Newsletter Mar 4, 2008
For more information contact Bruce Barron at nodicepa@aol.com or 412-835-0614
An encouraging presentation
Special thanks this week go to the staff of the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation, who coordinated their schedules so as to spend their lunchtime experiencing a No Dice presentation last Tuesday, February 26. Joe Lafferty and David Paul of the PLF took an extra hour afterwards to discuss the challenges posed by the arrival of casinos in our region and how they might be able to assist our response. They also graciously upbraided us for not having at least a rudimentary Web site available. Anyone out there interested in assisting with that task?
I was also very well received that evening when I gave our presentation to a GSPIA (Graduate School of Public and International Affairs) class at the University of Pittsburgh. Too bad our legislators don’t perceive the dark side of casino gambling as clearly as these students do.
We can thank the Methodists for making possible our next presentations—at Christ Methodist in Bethel Park on March 16 and April 2, and (tentatively) at Ingomar United Methodist’s mission committee in the North Hills on April 1.
Philly launches “hidden costs” initiative
Our enterprising, creative colleagues in Philadelphia have done it again. This time they showed up at Governor Rendell’s Philadelphia office with a calculator, ruler, a magnifying glass, and a “homework assignment,” asking him to have his staff use the materials to honestly assess the hidden costs of casinos.
Since the Governor’s not likely to do his homework, CasinoFree Philadelphia will presumably do it for him and publish results at a later date.
For more details: http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=19340509&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=618959&rfi=6, http://www.planphilly.com/node/2786
A YouTube must-see
Dianne Berlin of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling called this one a must-see, and she’s right. Opponents of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal to legalize three casinos in the Bay State have produced this 160-second spoof which is so good that I might incorporate it into some No Dice presentations. Take three minutes to watch it, and then forward the link to others:
More gambling – as if we should be surprised
Just in the last few weeks, we have heard Dan Onorato suggest legalizing video poker in bars, state legislators trumpet the need for table games, and lottery officials bemoan a sales decrease. Should we be surprised? Just as with any other addiction, dependence on gambling simply begets more dependence on gambling. Where will it stop? I don’t know, but I know that a government that spends much of its energy devising new ways to generate income from its most vulnerable citizens is not good government.
Merchandise has arrived!
Our “Winners Avoid Casinos” bumper stickers have arrived and window clings are on the way. No Dice board member John Schnatterly has agreed to offer his home as our Bethel Park warehouse. To recover our outlay, we would appreciate a donation of $1 for individual items, with group discounts for larger requests. You can contact John at schnat@verizon.net with any questions about the merchandise.
Conundrum of the week
I’m stuck on this one. Maybe you can help. Our nation legalizes and heavily promotes gambling, 70 percent of Americans gamble, and now we are surprised and alarmed that thousands of Americans have made unwise financial decisions and are at risk of losing their homes. Is something wrong with this picture? Do we really think we can entice susceptible Americans to fritter away their money gambling and not reap the consequences?
If you have an answer to that question, I’d love to publish it in two weeks.
As always, thanks for your support and have a loss-free week!