- Times are tough for states, individuals and yes, even governments. State and federal agencies and bureaucratic organizations are having an impossibly difficult time figuring out how to balance their budgets while also carrying dozens of dead-weight slackers who do little to no work on a daily basis. Cutting some of these do-nothings loose would help, but of course the government isn't going to do that. Instead, the Justice Department is reversing its stance on most forms of Internet gambling in the hopes of fleecing America’s growing quotient of degenerate gamblers out of enough money to adequately fund the government’s day-to-day operations. The department has reversed its long-held opposition to nearly all Internet gambling, eliminating a major legal obstacle for states that want to legalize online gambling to help fix their budget deficits. In a legal opinion issued by the department’s office of legal counsel in September but made public on Friday, the Justice Department responded to requests by New York and Illinois to clarify whether the Wire Act of 1961, which prohibits wagering over telecommunications systems that cross state or national borders. Illinois and New York wanted to use the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within their own borders, but the impact of the Justice Department’s change in position will almost certainly extend beyond those parameters. In the simplest of all possible explanations, the decision opens the door for states to allow Internet poker and other forms of online betting that do not involve sports. New York has offered an online subscription service since 2005 by which state residents can enter Lotto or Mega Millions drawings. The state has been working on plans for a broader online gaming system, but the contractor for the project feared legal battles if it moved forward. Armed with its newfound freedom, New York Lottery officials plan to add two additional jackpot games, Powerball and Sweet Million, to its current online lottery subscription service and permit New York residents to buy single-draw tickets online. In Illinois, the superintendent of the state lottery had the gall to suggest that the new policy would enable the lottery to regulate purchases and actually protect gambling addicts. “Right now we can’t guard against someone walking into a lottery retailer and buying too many tickets and behaving excessively,” superintendent Michael Jones said. “Now with credit card purchases, we can guard against excessive play.” Yes, that is exactly how the system will work. Some bureaucratic pencil-pusher behind a desk will determine whether or not a deadbeat dad who isn't supporting his four children by three different mothers can buy that extra batch of Powerball tickets. No one is sure how big the online gambling industry actually is, but most estimates put it in the 11-figure range, as in tens of billions of dollars annually. Both the District of Columbia and Nevada have both approved limited forms of Internet gambling, and New Jersey has been considering legislation allowing sports betting and other forms of Internet gambling, so this party is only getting started. Let the excessive online gambling by those who can least afford it commence……………
- Is the NFL really the king of American professional sports? Television ratings and revenues from merchandise and TV rights sales would suggest as much, but how can a sport be the king if one of its teams is openly begging fans to show up for the biggest game of the season? The Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the biggest surprises of the NFL season, bouncing back from winning four games last year to a 9-6 record that has them on the brink of making the playoffs in the AFC. With rookie quarterback Andy Dalton leading the way and a rugged defense keeping the Bengals in games, coach Marvin Lewis’ team needs only to defeat Baltimore in Sunday’s regular-season finale at home to make the postseason. For some reason, the prospect of watching a potential playoff team fight for the chance to compete for a championship has failed to excite the Cincinnati faithful. Attendance at Paul Brown Stadium has been lackluster all season and in the hopes of changing that trend the team is trotting out some of its stars to plead with fans to show up for the Baltimore game. "It's going to be a big week, and we're going to need everyone to come out and support us," Dalton said of the contest. "Everyone in Cincinnati needs to come out for this big game." Lewis also chimed in, hinting at the need for fans to show up and support the Bengals in their big matchup. "The crowd really affected the game with the noise, and I'm sure they'll be anxious to get here next Sunday as we play for something special," Lewis said. The begging comes on the heels of a crowd of just 41,273 showing up for Saturday’s 23-16 victory over Arizona at the 65,500-seat stadium. Seeing so many empty seats even inspired the Bengal with the longest rap sheer - cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones - to get all political with his plea for a bigger crowd for Week 17. "I'm just happy for the team and the city of Cincinnati," Jones declared. "The fans did a great job getting behind us, and we need all of you this week. We need the fans this week. Who Dey! Please come support us. I'm Adam Jones, and I approved this message." How pissed are those fans who do buy a ticket going to be when the Ravens roll into the Queen City, smack the Bengals and send them into the offseason one week early………….
- FAT people, here you go. A late Christmas gift has just come down the chimney and no, it’s not an extra plate of Christmas cookies, fudge and pumpkin pie to pair with the leftover stuffing, ham and mashed taters you have left over from Sunday’s family gathering. Instead, it’s a study by researchers at Ohio State informing you that you can blame your ever-growing girth on that terrible relationship you have with your mother. Sarah Anderson, assistant professor of epidemiology at Ohio State and lead author of the study, and her team examined the mother-child relationships of 977 children born in 1991. They measured how the mothers interacted with their children at numerous points during their childhoods and evaluated factors such as emotional attachment and children’s sense of security within their family. Those who had a low level of emotional security in their family relationship were more likely to battle obesity as they grew older. A stunning 26.1 percent of children who had troubled relationships with their mothers were obese at the age of 15, compared with just 13 percent of those children who were close to their mothers. “Sensitive parenting increases the likelihood that a child will have a secure pattern of attachment and develop a healthy response to stress,” Anderson explained. “A well-regulated stress response could in turn influence how well children sleep and whether they eat in response to emotional distress — just two factors that affect the likelihood for obesity.” Anderson’s research team had previously found that young children without a strong emotional relationship with their parents were more likely to be obese by the age of 4 1/2. In spite of the potentially guilt-tripping implications for bad mothers, Anderson made it clear the findings should not be used to blame mothers, but rather as a tool to prevent the spread of childhood obesity. "It is possible that childhood obesity could be influenced by interventions that try to improve the emotional bonds between mothers and children rather than focusing only on children's food intake and activity," she said. Whatever you say, S. Read more about this FAT excuse in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics………
- Take one last wistful, longing look at all of those shirtless magazine cover shots and two-page photos, ladies. Drink in the hunky goodness of everyone woman’s favorite shirt-eschewing Texan because the acting talent-deprived Matthew McConaughey is finally going where George Clooney will never dare to venture. That’s right, the star of iconic films like “Fool’s Gold” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” is finally ready to get married after proposing to longtime girlfriend Camila Alves on Christmas Day. She said yes and he broke the news to millions of distraught female fans around the world on his WhoSay account Sunday. "Just asked Camila to marry me, Merry Christmas," McConaughey wrote on his account, underneath a photo of the couple kissing near a Christmas tree. For Alves, the proposal means a payoff for sticking with McConaughey through five years - yes, they began dating back in 2006 - and approximately 24 crappy romantic comedies he filmed during that time (number approximate). The couple have a 23-month-old daughter, Vida, and 3-year-old son Levi, together and now they are just another slice of the American dream: rich, good-looking people with a wedding ring, two kids and the little people despising them for having all of the above. So once you can see through the tears, ladies, and can unclench your hands from the tiny balls of rage you have curled them into since hearing this heartbreaking news, maybe you can head on over to McConaughey’s WhoSay page and leave him a note of congratulations…………
- New Jersey, what’s your problem? You have a lot of garbage - and no, the Nets don’t count any longer - and yet you are one of the worst states in the U.S. when it comes to recycling? It was a mere 25 years ago that New Jersey became the first to require residents to recycle. Now…….the state’s rate of recycling is plummeting and stands at a measly 37 percent, barely ahead of the national average of 34 percent. That’s a marked decline from 1995, when 45 percent of the waste picked up by municipal collectors was headed for recycling. New Jersey residents are either lazy or indifferent to the plight of the planet, because their level of environmental consciousness has fallen to disturbingly low levels. Environmental groups believe that trash dumping is a major part of the problem and are hoping that a tax on trash dumping, which was reinstated in 2008 after being eliminated a dozen years earlier, will help encourage recycling. Further underscoring the role sheer, unabashed laziness plays in the unwillingness of the average New Jerseyite to recycle, these same groups are putting their minimal might behind a collection of new recycling programs that do not require people to separate bottles and paper. Maybe if those programs take the extra step of not forcing people to actually sort their recycling from their trash or take either one out of the house, all the way to the curb, they can really attain a high level of participation. Asking New Jersey to step up its collective recycling game is just too much to ask. Allow them to turn their state into even more of a massive trash dump that the residents of the other 49 states already assume it to be………….
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