1. Today’s front page Inquirer story on the chaos at South Philly High School on Dec. 3: The chaos and trauma that gripped South Philly High is front and center - as is the leadership of SPHS principal LaGreta Brown. From before 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the school day, Brown knew of multiple attacks on Asian immigrant students and a school in crisis and largely failed to act.

   What the story missed: The day after the violence on Dec. 3rd, the Principal sent home a letter to parents that began: "As you may have heard in the news, an incident occurred at dismissal, outside of South Philadelphia High School on Thursday, December 3, 2009." The letter not only brings into question the principal's judgement that day but in the days following when Brown engaged in questionable conduct as public scrutiny increased. LaGreta Brown may have entered a challenging situation at SPHS when she arrived, but her lack of leadership, action and subsequent acceptance of responsibility has resulted in a challenging school becoming a dangerous and fractious place for all students there - Asian immigrant students in particular - and a national embarassment for the School District.

2. Where’s the apology?: The claim that Asian students attacked a disabled African American child was an explosive allegation first uttered by Supt. Arlene Ackerman in her first remarks on the S. Philly incident almost a week after the attacks:
   

   "What began as an unwarranted off-campus attack on a disabled African American student, quickly escalated into a retaliatory multi-racial attack on primarily Chinese students at the school the following day." (School Reform Commission hearing, Dec. 9, 2009)

   This allegation generated confusion, heightened racial tension, and fueled suspicion citywide. And it was completely unsubstantiated, according to a recent District investigation. In fact, the report raised the likelihood that there’s a totally different version of events than the one Dr. Ackerman put out – that it was in fact Asian immigrant kids who were beaten. It would seem imperative to call for a response from the superintendent who uttered the accusation in the first place. Thus far, Dr.Ackerman has taken a convenient "case closed, move forward" approach. It’s convenient because it doesn’t accept her role in fanning the flames and heightening confusion and suspicion through hearsay and rumor rather than encouraging a thorough inquiry into what led up to the attacks.

   The high road would be to apologize. Instead, there is a deafening silence.

3. Predatory gambling and the call to revoke Foxwoods license: Today Buzz Bissinger joined the call to revoke Foxwoods’ license. The problem is that while fed-up with the mess, the author, like others, simply says rebid the license at another location to foist the miserable process and even more miserable outcome on other neighborhoods – missing the point that it’s the larger city that suffers.

   Just read Monica Yant Kinney’s column today on the gambling at Parx casino:

   Inside the smoke-filled slots box, much of what casino bosses took for granted has changed. Gone are the days of wooing "whales" and dissing grannies in fanny packs. Parx president Dave Jonas says his revenue comes almost exclusively from local low rollers.

   "We underestimated significantly how many trips our customers were going to make," Jonas said at last month's Pennsylvania Gaming Congress in Valley Forge.

   "When I was in Atlantic City, to have 12 to 15 trips out of customers, they were VIPs," Jonas said. At Parx, "it's not uncommon for us to have 150 to 200 trips."

   Moderator Michael Pollock, a well-regarded casino analyst, paused to digest the statistic.

   "You said 150 to 200 times a year," he repeated. "That's three to four times a week, essentially."

   "Yes," Jonas confirmed, most of his players fit that profile. In fact, because Parx players tend to live within 20 miles of Street Road, many go even more frequently.

   "We have customers," Jonas boasted, "who give us $25, $30 five times a week."

   Is there any question that localized gambling is anything less than predatory? The message around Foxwoods is not to revoke the license so we can surround Philadelphia with yet another of these bottom feeding industries. The message is to revoke the license period and rethink gambling in this city and the Commonwealth. Anything less is just playing power politics rather than protecting the real needs of communities and people throughout our region.

4. Steve Wynn: There’s no doubt that the Foxwoods fiasco continues on its downhill slide with Steve Wynn angling to gain his way in. As anti-Philadelphia as he is, Wynn is correct on this end – with predatory gambling we have struck a pact with the "dark side" so to speak – a dark side that’s on full display below (thanks to Roxbury News). And as long as city leaders keep that pact, they’ll reap what they sow.
   

   Steve Wynn Reveals Shocking Ignorance from Ron Stanford on Vimeo.

And not to be a complete sourpuss, I have to say it’s pretty darn cool that Vincent Chin – whose murder politicized a generation of Asian American activists around anti-Asian violence – made the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Because the news out of Connecticut just isn’t looking good:

On the brink of default, the Mashantucket Pequots are seeking to restructure $2.3 billion worth of debt, a senior adviser to the tribe said in interviews this week.

The debt is $1 billion more than the tribe's Foxwoods Resort Casino - North America's largest casino and once the world's most profitable - can sustain, the adviser said. . . .

In a letter distributed by e-mail last week, Michael Thomas, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, updated tribal members on the seriousness of the situation.

”Earnings are down considerably and there are no signs of immediate improvement,” he wrote. “... These are dire financial times for our Tribe.”

According to Bloomberg News, Foxwoods could be the largest tribal casino to default. So what to do?

Thomas – who faces tribal election this fall – apparently issued a letter saying he could give two cents about corporate rules and Malaysian investors and says he’ll pay his tribal members no matter how much debt he owes. And just to make super sure, Thomas states that he’s even passed a resolution calling upon the tribe to – and yes, this is a quote – put their "last borrowed dollars" into a lock box.

”Foxwoods is here to support our people not Wall Street,” he wrote. “Those who put the interests of bankers and bond holders ahead of our tribal community will have to answer to me. To make sure, I have introduced a resolution to take our last borrowed dollars and put them in a lock box only to be used for Government and Incentive.”

Now that’s a plan!

Announcing:

Grand Opening of the No Slots Spot
street front office
718 Market Street
Home of the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition and Casino Free Philadelphia

As the casino issue heats up in Philadelphia , it only seemed fitting that the struggle locate itself where it seems most appropriate - across the street from the greedy and inept Foxwoods/PREIT project. Asian Americans United and Casino Free Philadelphia have joined up to open the street level office, which will serve as the home of the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition and Casino Free.

Nine months after a "done deal" on Market East was announced, there's little to show but scaffolding. Meanwhile, yesterday, Common Cause PA announced that more than $18 million has flowed from the gambling industry and its legal entities into the pockets of local politicians. It's a serious indictment of a state that, according to Common Cause, is one of the worst offenders in the country because of the lack of campaign donation limits and the failure of politicians to fully disclose their gambling contributions.

So in recognition of that and in celebration of the No Slots Spot, Asian Americans United and the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition hosts the Anti-Casino Circus, because "when it comes to bringing slots to Philly, it's not a democratic process, it's a circus." (Props to AAU artist Kathy Shimizu for the artwork and the AAU team for tomorrow's acts.) The event is kid-friendly: skits galore, acrobats, jugglers, cotton candy too! And you'll support the effort to stop slots in Philly. For more information, contact Asian Americans United: 215-925-1538.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsXDYnBeVLU&feature=channel_page

When they try to situate the casino at the hub of our mass transit system and in the center of our city, in a very densely populated part of the city, and in a family shopping mall, they're therefore targeting all Philadelphians. So that no matter what part of the city you're from, you're a potential target of this industry.

Ellen Somekawa

When officials began a news conference yesterday celebrating the planned move of the Foxwoods Casino to Center City, the audience already was sprinkled with protest signs held by community opponents, many from nearby Chinatown....

Nutter and Rendell said that they hope that the project will revive the Gallery, which was built in the 1970s and '80s with government assistance, and they believe that it will trigger further development on Market Street East.

A column in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer by Daniel Rubin reveals a disturbing case of attempted censorship by a public relations firm tied to the Foxwoods Casino.

The public relations firm in question, Tierney Communications, fired one of their vice presidents, Peggy Griffin, because she wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer warning of the casino's potential effect on her neighborhood. She had already made the firm aware of her stance on the issue before they hired, and she did not mention her affiliation with Tierney. Nevertheless, they dumped her, putting a potentially damaging mark on her career.