Monday, June 29, 2009

Putin stands up for the Russian people. Who will stand up for us?

An article in today's New York Times informs us (I didn't see any mention of it in the local papers) that the Russian government is closing every legal gambling establishment in the country.

One of the largest mass layoffs in recent Russian history is to occur on Wednesday, and the Kremlin itself is decreeing it, economic crisis or not.

The government is shutting down every last legal casino and slot-machine parlor across the land, under an antivice [sic] plan promoted by Vladimir V. Putin that just a few months ago was widely perceived as far-fetched. But the result will be hundreds of thousands of people thrown out of work.

If you read the entire article you may have been amazed as I was that the focus is almost entirely on the downside of decision -- the loss of jobs. There was little attempt at balance or explanation of the upside of this decision other than a mention of organized crime and a concession that:

The gambling industry here does not have the loftiest of reputations, and many Russians will not grieve for it.

This obvious deficiency and lack of fairness and balance in the reporting probably does not leave most readers here in Illinois and Iowa totally in the dark about what might be causing the Russian people to make this move. Unfortunately we are all too well aware of the kinds of problems legalized gambling causes -- lives ruined by gambling addiction, increases in other vices such as prostitution and loan-sharking, increases in the number of instances of embezzlement perpetrated by people who had been upstanding law-abiding citizens before the casinos came, the loss of more wholesome, locally-owned entertainment businesses unable to compete with the organized gambling giant corporations who send the profits far away.

The slant the article takes does give an indication how difficult it would be to reverse the trend toward more legalized gambling with incrementally decreasing restrictions occurring in this country. The very serious people in the news media would inform us that restricting gambling in this country would be unthinkable. We will just have to endure all the problems that gambling causes. Anyone who suggests otherwise is just not being serious.

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Rummage Sale Today!

MEGA RUMMAGE SALE

Date: Saturday, June 6, 2009


A fundraiser for


Come and Buy!

St. Mary’s Gymnasium

412 – 10th Street

Moline, IL 61265

· Furniture

· Kitchen items

· Toys—gently used

· Clothing, Accessories, Jewelry

· Tools

· Crafts

Time: 8 a.m. to 3p.m.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Are Americans who attend church at greater risk?

A great deal has been written about the horrible and terrible murder of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas yesterday, but one aspect I have not seen discussed is whether Dr. Tiller put himself at risk by being a regular church-goer. In the interest of full disclosure I am particularly interested in this topic since I also attend church nearly every Sunday morning. More details have been released and it now appears that the murder happened in the vestibule of the church during the church service, where the murderer could have known Dr. Tiller would be because Dr. Tiller was listed as being one of the ushers in the church bulletin.

Dr. Tiller was known to sometimes wear a bullet-proof vest and have security at the clinic where he worked. Was his regular church attendance a fatal security lapse?