Gambling? Lingle Opens to the Possibility

[Jon]

Then as long as the fried up the losing chicken its not illegal... just need to call it chicken slaughtering...



-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.

[Kelena]

Gambling is a soul deadening activity as practiced in big casinos. As a source of revenue for Government it is shameful.

[Jon]

And a bunch of people think the same about other vices, but Gambling does no more harm then booze, dope or artful chicken slaughtering...




-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.

[loffelkopffl]

anyone that thinks cock fighting should be legal needs their head examined, no need to reply jon

[amf217]

Well Jon might just be a history thing, but I agree she is simply open to this not for or against it. They need to look at all source's of income now.

[Greg]

Darren (of "Island Notes") Submitted this eloquent piece to Tiff's blog:
_____________________________________________________________________

Consideration of the promotion of gambling in Hawaii seems to pit stakeholders in so-called free-market capitalism - against those believing that elected government has an obligation to regulate in terms of societal and environmental health. Put another way: Which benefits our Hawaiian community more - money generated from casinos? - or the public and environmental good stemming from their absence on these islands? Which engenders a population sustained by healthy community empowerment?

One viewpoint is motivated by money primarily - money games that manipulate gullible people to seek unearned profits. The other viewpoint considers environmental and societal degradation through state sanctioned addiction profits. (And no, good live entertainment, food, and such does not require gambling. However, those things ARE worthy of further discussion and development.)

Healthy sustainable development of these sacred islands, and education of our keiki begins with awareness of our right to declare that we do not do anything for money. That is for Las Vegas. Aloha ‘aina? Casinos don’t give a rip for such things. Leave them in the desert. Hawaii has riches and potential that legalized racketeering hasn’t the slightest concern for, or appreciation of.

In Hawaii, we have more righteous work to do than to turn more of us into stupefied consumers. And while it might pay some bills, turning our young adults into whores and pimps isn’t in our best interest either.

Thanks for providing this forum for sharing opinions concerning these issues.

[Jon]

Then why did you?

How does Artful Chicken Slaughter hurt anyone?
Your empathy for chickens means nothing to humans, and chickens can't vote or pay taxes, so how does this law help society at all?
Drug laws at least pretend to be protecting society.

Please note this is emotionless reason here. Laws should not be based on emotion.

quote:

---

Originally posted by loffelkopffl

anyone that thinks cock fighting should be legal needs their head examined, no need to reply jon

---

-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.

[PaulW]

Legalized gambling is inevitable, I don't know how they've held out for so long.
I read recently that Las Vegas is the number 1 destination for Hawaii residents.
People are going to gamble anyway, let the money stay here.

Hawaii is also well situated to get some of the gambling market from Asia, which could be huge.

[james weatherford]

The implications of legalization of these two are in no way comparable: "gambling" and "cannabis" .

First big difference, the debate about cannabis is about growing on private land and personal use in the privacy of the home.
With gambling, it is, by definition, about gambling in public places for the explicit purpose of taking money from players and transferring that money to the operator(s) of the game and to the state.

Personally, I very much enjoy a serious poker game for modest $$, in the privacy of a home or similar setting. So, there are no moral arguments here for me.

Experience: we lived in Australia for 8 years, including the state of South Australia )'SA') for 5 of those. In 'SA', there are lots of 'Pokies' (poker machines) in bars, casinos, etc. The machines have become renowned for being the destination of the $$ of people who don't have much and lose it all quickly. In the real world situation in South Australia, gambling addiction has become a bigger destroyer of lives than all substance abuse combined.



So, while gambling may seem like just another vice, there are real problems that cannot be brushed aside with vague (irrelevant) comparisons to drugs and alcohol.




James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park

[Jon]

Its my opinion (and that is all the gambling debate is) that gambling is just another victimless crime is states where its not legal and the law needs to be abolished. The Nanny State doesn't work. No matter how hard the State tries it will never be able to protect people from themselves.



-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.