Carpe Diem: Seize the Day: States Use Gambling to Save Economy

REBLOG> Carpe Diem: Seize the Day: States Use Gambling to Save Economy:
Phil Andows' Original Blog

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Gambling Addiction

Policymakers in USA is starting to see gambling as a panacea to be the cure for all economic ills but gambling addiction it the ugly side of the coin. USA Today is in the view that gambling states are addicted to easy money in its report dated 25 Sep 2014. The Editorial Board cited New Jersey are the prime example of the worst offenders in the world of gambling. "They are both addicts and pushers. They throw temper tantrums and upset settled policy when their fix of gambling revenue runs low."

Save the Economy

New Jersey began offering online gambling last year to bring in more tax revenue as Atlantic City casino revenue took a sharp dive. Since the revenue from the online gambling was not much of a help, the state will come up with more gambling products. Governor Chris Christie has given the green light for casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting. A federal judge will hear Christie's argument on Oct 6 as a 1992 federal law banned the practice in all but four states where it previously existed.

Gambling Expanded Widely

The good days are gone. Christie can't expect gambling to be the savior. New Jersey is no longer the gambling mecca of the East Coast. Adjoining states - Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware - have all opened casinos recently. As of 2012, America had 513 state-licensed casinos, plus 466 on tribal lands. With more players, it is obviously going to be less share for the same pie.

Gambling Destroys Lives

There is a deadly social cost for gambling. Compulsive gambling habits from 1% to 2% of gamblers are known to destroy lives. People lose their jobs, families and self-confidence due to heavy losses. A study done by Baylor University in 2011 estimated the cost of gambling ill at $9,393 per compulsive gambler per year. The state should explore alternatives instead of always relying on gambling to bail them out.

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Veronica Glowsome Commented

It is like a gambit in chess. A small piece is sacrificed to gain advantage. The gambit here is 1% to 2% of gamblers who will turn into rotten gamblers.

My Comments

Strategic planing or chess, as Veron sees it, few will have to make sacrifice for the majority.

Light and Easy Talk: Casino Regulators Ruled Unshuffled Cards in Mini-b...

REBLOG> Light and Easy Talk: Casino Regulators Ruled Unshuffled Cards in Mini-baccarat Legal:

Golden Nugget Casino

An unshuffled card game for mini-baccarat at the Golden Nugget Atlantic City on 30 April 2012 was ruled illegal under state casino rules because the cards had been unshuffled. Superior Court judge James Isman had vindicated the Golden Nugget in his ruling on 14 June 2014. It should be noted that the New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement fined the casino for the unshuffled cards.

The Incident

Gamblers capitalized on the unshuffled cards by increasing their bets from $10 to $5,000 per hand after seeing the same sequence of cards being dealt over and over again. Gamblers rode on a forty-one consecutive winning streak on this day. They were surrounded by casino security that was eager to find evidence to show that they were cheating. The security personnel was unable to spot the unshuffled cards because they were all focused on the wrong thing.

New Jersey's Consistency

The New Jersey casino regulators recently ruled that the game in which gamblers won $1.5 million did not violate any rules or laws, the Associated Press reported on 24 Sep 2014. The consistency with the New Jersey casino regulators and the Division of Gaming Enforcement should be applauded.

Timely Ruling

The call by the New Jersey case had been timely as the case had been reinstated the CBS Philly reported on 4 Sep 2014. Isman recently retired and a different judge granted a motion to reconsider the decision. Judge Allen Littlefield said that the gamblers can continue the discovery process and argue their case at trial this fall.

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My Comments

I hope it will be fair to gamblers this time because they did not cheat.

Anything Under the Sun: China Corruption Blitz Hits Macau Junkets

REBLOG> Anything Under the Sun: China Corruption Blitz Hits Macau Junkets:
SavySeph's Original Blog

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Laundering Money

Rotten gamblers, especially the whale bettors, could be mistaken for money laundering. This may be the assumption of Chinese President, Xi Jinpin. His crackdown on corrupt officials and tycoons is starting to drain China. This almost 2 years blitz had caused the sale of luxury good to dwindle and the VIP rooms at Macau casinos to slow down. It had driven rotten gamblers to other gambling destinations. This is like sending away the goose that laid the golden egg to your fellow neighbors. The claim of coming by a windfall from the casino is not that easy to justify with the generous amount of surveillance camera covering the casino. Coming up with the bankroll to make the amass the extraordinary win would be a great question mark.

Macau's Casino Junket Squeeze

The prolonged crackdown is now starting to squeeze the junkets in Macau. As the Chinese economy dragged its feet, the whale gamblers shy away. In Macau, whale gamblers will punt HK$1 million without second thoughts. Junkets who lend them money and settle their debts are not longer as flexible as debt recovery is not as easy. Authorities are digging junkets for information on Junkets are had left the industry. Chinese officials suspected of corruption who may be laundering money through Macau. The pressure is too much that, "I can't sleep at night. There are just too many problems," said one 54-year-old junket operator who didn't want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "I'm not optimistic for the future of the VIP junket industry here." Of Macau's 220 licensed junket firms, at least 15 have shut up shop in the big casinos this year the Reuters reported on 24 Sep 2014.

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My Comments

More junkets will be out of business of this crackdown continues.

Filling Bottles: Restaurateur Drugged Customers with Poppy Laced No...

REBLOG> Filling Bottles: Restaurateur Drugged Customers with Poppy Laced Noodles...:
Sue DaJi's Original Blog

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Addictive Noodles

A restaurant owner in Yan'an, Shaanxi province cunningly added an addictive ingredient into his noodles to keep his customers coming back. Zhang uses poppy buds, which he crushed up into powder and mixed into meals as his secret recipe. An anti-narcotics police agent said that chemicals from poppy, even poppy seedpods, could build up in the body to be tested positive for opiates on a drug test. When ingested over long period, it could cause addiction. Zhang was detained for questioning for 10 days. He confessed that he purchased 2kg of poppy shells for 600 yuan.

Poppy Laced Noodles Exposed

Zhang's plot was exposed when Liu Juyou was tested positive for drugs during a routine urine test under an anti-drink-driving check. The 26-year-old patron of the restaurant was shock by the test result because he never touched illegal substances. He was detained for 15 days. To clear himself Liu asked his family members to do a urine test after eating noodles from the restaurant. After confirming Liu suspicion, the authorities investigated the restaurant.

Poppy Users

Being an unconscious user and victim of Zhang's unscrupulous profiteering practice, Liu appealed against his detention. The police dismissed the case on the ground that laws were design to detect drugs and punish drug users. Opium, heroin, morphine, marijuana and any other anesthetic and psychotropic drugs which can be addictive are illegal in China. "Poppy shells used to be an ingredient in a popular hot pot sauce until the product was banned", the South China Morning Post reported on 24 Sep 2014.

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My Comments

I can imagine the phobia the people when poppy was banned. They will likely be paranoid about every eatery the go to. The phobia must have worn off for Zhang to pull the stun again.

On Empty Thoughts: Alcohol Ban at Stratford Supercasino

REBLOG> On Empty Thoughts: Alcohol Ban at Stratford Supercasino:
Guerrilla Gamblers' Original Blog

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Violence at Gambling Outlets

p>I will update Gambling Tales Facebook and Google Plus Page with this article on Violence at Gambling Outlets. Alcohol never ceases to cause trouble for Aspers Casino in Westfield Stratford City. Since they have so much trouble handling their drinks, it had been taken away from them.

Alcohol Ban

A recent news dated 23 Sep 2014 from the Newham Recorder the Supercasino has had its alcohol license revoked by Newham Council after security staff allegedly "beat up" a punter. A Newham Council spokesperson said: "The decision was made in view of the seriousness of the incident and the police and licensing sub-committee’s concerns about the casino’s ability to prevent crime and disorder. The suspension will remain in force until a full licensing review hearing." Aspers Casino will not be able to serve alcohol or food from 23:00 to 05:00.

The Incident

The incident took place on Saturday night of 20 September. CCTV footage of the assault on the customer by a security staff showed that the customer sustained "severe injury". The involvement of alcohol in the attack was not mentioned by the press. Aspers Casino did not comment on the incident.

Banning Use of Glasses

Two week ago the casino was banned from using glasses to serve drinks and the casino resorted to using plastic cups. This was following two serve cases of glassing. One resulted in an inch long cut to the victim’s head which required gluing. In the other case, the glass used to commit the crime was thrown away by casino staff, leading to the loss of vital evidence (see Newham Recorder's report on 9 September).

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My Comments

Shame on these people. Other casinos that serves drink don't have such problems. Maybe this city don't deserve a supercasino.

Laggard to the Casino Industry

Casino Industry in Asia

Singapore is regarded a laggard to the casino industry in comparison to her neighbor, Malaysia. To make up for being half-a-century late Singapore decided to have two casinos. Other Asian countries - Vietnam, Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Japan - are joining the bandwagon to intensify the fight for gamblers patronage. Like good foodies, gamblers will travel the extra mile for a wager.

The Singaporean Stunted Growth

Macquarie, a leading financial services provider in Australia, "think the Singapore gaming market cannot grow." They noted that the gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the nation had plateau around $6 billion a year since 2011. "After three big years, tourist arrivals in Singapore have started to decline (down 3 percent year-to-July) and most importantly, Chinese visitors who form more than 50 percent of Singapore VIP volume have fallen by 29 percent year-to-date," Macquarie said. VIP volumes make up around 80 percent of the city-state's total gaming volume, it said [CNBC 23 Sep 2014].

Singaporean Senseless Optimism

Carey Wong, an analyst at OCBC, is optimistic about the situation. He sees the drop in overseas visitors to be temporary as it is partly due to China's economic slowdown and corruption crackdown. He said, "Once things die down, we'll see the return of these high rollers," he said. "From an Asian perspective, Asians will gamble regardless of good times or bad. It's different from a Western perspective, where gaming is more for leisure." Wong does not seem to make much sense when he claimed that economic slowdown was the cause of decline in Chinese visitors yet advocating that bad times will not stop Asian gamblers. Singapore's strong currency and lack of tourist attraction in their tiny island is more likely the cause for their failure to attract foreigners.

Jack of All Trades: Ben Affleck Admits Counting Cards in Casinos

REBLOG Jack of All Trades: Ben Affleck Admits Counting Cards in Casinos:
Jack Omnitrade's Original Blog

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Advantage Players

Savy Seph gave a good explanation of advantage players. “The advantage players have an edge over the house given that they tend to win more than they lose. While cheating at casinos is a criminal activity, advantage players use legitimate means to beat the house. Since they play by the rules, they deserve to pocket their winnings. The casinos may frown on the advantage players but they are not able to use legal means to throw advantage players in jail. This shows that the law recognizes advantage players to be a different kettle of fish from the unethical cheaters.” Card counting, a form of advantage play, was used by Ben Affleck at the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas to win $800,000 in May 2014.

Ben Affleck Admits

Sky News had a few interesting quotes from Affleck in their 18 Sep 2014 article. “That is a true story. I mean, that took place. I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player,” he said. “And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack. I mean, the fact that being good at the game is against the rules at the casinos should tell you something about casinos.”

Casino as a Sore Loser

Blackjack is the only casino game that is vulnerable to a good system. The casino is a sore loser and they will reject your patronage. “They don’t even want you to have a sporting chance, really. There’s a lot of hospitality, backslapping, when they think you’re gonna come in and dump money, and if they think you might leave with some money, it’s like, ‘You know what? Why don’t you try craps or roulette?’.”

Dispelling Rumors

Affleck dispelled the rumors surrounding his visit to the Hard Rock Casino in May. With respect to being kicked out of the premises he said, “I wish I could say they were afraid of me in every capacity, but they only said, ‘No blackjack’. That would be awesome [if they threw me out]. ‘Get him outta here! He’s a magician!’ Unfortunately, they just came up and said: ‘We can’t let you play blackjack. But we have other table games. We have Chinese poker’.” Affleck also rejects hearsay that his blackjack playing was affecting his marriage to actress Jennifer Garner.

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My Comments

Wives will not nag at hubbies who can consistently bring the bread from from the gambling table.

Filling Bottles: Gamblers Go to Vegas to Avoid Macau Corruption Bli...

REBLOG> Filling Bottles: Gamblers Go to Vegas to Avoid Macau Corruption Blitz:
Sue DaJi's Original Blog

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Nations Bow to Gambling

Gambling Tales claims that banning casinos would cause black market to flourish or drive gamblers to casinos in a neighboring country in the article "Nations Bows to Gambling". On Chinese soil, gambling is legal only legal in Macau but China would not sanction their own citizen gambling on their soil. Corruption blitz had been carried out at Macau to rid the activity on their sovereignty.

Corruption Crackdown Affected Gambling and Luxury Malls

SavySeph's blog on Tumblr covered the news on the Chinese anti-corruption crackdown of gambling in Macau and shopping outlets specialized in luxury good in Hong Kong to rid the stench of corruption from the land. Here is a reblog of SavySeph.

Reblog Savy Seph

Beijing’s intensifying crackdown on corruption is hitting the VIP rooms at Macau casinos and luxury shopping malls in Hong Kong hard, the Wall Street Journal reported on 1 Aug 2014. “This anticorruption crackdown in China is much more widespread and deeper than the VIP community had anticipated and as a result there could be prolonged weakness in the market,” said Union Gaming Research analyst Grant Govertsen.

Sales of luxury goods fell by nearly a third in the second quarter, including a 40% decline in April. With Beijing monitoring conspicuous consumption and capital flight closely, it would not be kool to be seen buying diamond-encrusted watches or punting millions at a baccarat game.

A New Playground

XingCai a tumblr user commented that these Chinese gamblers will find a new play ground soon. I have just found the news about their new playground as reported by Sidney Morning Herald on 17 Sep 2014. Junket operators, which organise casino trips for wealthy Chinese VIPs, are bringing those gamblers to other locations such as Australia, Europe or the US, according to Credit Suisse analysts Kenneth Fong and Isis Wong.

Viva Las Vegas

Casinos' revenue on the Las Vegas Strip has increased 3.7 per cent to $US3.7 billion ($4.1 billion) in the year to end-July, driven mainly by a 14.4 per cent jump in baccarat revenue, according to Robert Shore, a Las Vegas-based analyst at Union Gaming Group. This indicates "an inverse correlation" with the weaker performance from high rollers in Macau, he said in an e-mail. "Las Vegas is a brand that is clearly world-renowned and that people continuously want to come to," Dan D'Arrigo, Chief Financial Officer of MGM, said via telephone when asked about Chinese gamblers.

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My Comments

Gamblers could never stay away from gambling for long.

Light and Easy Talk: Man Commits Suicide after Ramming Truck into Casin...

REBLOG> Light and Easy Talk: Man Commits Suicide after Ramming Truck into Casin...:
Sophia Logica's Original Blog

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Suicide Attempts

Ryan Brown ramped a pickup through the glass front doors of the Stratosphere Casino on Sep 10, a Las Vegas police arrest report showed. The 40-year-old electrician was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving and possession and use of cocaine, the Reuters reported on 19 Sep 2014. Brown was released without restrictions after prosecutors failed to file criminal charges on 15 Sep. Toxicology reports were required to pursue charges and the judge set a status hearing in October. On 18 Sep Brown was found dead at the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The Clark County coroner’s office reported that Brown died of asphyxia and hanging, police spokesman Larry Hadfield said. According to arrest report, Brown was fired due to a domestic dispute with his wife. He told the police in a drug-fueled diatribe that he had been on cocaine and speed for six days and had smoked crack about two hours before deliberately crashing into the casino. Brown said, “He intended to run up to the top of the Stratosphere and jump off.

Doubtful Released

Brown was preoccupied with Suicide. He thought of jumping off the Stratosphere Casino but ended up crashing into it instead. He contemplated on an idea that would hurt himself but performed an act that could hurt others. “Darren Richards, assistant Clark County public defender, whose office was not involved in the case said, “I don’t know what the District Attorney was thinking, why they didn’t file some charges against someone who had been caught driving through the lobby of a casino.” The Clark County District Attorney’s Office, which provided the arrest report, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Brown’s release. “It is not against the law to be mentally ill,” Hadfield said when asked why Brown was not arrested after his release.

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Veronica Glowsome's

Gambling Tales had a good collection of gambling stories. This is good stuff for the Bizarre Section. My guess is he blown a fortune, quarrel with his wife, felt miserable and thought of suicide.

My Comments

Getting into family squabbles is one of the regular problem chronic gamblers face especially when they are losing money they can't afford to lose.

Light and Easy Talk: USDA Buying Submachine Guns

REBLOG> Light and Easy Talk: USDA Buying Submachine Guns:
Veronica Glowsome's Original Blog

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Firearm

The right to keep and bear arms is an enumerated right specifically protected by the US Constitution. This had made firearms easily available to Americans. While this constitutional right was made with protection in mind, it can be used for malicious purposes. Since guns are so easily available, it more commonly being used by outlaws than the average citizen in need of protection. With bandits keeping up with firearm technology, law enforcers should not be left behind.

USDA Requisition

In May, the USDA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) filed a request for “submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot bur[s]t trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsib[l]e or folding, magazine - 30 rd. capacity.” Form the description, the adversary appears to be very sophisticated. It is hard to imagine the type of crooks they are dealing with.

OIG Operations

The justification for the weapons were the nature of their operations. “OIG Special agents regularly conduct undercover operations and surveillance. The types of investigations conducted by OIG Special Agents include criminal activities such as fraud in farm programs; significant thefts of Government property or funds; bribery and extortion; smuggling; and assaults and threats of violence against USDA employees engaged in their official duties,” wrote a USDA spokesperson.

Farmers’ Opinion

"What we have seen happen, with the FDA especially, is they have come onto small farms, raw milk producers, and raided the heck out of them with armed agents present," says Liz Reitzig, co-founder of the Farm Food Freedom Coalition. "Do we really want to have our federal regulatory agencies bring submachine guns onto these family farms with children?"

Source: Modern Farmer, 19 Sep 2014

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My Comments

Laws enforces can be a big bully.

Bolivian Catholic Witchdoctors

The Aymara Communities

The CNN, 17 Sep 2014 reported about the parallel between Bolivian-witchdoctor and Catholics. The findings were taken from Raphaël Verona's new photography book. Verona is a Swiss photographer who lived among the traditional Aymara communities. The Aymara is an ancient indigenous race found in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. They live in the Altiplano plateau, the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet. The plateau lies within Bolivian and Peruvian territory while its southern parts lie in Chile and Argentina. In this region people believe in magic.

Pachamama or Earth Mother

Pachamama is their goddess of fertility. She presides over planting and harvesting and can cause earthquakes. She is typically depicted in the form of a dragon. She is an omnipresent and commands an independent deity who has creative power to sustain life on this earth. In their conversion conquest regime, the Spaniards tried to use the Virgin Mary as Pachamama's substitute but the concept did not go well with the Peruvian. Mary's role as an intercessor could never equate with the independent power of Pachamama. As a result the Virgin Mary is a separate deity on its own

Supai

Supai is the god of death and the underworld. Supay is associated with miners' rituals. He is described as having horns and a scarlet face. Spaniards tried to equate his with the devil but it did not work. The Aymara do not fear Supai but believe in getting on his good side to be spared from harm. Supai is a reflection of power which can be used for good or evil. Satan, unlike Mary did not fit into the bill, was not included as a deity.

Hybrid Faith

Catholic gods were added into the Aymara pantheon due to their ability to accept the existence of spiritual beings. Christian rituals were easily added to traditional beliefs to arrive at a hybrid faith. "The Aymara people have an approach to life that seems paradoxical from the outside," says Verona. "In Europe you are either one religion or another, either traditional or modern. But in Bolivia people live with both Catholicism and animism, both in modernity and in their ancestral traditions. They visit the Yatiri, the priest, to pay homage to deities or give prophesies when they are applying for visas, or for assistance in businesses matters."

On Empty Thoughts: Americans' Waistlines Are Growing Ever Larger

REBLOG On Empty Thoughts: Americans' Waistlines Are Growing Ever Larger:
Guerrilla Gambler Original Blog

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I came across an interesting article citylab.com. It points to some recent on studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others. The key data is tabulated in the picture below.

The American waistline averaged at 37.6 in 1999 and 2000. It bulged to 38.8 inches by 2011 and 2012. The medical definition of abdominal obesity for men is at 40.2 inches (102 cm) and 34.6 inches (89 cm) for women. The study involved 33,000 U.S. adults. Its shows 54 percent of Americans being abdominal obesity compared to 8 percent since the start of the millennium. Almost 65 percent of females today have abdominal obesity while males recorded about 44 percent.

The authors conclude that, “the reasons for increases in waist circumference in excess of what would be expected from changes in BMI remain speculative, but several factors, including sleep deprivation, endocrine disruptors, and certain medications, have been proposed as potential explanations.”

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My Comments

This concept of abdominal obesity - waistline measuring 40.2 inches (102 cm) for men and 34.6 inches (89 cm) for women - is new to me. In addition to the BMI, this is another guideline to take note.

Bomb-Making Recipe on ISIS Forums

Beheading David Haines

After beheading David Haines, a few people saw the message as provoking American and its allies to war. Yet, President Obama had given no indication of waging or not waging war. He continued to push his of ideas supporting the opposition of ISIS in the area to do the job. David Cameron, UK Prime Minister, was outraged by Haines' execution and vowed to bring justice. Although Obama pledged his support to Cameron, the scale in which forces were deployed were not in tandem with the expectation of the American public. The people wanted something to the magnitude of the "war on terror" type of deployment.

Provocation to War

There is no doubt that ISIS wants to engage the US and its allies. They see this as a revenge for their predecessor, the Al-Qaeda. They tried to push the agitation further by setting up forum offering a tutorial on bomb-making to attack American high-profile tourist locations. New York, Las Vegas and Texas were the proposed targets. The purpose is to stir up sentiment to provoke a full scale attack as such threats would cause panic to the residents of these locations.

The Awaited Rematch

The ISIS wants a rematch. As the Al-Qaeda engaged the Bush-Blair team in the past, the ISIS wants to engage the Obama-Cameron team today. Their purpose is to show themselves and world that they are more equipped for this war than their predecessor. Although Obama knows this, the American public is totally unaware of it. All the people wanted were for the ISIS to get their ass whipped. For Obama, this butt-kicking engagement is not due yet because the enemy's morale is high and they are more prepared than ever.

The War Manual

To the American public Obama is seen to be taking a passive stand on in this "war on terror". Looking at the Chinese ancient war manual, Obama's actions are obvious. He wants to wait it out until the morale is low and the enemy had let down its guard. This is will enable him to spring a surprise attack on unmotivated troops.

Virtue is Might

The ruler with virtues is an important variable in winning a war. This is a point the ISIS's "convert or die" philosophy will lose out to the America and its allies. Troops' morale will not last long if they are against virtues. If America strikes now they would lose virtue. The issue at hand is to send rescue teams to save the hostages and not wage war when provoked.

Reblog: Pinoy to Pay Hefty Casino Entrance Fee

This article look at how people in Singapore goes around being put on the casino's exclusion list by their family members.

REBLOG Light and Easy Talk:
Every nation wants a casino to tap the super profits but they don’t want their citizens to gamble. This is just like robbers want to rob people but they don’t like it when they are robbed. XingCai Gambling Tales has interesting thoughts on gambling issue.

REBLOG On Empty Thoughts: Pinoy to Pay Hefty Casino Entrance Fee:
A proposed bill in Congress will impose a P3,500 entrance fee for all Filipinos patronizing casinos. Addicts to Hell looks at the consequences of barring your citizen from the casino ...

Anything Under the Sun: Ohio Approves Preshuffled-cards

The insight in looking at the human side as an area of failure is a good analysis. However this should be no concern to gamblers. One gambler's attempt to cheat will not cause another gambler any harm.

Anything Under the Sun: Ohio Approves Preshuffled-cards
: Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has approved the use of pre-shuffled cards in the state's casinos. It made me reflect on the unshuffled cards causing a casino millions and Brogata accusing Phil Ivey for collaborating with the card manufacturer to mark cards to be used in play. While the unshuffled card at Golden Nugget Atlantic City may be a one in a lifetime affair, Brogata's wild accusation could possibility become a regular affair with this new regulation.

Reblog: Watchdog to Named and Shamed Bookies

Targeting the innocent is the way of the terrorist. Allowing minor to gamble is as bad.

REBLOG Anything Under the Sun: Watchdog to Named and Shamed Bookies: Saving the Gaming Industry Bookies who break promises on advertising will be "name and shame" by a new watchdog. This watchdog should also penalize those who admit minors. This ruling is often violated and never taken seriously...

The Jihadi Highway

The ISIS had sunk its tendrils deep into Turkey after the nation was named as part of a Nato alliance to combat the jihadis group. US President Barack Obama said Turkey was part of a “core coalition” to fight Isis at the NATO sunmit in Wales. Stories shared with Newsweek in recent days by Deniz Sahin revealed this finding. Deniz ex-husband was a former alcoholic who had kicked his addiction and turned instead to fundamentalist Islam. Her ex-husband, Sadik, sent her photos a week after taking their children to Isis-controlled Raqqa province. Many fear ISIS would wreak havoc in a nation that attracts 35 million tourists a year. Deniz and other victims of Isis speak of their frustration at police inaction and of their powerlessness to retrieve their loved ones. In her extended family alone, Deniz says, 15 people – including five children – have gone to live under Isis rule or fight in its ranks in recent months.

Other had echoed Deniz's story. They describe an organized recruiting network operating online and through religious study groups. They are targeting young men from Sunni Muslim districts plagued by poverty and drug addiction. One family, whose son joined Isis, says that he was among 19 young men from their neighborhood alone who left for Syria recently, with at least four others planning to join them soon. In June, Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper reported that as many as 3,000 Turks have joined the group. "No other NATO country is as exposed to the threat of Isis jihadism as Turkey is," says Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat and head of Edam, an Istanbul-based foreign policy think tank.

Dilovasi has long been notorious in Turkey as an industrial dystopia. A town of 45,000, it hosts some 150 factories focused around dirty industries such as scrap metal smelting and paint manufacturing. The air is thick with an acrid chemical stench, and a study by a local university in 2004 found that cancer rates here are two and half times higher than the national average. Meanwhile, Kenan says, it is a haven for cemaats and tarikats – conservative religious movements, which were suppressed by Turkey’s secularist governments but have flourished under the Islamist-rooted administration of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Women of West Point

Brave Heart

The heart of a hero is the essence that drive a person to join the jihadis or serve the army. For women jihadis, "potential recruits are told their main role in the Islamic revolution will be through matrimony and childbearing, not martyrdom," [Daily Beast, 3 Sep 2014]. In contrast the American military will be opening combat positions to qualifying women by 2016.

Admission of Women

Since West Point opened its doors to women in 1976, there had been some women with outstanding achievements. Lindsey Danilack was the the top cadet at West Point, Class of 2014. She was not the first women to hold this position but the fourth. This article on New York Time Magazine takes a peek into the aspiration of the Women at West Point.

Leadership

Women had long been in position of leadership in both political and commercial arena. “If someone tells me I can’t run as fast as the guys running the two-mile, I say, ‘You’re right.’ ... But if they say that I can’t be as good a leader as them, oh, I’ll challenge them on that,” Danilack said.

Physical Fights

According to biologically, males are suppose to be stronger than women so I had always wonder about a physical fight between the genders. This was answered by Cadet Oriana Ellis. She said, “I always came in here with the mind-set that anything a guy could do, I could do. . . . I never really got the mental check until combative, when I had to fight a guy that was the same weight as me, and my M.C.L. was sprained within the first couple seconds, because I didn’t realize that guys were actually more dense than girls.”

Expressing Affection

As much as woman strive for equality, the law of nature that the opposite attracts could not be ignored. Here is a glimpse on romantic life at West point. “When you go into someone’s room, you have to leave the door open because you’re always being monitored. It’s hard to ‘cadate.’ There’s no hand-holding, no affection and no getting away. . . . West Point does discourage dating in the same company,” Alexandra Efaw said.

Bonding

Bonding is paramount for the military. Without esprit de corps any military group will breakdown. “What I like most about West Point is the relationships you make here because of what you go through and how stressful it is. A week is like a month in real life. . . . We have this unique experience that we’re all sharing with each other, which is why a lot of the people get engaged and married at West Point. And they might not even be dating for a year,” Anastasia Efaw said.

Why Westerners Are Joining Jihadi Movements

Michael Muhammad Knight blames the American value system for breading jihadis in the Washington Post dated 3 Sep 2014. Knight was a wannabe jihadi who never was. He ditched his Catholic high school in upstate New York to study at a Saudi-funded madrassa in Pakistan twenty years ago. He gave his account on the jihadi appeal to Westerners.

GI Joe Cartoons

Knight had grown up in the Reagan 80's. Lyrics in the G.I. Joe 's theme song, "fight for freedom, wherever there's trouble," had a great influence on him. It lead him to assume that individuals had the right — and the duty — to intervene anywhere on the planet where they perceived threats to freedom, justice and equality. As a result he believed "that working toward justice was more valuable than my own life".

The Heroic Glamor

Fighting for the oppressed and protecting the safety and dignity of others had a heroic glamor. Doing your part for king and country just don't fit the bill. These heroes wannabe would fly across the globe to throw themselves into freedom struggles that are not their own to attain greater honor. For Knight, this is a "very, very American thing to do".

Might is Right

War movies subtly groom their viewers to love violence and view military conquest as a benevolent act. It glorifies military sacrifice. This is reinforced with medal of honors. That is what brave men do. Might is required and necessary to bring about a world in the vision of the oppressed. If it requires giving up your life to achieve this end, then your sacrifice is worthwhile and heroic. Your death would be perceived as honorable.

Holier than the Blood of Martyrs

Knight made an interesting comment. He said that the traditionalists told him that he would be more useful as a scholar than as a soldier. They reminded him of their prophet's statement that, "the ink of scholars was holier than the blood of martyrs". I believe this is the main idea behind Knight's walking away form the jihadi's path. If only jihadis had reflected on this harmonious path, the world would be more peaceful.

The Bride of ISIS

Western women married to jihadi warriors of ISIS were using tweets and blogs in their recruitment drive. They were persuading would-be “sisters” in Europe and the United States to travel to the Middle East to help this group build its extremist vision of an Islamic society.

Aqsa Mahmood revealed to the Daily Beast that she is one of the female jihadists that they had reported in their 08.06.14 article. The 20-year-old confessed that she operates under the Twitter user name "Umm Layth". Throughout Umm Layth’s posts and those written by other jihadist women there is a morbid obsession with martyrdom. "Allahu Akbar, there's no way to describe the feeling of sitting with the Akhawat [sisters] waiting on news of whose Husband has attained Shahadah [martyrdom]," writes Umm Layth.

Mahmood's distraught Pakistani-born parents warned yesterday: "If our daughter who had every chance and freedom in life could become a bedroom radical, then it is possible for it to happen to any family." Martyrdom had always been an appealing concept. Intentional martyrdom, however, would defeat the purpose of sacrificing one's own life for their God.