>>>>>http://news.techeye.net/security/florida-bans-computers
>>>>>
>>>>>hahahaha. A while back when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale I thought it might be a good idea to open an internet cafe. I figured with all the tourists it might be a good business venture. I even went as far as to scout out a location and started to draw up a business plan. As it turns out I never did it (thankfully, after seeing this dumbass law pass) because I needed a partner to help me run the business and none of my friends were interested.
>>>>
>>>>We're from the government, and we're here to help!
>>>>
>>>>I think next we should have them write legislation to get rid of guns, alcohol and drugs and then I think it is time to crack down on sodomy, obesity and specifically outlaw marriage outside the species (since we know that is the next stop on the slippery slope)
>>>>
>>>>As everyone knows, controlling our lives is the proper function of government and the more the better. Bring it on!
>>>
>>>Yeah and where the hell is the immigration plan for extraterrestrial creatures?
>>>
>>>I wonder what these 1,000+ "internet cafe's" were like. Were they like the one I wanted to open? Just some desktops, printers, maybe sell some snakes & baked goods?
>>>One issue they have here in Hawaii (no gambling here not even lotto) is with all these arcades that have popped up. In these you go play "arcade games" that let you enter "sweepstakes". In other words is a skirt-around-the-law way to open gambling operations. The cops here been running around shutting them down and taking their machines - but it's all going to backfire because technically they're within the law. Yes they found a loophole, but none-the-less it's a loophole. What will happen here is all these places will sue, and win, and get their machines back + a bunch of tax payer dollars from lawsuits. I guess simply fixing the broken law eludes the lawmakers here.
>>> But from the sounds of the article these were not the type of operations they were targeting - sounds like they went after ones like I wanted to open. If that is the case then geeze that is pretty stupid. Did they yank all the computers out of the public libraries too? hahahaha
>>
>>Ohio just closed all the Internet Casinos too. (though they wrote the law a little tighter I think)
>>
>>http://www.ibtimes.com/why-did-ohio-just-ban-internet-cafes-1281087
>>
>>Since our extensive public libary system offers really good high speed internet access, there really wasn't much doubt these were basically unregulated casinos. What's the harm? Any casino or state lottery or whatever is a tax on people who flunked probability and statistics in school, but the unregulated stuff like the cafes were scams of a whole different magnitude. I knew a couple tech guys that consulted for the sherrif's dept that closed down a couple and there was no doubt a couple were money laundering operations first and foremost and operated with the integrity of paycheck cashing load centers at best.
>
>I agree. These illegal gambling arcades bring a whole pile of other problems with them besides the obvious gambling scams, and the operators of these types of businesses are often involved in other illicit activities and have a tendency to prey upon the poor, the old, and the uneducated - basically the last people that can afford to become victims of a scam.
>Every year here in Hawaii there is an attempt to bring casinos to the island. Those in favor of it say a) if people want to gamble, they're going to gamble - so might as well regulate it....and b) There are zillion people that fly between here and las vegas every day to gamble and thus Hawaii is missing out on all that money.
> When I lived in south Florida they opened that casino in Hollywood FL. I noticed that the city itself had a bunch of more money and the beach in Hollywood - which had been considered kind of a bad area and was in disrepair ended up getting all fixed up looking nice. But there seems to of been a price to pay for that. First they sell booze 24/7 at that place so you know there are bunch more drunks driving around. Plus vices seem to run together. Gambling, booze, drugs, and prostitution not to mention potential for organized crime came along with the casino - that is even the same place where Anna Nichole died of massive drug overdose. But this tiny hawaii island Oahu that I'm on - well they get billions (yes billions) of tourist dollars EVERY MONTH already, so to me it seems foolish to bother with all the problems it would create. Plus the tourism industry here is working just fine the way it is - why screw with it? Anyway I haven't looked into all the positive aspects of it yet because it gets voted down pretty quickly every year so I haven't bothered. I myself don't gamble. I lived in las vegas for 6 months at a time 3 different times and never even put a nickle in a slot machine so personally I could care less about a casino. The other thing is that a lot of families visit here and even though las vegas has tried over the past 10 or so years to become more "family oriented", a casino is still an adult-only business for the most part, and why risk destroying the family oriented fun-in-the sun wholesome image of the island that they've worked so hard for over the past 60 years to get?

I absolutely love Las Vegas. In my last three or four trips there I have not gambled a single dime. (this does not speak to the money I invest sitting at a poker table - that's not gambling) But they opened a casino here in Cleveland (took over an old department store in our dead downtown). One of 4 casinos in Ohio that were opened with the same argument - there are casinos in West Virginia, PA, and Detroit/Windsor. There is also something called a "Racino" - i.e. slot machines at the race tracks - the only way the paramutual poeple would allow the casino bill to pass. The casino opened over a year ago and is 15 minutes from my house and I still have never been there.

I think Oahu makes sense, actually since you really do have a huge influx of tourists already and this is just another way of having them leave money on the island. Las Vegas makes sense as it would not exist otherwise and actually has allowed for the expansion of a lot non "gaming" destination resort businesses. Foxwood and the Indian casinos are just revenge for Wounded Knee <g>

My major complaint is that sloppy spending governments try to plug holes in their finances with the dazzling magic of casino and lottery revenue.

Of course if they want to legalize weed generate some serious revenue ...