Let me tell you about Gambling Addiction

Source: Florida Times-Union ()

Jacksonville City Councilwoman Denise Lee served as a character witness for a former city employee who ended up avoiding jail time even though he acknowledged stealing more than $95,000 from a fund to assist businesses in Lee’s district.

Lee said she testified in support of William Sweet, a lifelong family friend, out of a sense of loyalty.

Sweet, a former City Council candidate, publicly acknowledged in October 2006 stealing $8,700 from an economic development fund while he worked for the city. But the scope of his theft turned out to be considerably larger - $95,059 - money used to feed a compulsive gambling habit, he said.

The thefts came from the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Northwest Business Development Facade Grant Program, which was intended to refurbish business exteriors in Lee’s and other council districts. Sweet managed the program from 2001 to 2005 before moving on to another city job.

City officials first confronted Sweet in October 2006 over one check worth $8,758.61 that was intended for a small business but that Sweet had deposited into his bank account.

He repaid that money, resigned his city job and quit his council campaign.

Later that month, Sweet, 44, was charged with 12 counts of grand theft, a third-degree felony. In a deal, he pleaded guilty to two counts and prosecutors agreed not to prosecute the other 10. He still faced up to five years in prison, though, and had a chance to make his case for a lighter sentence at a hearing two months ago.

He brought a powerful friend with him to the courtroom.

Lee testified that Sweet was “like a brother” because they grew up in the same church, St. Paul AME, where his father was superintendent of the Sunday school.

“You know, this is very difficult for me,” Lee told court. “I mean, you mentioned that I’m a public official, and one of the things that’s …

Source: GoErie.com ()

In response to Lee Coleman’s letter about programs being needed for gambling addicts (Erie Times-News, Dec. 5), Stairways Behavioral Health is addressing this community need.

By the end of January, Stairways therapist Henry Krol will have completed the training required by the Pennsylvania Certification Board to receive a certificate of competency in problem gambling. He has been providing counseling services at Stairways for 27 years.

Stairways is encouraging more therapists to complete the training. Gambling-addiction counseling will be provided through Behavioral Health Counseling Center (4528913) for individuals with or without insurance who meet income eligibility.

William F. McCarthy

CEO, Stairways Behavioral Health

Source: CBC News ()

Slot machines and blackjack tables aren’t usually associated with Christmas, but Ontario’s government-operated casinos will be open Dec. 25, a day most other businesses are closed.

“We’re part of the entertainment industry and we’re very much working in response to the preferences [of] our customers,” says Don Pister, who speaks for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the agency in charge of province’s gambling interests.

“There’s always been a demand for us to be open on that day, and so we shall again this year.”

He adds that casinos offer dining and live entertainment and not all patrons gamble.

However, Doug Little, a former compulsive gambler who wrote a book about his addiction, says most people at a casino on Christmas are there to gamble.

“A lot of times people on Christmas Day are going to be alone because they’ve gambled their lives away, and the only place that they can go on Christmas Day is the casino where they can continue to lose … not only their money but their lives,” he told CBC News.

As he sees it, closing casinos for a day wouldn’t stop people gambling on others, but it would send the right message, considering that government offices and liquor stores take Christmas off.

Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ()

Anyone wondering why state Sen. Robert Meeks would want to allow a Gary casino owner to move one of his two riverboats to Steuben County need examine only a few numbers:

$2.9 million .  That’s how much the Majestic Star II – the less popular of Don Barden’s two Gary casinos – paid to local governments in the fiscal year ending June 30.

1.6 million .  That’s the number of people who visited the boat in the last fiscal year.

649 .  The number of jobs at the casino.

But as with many of the issues related to Indiana’s legal gambling industry, Steuben’s potential gain would come at a cost to others.

Most Fort Wayne-area residents who now visit Michigan City’s Blue Chip because it is the closest would most likely go to a Steuben casino, hurting the Blue Chip’s revenues at a time when it is losing revenue to a New Buffalo, Mich., competitor. A Steuben casino might also take away some revenue from the area’s only legal gambling facility, the Fort Wayne OTB .

To be successful, the Steuben boat would most likely depend much more on the revenue of Fort Wayne residents and other Hoosiers than at its current location near Chicago, siphoning away discretionary spending that now goes to other Indiana entertainment venues.

In short, the move would shuffle around the same dollars and give Steuben County a gambling fix.

Still, a riverboat move is probably better than adding a 12th Indiana boat, which would certainly drain the incomes of other state casinos. With Lake Michigan and Ohio River cities and counties profiting from casinos, it’s no wonder that the powerful chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee wants to bring some of those jobs and dollars to Indiana.

Northwest and southern Indiana have casinos; central Indiana is poised to gain two “racinos,” racetracks with …

Source: Glasgow Daily Record ()

Dec 22 2007

Graham Keal And Paul English

The Old Curosity Shop Boxing Day, Stv, 9pm

ITV demonstrates that it’s not just the BBC that can make classy adaptations of much-loved period pieces in this lavish version of the Dickens’ novel, starring Derek Jacobi as the shop owner and Sophie Vavasseur as his saintly granddaughter, Little Nell.

Toby Jones provides a wonderfully hissable villain in the shape of the odious Quilp - a lascivious, wife-beating money lender and potential paedophile who has his eyes on the curio-filled shop, not to mention the 13-year-old girl who lives in it.

When Quilp gets the shop in his clutches after financing grandfather’s nocturnal gambling addiction, the old man and the girl see flight as their only option and they take to the road.

A supporting cast stuffed with stars and solid performances includes Zoe Wanamaker as the quirky owner of a travelling waxworks, Josie Lawrence as Quilp’s mother-in-law, Adrian Rawlins as the mysterious Jacob, who seems as desperate as Quilp to find the missing duo, Martin Freeman and Steve Pemberton as two Punch and Judy men on the make, Adam Godley as Quilp’s craven, corrupt lawyer Brass and Gina McKee as the lawyer’s equally wicked sister.

Trying to pack the whole story into one feature-length episode means the plot races along at a break neck pace until the fugitives reach rock-bottom and Nell is to beg on the streets.

Don’t expect too many laughs along the way, but it’s a great old story.

Source: Pacific Daily News ()

About 180 Guam National Guardsmen who will be deployed a day before Guam’s special election on Jan. 5 were given a chance to cast their vote early yesterday.The soldiers are being deployed on a yearlong security mission to Afghanistan, where they will fight to protect the newly instated democratic government. Many guardsmen said they appreciated that their voice would still be heard and thought the vote was a last-minute chance to reaffirm the liberties they are fighting for.

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“I like to exercise my right and I’m glad I won’t have to miss it,” said Sgt. Carl Cruz, 23. “I am very happy that I still get the opportunity to voice my vote.”

While being briefed on the election issues, guardsmen also were taught how they can submit absentee ballots for the upcoming Guam general election, since they will miss that also. Guardsmen who wanted to vote but had not registered were supplied the necessary paperwork.Cruz added that he would happily submit an absentee ballot from the Middle East, but worried that he wouldn’t be an informed voter.The Jan. 5 ballot is being held to fill the vacancy left by the October death of Tony Unpingco. It also includes Prop A, an initiative that would approve slot machines at the Guam Greyhound Racetrack.Cruz kept his senatorial vote to himself, but said he would support the candidate with new ideas.”We need a change of ways. Some new ways to better the economy — but not gambling,” he said. Cruz worried about the negative repercussions if Prop A passed.”Even though I play a few card games around here, I’ve seen what the addiction can do to families,” he said.Spc. Mimie Arceo, said she would vote for a candidate who would prioritize improvements in public schools and health care, two issues she felt are notoriously short on funds.Because he was about to be deployed to an democracy, Sgt. Bill Fong was disappointed that not all the guardsmen set to be deployed chose …

Source: American Chronicle ()

Previously, the term ‘casino’ used to refer to a country house or an Italian style villa. However, it was in the early years of the 19 th century that the term came to be designated in its present meaning with several separate buildings dedicated to the purpose of entertainment activities including gambling as a fun activity. Today casinos and gambling are great activities for passing leisure time and most hotels, restaurants and shopping arcades providing gambling facilities to its consumers. This is especially on a high during festivals or occasions of celebrations and in such situations, the hotels and restaurants offer better stakes and huge profit revenues to its customers therefore luring crowds to participate in gambling. It is also interesting to point out here that with the progress of technology and the birth of the internet, casinos and gambling activities too have been revolutionized with the emergence of what is referred to as online casinos or virtual casinos.

While a little bit of occasional indulgence in gambling activities isn’t harmful, too much addiction can become a matter of concern. Time and again it has been pointed out by psychiatrists that over indulgence in gambling activities can result in causing psychological disorders. This is prevalent as casinos offer huge benefits upon winning which are successful in attracting the players. Once the game begins, some players continue to play the game even after losing huge stakes in hope that may be they will hit the jackpot amount soon. But in cases it doesn’t happen, the player may lose enormous amounts of money and he might also fall into a debt trap which can affect him psychologically or may force him to commit heinous crimes to recover the amount lost.

The casinos are comprised of huge amounts of currency required for betting and gambling and therefore it is necessary for the to make sure that adequate proportions of security forces are deployed as guard since often people …

Source: Guardian Unlimited ()

A senior civil servant was jailed for 18 months today after using London Underground’s “Monty Pythonesque” fare refund scheme to feed his spiralling gambling addiction.Trushar Patel, 30, who worked for the former deputy prime minister John Prescott, recruited his wife, brother and mother to fill out thousands of customer charter forms and pocket £22,000.Using their own names, as well as a string of aliases, they spent years pretending they had suffered an average of eight delays a day on the Jubilee line.

Article continues

Once the refunds had been delivered to their home in Honeypot Lane, Stanmore, Middlesex, they were used to the buy travel cards, which were then exchanged for refunds.London’s Southwark crown court heard that although many of the details provided on applications were false, it was not until they had received 7,105 vouchers that the scam was uncovered.”The refund policy of London Underground is operated under a customer charter scheme which enables refunds to be made to passengers if their journey is more than 15 minutes late,” said Francis Sheridan, prosecuting.”As a scheme there is no doubt that it was a positive idea which encouraged efficiency within London Underground in that it was an incentive to ensure tubes ran on time.”It was a good idea for customers in that those genuinely delayed would be properly compensated. That was the thinking behind the scheme.”But that having been said, when it comes to its implementation it is right to say it was naive in its conception, it was naive in its execution, it was naivety beyond belief.”The evidence in this case suggests the administration of this scheme was a complete shambles of Monty Pythonesque proportions.”The information on the forms was incomplete and still processed. The information on the forms was false still processed.”No checks were carried out on the tubes claimed for, let alone checks on whether …

Source: Boston Globe ()

Governor Patrick testifies on casinos
Text of governor’s speech

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December 18, 2007

Governor Deval L. PatrickTestimony to the Joint Legislative Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures andState AssetsAs Prepared for DeliveryDecember 18, 2007Chairman Montigny, Chairman Flynn and the members of the joint committee Good morning, and thank you for convening today. We appreciate your allowing me and the members of my administration this first opportunity to present our views for your consideration.As we are all aware, Massachusetts faces significant structural budget challenges. The budget for the current fiscal year relies heavily on one-time, non-recurring resources.Projections for the coming year show shortfalls in lottery funds so vital for local services.And the forecast is for slower overall revenue growth.At the same time, costs to meet essential programs and to fulfill commitments such as to health care reform continue to rise. For example, in the current fiscal year, health service costs comprise nearly 45% of our state budget. Those costs have continued to grow at three times the rate of inflation. Maintaining our health care commitments in the next budget cycle could occupy fully half of our available resources. Combine this with the softening revenue picture and you begin to appreciate why a serious discussion about new revenue sources is so timely.And they have begun to yield positive returns. This year alone — in the face of national economic unease — the Massachusetts economy has created over 25,000 new jobs. We have moved from 49th in the country in job creation last year to 15th this year. We need to keep that momentum going.At the same time, we have put forward a variety of measures both to generate new revenue and to reduce spending. We have submitted measures for cutting health care pension costs at municipal levels, and we submitted a budget last year that reflected some $700 …

Source: China Daily ()

Keira Knightley is going back in time again - to play 18th century English socialite Georgiana Spencer.

The actress, who has donned period costume after period costume in films like Pirates of The Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, will team up with Ralph Fiennes for The Duchess.

Spencer, The Duchess of Devonshire, was renowned for her extravagances, a gambling addiction and her part in the French Revolution.

Unfortunately, her life was so rich, much of the scandal attached to her has been left out of the film, according to Knightley.

The actress “We didn’t have the budget to go to the French Revolution. You could make five films out of her life.”