RAWA Hearing, Part II - Same Old Shit in a New Box

Tomorrow Sheldon Adelson gets to unwrap an early Christmas present courtesy of Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Grumpy): The second hearing on his RAWA bill HR707 (aka Restore America’s Wire Act, or Restore Adelson’s Wampum Act, depending on your view).  As there’s lots of similarities between this hearing and the one held last Spring.

For one thing, the witnesses scheduled to give testimony once again fail to include anyone remotely connected to the very industry Chaffetz wishes to interrogate investigate.  And it’s slanted toward the “gambling is bad” side.  Another similarity – despite the idea of holding a hearing being a key step in a move to actually get the bill passed, there is NO mention of it on Adeslon’s CSIG’s site.  It’s almost as if they don’t want their own supporters to know about it.  To his credit, Chaffetz’s Facebook page has a mention (he didn’t do that last time).  That’s the only credit Jason gets from me.

The cast of characters this time is a bit different – the March hearing was before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations.  This one is in front of a larger crowd – the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  The theme is different, too, with the not-so-subtle title of this hearing being “A CASINO IN EVERY SMARTPHONE – LAW ENFORCEMENT IMPLICATIONS.”  And the witnesses are more law-and-order types – from the FBI, an Attorney General (one of the 8 who signed the letter supporting RAWA), a State Senator from Nevada (the one guy who might be on our side), and the attorney from Douglas County, Nebraska.

Let’s examine this last one first.  Donald Kleine has been the Attorney for Douglas County since 2007 (Douglas County is the most populous county in Nebraska – Omaha is the county seat).  He’s a Democrat (but a Midwestern one, so he’s no screaming liberal).  But why is he testifying? 

For one thing, his election campaign website calls him “tough on crime.”  For another thing, he knows the Abbouds.  According to this website, at one time he was part of Abboud Law.  Or did something with them, it’s not clear.  We’re talking Greg and Chris Abboud.  Brothers of Andy.  Andy of “Sheldon Adelson’s right-hand man.”

So there’s THAT connection.

As for his written testimony, he’s been taught well.  He uses a lot of the CSIG buzzwords (“the challenges of local law enforcement in protecting our most vulnerable citizen from the dangers that lurk in the realm of online gambling”) and conflagulates the idea of legal and regulated online gaming with the nefarious off-shore stuff (run by “massive foreign companies”).”  The big stinker (to me) was this: “Finally, online gambling activities are extremely difficult to monitor because users can remain largely anonymous.”  This would come as a shock to anyone who signed up in New Jersey and surrendered their name, address, social security number, etc. etc. etc. 

Anonymous my ass.

Alan Wilson is the Attorney General for South Carolina, one of the strictest states (next to Utah) when it comes to gambling.  Sure, they have a lottery and some charitable bingo, but that’s it.  It wasn’t always that way – for nearly twenty years SC was the largest video poker community in the country (more than 33,000 machines) until operations were shut down in late 1999.  Wilson’s written testimony also has many classic CSIG catchphrases – Founding Fathers, States Rights (no, really), FBI warnings, and so on.  He talks about how “In South Carolina, gambling is largely prohibited and has been throughout the history of our state” (emphasis mine) and one wonders where Wilson was from 1980 to 1999 when there was a video poker machine on every corner.

He gets there, eventually, calling the experience “traumatic.”  He then gets to pull in the anecdotal stories about Mom’s leaving their kids in the car to die while they played video poker, and other fun stuff (addictions, embezzlements, and organized crime).  From there it’s a quick step to the 2011 DOJ ruling and how that opens the door to “…entities, many of which are foreign-national corporations, to operate online casinos in states like Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey without any assurance that these online casinos are not being accessed in states like South Carolina.”  That’s whopper #1.

Whopper #2 comes next: “…the reality is offices like mine, charged with the responsibilities of enforcing our own gambling laws and protecting the public, cannot  be expected to rely on the good faith of massive foreign owned gambling companies licensed by other states.”  I kinda thought technology was in play rather than “good faith” but what do I know?  And I had no idea that all of the entities in NJ, NV, and DE were “massive foreign-owned gambling companies.”  And he closes with the killer: “As a result of the DOJ opinion…it is almost impossible for parents to protect their children from accessing virtual casino games on their smartphones, tablets and laptops. Now, casinos are almost ubiquitous on every street corner in America as the virtual clouds and mobile devices operate anywhere at every hour of the day.”

Hey, Mr. Wilson!  If it’s that easy to do – access one of these legal gaming sites from your office in South Carolina – PROVE IT.  TRY IT.  And once you’ve failed, STFU.

As for Joseph Campbell, the Assistant Director, Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI – I haven’t found any links to him and online gaming.  I do know he’s done work dealing with “vulnerable children” and “human trafficking” but nothing on poker and clicking your mouse/lose your house activity.

Finally, there is Mark Lipparelli, State Senator from Nevada.  Prior to this position, he was Gaming Control Board Chairman to the Nevada Gaming Commission.  He was part of the process that led to Nevada going online, he’s worked for a firm involved with the customer verification process for online gaming, and he’s been a strong advocate for online poker ALL ACROSS AMERICA.  Finally, someone who ACTUALLY KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT THE THING CHAFFETZ WANTS TO ELIMINATE REGULATE EXAMINE.

I’m sure tomorrow’s hearing will be both fair and balanced.  Hah – I’ll have a follow-up post in a day or two.

We Like Murder?

I am almost ashamed to make this post, because to do so means I actually read some of the crap I am to tell you about.  The event in question occurred in 2014, so it’s not recent, but what happened today is (obviously), and it’s that that I wish to opine upon.

First – this is not about guns, nor crime, nor Donald Trump.  It is about how people “see” a situation that at first blush looks like murder, cold and simple, and then…somehow some folks see a hero, see true justice, see vindication or something…and “like” it (in a Facebookian sort of way).

What happened today was a post on a Facebook site called “We Support Donald Trump.”  It is NOT an official Donald Trump site.  It DOES have more than 195,000 followers.  It posts a lot of stuff, about one post every 20 minutes or so (no, really, a LOT of stuff) and half is actually related to Trump or the campaign.  Earlier today the following was posted:

 

This is the molester (dead now)

The event in question (the shooting) happened last year, so I don’t know why, exactly, the need to post it today.  But what happened is this: Jay Maynor, an Alabama father shot Ray Brooks (pictured) who was tried and convicted of molestation of the shooter’s 7-year old daughter.  Why was this sex offender not in jail?  Because the molestation and trial occurred a long time ago – the crime in 2001, with Brooks pleading guilty in 2002.  He got five years and restitution; served 27 months and made restitution.

And got shot and killed several years later.  Because…why?

So far, of the eight different stories I’ve read about this, it’s not clear.  The best I’ve come up with was an interview with the molestation victim (who would now be 21) that Maynor, “lost control of his emotions.”  OK, then.

What IS clear is that, while the majority of opinion is very clear that this is premeditated murder, there are some using the term “hero.”  There was a petition started to have a reasonable bond set.  There was a Facebook page that was set up to raise funds for Maynor (it’s gone now).  And the Facebook post that I saw has 26 “likes” on it – including one of my FB friends, which is why it found its way onto my news feed.

So let me be clear – there are some (not many), but some people who “like” the idea of tossing aside our justice system, EVEN WHEN IT WORKS, and taking matters into their own hands.  This is seen by the “likers” as a GOOD thing.

Do we even wonder why we are so fucked up as a nation?  How can you possibly think this is a “good” thing?  Can anyone illuminate me?  I am lost on this one.

Stamp Out Hate

Another day, another shooting.  One day it’s an attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic.  Another day it’s a massacre at a holiday party.  Previously, a college campus.  And a church.  And a school.  And we react the same way, over and over, and of course, nothing changes.  

The uptick in violent mass assaults such as these is not your imagination.  Here are just a couple of items I pulled off others’ internet postings:

Mass shootings under each President's term.

·       Reagan 1981-1989 (11 mass shootings).

·       Bush Sr 1989-1993 (12 mass shootings).

·       Clinton 1993-2001 (23 mass shootings).

·       Bush Jr 2001-2009 (16 mass shootings).

·       Obama 2009-2016 (162 mass shootings).

According to the FBI, a “mass shooting” is defined as 4 or more people killed.
Source (FBI Crime Statistics)

And

The San Bernardino shooting is America’s 1,044th mass shooting in 1,066 days.

Yeah, violence is on the rise here.  The whole world knows it.  The BBC opened its coverage of the ongoing San Bernardino mass shooting Wednesday evening by acknowledging a fairly alarming reality: “Just another day in the United States of America, another day of gunfire, panic, and fear.”

You can’t even enforce your café’s no-smoking policy without getting shot.

Let’s set aside the talk of guns and religion and political parties for just a minute and discuss the real reason things have taken a turn for the worse:

HATE.

The amount of hatred in all forms is unmistakably higher than, well, than I can remember.  Hate speech.  Nasty digs.  Road rage.  Angry lies. Race-bating.  Religion-bashing.  Party-blaming.  Stereotyping “all liberals” or “all Muslims” or “all Republicans.” More lies.  Outright bullshit.

Remember civil discourse?  It seems like a distant memory.  In the last couple of days I have tried to “keep it civil” with arguing parties both on social media and in person.  I do just fine until they pull out what I refer to as “crap talk” – name calling, demonizing, blame-throwing bile that stops me in my tracks.  Before my blood pressure began to be an issue, I’d fire back.  Now, I just walk away.  I have to.

We all should.

I was reminded of an old parody song from the Broadway musical “The Mad Show.”  Entitled “Stamp Out Hate,” it was sung by a group of people so dead set on achieving peace and tolerance that they would go through extremes to do it.  Some of the lyrics:

What, me hate?

We're gonna stamp out hate! That's our creed!
Wipe out violence, intolerance and greed!
We're gonna start right now, tomorrow is too late!
We're gonna stamp! Out! Hate!

We're gonna stamp out hate, stamp it in the ground
And then take happiness and spread it all around
We'll put an end to grief, we can hardly wait
We're gonna stamp! Out! Hate!

We're gonna stamp out hate, sock it in the eye
Shoot it in the stomach, yelling Die! Die! Die!
We'll pull its insides out, and look at what it ate
We're gonna stamp! Out! Hate!

Of course, it was all in good fun…until the end.

(A door opens – footsteps – a well-dressed man approaches the audience)

Ladies and gentlemen, in these troubled times I think there's a lesson to be learned from these dedicated young people... ("okay, get the door.") ...coming together to, uh…wait! ("hold him still.")

(The singers garrote the speaker, drop him to the ground, and then walk away, whistling the final bar of the song.)

We should all be aware that yes, bad feelings can turn into bad words.  And bad words can turn into bad actions.  Hate crimes are fueled by hate speech.  Can there even be any doubt?

Several of my friends have also noted the rise in hate, and hate speech, and have spoken out about it.  Some, like me, merely decry our depraved condition.  Others have called for action – rather than speak, do good.  Volunteer at a soup kitchen, help the homeless vets, whatever moves you.

This worldwide holiday season we’re in features 29 different holidays (for several different religions and a few secular holidays, too).  Holidays are times for sharing, days off of work, but the word holiday can also mean “a period of exemption or relief” (like “tax holiday”). 

I would suggest that we all take a “Hate Holiday” and stifle the desire to lash out with hateful rhetoric.  Think before you speak or post.  Spreading hate is like spreading fertilizer to grow even more hateful action.  Stop that shit now.

How to End All Abortions

Before I tell you my plan to end all abortions, a few disclaimers and disclosures:

First, I am pro-choice.  That might sound weird given the headline, but pro-choice does not necessarily mean one is pro-abortion.  It only refers to the choice being left up to the individual, and since I am a firm believer in self-determination, I have to remain consistent.  This is kind of like being a state’s rights advocate, only on a smaller, more personal level.

Besides, I am male and cannot have an abortion no matter how hard I try.

And one more thing – I can easily envision being in a position where a very personal decision about having a child is threatened by others – because I’ve been in that position.

When we were first married, we assumed we’d have kids.  In the early Seventies most young couples undoubtedly felt the same way.  I knew couples who never discussed the issue and had kids “by surprise.”  I knew couples who never discussed the issue and found themselves “with child” and had an abortion.  I’ve also known single women who either had the baby or had an abortion, again, with some thinking about the process ahead of time, and others being caught “by surprise.”

As time went on and the Seventies gave way to 1980, the world was a different place than when we married, and we had talked about whether or not to have children on and off for almost five years.  We finally had a very long talk (over a 3-day weekend) and came to a decision that we knew would be very unpopular with our families (and others), and so, one day, we drove off to the local Planned Parenthood clinic to do the deed.

And I got a vasectomy.

The choice for us was to make permanent the decision not to have children, and we could have done either a vasectomy or Mona could have a tubal ligation.  My operation was easier, safer, and cheaper.  That was important for us back in 1980.  So we did it and didn’t tell anyone, and we’ve not regretted the decision at all. 

But back to my idea about ending abortion. 

You should know that I don’t think we can end ALL abortions.  Very few things are ever completely eradicated…oh sure, we’ve seen a lot of plant and animal species go extinct, but as far as human behaviors, we have a lousy track record in completely eliminating those behaviors we find to be distasteful, dangerous, against our beliefs, etc.  Drinking, smoking, drugs, gambling, prostitution…you name it…we can reduce but we can’t abolish.  Making it illegal just drives the activity underground.  So let’s not even try for zero, OK?

And no, litigation isn’t the answer.  We’ve made abortion illegal in the past, and all it does is change an abortion from “safe and legal” to “unsafe and illegal.”  Abortions still occurred.  Worse, some folks with the wherewithal can leave the country and get an abortion in places where it is safe and legal, leaving (once again) those who are less fortunate to go underground to obtain an abortion.

So let’s reduce the number of abortions.  Here’s how – every abortion starts with the same basic premise – a pregnancy.  If we reduce the number of pregnancies, we can statistically assume that we will reduce the number of abortions.  Another factor – women who are pregnant and want to have a baby usually don’t have abortions.  It’s only women who are NOT ready, able, or willing to have a child that fall into the “abortion” column.  So, if we can attempt to make more pregnancies the kind where the woman WANTS to be pregnant at that point in time and fewer (or dare I say, “none”) where the pregnancy IS NOT preferred, this would have a profound effect on the number of abortions performed.

If women (and couples) could actually PLAN their sexual reproduction outcomes – I want to be pregnant or I don’t want to – you know, kind of a “planned parenthood” of sorts – that would go a long way in reducing abortions.  Education for both young women and men (actually, both genders both young and old of a fertile age) is the key.  Access to pregnancy prevention techniques – for woman AND for men – is another important step.  By increasing education about this most important life activity (sex and its consequences) and increasing access to the tools needed to PLAN properly, we can go a long way in reducing abortions.

Now, here’s the funny thing.  Many of the same people who are anti-abortion are also

• anti-family-planning,
• anti-sex-education, and
• anti-birth-control.

That makes no sense.  That’s like wanting fire prevention and restricting access to water, hoses, sand buckets, and not teaching people about how fire starts.

If you really don’t want abortions, you really DO need to help people find ways not to become pregnant when they don’t want to become pregnant.  No pregnancy?  No abortion? 

What’s that, you say?  Abstaining from sex also prevents pregnancies?  True enough, but like in a previous paragraph above, I argued that we have a lousy track record in behavior modification.  Telling someone else “don’t have sex” doesn’t seem like a very well-thought-out method, and indeed, so many studies have been done to show that “abstinence-only education” is a complete failure that I wonder why it’s even discussed anymore. 

But I will humor you a bit – “just don’t have sex” is a great idea.  And you know what else is also a great idea?  Leadership.  The old saying “do as I say, not as I do” means that DOING is much better that SAYING.  Leadership.  Show the way.  Let’s see how it’s done.

In other words – when it comes to the idea of “just don’t have sex” –

YOU FIRST.

Or maybe make this guy be first:

Choose to be Grateful

I have to be honest – this wasn’t the post I originally set down to write.  I had a choice of a number of topics, and all seemed negative.  Some were political, some were sports-related, and with tomorrow being Thanksgiving, none of them set right with me.  That bummed me out.

And frankly, I’ve been feeling bummed a lot of late, partly because of events around me (terrorist attack in Paris and the fallout from that attack, refugee “crisis,” Feds ready to raise interest rates, etc.) and much closer to home (lost a friend to cancer, had a root canal go bad and have a return trip to the “drill team” set for next week, another home appliance shot craps, etc.). The bummed-ness was affecting my desire to write, let alone my ability to write well (which also bummed me a bit, but then I usually write sucky anyway and hope no one notices).

While doing some research (aka flipping through Facebook’s news feed) I found this article about choosing to be grateful. The timing could not be better. The story resonated with me, and especially this one line:

For many people, gratitude is difficult, because life is difficult.

No shit.  Life can be a struggle, and what this article (and many more – see below) suggests is that despite the struggle, the search for the “good” will not only help you through the struggle better than if you  only concentrate on the “bad” but it will also make you feel better about everything else.  Just what I needed now.  In spades.

So for today, and the rest of the weekend (because it’s appropriate, dammit), I choose to be grateful, and I’m letting go of all that negativity.  I say through the weekend because I have to see the dentist on Monday.  As Mom says, “we’ll see.”

I realize that pretty much everything we do is a choice.  Yes, sometimes it doesn’t FEEL like a choice, but it is.  Even doing nothing about something is a choice (to be inactive and do nothing).  Mona and I joke about all the changes we’ve made in our lives, and all the various “choices” we’ve had.  Sometimes we had to choose between two lousy choices (or sometimes more than two lousy ones), but we always tried to pick the “least worst.” 

So why not choose to be grateful?  Surely I have plenty for which to be grateful (or, because of tomorrow), thankful.  Yes, plenty.  I have good health (except for tooth #19, of course), I’ve been married to the same wonderful woman for 40 years (I never know when she might read this, and want to make it to 41), the business had a another great year, my four ebooks continue to sell (I’m a thousandaire, not a millionaire), we have heat in the house, I have many friends across the globe (and even some on Facebook)…oh, I could go on and on.

And that’s the point.  We SHOULD go on and on about the good stuff.  Because it will make us healthier and happier.  So says the research here, here, here, and here (and in the original link). 

And isn’t the whole idea in life to be happy?

So be thankful.  Be grateful.  Be happy.  And share all of that with family, friends, neighbors…heck, total strangers if the mood strikes you.  Why not?  It might make THEM grateful, and you know what happens next.

And if you have trouble coming up with reasons to be grateful, try this:

Happy Thanksgiving.

Change is Inevitable

You know that so-called Serenity Prayer, the one that goes…

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

Yeah, that one.  It’s nice, comforting…and a bit misleading.  For while some use this as a guide to bend, adjust, and (sometimes) grow with the bumps and twists of life, others believe that if they have enough courage, they can stop change.

Fools.

Change happens regardless whether you are serene or brave, smart or not.  How you deal with it (and how you deal with everything in life) is subject to further discussion, but not change.  Like shit, it happens.  Regardless.

I was in the grand Union Station in Portland recently, a magnificent building to catch a train (even if it IS Amtrak).  Built in the late 19^th Century, this proud old structure still serves train customers well, yet it’s not the same building as it was.  I saw this as I waited for my train:

 

21st Century phone booths.  Superman would be PO'd

To be fair, there was one pay phone out of sight of this photo.  And maybe they’re doing a retro-fit to equip the booths with Skype.  Then again, I remembered another fixture of old public buildings like Union Station – water fountains.  And next to the phone booths I saw the 21^st Century equivalent:

21st century "water fountain."  At $2 a pop, no less

Change happens.  No shit.

So many famous (and infamous) individuals have spoken on the idea of change being a permanent condition that I will cite two.  One is from British PM Disraeli, who said “Change is inevitable.  Change is constant.”  The other is much older, from the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus.

Actually, he had two good ones:

“There is nothing permanent except change.”

and

“No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

That last one is the one I like best about change, because it illustrates the fact that even though you might reverse a decision and try to go back to “the way it used to be,” you truly can’t make it EXACTLY like it used to be.  For there’s always the history of what was, and all of the OTHER change that has occurred.  Nothing pisses me off more than people calling for a change “to the way it used to be.”  Besides it not being very progressive and forward thinking, it’s wrong, because it can’t be exactly the way it used to be.  Similar, yes, but not the same.

OK, there IS something that pisses me off more, and it also has to do with change.  You know the excuse people give you when you ask them why something is the way it is (because you’re interested in making a change)?  And they shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, it’s always been that way.” Yeah, that pisses me off more, because it’s NEVER ALWAYS been that way.  Because at one point it time, it wasn’t that way at all.

The first time I remember hearing this bellyachexcuse (and the story I always tell to get my point across) was back in my college radio days.  I was the GM of the student station and wanted to implement some programming changes.  One thing I did not understand was the daily “Album Hour” from 5pm-6pm (historical note:  we used to use something called a “turntable” to play “records” aka “LP’s” or “albums” that produced sound without the aid of a CD player or computer).  Why did we still have the album hour, I asked?  “It’s always been that way,” was the standard response from both students and faculty.  Truth was, no one really knew how it got started*. 

So naturally I shit-canned the program, because “It’s always been that way,” is a lame excuse.  Don’t be lame, be ready for change.  Hey, I made up my own famous quote.

Speaking of change, the Wikipidea people need your change.  Spare change.  Or more if you can.  You can be the change by giving $3 (or more) here: DONATE.  Thanks.

* I did find out, eventually.  It started because one DJ, way back when, wanted to skip out and grab dinner in the dorm.  So he popped on an album, ran to the commons, got his chow, ran back, flipped the album over (unlike some CDs, albums have recordings on BOTH sides), got dessert, and then made it back in time to finish the hour.  The truth was lame, too.

I Guess it Depends on the Target

Friday night’s shocking terrorist attack in Paris has sent many in the US reeling.  Folks have shown their support by changing their Facebook avatar, posting pictures of the Eiffel Tower, etc.  Some have called for a step-up in our “War on Terror” while other have (seriously) suggested we wipe out ALL Muslims (one guy even provided a list of 55 countries where we could find them all – how thoughtful).

But a week ago there was a Russian plane downed by (most likely) the same folks responsible for the Paris attacks.  None of my friends posted a pic of the Kremlin on their timelines.  And just the day before Paris, 43 lost their lives in Beruit, again from the same group (again, most likely) that is responsible in France.  But Facebook didn’t offer anyone a chance to change their avatar to the flag of Lebanon, nor activate their “safety check” feature so people could let their loved ones know they were safe in Beirut (they did it for Paris).

No one suggested that Russia “get serious” about terrorism after the plane crash, nor suggested we “bomb the stink out of ISIS” after Beriut.  Only after more than 120 lost their lives in France did we get sympathetic to all things French.

Can we call ‘em French Fries again?  Or are they still Freedom Fries?  I know that’s so 2003, but it’s worth asking.  Because here’s the thing – we no doubt will take this latest attack and step up bombing or droning or even put “boots on the ground” and it’s important to remember that the reason we’re doing so is because of a terrorist attack, but a SPECIFIC one.

It’s important to remember (and I am borrowing a cliché here) that ALL LIVES matter.  French, Russian…even people who might just be Muslim (you know, the same religion as their attackers, which maybe means that this isn’t about religion?).  I look forward to the day when we decide that it’s all equally important, because that will mean we’ve taken a giant leap in fighting terrorism.  Because others not like us don’t terrorize us.

Oh, and there is a movement to make it so you can change your avatar to any flag you want – if you’re so inclined.