Gambling’s False Promise

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The lure of gambling as a way to fill city piggy banks mystifies me. Cities and states open their doors to casinos expecting to rake in billions in tax dollars. But they don’t add in the cost of soaring crime rates, traffic gridlock, bankruptcies and addictions. They turn their backs as local shops and restaurants go out of business, abandoned by customers glued to the casino tables.

I first wrote a column about gambling’s false promise in 2004. Even though the underside of gambling is getting more exposure, politicians still don’t get it.

Here’s an excerpt from my column in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Earl Grinols, author of “Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits,” studied the rates of crime, bankruptcies, lost workdays, domestic violence, illness, divorces and more in counties with—and without—casinos. Even using conservative estimates, the economist found that social costs of gambling outweigh benefits 3 to 1. A net loss.

Grinols estimates the annual cost of gambling to the U.S. economy at between $40 billion and $50 billion, nearly half the cost of drug abuse. The bottom line: Gambling takes far more than it gives.

Why encourage a pastime that can destroy people’s lives? “Patrons of Disney World don’t lose their life’s savings in a visit. But casino high-rollers do,” says Grinols. “Moviegoers don’t typically consider suicide on the drive home. But desperate gamblers take swan dives off casino roofs.”

Read more here.

Selling Love and Tupperware

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Tupperware parties! A historical footnote, but in the fifties and beyond, women, mostly homemakers, sold the plastic food containers at house parties.  It was a way to make money, but also a way to socialize, to share stories of family, children, and heartbreak.

But most modern women work, whether by choice or financial necessity. And as the ranks of single women grow, there’s less opportunity, and less time, to sell the stuff.  So what are women selling now?  Love, and lots of it.

Oprah, Rori Raye, Arielle Ford: all selling ways to find soul mates, relationships for life, the ‘One.’ Just $297 for three lectures!  A bonus seminar for $97!  Or buy the book and the CDs and get 15% off.  It’s for love! Romance! It’s worth it!

I’m sure these (mostly) women are genuine and sincere. But it’s like a broker who says “give me your money, and I’ll make you rich.” The outcome is elusive, but the path the same: pay up if you expect any returns.

Still, many of the lessons they teach are invaluable. I do believe that many of us have focused too much on what we need to do in life — not on how to live and love in life.

West Coast Swing Dance

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West Coast Swing is a dancer’s dance. It’s a slower, bluesy version of East Coast Swing or Jitterbug. Danced to classic or contemporary blues tunes, it’s built on a six-count pattern with variations of eight or ten. It’s fun and playful, fast or slow; alluring or rapid-fire. The musical breaks and beats give dancers time for creative footwork and syncopated movements.

Here’s one of my favorite performances:  Benji Schwimmer and Heidi Groskreutz at the 2001 US Open Swing Dance Championships. The sheer physicality, artistry, and choreography caught the eye of talent scouts. Both dancers landed on national TV dance shows:

In Honor of Military Veterans

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The scars of war are hard to hide and hard to heal. For many U.S. combat veterans, the emotional toll combined with debilitating physical injuries can make it tougher to survive on home soil than on the battlefield.

Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of vets are suffering from a healthcare benefits backlog. Compounding the problem, more than 62,000 veterans are homeless on any given night; many suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. Another 140,000 are in prison.

Policy makers and the VA need to honor and care for those who sacrificed their lives and livelihoods for our country—and not abandon them when they need us most.

Law students are stepping in to help with a free legal clinic at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.  Read more here.

Forgotten Heroes

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Emmanuel Fisher (Sept. 25, 1921—July 22, 2001) was a British composer and conductor who was probably best known as the leader of the London Jewish Male Choir. But as a young army private during World War II, Fisher served in the British medical units that helped liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

He did not know about Hitler’s “Final Solution” until he arrived at Belsen in the spring of 1945. “It was so horrendous that I thought in years to come I’d think that I’d exaggerated it, unless I kept a diary,” he told The Independent in June 1998.

“The whole thing was just like a bad dream,” he wrote in his diary. “I almost pinched myself to make sure that I was awake. … It was too unbelievable to believe. I was stunned.”

Aged 24, he was nurse, mother, and father to 150 to 200 patients. Within eight days, 6,000 patients were brought to the unit for treatment in army barracks outside the camp.

Tens of thousands died from disease, neglect and starvation. Among the victims: diarist Anne Frank.

Fisher’s diary is now archived in the Imperial War Museum. Watch his dramatic story in a videotaped interview conducted by the USC SHOAH Foundation:

Government Shutdown

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Political columnist Charles P. Pierce aptly blames the government shutdown on a single House of Congress, which he describes as “a more lethal combination of political ambition, political stupidity, and political vainglory” than any other in the history of the U.S.

The Esquire pundit slams the House for shutting down the federal government “because it disapproves of a law passed by a previous Congress, signed by the president, and upheld by the Supreme Court, a law that does nothing more than extend the possibility of health insurance to the millions of Americans who do not presently have it.”

He calls Congress an “ungovernable collection of snake-handlers.” I think he nailed it.

Privacy Lost

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The National Security Agency (N.S.A.) is not only collecting our personal phone and email records, but the spy agency is also “exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs” of our social connections. Since 2010, according to the New York Times, the agency has been able to quickly pinpoint our friends, colleagues, locations, traveling companions, and more, spying on our personal social networks.

N.S.A. officials refused to divulge to the NYT how many Americans have been caught up in the effort—including the innocent.  But the data is telling:  In 2011, the program was taking in 700 million phone records per day. In August 2011, it began collecting an additional 1.1 billion cellphone records daily from a US company.

Privacy guru and legal scholar Chris Hoofnagle says the U.S. government has to limit the collection of our personal data by government and by private companies. It’s the only way we can protect the last vestige of our private lives.

Dance Champions

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The international Latin dance champions Riccardo Cocchi and Ulya Zagoryuchenko leave their fans breathless. Their style is hot, fast, sexy—typical for professional Latin competitors. The difference?  Chemistry. Their moves, their connection, their stunning looks create an electric performance. A favorite, choreographed just for them, is “Hello, baby!” Watch it and swoon:

 

 

Health & Happiness

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The New York Times health section has a column by Gretchen Reynolds on the comparable benefits of sleep and exercise. But how do you balance both—and which do you sacrifice if time is short? Neither, as it turns out. Try going to sleep 15 minutes earlier than usual and getting up 15 minutes later.  I’m game for sleeping in.  But going to sleep earlier? No way!

Read the NYT article here.