On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:39:44 -0500, flipper wrote:

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:38:30 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:03:04 -0500, flipper wrote:

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:28:39 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:14:34 -0500, flipper wrote:

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:28:53 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:16:46 -0400, WangoTango
wrote:

In article ,
m says...
On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:20:49 -0700, Rich Grise
wrote:

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:56:07 -0700, John Larkin wrote:
On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:45:47 -0400, WangoTango
...
Ah, but the Casino debt was one VOLUNTARILY entered into.

When professionals use psychologists and advertizing and architects and
electronics and alcohol to predictably separate compulsive gamblers from
their assets, it's not exactly "voluntary."

Oh, feh. Are you volunteering to be The Great Nanny?

Gambling used to be illegal in most states. It still should be.
We all take risks every day.
Why shouldn't I be allowed to decide which ones?

As long as you don't run a casino, go for it.

You won't let him because you're determined to make 'gambling'
illegal.


Professional, casino/lottery type gambling used to be illegal in most
places.

And no one gambled, right? Except in homes, back alleys, and
speakeasys next to the 'prohibition' bar.

Yes. My family used to gather on Saturday nights and drink beer and
play poker, while the kids went wild in another room. The game was
fair.

But you'd make it illegal anyway.

Not casual gambling. But casinos are gigabuck enterprises that use
massive resources to impoverish their customers.


Casinos and lotteries aren't fair;

I have no idea what your definition of 'fair' is nor how you arrive at
the conclusion every casino on the planet is 'unfair' but I doubt
you've done a study.

Any casino that consistantly makes a profit (ie, stays in business)
has stacked the statistics against the players.

Gambling on pinball machines is still illegal in many places. Video
games are sometimes destructive, as is television, but there's no
prectical way to eliminate them.

Sure there is. Write a law. We can send cops around smashing them to
bits just like we did with stills and speakeasys.

There's no point in doing things that won't work. The Las Vegas strip
is kind of hard to hide.


Casinos and meth labs are things we
can do something about.

A Casino is *not* a methlab nor is it physically addictive.

As I've already said, the issue is free will and informed consent.
Physically addictive substances remove free will.

Some people become addicted to gambling, enough to ruin their lives.
Lots of old, poor people spend a heap on lottery tickets. Lotteries
and professional gambling establishments use professional tools,
including false advertising, to get them addicted.


Frankly, I only just teeter to the other side with physically
addictive drugs and, even then, I'm not entirely sure the chosen
'cure' isn't worse than the disease.

I'm personally anti-addictive. If I do too much of anything, even
pleasurable drugs, I get bored and want less of it. And I feel sorry
for people who are addictive and have contempt for the people who
exploit them.


The only principle involved is trying to make
life better wherever we can.

Pardon me for saying so but if you think government dictating against
the citizen's free will is 'making life better' then you're dancing
down the yellow brick road to hell and it's down right scary how the
word "freedom" has almost vanished from political discourse in this
country.

Consider seat belts.

John