would be disappointed with their overall level of business so far. i don't see any need for that parking garage they had planned. however on the 4 or 5 times i have been there i would say that asians make up almost half the client base. with the overall nos being on the light side i think they might try to target the asian community even more.

The entire idea of using legalized gambling- whether in casinos, racetracks, or simply lotteries- to substitute for taxation is fundamentally unfair. To be more specific, it's regressive, meaning that the poor people who tend to be the biggest customers of such venues tend to spend a greater percentage of their income there than do rich people. All for the minuscule chance of hitting the Big Payoff.

They do have the advantage of being a completely voluntary tax, at least in that nobody forces you to play the slots or buy a lottery ticket under pain of imprisonment. But the overall effect of state-sponsored gambling is to function as a regressive tax, allowing the government to pay for things which it would be reluctant to fund through a formal, perhaps even progressive, tax.

-Z

http://uss-mass.org/slotonomics.html

Both Rendell and Deval Patrick (D-MA) or even harking back to Brendan Byrne amongst others have fallen into a simple trap: Republicans brand Democrats as tax-happy fanatics. The simple way to get out of this political trap is to implement anything that is not called a tax. Gambling is perfect.

If those elected leaders had the courage of their convictions - assuming they have any - they'd fight back just with Zorro's words. It's a simple and easily publicized evil. I've been to Sugarhouse. It's more depressing, if possible, than AC. A few shots of clearly poor people in wheelchairs entering would go a long way to show that anti-gambling sentiment is not just a la-de-da yuppie position, but a progressive ethical objection.

Joshua Vincent
www.urbantools.org
www.ourcommonwealth.org
Phree Philly

route as in australia. in australia we have very few casinos but EVERY bar,pub, football, soccer, tennis club in the country has slots . its impossible to get away from them.its really sad to see pensioners sitting there with that blank look on their face putting their pension check through the slots.it got so bad that when russell crowe bought a football team he pulled out evry slot in the club and writes a check for 3 mill to the club every year to make up the diff in the clubs budget.
i would def support high end casinos like in monte carlo where there are no slots and just have extremely high min bet poker , blackjack and dice

Monica Yant Kinney has a poignant piece about Sugarhouse's targeting of Asian clientele and shares the story of Asian Americans United's Lai Har Cheung whose family was deeply impacted by gambling addiction. It's made me a bit uncomfortable to have conversations around casinos describe their clientele as if they are people we don't know, or who we aren't, or we hope we never become. The reality is that casinos actively target neighbors and family members, employees and friends, parents and grandparents and that the resulting gambling addiction impacts a circle even wider than those who frequent the casinos.

Or whatever it was. That is sooooooo funny.

"In this job, you will be required to exist. Occasionally, you will be expected to react to stimuli from your perception of reality."

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This Too Will Pass, for the guts in your cerebrum.

You must have a pulse to apply for this job.

-Z