“The House Wins Again,” [Will online gambling be forced to fold a winning hand?]

Friday George W Bush singed into law a Bill that would make it nearly impossible to gamble online, (The Port Security Bill.) Read on.>>>

Riding on a Bill that senate Majority Leader Bill Frist new would be singed by Bush, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, was singed into law Friday. The Bill would make it illegal to place or pay off bets with checks or electronic money transfers of any kind.

A pastime enjoyed by 23-million Americans was deemed to have, "ill effects on society," by the Bills sponsor, Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.). Goodlatte says, he opposes all gambling, but opposes internet gambling the most.

There was a prohibition placed on the country at one point in history that brought about an era of lawlessness. Will this law bring about those same effects? Annie Duke seems to think so.

WaPo

We're going to have Prohibition, and what happened then?" said champion poker player Annie Duke, a former University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate who began playing professionally in 1994. "We had people running around with tommy guns and drinking moonshine because they weren't given a safe product."

The Poker Players Alliance, a lobbying group that opposes the new law, said it would ask Congress to exempt poker from the statute. The group considers poker a game of skill, not chance.

What are the differences between online poker and the casinos that are going up all around the country? Here in Pennsylvania the licenses have just started being issued to companies to open casinos. West Virginia has had slots for a couple of years now. Some would say that is regulatory problems. Not Mr. Goodlatte.

Goodlatte said he would press to update the Wire Act to conclusively extend its authority to the Internet. That part of his bill was dropped in the Senate.
"All the problems that manifest themselves with gambling, even in heavily regulated states, are even worse on the Internet," Goodlatte said yesterday. "There are family problems, bankruptcy problems, gambling addiction, gambling by minors, using gambling to launder money for criminal and terrorist organizations and organized crime. It does not help our society."

Looking at Mr. Goodlatte’s last statement, the Right has done it again. Anything that they don’t want or want is attached to, terrorism. So in a way, I guess they attached it to the right Bill.

This seems to be the classic case in the country, that was founded on the majority rule, a small minority is making the laws to govern the many. To spell it out for you, smell the hand of the Religious Right in this.

"We've proven in history that trying to protect the minority and punish the majority never works," Duke said. "The fact is, there is a certain percentage of people who have addictive personalities [and gamble online]. Are you going to pass a law outlawing online shopping? Or day trading?"

My Take!

Annie Duke is right, especially her point about day trading. Isn’t D.T. an even bigger game of chance, in which you place even larger wages? You have people that think they can handle the Market and end up losing everything. I know friends that have run their selves into debt Online and Home Network shopping. Maybe, our government should go after that industry. The Lottery is an even bigger game of chance, why not shut that down I have heard stories of people going with out because they over play the Power Ball. Then there is alcohol, I am willing to bet that more home are broken because of Firewater, than online gambling.

I personally agree that Poker is a game of skill, which takes time to master. I am a poker player that has taken the time to learn the correct way to play the game of Texas Hold’em, but I never wager real money online. I do go to the sites that offer free rooms like, MansionPoker.net, PartyPoker.com, and PokerStars.com. These sites and others give you a chance to make the big tournaments, and a shot at the big money, “Free!”

I am not so blind that I don’t know there are those that feel that they will hit the big one on the next hand or in the next game, but the are a small minority. We don’t need the government telling us what to do in our free time. We work hard for our money, and should be free to do with it the things that make our lives happy.

ABA
Ps. For those of you that say screw this it doesn’t affect me, well you are wrong. This is just another chip of your freedom gone.

“I Refuse to Become a (Kos Fascist)!”

The following is going to be the final diary I post on Daily Kos. I have fallen out of agreement with what the site has become in its philosophy. It has taken on the resemblance of the beast we are fighting. A diary that I posted, did not get me ban, but it was removed from the site, with out any questions ask. “The Disciples of Kos” disagreed with my take on multiple topics I discussed in the diary. I know this was the reason because of the comments made in the comment section. I was told by a “disciple’ that it would be troll rated and pulled. Anymore such diaries “Would result in a ban from the site.”
As has the government, Daily Kos has taken on a fascist amour with its power. I am asking anyone that reads Daily Kos, to boycott the site and its advertisers. I ask this because, “Fascisms in the name of liberalism is still fascism.”
ABA



Why I am leaving Daily Kos.

In my three years at Daily Kos, I have been witness to many things; from the great building of a community that has come together for the cause of bringing back a Government from the grasp of near fascism, to making or breaking politician’s career. I have seen a lot of changes, some for the good of the site, and some not so good. Daily Kos has grown from a dream of righting the wrongs in the government, to making that difference.

Daily Kos was the unknown kid on the block, and now it is the voice of a new generation of political bloggers. People from all walks of life come here to share ideas or, just to get something off their chest. I usually did the latter. However, in my time here, I dared to think out side the realm and those who claim to be disciples of the Kos promptly slapped me down. A group, who are so arrogant and wrapped up in their belief in their own self-worth that the will not even understand that this is about them

I am leaving because of what the Kos community has become, that in which it is fighting. I have seen friends censored for thoughts that come close to crossing the line of the community’s structured box. I have also seen vicious gang attacks on those who have thought beyond the government’s way of thinking on certain subjects. Certain members of the community have taken the stance of “You are with us, or you are with the Neo-Cons.” They leave no grey areas, and I did not signup to follow that philosophy.

You must question every move of your government ,even if you feel it is in the good of the people. There is room for compromise on all topics, it is only the degree of compromise that varies, but ideas should always be heard. Yet in a community that I thought was a liberal community, an open thought community there seems to be only one way, and that is the Kos way. I am not totally unsympathetic to the reasoning to the guidelines of the community, I understand you must try to keep those out that would try and destroy the community, but to censor thought to your precise way of thinking is wrong. I am for totally free speech, with the understanding, it is an “individuals” choice to not listen to what I am saying, not that of a self appointed leadership.

Gee, it’s a Rainy Day Here. Let’s Plan to Attack Iran

Today is one of those days in Western Pa. when you sit around and listen to the rain bounce of the roof of the house. And in my case read and think about what the administration is planning to screw up on next. What will their next move be and where will it take place?

Well so far they have been letting stories hit the media stage that they would normally squash. So I thought to myself where have I seen this before. You know when they allowed little annoyances too continue. Read on. >>>

It’s been awhile since we heard anything from Iran on the national media. But then again it is election time, and the focus is on trying to spin all the blunders that have happen under this administration. That in its self is quite a chore.

If you think back to the months leading up to the Iraq invasion, for weeks all you heard was the misinformation that the Bush administration was putting out to the media,(Especially the New York Times.) I think we all remember the administration giving the Times false information. Then the Times would report it, and the administration would quote the Times as their source. What is more shocking about this to me is, when it was found that this was going on, the public shrugged their shoulders.

Any way, after a month or so of making sure that the country new that Saddam was a bad person, it went silent. Boom! The next thing you know Bush and his administration are telling the world that Mushroom clouds are in or future, Saddam could strike in forty-five minutes, and that he has the capability to enrich uranium. Which of course we now know he didn’t. But the majority of the American people thought he did. Well that’s the power of television. Until recently most people believed, if you heard it on the news it must be true.

The Pentagon has been working on a war plan for Iran that includes the Nuclear option. Raw

The Pentagon's top brass has moved into second-stage contingency planning for a potential military strike on Iran, one senior intelligence official familiar with the plans tells

Is the silence on Iran about to get deafening? Could we be seeing an attack on Iran that would indeed spark the start of the final battle?

"The attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he added, and some officers have talked about resigning," Hersh wrote. "Late this winter, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sought to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans for Iran without success, the former intelligence official said."

Just One of Many Reasons to Take Back the Government.

I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that if the Neo-Cons retain control of Congress and the Senate we will see the move towards Iran. The stench once again is in the air. That of pre-Invasion.

US Info Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Said that the U.S. is willing to give European Union negotiator Javier Solana, a little more time to bring Iran back to the table. BUT,

She added, however, that these discussions could not last indefinitely because the credibility of the Security Council eventually would come into question. She said the moment for action, either on the part of Iran or the Security Council, is close. “And when you know whether or not there really is a negotiated path available, then I think you have more scope with allies to talk about what kinds of measures you really need to start to really have an effect on the Iranian program,” she said.

It is statements like these that prove that this administration has its head buried in the sand up to its ass.

The secretary dismissed the idea that U.S. policies in Afghanistan and Iraq have empowered Iran in the region. She said Iran now is sandwiched between U.S.-friendly governments and U.S. forces. She added that the new government in Iraq serves as a “counter-model” to Iran -- a nontheocratic, Shiite majority government, sharing power with Sunni and Kurdish minorities. She said the Iraqi government, with its ties to the holy city of Najaf, could claim a position of leadership in the Shiite world to which Iran never could aspire.

It is statements like these that prove that this administration has its head buried in the sand up to its ass. They are acting as if they didn’t read the Intelligence Report that was just declassified by Bush.

I feel that if the administration moves towards attacking Iran and go through with it, they will unleash a violence that has never been seen since Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.
Do me a favorer if you hear a Neo-Con follower saying we should turn Iran into glass, confront them on it.
ABA