RCMP later charged Carr with two counts of uttering a forged document and one count of fraud and said Tuesday that he is slated to be in court on Jan. 6.
According to the parole board documents, the board was satisfied there were no reasonable grounds to believe that, if released, Carr was likely to commit an offence involving violence before the expiration of his sentence.
The documents say there was no information on his file showing that Carr had previously behaved in a violent manner or had the potential to commit a violent crime.
However, the board did note Carr poses a risk to re-offend in a non-violent manner as a result of his “history of dishonesty,” difficulty managing stress, the fact he had disclosed he has a “serious gambling addiction,” and reports saying he has minimized the seriousness of his crimes.
“The board has serious concerns with regard to your potential to re-offend in a non-violent behaviour. File information portrays you as a dishonest individual who has minimized your criminal behaviour,” it says.
“The extent of your gambling addiction remains unknown and you have yet to adequately address your risk factors while incarcerated.
“However, as noted above, the focus of this decision is violent re-offending. Given the fact that your criminal history does not include violence, the fact there are no stress factors in your release environment which could lead to violence, and no psychological or psychiatric information indicating that you have the potential to commit a violent offence, the board must adhere to the legislation and direct your release.”
As a result of the board’s concerns, Carr had special release conditions imposed on him.
While on day parole, he must take psychological counselling, attend and participate in addictions programming, abstain from gambling and provide his parole supervisor with full financial disclosure.
While on full parole, which, according to the decision, is slated to begin on June 16, Carr is under the same conditions other than the addictions programming.
Gambling Addict Embezzles from Employer
Man Charged With Stealing Thousands From Employer
A man in Lackawanna County is accused of ripping off more than $300,000 from his employer.
Investigators said he did this to feed his gambling problem.
Kevin Prasi, 28, of Clark's Summit handled the finances at Vullo motors in Scranton. Prasi told investigators, he had a serious gambling addiction.
Investigators said he stole more than $300,000 from his former employer.
Prasi worked at Vullo motors in Scranton, as the finance manager.
Investigators said he stole the money by selling vehicles and not reporting the sales to the dealership. He pocketed nearly $80,000 doing that.
Prasi would also take out fake loans, and keep that money for himself, which was another $80,000.
"On cars that were sold from Vullo motors, that were repossessed, he would then resell them, and then not use the proceeds to pay the loan off, he would keep that money for himself," said District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge of Lackawanna County.
Investigators said Prasi did this for almost a year, until Vullo owners confronted him about it.
In court papers Prasi admitted to stealing the money and said it was his gambling illness that led him to do it.
He even worked out a deal to try to pay all the money back.
He began paying $300 a week until last month. He stopped because he didn't have a job, and he said he couldn't afford the payments. To date, Prasi has only paid back about $5,000.
Owners said Prasi worked for them for several years, they treated him like family, and this is all too disappointing.
"You never want to think that this could happen to a business, surely in this economy it's affected their bottom line, and ultimately I think that's what led them to the discovery is the numbers just weren't adding up," said District Attorney McCambridge.
Prasi is charged with seven counts of theft, and seven counts of receiving stolen property.
He is out on bail.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Worst November for CT Casinos
CT’s two casinos see Nov. revenues decline
... both Connecticut casinos are back to declining revenues, posting their worst November in a decade.
Foxwoods slot revenue: 7.8 percent decrease compared to November 2009. It was the worst November for Foxwoods since 1996, when there were 2,000 fewer slot machines.
Mohegan Sun slot revenue: 6.7 percent decrease compared to November 2009. It was the worst November for Mohegan since 2000 when there were 3,500 fewer slot machines.
... both Connecticut casinos are back to declining revenues, posting their worst November in a decade.
Foxwoods slot revenue: 7.8 percent decrease compared to November 2009. It was the worst November for Foxwoods since 1996, when there were 2,000 fewer slot machines.
Mohegan Sun slot revenue: 6.7 percent decrease compared to November 2009. It was the worst November for Mohegan since 2000 when there were 3,500 fewer slot machines.
"Carcieri Fix" STILL IN HOUSE VERSION - PLEASE CALL
The information below is offered by the Rhode Island group, but the so-called "Carcieri Fix" applies to all states.
Please continue to speak out.
GOOD NEWS - The Senate dropped a provision in the spending bill that would have allowed the Narragansett tribe to secure federal trust status for their land in Charlestown, opening a door for a casino. Thanks go to Senators Reed and Whitehouse for accomplishing this!!
BAD NEWS - The House's spending bill STILL includes a measure reversing the Supreme Court ruling protecting Charlestown from a casino. This means a confrontation between the Senate vs. the House and the Obama administration who wants the reversal.
What Can YOU Do?
CONTINUE to send emails to your representatives and Senators. (SEE SAMPLE EMAIL BELOW) IF you live in another state, also contact those representatives and Senators. Ask them to get the language out of the House bill that allows the Narragansett tribe to secure federal trust status for their land in Charlestown.
Rep. Jim Langevin - https://langevin.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml
Sen. Jack Reed - http://reed.senate.gov/contact/contact-share.cfm
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse - http://whitehouse.senate.gov/contact/
Looking for other state reps--go here: http://www.house.gov/
SAMPLE EMAIL - Dear Representative:
The so-called "Carcieri fix" was attached to the House Continuing Resolution bill necessary to keep the government running after this month. The "fix" would allow land to be taken into federal trust for an Indian tribe in Rhode Island for the fist time in the state's constitutional history, with the possibility of a federalized casino in Charlestown. In the counter Senate Appropriations bill, the "fix" was removed. Please do all you can to ensure the it does not become law through the backdoor in negotiations between the Senate and the House over a final appropriations bill!
Your emails really make a difference!!
--
Do you have friends or neighbors in Charlestown who you believe would like to receive our free emails? Send us their email addresses and we'll add them to our e-mail list.
Charlestown Citizens Alliance Steering Committee
PO Box 81, Charlestown, RI 02813
Website: http://charlestowncitizens.org
Please continue to speak out.
GOOD NEWS - The Senate dropped a provision in the spending bill that would have allowed the Narragansett tribe to secure federal trust status for their land in Charlestown, opening a door for a casino. Thanks go to Senators Reed and Whitehouse for accomplishing this!!
BAD NEWS - The House's spending bill STILL includes a measure reversing the Supreme Court ruling protecting Charlestown from a casino. This means a confrontation between the Senate vs. the House and the Obama administration who wants the reversal.
What Can YOU Do?
CONTINUE to send emails to your representatives and Senators. (SEE SAMPLE EMAIL BELOW) IF you live in another state, also contact those representatives and Senators. Ask them to get the language out of the House bill that allows the Narragansett tribe to secure federal trust status for their land in Charlestown.
Rep. Jim Langevin - https://langevin.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml
Sen. Jack Reed - http://reed.senate.gov/contact/contact-share.cfm
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse - http://whitehouse.senate.gov/contact/
Looking for other state reps--go here: http://www.house.gov/
SAMPLE EMAIL - Dear Representative:
The so-called "Carcieri fix" was attached to the House Continuing Resolution bill necessary to keep the government running after this month. The "fix" would allow land to be taken into federal trust for an Indian tribe in Rhode Island for the fist time in the state's constitutional history, with the possibility of a federalized casino in Charlestown. In the counter Senate Appropriations bill, the "fix" was removed. Please do all you can to ensure the it does not become law through the backdoor in negotiations between the Senate and the House over a final appropriations bill!
Your emails really make a difference!!
--
Do you have friends or neighbors in Charlestown who you believe would like to receive our free emails? Send us their email addresses and we'll add them to our e-mail list.
Charlestown Citizens Alliance Steering Committee
PO Box 81, Charlestown, RI 02813
Website: http://charlestowncitizens.org
The Race to the Bottom
Don't gamble with expansion
Every gambler comes to a point when a decision must be made whether to up the ante or walk away, thereby cutting losses or conserving winnings.
The Indiana General Assembly may soon be at that decision point with regard to casino revenues.
Ohio already is moving forward with plans for land-based casinos, a move that could erode the market share of riverboats in southeastern Indiana.
Now, lawmakers in Illinois are discussing a plan to more than triple that state's gambling operations, including a land-based casino in Chicago, four additional riverboats and the addition of slot machines at horse tracks.
Even on a smaller scale, Illinois' expansion could badly damage casino operations in northwestern and possibly southwestern Indiana.
Unfortunately for Hoosiers, their lawmakers have bet heavily on the sustained viability of the state's gambling industry. But there's emerging evidence that Indiana and other states have already saturated the market.
"The pie is finite," Bill Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada-Reno, told the Associated Press. "Gaming is subject to the same laws of economics as every other industry, and I think legislators have a hard time understanding that.''
It's hard for lawmakers to accept that reality because the gambling industry is gifted at making promises that can't be kept. There's strong appeal for politicians to believe that through repeated expansions of gambling they can raise ever-larger sums of money without tax increases. However, the necessity of squeezing more money out of a finite pool of gamblers is unsustainable.
Ultimately, state governments, and local governments, are pitted against each other in a cynical game to fool more people into tossing away their money at casinos and in lotteries.
Indiana's government is not at a point where it can suddenly break its addiction to gambling revenue. But legislators, starting with the budget they'll craft next year, need to reduce the state's dependency on gambling dollars.
The other alternative is to go all-in, which likely would mean at least matching Illinois' proposed expansion. And that's a move that almost assuredly would cause lasting harm to families and communities across the state.
Every gambler comes to a point when a decision must be made whether to up the ante or walk away, thereby cutting losses or conserving winnings.
The Indiana General Assembly may soon be at that decision point with regard to casino revenues.
Ohio already is moving forward with plans for land-based casinos, a move that could erode the market share of riverboats in southeastern Indiana.
Now, lawmakers in Illinois are discussing a plan to more than triple that state's gambling operations, including a land-based casino in Chicago, four additional riverboats and the addition of slot machines at horse tracks.
Even on a smaller scale, Illinois' expansion could badly damage casino operations in northwestern and possibly southwestern Indiana.
Unfortunately for Hoosiers, their lawmakers have bet heavily on the sustained viability of the state's gambling industry. But there's emerging evidence that Indiana and other states have already saturated the market.
"The pie is finite," Bill Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada-Reno, told the Associated Press. "Gaming is subject to the same laws of economics as every other industry, and I think legislators have a hard time understanding that.''
It's hard for lawmakers to accept that reality because the gambling industry is gifted at making promises that can't be kept. There's strong appeal for politicians to believe that through repeated expansions of gambling they can raise ever-larger sums of money without tax increases. However, the necessity of squeezing more money out of a finite pool of gamblers is unsustainable.
Ultimately, state governments, and local governments, are pitted against each other in a cynical game to fool more people into tossing away their money at casinos and in lotteries.
Indiana's government is not at a point where it can suddenly break its addiction to gambling revenue. But legislators, starting with the budget they'll craft next year, need to reduce the state's dependency on gambling dollars.
The other alternative is to go all-in, which likely would mean at least matching Illinois' proposed expansion. And that's a move that almost assuredly would cause lasting harm to families and communities across the state.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Embezzlement in Las Vegas
Former Operating Engineers Clerk in Las Vegas Sentenced
Usually out-of-towners are the ones who get burned at the casinos in Las Vegas. Cheryl Staley showed that locals also can lose - and at great cost to an employer. Staley, formerly bookkeeper for Local 501 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, District of Nevada, to five years probation for embezzling $231,653.89 in funds from the local, which is based in Los Angeles but has a Las Vegas office where she worked. She had pleaded guilty in May. The plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
To say Staley had a gambling problem is an understatement. Indeed, her sentencing agreement stipulates that during her five-year probation period she may not enter a casino without first notifying the U.S. Probation Office. Moreover, she must attend gambling addiction classes. In addition to serving probation, Staley will have to pay full restitution, plus 10 percent interest at $200 a month and pay a $200 special assessment.
Usually out-of-towners are the ones who get burned at the casinos in Las Vegas. Cheryl Staley showed that locals also can lose - and at great cost to an employer. Staley, formerly bookkeeper for Local 501 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, District of Nevada, to five years probation for embezzling $231,653.89 in funds from the local, which is based in Los Angeles but has a Las Vegas office where she worked. She had pleaded guilty in May. The plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
To say Staley had a gambling problem is an understatement. Indeed, her sentencing agreement stipulates that during her five-year probation period she may not enter a casino without first notifying the U.S. Probation Office. Moreover, she must attend gambling addiction classes. In addition to serving probation, Staley will have to pay full restitution, plus 10 percent interest at $200 a month and pay a $200 special assessment.
Steps Taken to Avert Embezzlement
Mariner Boosters Club hopes new practices will deter another theft
Failure to keep an eye on its finances for nearly a decade, which opened the door to the embezzlement of nearly $60,000 by a treasurer with a gambling addiction, was a mistake the Mariner Boosters Club won’t make again.
Former treasurer Patricia Harmon, charged with first-degree theft, was sentenced last week to 90 days in jail.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Michael Downes rejected a first-time offender waiver recommended by prosecutors and Harmon’s attorney.
Admitting she is a compulsive gambler, Harmon has been in treatment since turning herself into county Sheriff deputies and confessing to the booster club president in 2009.
Records show that at the time of her confession, Harmon needed to pay some large club bills and, although the club’s bank records showed a balance of $45,000, there was really only $391 left in the account.
For that reason, Judge Downes said Harmon’s confession appeared prompted by factors beyond her control, and she deserved to serve time behind bars.
Club officials believe their new practices will prevent any repeats of the episode.
“We are recuperating,” said Sheri Thompson, current boosters club co-treasurer. “We are changing our policies so that a theft, such as the one Patty was sentenced for, cannot go unnoticed,” she said.
The boosters club has rearranged its administrative structure to ensure honesty among members.
The club now has nine executive board members, and there are two people holding each position except for the secretary’s position. There are two presidents, two vice-presidents, two treasurers and two concessions managers.
Dual signatures are required for all transactions involving the club bank account. For each deposit, one bank slip is sent to the school and one bank slip is kept with the president.
In addition the boosters club has increased membership from 23 to 70.
There are 25 sub-clubs that function under the umbrella of the Mariner Boosters Club, and when one of the sub-clubs makes a deposit of fundraising money, the deposit must be signed by one of their representatives and also an executive board member.
The sub-club representative will get a receipt for each deposit, and bank statements are available at every meeting.
“I just want to warn all clubs out there currently, just look at your bank statements. That is all that is needed to be done to prevent this,” Thompson said.
“You just need to match profit and loss reports to the bank statements, and the theft should be easy to catch,” she said. The club is now completing annual audits.
Despite all the upset over Harmon’s sentencing, the boosters club is working hard to recover lost funds and restore trust in their operations.
“We have created a new scholarship for students, The Brad Agerup Memorial Fund, which is two $500 scholarships given annually to graduating seniors,” Thompson said.
“We have set aside three years worth of funds to cover it.
“We are looking to add two more years of funds by the end of the 2011 school year.”
“We would like the community to know that we are up and running and that we are strong,” she said. “We would love to see more people at meetings.
“If anyone is interested, they can check out the Mariner Boosters link on the Mariner High School website.”
Meeting times and locations are listed on the website.
“We would love for people to join,” Thompson said.
Failure to keep an eye on its finances for nearly a decade, which opened the door to the embezzlement of nearly $60,000 by a treasurer with a gambling addiction, was a mistake the Mariner Boosters Club won’t make again.
Former treasurer Patricia Harmon, charged with first-degree theft, was sentenced last week to 90 days in jail.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Michael Downes rejected a first-time offender waiver recommended by prosecutors and Harmon’s attorney.
Admitting she is a compulsive gambler, Harmon has been in treatment since turning herself into county Sheriff deputies and confessing to the booster club president in 2009.
Records show that at the time of her confession, Harmon needed to pay some large club bills and, although the club’s bank records showed a balance of $45,000, there was really only $391 left in the account.
For that reason, Judge Downes said Harmon’s confession appeared prompted by factors beyond her control, and she deserved to serve time behind bars.
Club officials believe their new practices will prevent any repeats of the episode.
“We are recuperating,” said Sheri Thompson, current boosters club co-treasurer. “We are changing our policies so that a theft, such as the one Patty was sentenced for, cannot go unnoticed,” she said.
The boosters club has rearranged its administrative structure to ensure honesty among members.
The club now has nine executive board members, and there are two people holding each position except for the secretary’s position. There are two presidents, two vice-presidents, two treasurers and two concessions managers.
Dual signatures are required for all transactions involving the club bank account. For each deposit, one bank slip is sent to the school and one bank slip is kept with the president.
In addition the boosters club has increased membership from 23 to 70.
There are 25 sub-clubs that function under the umbrella of the Mariner Boosters Club, and when one of the sub-clubs makes a deposit of fundraising money, the deposit must be signed by one of their representatives and also an executive board member.
The sub-club representative will get a receipt for each deposit, and bank statements are available at every meeting.
“I just want to warn all clubs out there currently, just look at your bank statements. That is all that is needed to be done to prevent this,” Thompson said.
“You just need to match profit and loss reports to the bank statements, and the theft should be easy to catch,” she said. The club is now completing annual audits.
Despite all the upset over Harmon’s sentencing, the boosters club is working hard to recover lost funds and restore trust in their operations.
“We have created a new scholarship for students, The Brad Agerup Memorial Fund, which is two $500 scholarships given annually to graduating seniors,” Thompson said.
“We have set aside three years worth of funds to cover it.
“We are looking to add two more years of funds by the end of the 2011 school year.”
“We would like the community to know that we are up and running and that we are strong,” she said. “We would love to see more people at meetings.
“If anyone is interested, they can check out the Mariner Boosters link on the Mariner High School website.”
Meeting times and locations are listed on the website.
“We would love for people to join,” Thompson said.
Gambling Addiction: Stealing from the elderly
Gambling man owes mother $137,000
A Spokane man was ordered this week to repay his mother nearly $140,000 after bilking her out of the cash to fund his gambling addiction.
Mark B. English, 52, also was ordered to serve 90 days in jail, three times as long as a plea agreement recommended.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen sentenced English Monday after hearing emotional testimony from family members.
Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Johnson said he’s pleased Eitzen imposed the maximum jail sentence.
“I suspect he deserved a lot more than that,” he said. “He had access to money and a really bad gambling habit, and he cleaned Mom out.”
English was in charge of his 71-year-old mother’s finances when his daughter noticed discrepancies in her accounts. His mother soon confronted him about the thefts.
“She wanted to not believe it for a really long time, but eventually her checks started bouncing and she was getting notices from her mortgage company,” Johnson said.
English is to pay his mother $137,000 in restitution.
“I really have no idea how he will ever pay that back.”
English pleaded guilty to first-degree theft. He’s to report to jail by Jan. 3.
A Spokane man was ordered this week to repay his mother nearly $140,000 after bilking her out of the cash to fund his gambling addiction.
Mark B. English, 52, also was ordered to serve 90 days in jail, three times as long as a plea agreement recommended.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen sentenced English Monday after hearing emotional testimony from family members.
Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Johnson said he’s pleased Eitzen imposed the maximum jail sentence.
“I suspect he deserved a lot more than that,” he said. “He had access to money and a really bad gambling habit, and he cleaned Mom out.”
English was in charge of his 71-year-old mother’s finances when his daughter noticed discrepancies in her accounts. His mother soon confronted him about the thefts.
“She wanted to not believe it for a really long time, but eventually her checks started bouncing and she was getting notices from her mortgage company,” Johnson said.
English is to pay his mother $137,000 in restitution.
“I really have no idea how he will ever pay that back.”
English pleaded guilty to first-degree theft. He’s to report to jail by Jan. 3.
Gambling Addiction
Crown seeks jail time for Ajax woman convicted of fraud
Victims lost $1 million on phoney investments
Pam Douglas
AJAX -- An Ajax woman who bilked victims out of more than $1 million should be sent to prison, a Brampton court heard Friday.
Prosecutor Andrew Falls told Mr. Justice Bruce Durno that Shaneeza Hardyal's "large-scale" fraud has devastated more than 20 victims from Cambridge to Oshawa, and she should be sentenced to between three and five years in the penitentiary.
"Families have been torn apart," Mr. Falls told the judge.
"The impact on the victims is extensive. This is nothing less than devastating."
Ms. Hardyal, 37, pleaded guilty in July to fraud over $5,000, admitting she told victims their money would be invested and earn a significant return. She was arrested and charged in November 2007.
Detective Brett McCagherty said four victims in Durham Region were defrauded of $250,000 by Ms. Hardyal.
"She convinced people to invest money with her on land investment schemes that never took place," he said.
"She defrauded people in the same general type of scheme in Durham, Toronto, Peel and Waterloo."
All of the allegations against Ms. Hardyal are being dealt with in Brampton, Det. McCagherty said.
Ms. Hardyal's lawyer was expected to ask the court for a conditional sentence that she could serve in the community.
Christopher Ellis told the judge his client had a gambling problem, but this past May started seeing a therapist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health who specializes in gambling addiction.
Several of Ms. Hardyal's victims were in court for the sentencing hearing Friday, including a Brampton woman who said she lost her house, her job and $250,000 investing in what Ms. Hardyal, who she knew as Sherry Singh, said was a land flipping investment.â?¨ Presenting several letters attesting to her remorse and her work in the community, Mr. Ellis told the court that Ms. Hardyal, her husband and four children have started attending church regularly.
"She's stood before the congregation and told them her life story, confessing her conduct," Mr. Ellis told the court, saying she has expressed remorse.
But Mr. Falls said a prison term is needed to deter similar crimes.
"It is exactly a case such as this that screams out for general deterrence," he said. "These types of schemes are unacceptable and are deserving of a penitentiary sentence."
Ms. Hardyal's criminal record, which includes a 2001 conviction in relation to 26 charges of fraudulent use of a credit card was presented to the court.
Justice Durno reserved judgment on a sentence.
Victims lost $1 million on phoney investments
Pam Douglas
AJAX -- An Ajax woman who bilked victims out of more than $1 million should be sent to prison, a Brampton court heard Friday.
Prosecutor Andrew Falls told Mr. Justice Bruce Durno that Shaneeza Hardyal's "large-scale" fraud has devastated more than 20 victims from Cambridge to Oshawa, and she should be sentenced to between three and five years in the penitentiary.
"Families have been torn apart," Mr. Falls told the judge.
"The impact on the victims is extensive. This is nothing less than devastating."
Ms. Hardyal, 37, pleaded guilty in July to fraud over $5,000, admitting she told victims their money would be invested and earn a significant return. She was arrested and charged in November 2007.
Detective Brett McCagherty said four victims in Durham Region were defrauded of $250,000 by Ms. Hardyal.
"She convinced people to invest money with her on land investment schemes that never took place," he said.
"She defrauded people in the same general type of scheme in Durham, Toronto, Peel and Waterloo."
All of the allegations against Ms. Hardyal are being dealt with in Brampton, Det. McCagherty said.
Ms. Hardyal's lawyer was expected to ask the court for a conditional sentence that she could serve in the community.
Christopher Ellis told the judge his client had a gambling problem, but this past May started seeing a therapist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health who specializes in gambling addiction.
Several of Ms. Hardyal's victims were in court for the sentencing hearing Friday, including a Brampton woman who said she lost her house, her job and $250,000 investing in what Ms. Hardyal, who she knew as Sherry Singh, said was a land flipping investment.â?¨ Presenting several letters attesting to her remorse and her work in the community, Mr. Ellis told the court that Ms. Hardyal, her husband and four children have started attending church regularly.
"She's stood before the congregation and told them her life story, confessing her conduct," Mr. Ellis told the court, saying she has expressed remorse.
But Mr. Falls said a prison term is needed to deter similar crimes.
"It is exactly a case such as this that screams out for general deterrence," he said. "These types of schemes are unacceptable and are deserving of a penitentiary sentence."
Ms. Hardyal's criminal record, which includes a 2001 conviction in relation to 26 charges of fraudulent use of a credit card was presented to the court.
Justice Durno reserved judgment on a sentence.
Loto Quebec's Conundrum
Loto Quebec’s online gaming should be roundly condemned
We teach puppies not to dirty up our homes. It strikes us that someone should send a trainer to Loto Quebec to do the same thing.
Gambling addiction has become pandemic in Quebec. We are not suggesting another nanny-state, Prohibitionist, inspector-riddled law to ban it. Adults should be free to make their own choices, even if they are bad ones. But with the millions of dollars Quebec spends in appropriate programs to educate and persuade Quebecers of the dangers of gambling, to make it so accessible is the height of hypocrisy and irresponsibility. What’s worse, it is a misuse of public trust and public funds.
The expression “the left hand doesn’t know what the right one is doing” seems most apt. Our government uses our tax dollars to reduce gambling addiction. And all of a sudden an arm of the government, Loto Quebec, puts gambling in your face on every computer screen. Someone didn’t get a memo.
One of the arguments that Loto Quebec has used to justify this decision is that it must protect people from “illegal” gambling. That just doesn’t fly. If the government is so concerned about illegal gambling and the predators at its edges, then let the government legalize all manner of gambling and regulate it. That is protection. The government should not be the enablers of addiction.
The only thing the government is doing by making its move is to further monopolize the gaming business. If that is the intent then it is better done in public-private partnerships like Nevada does. That would be a far sight better than giving desperate people sitting in front of screens more ammunition for their own self-destruction.
Gaming is a legitimate industry. And a growth one at that as anyone familiar with the stock markets can tell you. But the private sector does it better. It is even better at controlling inveterate gamblers and policing them out of its casinos. Running gaming operations is not the government’s mandate and frankly every time the state tries to compete with the private sector it does so badly.
If an adult wishes to gamble out of free choice that is their business. But it is morally abhorrent for the state to use our tax dollars to entice people to gamble their lives away. Any reasonable person taking a look at what Loto Quebec plans to do to get you online can only come to the same conclusion.
It is repugnant that executives of Loto Quebec will be paid bonuses out of the new revenues sure to be generated by this online temptation while we the taxpayers will have to ante up more money to pay for the extra burdens on our welfare system that are sure to be generated by more bankruptcies, broken families and the wreckage of countless lives. And who will bear the moral accountability at our great gambling big brother?
It is time to reign in Loto Quebec’s territorial imperative that seems to be operating without any restraint of intellectual integrity or compassionate authority.
We teach puppies not to dirty up our homes. It strikes us that someone should send a trainer to Loto Quebec to do the same thing.
Gambling addiction has become pandemic in Quebec. We are not suggesting another nanny-state, Prohibitionist, inspector-riddled law to ban it. Adults should be free to make their own choices, even if they are bad ones. But with the millions of dollars Quebec spends in appropriate programs to educate and persuade Quebecers of the dangers of gambling, to make it so accessible is the height of hypocrisy and irresponsibility. What’s worse, it is a misuse of public trust and public funds.
The expression “the left hand doesn’t know what the right one is doing” seems most apt. Our government uses our tax dollars to reduce gambling addiction. And all of a sudden an arm of the government, Loto Quebec, puts gambling in your face on every computer screen. Someone didn’t get a memo.
One of the arguments that Loto Quebec has used to justify this decision is that it must protect people from “illegal” gambling. That just doesn’t fly. If the government is so concerned about illegal gambling and the predators at its edges, then let the government legalize all manner of gambling and regulate it. That is protection. The government should not be the enablers of addiction.
The only thing the government is doing by making its move is to further monopolize the gaming business. If that is the intent then it is better done in public-private partnerships like Nevada does. That would be a far sight better than giving desperate people sitting in front of screens more ammunition for their own self-destruction.
Gaming is a legitimate industry. And a growth one at that as anyone familiar with the stock markets can tell you. But the private sector does it better. It is even better at controlling inveterate gamblers and policing them out of its casinos. Running gaming operations is not the government’s mandate and frankly every time the state tries to compete with the private sector it does so badly.
If an adult wishes to gamble out of free choice that is their business. But it is morally abhorrent for the state to use our tax dollars to entice people to gamble their lives away. Any reasonable person taking a look at what Loto Quebec plans to do to get you online can only come to the same conclusion.
It is repugnant that executives of Loto Quebec will be paid bonuses out of the new revenues sure to be generated by this online temptation while we the taxpayers will have to ante up more money to pay for the extra burdens on our welfare system that are sure to be generated by more bankruptcies, broken families and the wreckage of countless lives. And who will bear the moral accountability at our great gambling big brother?
It is time to reign in Loto Quebec’s territorial imperative that seems to be operating without any restraint of intellectual integrity or compassionate authority.
Gambling Addiction destroyed Porteous
Federal judge driven to corruption by a gambling addiction is impeached
A federal judge has been impeached after his gambling addiction drove him to corruption.
Judge Thomas Porteous, 63, was removed from the bench by the U.S. Senate after he was found guilty of corruption.
It is only the eighth time in history that Congress has removed a federal judge.
Porteous claimed he had struggled with gambling and drinking problems. He was convicted of accepting thousands of dollars from lawyers whose cases he was hearing.
The lawyers also paid for meals, trips, and even a lap dance for Judge Porteous's son during a night out in a Las Vegas strip club.
The House of Representatives voted unanimously to impeach Porteous in March.
'Our investigation found that Judge Porteous participated in a pattern of corrupt conduct for years,' chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment Adam Schiff said.
He is 'forever disqualified to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust or profit under the United States,' Senate Daniel Inouye said during Wednesday's Senate hearing.
Porteous had sat on the federal bench since 1994.
A federal judge has been impeached after his gambling addiction drove him to corruption.
Judge Thomas Porteous, 63, was removed from the bench by the U.S. Senate after he was found guilty of corruption.
It is only the eighth time in history that Congress has removed a federal judge.
Porteous claimed he had struggled with gambling and drinking problems. He was convicted of accepting thousands of dollars from lawyers whose cases he was hearing.
The lawyers also paid for meals, trips, and even a lap dance for Judge Porteous's son during a night out in a Las Vegas strip club.
The House of Representatives voted unanimously to impeach Porteous in March.
'Our investigation found that Judge Porteous participated in a pattern of corrupt conduct for years,' chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment Adam Schiff said.
He is 'forever disqualified to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust or profit under the United States,' Senate Daniel Inouye said during Wednesday's Senate hearing.
Porteous had sat on the federal bench since 1994.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Dems Slip Indian Gambling Measure Into Spending Bill
Dems Slip Indian Gambling Measure Into Spending Bill
You’ve got to watch those Democrats every minute. Now they’ve gone and jeopardized the passage of the omnibus spending bill by sneaking in a provision to authorize Native American gambling casinos.
Byron York at the Washington Examiner.
“On Wednesday night the House voted, 212 to 206, to pass a giant spending bill that would keep parts of the government running for the next several months. But it turns out the measure, passed with no Republican votes, does more than that. A little-noticed provision inside the bill, pushed hard by Democrats, could also lead to a massive expansion in the number of casinos run by Indian tribes.
The measure would give the Secretary of the Interior the authority to quickly, and without approval from anyone else, take lands into trust for new tribes. What that means is this: A group of people with some native American background petitions the Secretary for recognition as an Indian tribe. That is approved. The new tribe owns a parcel of land and offers the land to the Interior Department for the purpose of the U.S. government taking title to the property — taking it into trust — and then allowing the tribe to use the land for its own purposes. That way, the new tribe doesn’t have to pay taxes on the land and is also protected from legal actions against them. Then the new tribe, enjoying those benefits of federal land ownership and not having to answer to any state or local authorities, opens a casino.”
Read Byron’s report in its entirety right here.
It’s underhanded political stunts such as this that cause much consternation in this country.
Five will get you ten that provision is ripped out of the bill in the Senate.
From: BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL
Dems slip Indian gambling measure into spending bill
On Wednesday night the House voted, 212 to 206, to pass a giant spending bill that would keep parts of the government running for the next several months. But it turns out the measure, passed with no Republican votes, does more than that. A little-noticed provision inside the bill, pushed hard by Democrats, could also lead to a massive expansion in the number of casinos run by Indian tribes.
The measure would give the Secretary of the Interior the authority to quickly, and without approval from anyone else, take lands into trust for new tribes. What that means is this: A group of people with some native American background petitions the Secretary for recognition as an Indian tribe. That is approved. The new tribe owns a parcel of land and offers the land to the Interior Department for the purpose of the U.S. government taking title to the property -- taking it into trust -- and then allowing the tribe to use the land for its own purposes. That way, the new tribe doesn't have to pay taxes on the land and is also protected from legal actions against them. Then the new tribe, enjoying those benefits of federal land ownership and not having to answer to any state or local authorities, opens a casino.
In the past, a Supreme Court decision limited such actions to tribes that were recognized at the time a 1930s law governing Indian affairs was passed. Under the new law passed by the House Wednesday night, any new group recognized as a tribe by the Secretary of the Interior -- without review by any other government body -- would be able to use that process.
"The Obama administration is aggressively pushing this," says a Senate GOP aide who is working to try to strip out the measure in the Senate. "There have been lots of pushes to recognize new tribes, basically for gambling purposes. Any group that claims it meets the criteria can apply to Interior to be recognized as a tribe. And this allows newly recognized tribes to take land into trust so that they can operate casinos."
The big spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, will be considered by the Senate next week. (At the moment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to push an online gambling legalization measure into tax-cut legislation.) Given local opposition to gambling expansion in many parts of the country, and fearing that the House version containing the new Indian land measure will pass without much notice, Republicans are trying to sound the alarm. "If no one talks about this," says the aide, "in two years, people will be saying, 'Why are there so many more casinos? What the hell happened?'"
You’ve got to watch those Democrats every minute. Now they’ve gone and jeopardized the passage of the omnibus spending bill by sneaking in a provision to authorize Native American gambling casinos.
Byron York at the Washington Examiner.
“On Wednesday night the House voted, 212 to 206, to pass a giant spending bill that would keep parts of the government running for the next several months. But it turns out the measure, passed with no Republican votes, does more than that. A little-noticed provision inside the bill, pushed hard by Democrats, could also lead to a massive expansion in the number of casinos run by Indian tribes.
The measure would give the Secretary of the Interior the authority to quickly, and without approval from anyone else, take lands into trust for new tribes. What that means is this: A group of people with some native American background petitions the Secretary for recognition as an Indian tribe. That is approved. The new tribe owns a parcel of land and offers the land to the Interior Department for the purpose of the U.S. government taking title to the property — taking it into trust — and then allowing the tribe to use the land for its own purposes. That way, the new tribe doesn’t have to pay taxes on the land and is also protected from legal actions against them. Then the new tribe, enjoying those benefits of federal land ownership and not having to answer to any state or local authorities, opens a casino.”
Read Byron’s report in its entirety right here.
It’s underhanded political stunts such as this that cause much consternation in this country.
Five will get you ten that provision is ripped out of the bill in the Senate.
From: BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL
Dems slip Indian gambling measure into spending bill
On Wednesday night the House voted, 212 to 206, to pass a giant spending bill that would keep parts of the government running for the next several months. But it turns out the measure, passed with no Republican votes, does more than that. A little-noticed provision inside the bill, pushed hard by Democrats, could also lead to a massive expansion in the number of casinos run by Indian tribes.
The measure would give the Secretary of the Interior the authority to quickly, and without approval from anyone else, take lands into trust for new tribes. What that means is this: A group of people with some native American background petitions the Secretary for recognition as an Indian tribe. That is approved. The new tribe owns a parcel of land and offers the land to the Interior Department for the purpose of the U.S. government taking title to the property -- taking it into trust -- and then allowing the tribe to use the land for its own purposes. That way, the new tribe doesn't have to pay taxes on the land and is also protected from legal actions against them. Then the new tribe, enjoying those benefits of federal land ownership and not having to answer to any state or local authorities, opens a casino.
In the past, a Supreme Court decision limited such actions to tribes that were recognized at the time a 1930s law governing Indian affairs was passed. Under the new law passed by the House Wednesday night, any new group recognized as a tribe by the Secretary of the Interior -- without review by any other government body -- would be able to use that process.
"The Obama administration is aggressively pushing this," says a Senate GOP aide who is working to try to strip out the measure in the Senate. "There have been lots of pushes to recognize new tribes, basically for gambling purposes. Any group that claims it meets the criteria can apply to Interior to be recognized as a tribe. And this allows newly recognized tribes to take land into trust so that they can operate casinos."
The big spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, will be considered by the Senate next week. (At the moment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to push an online gambling legalization measure into tax-cut legislation.) Given local opposition to gambling expansion in many parts of the country, and fearing that the House version containing the new Indian land measure will pass without much notice, Republicans are trying to sound the alarm. "If no one talks about this," says the aide, "in two years, people will be saying, 'Why are there so many more casinos? What the hell happened?'"
The unfinished Malaysian corruption story
Although seemingly unrelated, light is shed on the impacts of corruption on the political process:
The unfinished Malaysian corruption story
I was honoured last month by the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association with an invitation to deliver the International Keynote Address at their 2010 Conference at the Sydney Hilton.
Three hundred corporate lawyers participated in the two-day conference, with some 400 attending the ACLA Awards Dinner. I was invited to perform a similar task last year by the association, but to my regret and utter shame, I was forced to cancel, at great cost to my Australian hosts, my appearance in Melbourne, their 2009 conference venue.
I found myself a reluctant patient at the Gleneagles Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, with a serious lung infection. The doctor pumped, yes, pumped enough antibiotics into my body to float a destroyer and maybe keep our two valiant submarines happily submerged forever.
It transpired that I had picked up a virus in the Netherlands while attending an ethics conference at the Amsterdam Free University. I was very surprised, to say the least, when I received a repeat invitation from ACLA very early this year. I asked the organisers, in jest, if they realised that they were taking a risk as the same thing might happen again.
Overcoming Corruption: A Regional Challenge was the title of my address. I assured them that there was really no need to feel concerned about the state of health of corruption in the region.
In Malaysia, in particular, in spite of a flurry of activity to put on display the full panoply of anti-corruption paraphernalia, it is all form and no substance, as with most things we see in this land of the Morning Glory. If they wanted my honest opinion, I would say without fear of violent contradiction that corruption in Malaysia was not only alive and well: it was in indecently robust good health. The latest TI Corruption Perceptions Index says it all.
I treated them to a amusing little anecdote about the then newly appointed President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, who at a meeting with senior colleagues, said that something had to be done to reduce corruption in borrowing countries in Asia, Africa and South America. He said that many saw the Bank as part of the problem of corruption. His advisers told him that he should not ever again mention “corruption” as this would upset the Bank’s many clients. The fact that they were all corrupt, and kleptomaniacs to a man, did not seem to matter.
The subject was a taboo in polite society. When Wolfensohn, feeling a little hot under the collar, asked what he should call it then, he was told, quite unabashedly, to refer to it as a ‘C’ word. The point of this true story is that we have all come a long way since and, in a perverse sort of way, so has corruption. Corruption never sleeps.
Malaysia is, ethically speaking, in dire straits. Mahathir founded his administration on corruption, lies and subterfuge. He lied to the nation about the many schemes that were blatantly dishonest. Worse, they were criminal, such as gambling with the EPF money, your money and mine, to corner the international tin market and later the country’s reserves to speculate on the currency market, pitting himself in the latter case against George Soros. The country lost billions. Mahathir succeeded in planting and nurturing a culture of impunity and disinformation that, even long after he left office, has continued to flourish. Of course, the man who cut his business teeth minding a stall at the Pekan Rabu in Alor Setar during the Japanese Occupation can explain all this away by saying that whatever he did, it was done in the national interest. We have heard it all before.
The lawyers represented, and advised, many large Australian companies. They knew their stuff, kept themselves abreast of the region’s economic, social and political developments. There was not an awful lot I could tell them that they did not know already about our appalling standards of public ethics, and the pervasive nature of corrupt practices that both define and circumscribe the way we conduct our business transactions both in and out of the corridors of power. They had heard about our many agencies that provide ample opportunities for the acquisition of personal wealth and abuse of power.
What amazed them, though, was the report about some of our frontline immigration officers stashing away millions of dollars of bribe money. Corrupt officials do not enforce the law, and this has led to easy access into the country of drug and human traffickers and other illegals. And our corruption has turned Malaysia into a conduit for human trafficking into Australia. When we add to this the corruption in the ruling elite, the police, the judiciary, the customs and other key institutions, we have a thoroughly ugly picture of a country fuelled and driven by ethically reprehensible behaviour. I warned the Australians that we welcome their investment, but it only fair to warn them that doing business in Malaysia required more than the usual due diligence because Malaysians were surprisingly adept at turning corruption into a low risk and high return business venture for themselves, “leaving you holding the baby.” The system tolerates and encourages it.
We have, as a nation, been truly sold down the “river of no return” by Mahathir, who now continues to set his version of the moral tone of this country. In what capacity I neither know nor care any more. Flood or pestilence, it is business as usual. In this country, we privatise and politicise everything, including corruption.
A lady in the audience asked if there was anything that could be done to take Malaysia back to the pre-Mahathir values. The short answer is yes, there is. It is possible by turfing out the present administration so that a thorough and complete review of policies and procedures could be put in train to ensure relevance, with mechanisms for checks and balances firmly put in place. All institutions will have to justify their existence and those that are no longer relevant will be closed down. Institutions that have been rendered dysfunctional will be strengthened. The deadwood and the corrupt will be encouraged to take early retirement and meritocracy will be the sole criterion used to determine suitability to lead.
I am absolutely convinced that transforming the administration is not only desirable, but absolutely essential if this country is to succeed in claiming its right to a seat at the top table, among the clean nations that will shape the future of the world. Change, and complete change, is the answer. Malaysians must decide the kind of future they want.
I am anti-national by Najib’s latest definition because I speak the truth in a foreign country about Malaysia’s unsavoury reputation for massive corruption. I suppose living off corruption as many of our leaders do with panache and impunity is part of being a true Malaysia.
The unfinished Malaysian corruption story
I was honoured last month by the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association with an invitation to deliver the International Keynote Address at their 2010 Conference at the Sydney Hilton.
Three hundred corporate lawyers participated in the two-day conference, with some 400 attending the ACLA Awards Dinner. I was invited to perform a similar task last year by the association, but to my regret and utter shame, I was forced to cancel, at great cost to my Australian hosts, my appearance in Melbourne, their 2009 conference venue.
I found myself a reluctant patient at the Gleneagles Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, with a serious lung infection. The doctor pumped, yes, pumped enough antibiotics into my body to float a destroyer and maybe keep our two valiant submarines happily submerged forever.
It transpired that I had picked up a virus in the Netherlands while attending an ethics conference at the Amsterdam Free University. I was very surprised, to say the least, when I received a repeat invitation from ACLA very early this year. I asked the organisers, in jest, if they realised that they were taking a risk as the same thing might happen again.
Overcoming Corruption: A Regional Challenge was the title of my address. I assured them that there was really no need to feel concerned about the state of health of corruption in the region.
In Malaysia, in particular, in spite of a flurry of activity to put on display the full panoply of anti-corruption paraphernalia, it is all form and no substance, as with most things we see in this land of the Morning Glory. If they wanted my honest opinion, I would say without fear of violent contradiction that corruption in Malaysia was not only alive and well: it was in indecently robust good health. The latest TI Corruption Perceptions Index says it all.
I treated them to a amusing little anecdote about the then newly appointed President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, who at a meeting with senior colleagues, said that something had to be done to reduce corruption in borrowing countries in Asia, Africa and South America. He said that many saw the Bank as part of the problem of corruption. His advisers told him that he should not ever again mention “corruption” as this would upset the Bank’s many clients. The fact that they were all corrupt, and kleptomaniacs to a man, did not seem to matter.
The subject was a taboo in polite society. When Wolfensohn, feeling a little hot under the collar, asked what he should call it then, he was told, quite unabashedly, to refer to it as a ‘C’ word. The point of this true story is that we have all come a long way since and, in a perverse sort of way, so has corruption. Corruption never sleeps.
Malaysia is, ethically speaking, in dire straits. Mahathir founded his administration on corruption, lies and subterfuge. He lied to the nation about the many schemes that were blatantly dishonest. Worse, they were criminal, such as gambling with the EPF money, your money and mine, to corner the international tin market and later the country’s reserves to speculate on the currency market, pitting himself in the latter case against George Soros. The country lost billions. Mahathir succeeded in planting and nurturing a culture of impunity and disinformation that, even long after he left office, has continued to flourish. Of course, the man who cut his business teeth minding a stall at the Pekan Rabu in Alor Setar during the Japanese Occupation can explain all this away by saying that whatever he did, it was done in the national interest. We have heard it all before.
The lawyers represented, and advised, many large Australian companies. They knew their stuff, kept themselves abreast of the region’s economic, social and political developments. There was not an awful lot I could tell them that they did not know already about our appalling standards of public ethics, and the pervasive nature of corrupt practices that both define and circumscribe the way we conduct our business transactions both in and out of the corridors of power. They had heard about our many agencies that provide ample opportunities for the acquisition of personal wealth and abuse of power.
What amazed them, though, was the report about some of our frontline immigration officers stashing away millions of dollars of bribe money. Corrupt officials do not enforce the law, and this has led to easy access into the country of drug and human traffickers and other illegals. And our corruption has turned Malaysia into a conduit for human trafficking into Australia. When we add to this the corruption in the ruling elite, the police, the judiciary, the customs and other key institutions, we have a thoroughly ugly picture of a country fuelled and driven by ethically reprehensible behaviour. I warned the Australians that we welcome their investment, but it only fair to warn them that doing business in Malaysia required more than the usual due diligence because Malaysians were surprisingly adept at turning corruption into a low risk and high return business venture for themselves, “leaving you holding the baby.” The system tolerates and encourages it.
We have, as a nation, been truly sold down the “river of no return” by Mahathir, who now continues to set his version of the moral tone of this country. In what capacity I neither know nor care any more. Flood or pestilence, it is business as usual. In this country, we privatise and politicise everything, including corruption.
A lady in the audience asked if there was anything that could be done to take Malaysia back to the pre-Mahathir values. The short answer is yes, there is. It is possible by turfing out the present administration so that a thorough and complete review of policies and procedures could be put in train to ensure relevance, with mechanisms for checks and balances firmly put in place. All institutions will have to justify their existence and those that are no longer relevant will be closed down. Institutions that have been rendered dysfunctional will be strengthened. The deadwood and the corrupt will be encouraged to take early retirement and meritocracy will be the sole criterion used to determine suitability to lead.
I am absolutely convinced that transforming the administration is not only desirable, but absolutely essential if this country is to succeed in claiming its right to a seat at the top table, among the clean nations that will shape the future of the world. Change, and complete change, is the answer. Malaysians must decide the kind of future they want.
I am anti-national by Najib’s latest definition because I speak the truth in a foreign country about Malaysia’s unsavoury reputation for massive corruption. I suppose living off corruption as many of our leaders do with panache and impunity is part of being a true Malaysia.
Las Vegas spin on Macau prostitutes
Arrests at Venetian Macau linked to alleged prostitution
Macau police on Thursday arrested more than 100 alleged prostitutes that were reportedly operating out of the Venetian Macau.
Also arrested were 22 suspected members of a prostitution syndicate that reportedly controlled the women. Many of the women arrested were described as illegal immigrants.
According to The Standard, a Chinese newspaper, Macau police raided the hotel in the early morning hours after placing the Venetian under surveillance Wednesday.
A Macau police investigator told the newspaper the case is still under investigation by the Gaming and Economic Crimes Investigation Department.
The Venetian Macau is owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Spokesman Ron Reese said "the company will work with the authorities in any way possible."
A member of Macau's Legislative Assembly said this was the first anti-prostitution operation taken at a large Macau hotel-casino.
The representative said illegal prostitution was occurring at the Grand Lisboa, one of the Macau casinos owned by Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho.
Macau police on Thursday arrested more than 100 alleged prostitutes that were reportedly operating out of the Venetian Macau.
Also arrested were 22 suspected members of a prostitution syndicate that reportedly controlled the women. Many of the women arrested were described as illegal immigrants.
According to The Standard, a Chinese newspaper, Macau police raided the hotel in the early morning hours after placing the Venetian under surveillance Wednesday.
A Macau police investigator told the newspaper the case is still under investigation by the Gaming and Economic Crimes Investigation Department.
The Venetian Macau is owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Spokesman Ron Reese said "the company will work with the authorities in any way possible."
A member of Macau's Legislative Assembly said this was the first anti-prostitution operation taken at a large Macau hotel-casino.
The representative said illegal prostitution was occurring at the Grand Lisboa, one of the Macau casinos owned by Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho.
Pennsylvania: Crime, Corruption and Appearances
Pennsylvania, the Cradle of Liberty, passed Gambling legislation at midnight on the Fourth of July, to its discredit.
The flawed and questionable process overlooked many issues and this seems to be one.
How impartial can a public official be receiving campaign contributions from a predatory industry? How is the public protected? Or does it no longer matter and we just surrender control to the Gambling Predators?
Pa. treasurer wins prelim round in gaming lawsuit
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State Treasurer Rob McCord won an important round Friday in his lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, as a state court ruled that the treasurer's office may be entitled to participate in the board's closed-door sessions.
In a 6-0 ruling, the Commonwealth Court rejected the board's preliminary objections to the lawsuit McCord filed in May. McCord has said he filed the suit to make sure he could fully carry out his role of ensuring that taxpayers get a fair return from the casinos.
"The court has recognized my status as a member of the gaming board," McCord asserted. "Now it's up to the board to decide if it wants to continue this pointless fight."
The 2004 law that legalized slot-machine gambling in Pennsylvania and created the board that regulates the industry specifies that the treasurer or his designee will serve as a nonvoting member of the board.
In its preliminary objections, the board argued that only the voting members designated in the gambling law — seven people appointed by legislative leaders from both political parties and the governor — may attend the executive sessions at which personnel actions, business or legal strategies and other confidential matters are discussed.
But the court said the state Sunshine Act, which permits private discussions under certain circumstances and as exceptions to open government, does not limit participation to voting members. The law also prohibits official action from being taken behind closed doors, the court noted.
The judges rejected the board's arguments that allowing the treasurer's office to participate in executive sessions would taint the panel with the appearance of corruption and erode public confidence in the board's supervision of legalized gambling.
The board had cited $80,000 in contributions to McCord's 2008 election campaign from lawyers and lobbyists with ties to the gambling industry. A spokeswoman for McCord, Corinna Vecsey Wilson, said Friday the money represented legal contributions by donors with diverse interests not limited to gambling.
The court sided with McCord.
"We do not see how the involvement of the treasurer pursuant to statute creates any appearance of impropriety," President Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter wrote in the court's opinion.
In a written statement, the board said it was reviewing the decision "to determine the current impact as well as the next steps of the still-ongoing proceedings."
McCord, a political newcomer and former venture capitalist from the Philadelphia suburbs, is one of three nonvoting "ex-officio" members of the gaming board and the only one elected by Pennsylvania voters.
In his lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment, McCord said the board sought to marginalize his involvement by discouraging his participation at regular meetings and barring him from attending executive sessions.
The board has denied that it is being unreasonable.
The flawed and questionable process overlooked many issues and this seems to be one.
How impartial can a public official be receiving campaign contributions from a predatory industry? How is the public protected? Or does it no longer matter and we just surrender control to the Gambling Predators?
Pa. treasurer wins prelim round in gaming lawsuit
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State Treasurer Rob McCord won an important round Friday in his lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, as a state court ruled that the treasurer's office may be entitled to participate in the board's closed-door sessions.
In a 6-0 ruling, the Commonwealth Court rejected the board's preliminary objections to the lawsuit McCord filed in May. McCord has said he filed the suit to make sure he could fully carry out his role of ensuring that taxpayers get a fair return from the casinos.
"The court has recognized my status as a member of the gaming board," McCord asserted. "Now it's up to the board to decide if it wants to continue this pointless fight."
The 2004 law that legalized slot-machine gambling in Pennsylvania and created the board that regulates the industry specifies that the treasurer or his designee will serve as a nonvoting member of the board.
In its preliminary objections, the board argued that only the voting members designated in the gambling law — seven people appointed by legislative leaders from both political parties and the governor — may attend the executive sessions at which personnel actions, business or legal strategies and other confidential matters are discussed.
But the court said the state Sunshine Act, which permits private discussions under certain circumstances and as exceptions to open government, does not limit participation to voting members. The law also prohibits official action from being taken behind closed doors, the court noted.
The judges rejected the board's arguments that allowing the treasurer's office to participate in executive sessions would taint the panel with the appearance of corruption and erode public confidence in the board's supervision of legalized gambling.
The board had cited $80,000 in contributions to McCord's 2008 election campaign from lawyers and lobbyists with ties to the gambling industry. A spokeswoman for McCord, Corinna Vecsey Wilson, said Friday the money represented legal contributions by donors with diverse interests not limited to gambling.
The court sided with McCord.
"We do not see how the involvement of the treasurer pursuant to statute creates any appearance of impropriety," President Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter wrote in the court's opinion.
In a written statement, the board said it was reviewing the decision "to determine the current impact as well as the next steps of the still-ongoing proceedings."
McCord, a political newcomer and former venture capitalist from the Philadelphia suburbs, is one of three nonvoting "ex-officio" members of the gaming board and the only one elected by Pennsylvania voters.
In his lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment, McCord said the board sought to marginalize his involvement by discouraging his participation at regular meetings and barring him from attending executive sessions.
The board has denied that it is being unreasonable.
Gambling Addicted Football Player seeks reconciliation
Fevola begs wife to take him back
Brendan Fevola has reportedly tried to "win" back his estranged wife.
The Australian Football League star, whose wife Alex walked out on him when he admitted to having a gambling addiction earlier this year, is believed to be "desperate" to reconcile as a family.
The couple, who have 10-year-old Mia, 4-year-old Leni and 11-month-old Lulu, allegedly spent time in Melbourne together recently to see if they had a future.
A friend of Fevola told Woman's Day magazine: "This was Brendan's big attempt to win Alex back. He's desperate... he realises he needs her now more than ever.
"Brendan bought Alex a brand new Audi SUV. It cost him about $70,000 (£44,000). He wanted to show her he'd worked hard not to waste his pay cheque on gambling, like he had in the past. He earns hundreds of thousands of dollars each season."
Earlier this year, Alex said that she left Fevola to make him "wake up" to his addiction.
Brendan Fevola has reportedly tried to "win" back his estranged wife.
The Australian Football League star, whose wife Alex walked out on him when he admitted to having a gambling addiction earlier this year, is believed to be "desperate" to reconcile as a family.
The couple, who have 10-year-old Mia, 4-year-old Leni and 11-month-old Lulu, allegedly spent time in Melbourne together recently to see if they had a future.
A friend of Fevola told Woman's Day magazine: "This was Brendan's big attempt to win Alex back. He's desperate... he realises he needs her now more than ever.
"Brendan bought Alex a brand new Audi SUV. It cost him about $70,000 (£44,000). He wanted to show her he'd worked hard not to waste his pay cheque on gambling, like he had in the past. He earns hundreds of thousands of dollars each season."
Earlier this year, Alex said that she left Fevola to make him "wake up" to his addiction.
Corruption: “Pay to Prey”
Corruption: “Pay to Prey”
Casino Interests are the Most Powerful Political Force in America Today
Six out of ten of the top funders of political causes nationwide are casino interests. For more information about how much money gambling interests spend to influence our political process, please visit the Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org and see their Influence and Lobbying section as well as their National Donor Profiles section.
Casino Interests are the Most Powerful Political Force in America Today
Six out of ten of the top funders of political causes nationwide are casino interests. For more information about how much money gambling interests spend to influence our political process, please visit the Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org and see their Influence and Lobbying section as well as their National Donor Profiles section.
Reservation Shopping
The Lame Duck Congress, in its waning days, seeks to reward generous campaign donors.
Feinstein's casino plan draws anger from tribes
Proposed legislation would curtail Indian casinos on "newly acquired" land
By John Simerman
With just days left in a lame-duck Congress, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is stirring an uproar among Native American tribes across the country with her push to thwart them from gaining casino footholds in urban areas, or anywhere away from their clearly defined turf.
A staunch opponent of Indian casinos in the Bay Area, Feinstein wields formidable power as chairwoman of an appropriations subcommittee that holds the purse strings for the Department of Interior, which oversees Indian land issues. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada reportedly backs her proposed legislation, while many tribal leaders and advocates attack it as a harsh broadside against "Indian Country."
"She has her eye on the Bay Area, but (her plan) would grotesquely and adversely affect many tribes across the country," said Judith Shapiro, a Washington attorney who represents several tribes with a stake in the outcome. "There's a lot of power in play right now."
Feinstein telegraphed her move last week in an opinion section piece in Bay Area News Group papers, casting last month's advisory vote in Richmond against a casino at Point Molate as a symbol of public concern over urban casinos in California. She and other critics say urban casinos would betray the will of state voters who a decade ago authorized gaming on Indian lands.
Federal regulations say tribes such as the Guidiville and Scotts Valley bands of Pomo Indians -- which seek casino land at Point
Molate and in North Richmond, respectively -- must show a "significant historical connection" to the area of the proposed casino, as well as a modern connection.
Those terms allow for interpretation, to account for varied tribal circumstances. Feinstein aims to wrench away the wiggle room.
According to documents provided by her office, she wants to force tribes to prove "substantial direct" modern and aboriginal ties to newly acquired casino land. Alternate language circulating on Capitol Hill would make tribes show a "clear and convincing historical and modern-day connection" to a proposed casino site.
Either way, tribal advocates fear it would bar virtually any casino project on newly acquired land -- even rural sites for landless tribes that have fought to regain federal recognition.
Feinstein has tied her move to a separate bid in Congress to unwind a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year, known as "Carcieri," that stripped the Interior Department of the power to place any land in federal trust for tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction in 1934. Tribal interests have lobbied nearly two years for a "Carcieri fix."
That fix, Feinstein argues, would allow "reservation shopping" to continue. "If the Senate takes up this bill, I plan to offer legislation to make clear, once and for all, that reservation shopping is not acceptable in California," she wrote.
The House on Wednesday passed a Carcieri fix as part of a larger appropriations bill.
Shapiro, the tribal attorney, said fear of reservation shopping is overblown, noting that the Interior Department has approved a handful of "off-reservation" projects in more than two decades.
One gambling watchdog praised Feinstein's proposal, predicting it would stymie both Richmond-area casino plans.
"It's another layer that makes it very difficult for any of these tribes to move to an urban location," said Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up for California.
The Point Molate plan already stands on shaky political ground, after Richmond voters rejected Measure U on Nov. 2 and ushered in a firm anti-casino majority to the City Council. A spokesman for the Guidiville tribe did not return calls.
Feinstein's plan also threatens six years of Scotts Valley tribe work for a casino development along Richmond Parkway, spokesman Eric Zell said. The tribe, which like the Guidiville was restored to federal recognition through a settlement, argues that ancestors populated land around nearby San Pablo Bay.
Under Feinstein's plan, "we'd have to show there was some kind of direct aboriginal connection to the parcel of land we're proposing," Zell said. "That's not how the game has been set up. We're not going to find (tribal ancestors') bones underneath the greenhouse, and that's not what is required."
Several California tribes are angry with Feinstein for a lack of transparency and failure to consult them, Zell said. They also worry about deals between Feinstein and Reid. The Senate majority leader continued Thursday to push legislation backed by Nevada casino interests to legalize online gambling and to give established casino and racetrack operators a leg up in licensing.
Feinstein's casino plan draws anger from tribes
Proposed legislation would curtail Indian casinos on "newly acquired" land
By John Simerman
With just days left in a lame-duck Congress, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is stirring an uproar among Native American tribes across the country with her push to thwart them from gaining casino footholds in urban areas, or anywhere away from their clearly defined turf.
A staunch opponent of Indian casinos in the Bay Area, Feinstein wields formidable power as chairwoman of an appropriations subcommittee that holds the purse strings for the Department of Interior, which oversees Indian land issues. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada reportedly backs her proposed legislation, while many tribal leaders and advocates attack it as a harsh broadside against "Indian Country."
"She has her eye on the Bay Area, but (her plan) would grotesquely and adversely affect many tribes across the country," said Judith Shapiro, a Washington attorney who represents several tribes with a stake in the outcome. "There's a lot of power in play right now."
Feinstein telegraphed her move last week in an opinion section piece in Bay Area News Group papers, casting last month's advisory vote in Richmond against a casino at Point Molate as a symbol of public concern over urban casinos in California. She and other critics say urban casinos would betray the will of state voters who a decade ago authorized gaming on Indian lands.
Federal regulations say tribes such as the Guidiville and Scotts Valley bands of Pomo Indians -- which seek casino land at Point
Molate and in North Richmond, respectively -- must show a "significant historical connection" to the area of the proposed casino, as well as a modern connection.
Those terms allow for interpretation, to account for varied tribal circumstances. Feinstein aims to wrench away the wiggle room.
According to documents provided by her office, she wants to force tribes to prove "substantial direct" modern and aboriginal ties to newly acquired casino land. Alternate language circulating on Capitol Hill would make tribes show a "clear and convincing historical and modern-day connection" to a proposed casino site.
Either way, tribal advocates fear it would bar virtually any casino project on newly acquired land -- even rural sites for landless tribes that have fought to regain federal recognition.
Feinstein has tied her move to a separate bid in Congress to unwind a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year, known as "Carcieri," that stripped the Interior Department of the power to place any land in federal trust for tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction in 1934. Tribal interests have lobbied nearly two years for a "Carcieri fix."
That fix, Feinstein argues, would allow "reservation shopping" to continue. "If the Senate takes up this bill, I plan to offer legislation to make clear, once and for all, that reservation shopping is not acceptable in California," she wrote.
The House on Wednesday passed a Carcieri fix as part of a larger appropriations bill.
Shapiro, the tribal attorney, said fear of reservation shopping is overblown, noting that the Interior Department has approved a handful of "off-reservation" projects in more than two decades.
One gambling watchdog praised Feinstein's proposal, predicting it would stymie both Richmond-area casino plans.
"It's another layer that makes it very difficult for any of these tribes to move to an urban location," said Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up for California.
The Point Molate plan already stands on shaky political ground, after Richmond voters rejected Measure U on Nov. 2 and ushered in a firm anti-casino majority to the City Council. A spokesman for the Guidiville tribe did not return calls.
Feinstein's plan also threatens six years of Scotts Valley tribe work for a casino development along Richmond Parkway, spokesman Eric Zell said. The tribe, which like the Guidiville was restored to federal recognition through a settlement, argues that ancestors populated land around nearby San Pablo Bay.
Under Feinstein's plan, "we'd have to show there was some kind of direct aboriginal connection to the parcel of land we're proposing," Zell said. "That's not how the game has been set up. We're not going to find (tribal ancestors') bones underneath the greenhouse, and that's not what is required."
Several California tribes are angry with Feinstein for a lack of transparency and failure to consult them, Zell said. They also worry about deals between Feinstein and Reid. The Senate majority leader continued Thursday to push legislation backed by Nevada casino interests to legalize online gambling and to give established casino and racetrack operators a leg up in licensing.
Alabama: Crime and Corruption
NLR mayor subpoenaed in public corruption trial
LITTLE ROCK — North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays said today he has been subpoenaed as a defense witness in the federal trial of a city alderman named in a public corruption indictment.
Alderman Sam Baggett, a former arms dealer, faces six counts involving weapons transactions with co-defendant George Wylie Thompson, a reputed mobster from Cabot. Their trial began Tuesday.
Hays said today said a subpoena was faxed to his office while he was out of town.
“I haven’t talked to the lawyer and I really don’t know why I’m on there,” the mayor said. “I am assuming as a character witness” for Baggett, he said.
Baggett lawyer John Wesley Hall said earlier this week that 32 people were on the defense’s list of potential witnesses, including Hays and five current or former members of the city council.
Also on the list is former alderman Cary Gaines, who was named with Baggett and Thompson in a 2009 federal indictment.
Gaines pleaded guilty Monday to a conspiracy charge and admitted in court that he participated with Thompson in a scheme to rig bids for North Little Rock public works projects to pay gambling debts he said he owed to Thompson.
Testimony has proceeded slowly in the Baggett-Thompson trial. In court today, prosecutors played recordings from court-authorized wiretaps of conversations federal authorities say bolster their claims that Thompson bought and sold guns through Baggett.
Baggett is accused of selling guns and ammunition to a felon, Thompson, which is illegal.
Agents with the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized 147 guns and more than 87,000 rounds of ammunition in searches of Thompson properties in Cabot and northern Pulaski County.
Of the guns seized, 102 were introduced as evidence and filled up most of three tables in the center of the courtroom. Five silencers also were introduced.
ATF Special Agent Glen Jordan, who spent most of the day on the stand, conservatively estimated the value of the guns at $75,000.
LITTLE ROCK — North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays said today he has been subpoenaed as a defense witness in the federal trial of a city alderman named in a public corruption indictment.
Alderman Sam Baggett, a former arms dealer, faces six counts involving weapons transactions with co-defendant George Wylie Thompson, a reputed mobster from Cabot. Their trial began Tuesday.
Hays said today said a subpoena was faxed to his office while he was out of town.
“I haven’t talked to the lawyer and I really don’t know why I’m on there,” the mayor said. “I am assuming as a character witness” for Baggett, he said.
Baggett lawyer John Wesley Hall said earlier this week that 32 people were on the defense’s list of potential witnesses, including Hays and five current or former members of the city council.
Also on the list is former alderman Cary Gaines, who was named with Baggett and Thompson in a 2009 federal indictment.
Gaines pleaded guilty Monday to a conspiracy charge and admitted in court that he participated with Thompson in a scheme to rig bids for North Little Rock public works projects to pay gambling debts he said he owed to Thompson.
Testimony has proceeded slowly in the Baggett-Thompson trial. In court today, prosecutors played recordings from court-authorized wiretaps of conversations federal authorities say bolster their claims that Thompson bought and sold guns through Baggett.
Baggett is accused of selling guns and ammunition to a felon, Thompson, which is illegal.
Agents with the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized 147 guns and more than 87,000 rounds of ammunition in searches of Thompson properties in Cabot and northern Pulaski County.
Of the guns seized, 102 were introduced as evidence and filled up most of three tables in the center of the courtroom. Five silencers also were introduced.
ATF Special Agent Glen Jordan, who spent most of the day on the stand, conservatively estimated the value of the guns at $75,000.
Pennsylvania: Crime and Corruption and Influence
DA's request for outside jury in Orie case odd
By Bobby Kerlik
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
A request for a jury from outside Allegheny County to hear state Sen. Jane Orie's corruption case may be a first for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s office, court watchers and experts said Thursday.
"Usually this request is made by the defense. To see this request made by the (prosecution) is striking," said University of Pittsburgh law professor John Burkoff.
"But this case is unusual. Here you have a defendant who has the means and the will to attack the prosecution offensively and defensively."
Zappala's office said it made the request this week because the McCandless Republican "fabricated" allegations against the Democratic prosecutor and his family that likened the charges to a "mafia hit."
Orie is charged with theft, conflict of interest and tampering with evidence. Janine Orie, an aide to their sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, faces similar charges. Zappala's office said they forced employees to conduct political work on public time.
The Ories and their lawyers have said the charges are politically motivated because Zappala's family has contacts with gambling interests and Jane Orie is a vocal critic of the state's casino industry.
Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning will hear arguments on the request Monday. Orie attorney William Costopoulos said he will oppose the move, and he asked why prosecutors don't "trust the same jurors they pick from every day."
Zappala spokesman Mike Manko said the office would respond in court.
Requests for a jury selected from outside the county typically come from the defense, experts said. Manning granted a defense request this year to pick an outside jury in the case against Richard Poplawski, who is charged with fatally shooting three Pittsburgh police officers in 2009. Zappala's office opposed that request.
Jerry Shuster, a political communications professor at Pitt, said an outside jury takes politics and personalities out of the case.
"It's a wise move, frankly, I think," Shuster said. "I think (Zappala) is trying to avoid what happened in the Wecht case and not make the same mistake Mary Beth Buchanan did. Wecht allowed her to be the defendant in the case."
Buchanan, a Republican former U.S. Attorney, failed to win a political corruption case against the former county coroner, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, a powerful Democrat who had his own battles with Zappala.
Zappala's request mentions Orie's recent campaign ads, speeches on the Senate floor, and remarks by her and previous attorneys that characterized the charges as a personal "vendetta." Orie won re-election to the Senate last month.
Orie brought her fight against Zappala into the election, while the prosecutor has remained largely quiet, Shuster said.
"If she's as innocent as her attorney makes her out to be, that should be even more evident to people from outside the county," Shuster said.
Former District Attorney Robert Colville, now a Superior Court judge, said there were times during his tenure from 1976-98 that his office did not object to an out-of-county jury, but he said he doesn't recall filing one.
By Bobby Kerlik
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
A request for a jury from outside Allegheny County to hear state Sen. Jane Orie's corruption case may be a first for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s office, court watchers and experts said Thursday.
"Usually this request is made by the defense. To see this request made by the (prosecution) is striking," said University of Pittsburgh law professor John Burkoff.
"But this case is unusual. Here you have a defendant who has the means and the will to attack the prosecution offensively and defensively."
Zappala's office said it made the request this week because the McCandless Republican "fabricated" allegations against the Democratic prosecutor and his family that likened the charges to a "mafia hit."
Orie is charged with theft, conflict of interest and tampering with evidence. Janine Orie, an aide to their sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, faces similar charges. Zappala's office said they forced employees to conduct political work on public time.
The Ories and their lawyers have said the charges are politically motivated because Zappala's family has contacts with gambling interests and Jane Orie is a vocal critic of the state's casino industry.
Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning will hear arguments on the request Monday. Orie attorney William Costopoulos said he will oppose the move, and he asked why prosecutors don't "trust the same jurors they pick from every day."
Zappala spokesman Mike Manko said the office would respond in court.
Requests for a jury selected from outside the county typically come from the defense, experts said. Manning granted a defense request this year to pick an outside jury in the case against Richard Poplawski, who is charged with fatally shooting three Pittsburgh police officers in 2009. Zappala's office opposed that request.
Jerry Shuster, a political communications professor at Pitt, said an outside jury takes politics and personalities out of the case.
"It's a wise move, frankly, I think," Shuster said. "I think (Zappala) is trying to avoid what happened in the Wecht case and not make the same mistake Mary Beth Buchanan did. Wecht allowed her to be the defendant in the case."
Buchanan, a Republican former U.S. Attorney, failed to win a political corruption case against the former county coroner, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, a powerful Democrat who had his own battles with Zappala.
Zappala's request mentions Orie's recent campaign ads, speeches on the Senate floor, and remarks by her and previous attorneys that characterized the charges as a personal "vendetta." Orie won re-election to the Senate last month.
Orie brought her fight against Zappala into the election, while the prosecutor has remained largely quiet, Shuster said.
"If she's as innocent as her attorney makes her out to be, that should be even more evident to people from outside the county," Shuster said.
Former District Attorney Robert Colville, now a Superior Court judge, said there were times during his tenure from 1976-98 that his office did not object to an out-of-county jury, but he said he doesn't recall filing one.
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