Dear Friends:
Hello! Somebody asked me the other day what one or two things most concerned me about our world. I thought this would be a great question to ask you and my other friends and other “linked” email acquaintances (those of you listed on other emails).
I will categorize all responses (anonymously, of course) and if you wish share the findings.
PLEASE—think about the one or two issues that you are truly concerned about in terms of how they may affect the future welfare of your world and our world (one and the same really). Could be local, regional, national, international, and even inter-galactic!
After categorizing the responses I will then enlist us all to ADDRESS these concerns. We'll brainstorm and devise solutions that get to the roots of the problems.
I appreciate your input.
Take care, Richard
PS PLEASE share widely, the more responses the better!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Gambling’s False Lure
Kentucky is officially in the Twilight Zone. While we are desperately trying to escape the negative image of being a backward state that is perpetually behind the times our would be leaders either actively promote or refuse to ardently oppose an activity that will tighten the noose of false hopes and low expectations.
Casino gambling is a proven economic loser and spirit killing enterprise that delivers precisely the opposite of its falsely claimed benefits. One need only look at the experience of states that have already accepted gambling’s Faustian bargain. Illinois is essentially bankrupt. Nevada’s budget is busted, as is Rhode Island’s. As Donald Carcieri, the governor of Rhode Island, correctly said, "There is no evidence whatsoever that states with large gambling revenue are any better off financially." He noted that both Rhode Island and Connecticut had substantial gambling revenue, yet still suffered huge deficits. Tragically, gambling state after gambling state has also suffered skyrocketing crime, suicide, bankruptcy and foreclosing rates.
Professor John Warren Kindt, a leading researcher has long cited the facts that destroy the myth of slots salvation. He has testified to these facts in Congressional hearings under oath and in the presence of gambling industry lawyers who have not and cannot refute him. In fact every academic study, that is every study NOT funded by the gambling industry, conclusively exposes the fraudulent claims of the gambling industry.
Beyond the financial loss to individuals and traditional pre-existing businesses lie the very real and traumatic human costs. So well documented are these sorry statistics that the federally funded National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended a moratorium on the spread of gambling in 1998. Yet the gambling industry’s dangle of easy money has blinded the short-sighted leadership of many states to ignore the truth and so lead the nation down a futile race to the bottom.
Strong leadership would heed the lessons of history. A similar gambling scourge swept the country in the late 1800’s. It got so bad that states, including Kentucky, changed their constitutions to forbid such gambling. Today’s electronic gambling options are much more lethal. Indeed slots are the “crack cocaine” of gambling as the lickety-split action and manipulated pay-offs are intentionally designed to hook gamblers. Conversely, the pari-mutuel wagers on horse racing pose no such threat and Professor Kindt has said that casinos in Kentucky’s tracks will eventually kill the thoroughbred industry.
If we hope to reach the higher rungs on the ladder of progress Kentucky’s leaders must chart an alternative course. We should instead be the casino gambling-free state that trumpets good citizenship, teamwork, education and industry. Prospective employers absolutely relish the strong foundations built on these time proven traits and deplore the hypocrisy of gambling’s false claims that mock our slogan, “education pays.”
Warren Buffett agrees. America’s premiere business expert railed against casino gambling: “States shouldn’t be in the position of selling the needle. It should not be a sponsor of spreading addiction. For a state to prey upon its citizens to create more of these addictions is wrong. It is cynical for a state to raise money from people who basically can’t afford it by promising a dream that is not going to come true for any but the tiniest, tiniest fraction of people who participate. The 99 percent (who don’t win) lose the ability to take a family to the movie, buy a toy for Christmas or, worse yet, they become and addict and lose everything they have. By promoting gambling, states are trying to get you to do something dumb. States should be doing something for its citizens.”
George Washington, America’s most trusted founding father, likewise warned against gambling: “In a word, few gain by this abominable practice (the profit, if any, being diffused) while thousands are injured."
The only gubernatorial candidate to actively oppose expanded gambling is Republican Billy Harper who correctly said “We simply cannot base out future economy on the quicksand of hypothetical gambling revenues."
Instead of pimping, Kentucky should be promoting its citizens’ highest values. By emphasizing and improving these core values we will improve our economy and create more wealth that will stay in Kentucky. And with such long-term focus we will shed the backward stereotypes we wish to erase.
Casino gambling is a proven economic loser and spirit killing enterprise that delivers precisely the opposite of its falsely claimed benefits. One need only look at the experience of states that have already accepted gambling’s Faustian bargain. Illinois is essentially bankrupt. Nevada’s budget is busted, as is Rhode Island’s. As Donald Carcieri, the governor of Rhode Island, correctly said, "There is no evidence whatsoever that states with large gambling revenue are any better off financially." He noted that both Rhode Island and Connecticut had substantial gambling revenue, yet still suffered huge deficits. Tragically, gambling state after gambling state has also suffered skyrocketing crime, suicide, bankruptcy and foreclosing rates.
Professor John Warren Kindt, a leading researcher has long cited the facts that destroy the myth of slots salvation. He has testified to these facts in Congressional hearings under oath and in the presence of gambling industry lawyers who have not and cannot refute him. In fact every academic study, that is every study NOT funded by the gambling industry, conclusively exposes the fraudulent claims of the gambling industry.
Beyond the financial loss to individuals and traditional pre-existing businesses lie the very real and traumatic human costs. So well documented are these sorry statistics that the federally funded National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended a moratorium on the spread of gambling in 1998. Yet the gambling industry’s dangle of easy money has blinded the short-sighted leadership of many states to ignore the truth and so lead the nation down a futile race to the bottom.
Strong leadership would heed the lessons of history. A similar gambling scourge swept the country in the late 1800’s. It got so bad that states, including Kentucky, changed their constitutions to forbid such gambling. Today’s electronic gambling options are much more lethal. Indeed slots are the “crack cocaine” of gambling as the lickety-split action and manipulated pay-offs are intentionally designed to hook gamblers. Conversely, the pari-mutuel wagers on horse racing pose no such threat and Professor Kindt has said that casinos in Kentucky’s tracks will eventually kill the thoroughbred industry.
If we hope to reach the higher rungs on the ladder of progress Kentucky’s leaders must chart an alternative course. We should instead be the casino gambling-free state that trumpets good citizenship, teamwork, education and industry. Prospective employers absolutely relish the strong foundations built on these time proven traits and deplore the hypocrisy of gambling’s false claims that mock our slogan, “education pays.”
Warren Buffett agrees. America’s premiere business expert railed against casino gambling: “States shouldn’t be in the position of selling the needle. It should not be a sponsor of spreading addiction. For a state to prey upon its citizens to create more of these addictions is wrong. It is cynical for a state to raise money from people who basically can’t afford it by promising a dream that is not going to come true for any but the tiniest, tiniest fraction of people who participate. The 99 percent (who don’t win) lose the ability to take a family to the movie, buy a toy for Christmas or, worse yet, they become and addict and lose everything they have. By promoting gambling, states are trying to get you to do something dumb. States should be doing something for its citizens.”
George Washington, America’s most trusted founding father, likewise warned against gambling: “In a word, few gain by this abominable practice (the profit, if any, being diffused) while thousands are injured."
The only gubernatorial candidate to actively oppose expanded gambling is Republican Billy Harper who correctly said “We simply cannot base out future economy on the quicksand of hypothetical gambling revenues."
Instead of pimping, Kentucky should be promoting its citizens’ highest values. By emphasizing and improving these core values we will improve our economy and create more wealth that will stay in Kentucky. And with such long-term focus we will shed the backward stereotypes we wish to erase.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
What’s Bad For Kids, Is Bad For Adults
Seems incredible. All over Africa criminal warlords have, over the last decade, forced children to become ruthless killers. With a combination of black magic--whereupon warlords manipulate young boys into believing they have supernatural powers—drugs and unimaginable cruelty (forced execution of family and friends) have they created these young soldiers.
According to the UN and Human Rights Watch the nearly 300,000 kid killers, as young as 8, are not only trained to kill without a second’s hesitation, they are also abused as sex slaves, spies and human shields. [Full CNN story:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/02/12/child.soldiers/index.html].
The real problem, apart from the utter…well there just aren’t words to express how repulsive this is, like trying to describe the unimaginable horror of the holocaust…of this utter abomination is that journalists write and we read about it as if the outrageous part is simply the young age of the soldiers and the forcing of such young children to kill when in reality the brutality which we find so revolting when done by children does not become less so as the age of the perpetrator goes up.
In other words, if it’s bad for kids to do, it is likewise bad for adults.
This truth applies to many activities which society deems acceptable above a certain age. “Adult movies?” Same thing. If it’s not appropriate for kids, while legal and permissible they probably aren’t good for adults. Alcohol? One need only see the toll of abuse to agree with my premise. Sex? Wel-l-l-l, again, one can see that irresponsible sex at any age—and there is probably much more of this by those over 18 than under—can be troublesome.
Obviously, while this is most certainly a call for the curtailment of war and the aggressive use of soldiers at any age, especially in the cause of false pre-emption, this is not a call for abstention from racy movies, fine wine or carnal knowledge. Rather it is a guide for the ideal. If it’s bad for kids, it probably is not so good for adults.
Whew, I’m ready for a beer!
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