Enforcement of Internet Gambling Laws Gains Steam

[clevfan]

November 3, 2005

Enforcement of Internet Gambling Laws Gains Steam
by Bill Wilson
Focus on the Family

Americans are ignoring laws prohibiting online gambling so Congress is moving to create a bigger hammer.

Gambling on the internet is illegal and booming thanks to the apathy of a lot of Americans. Congress is considering the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005 to stem the tide. The proposal does not change current law but gives law enforcement more clout in dealing with illegal gambling on U-S computers. Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council.

"A lot of time the federal government's hands are tied. This allows both credit card companies and the Treasury Department to work hand in hand in trying to shut down some of these sites."

McClusky says the legislation will not solve the problem, but it is a good first step.

"The one thing about internet gambling, the FBI, the Treasury Department has found that a lot of the funding goes to some pretty unscrupulous things, anything from pornography sites to terrorism. So if this helps in that fight that is certainly a good thing."

Focus on the Family's Chad Hills says unless there is a crackdown, any home with a computer is a potential casino.

"We're going to have a casino in every living room where, at least most living rooms in America, where there are computers. And with this internet savvy generation of kids, you can bet it won't be long before they figure out a way to get on there and start gambling as well."

The legislation calls on the Treasury Department to draft regulations that must be followed by financial institutions. For example, credit card companies would be prohibited from approving internet gambling transactions. The legislation has the endorsement of the National Football League. It wants to stop online gambling on professional football games.

[Onasoapbox]

Americans are "ignoring laws" ???? Say what?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

[shoebox]

Why does the US Govt continue to throw the words Gambling and Terroism in the same sentence??? Its a complete joke, do they think everyone is betting at www.betbinladen.com ?????????????????????????????????????????

[littleogre]

Originally posted by: shoebox
Why does the US Govt continue to throw the words Gambling and Terroism in the same sentence??? Its a complete joke, do they think everyone is betting at www.betbinladen.com ?????????????????????????????????????????

Because terroism is a buzz word.

[Onasoapbox]

Am I right or wrong here...about the law known as the "wire act"? My understanding is that it is only applicable to bookies or to use the laws words...."business of". One who is merely playing online is not in "the business of". Is there some other law being referred to here?

[at ease]

Why did people flee Europe and settle in North America in the first place?

Freedom, religious or what have you

Why is there a need now to persecute and curtail freedom?

Time to flee the dinosaur US of A

Lots of civilization around

The offshore gambling revenue goes to support terrorism? What kind of bullshit is that? It's the same kind of Big Brother bullshit that used to tell Americans that marijuana causes "reefer madness." Also, what the hell is wrong with "pornography" sites? What makes sex and naked bodies evil and the peddling of them "unscrupulous?"

[littleogre]

Originally posted by: reno
The offshore gambling revenue goes to support terrorism? What kind of bullshit is that? It's the same kind of Big Brother bullshit that used to tell Americans that marijuana causes "reefer madness." Also, what the hell is wrong with "pornography" sites? What makes sex and naked bodies evil and the peddling of them "unscrupulous?"

Thats just what the goverment does. They have no idea how to solve the real problems So they just waste our time and tax dollars on bs like this. First it was movies then it was video games and now it's online gambling. Soon it will be something different.

[Onasoapbox]

I'd just like to know what law Americans are ignoring? Unless he is talking about not paying income tax on any winnings. Is he saying that merely playing online is a violation of the wire act. That anyone playing online is automatically "in the business of"? I just wish for once this type of asshole would be clear.

[Spraguer]

Originally posted by: reno
Also, what the hell is wrong with "pornography" sites? What makes sex and naked bodies evil and the peddling of them "unscrupulous?"

Because pornography, however consensual*, that is violent and objectifies women fosters, however latently, the view that women are 'less' than men.

*if indeed being objectified can be consented to on a greater-than-superficial level. Women are often forced into this type of work because our right-wing partriarchal sexist society leaves them little choice. Women are more than tits and ass, even if some women (some actresses) and some men (some consumers) don't realize it.

Note that I'm not necessarily in favour of banning or criminalizing porn - free expression/speech and the nebulous definition of porn are the primary (and indeed justified) barriers to such Orwellian measures - but you simply asked what is wrong and unscrupulous about porn and the distribution thereof, and I've answered that from a standpoint of ethics and equality.

[biggame]

I disagree that the viewing of human bodies is degrading or empowering to either sex. I don't think the issue is rooted in equality at all. Instead, I believe it to be a simple free market equation. There is a certain demand that is present. You could start a new topic on why the demand exists, but either way it does. And for many people, showing off their bodies is the path of least resistence to meet their needs, financial and other. If a math genius can make large sums of money crunching numbers, why would he willing make much less doing manual labor? Same thing is true with modeling. If you have the genetic predisposition to make money with your body, and it presents greater financial compensation than your other skill sets, then how is that degrading? It appears to be the prudent, opportunistic decision to make, assuming you are of rational mind.

[nino brown]

Vermont Passes Resolution
To Secede From The US
By Greg Szymanski
11-3-5


The members of a peaceful freedom-fighting group want no part of neo-cons running the imperialistic U.S. government. Plan to secede from the U.S. gaining momentum in the fiercely independent Green Mountain state.

The neo-con band of criminals running Washington, trampling on civil rights at home and invading countries at will overseas, has led a large group of strong-minded Vermont freedom-fighters with no choice but to secede from the United States.

And last Friday at the state capital building in Montpelier, a historic independence convention was held, the first of its kind in the United States since May 20, 1861, when North Carolina decided to leave the Union.

A packed House Chamber in the Vermont statehouse, with more than 400 gathered, started the daylong secession convention with a speech by keynote James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, and ended with a resolution passed to secede from the United States.

Most people think of secession as impossible if not treasonous, but the concept is deeply rooted in the Declaration of Independence, reminding us that "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it and to institute new government."

And with the neo-con takeover of Washington, including all its branches of government that transforming America into a one-party dictatorship, that's exactly what the resolution passed in Vermont seeks to do by members of grassroots movement growing in numbers daily.

Although the resolution is the first step in the long process that needs support from the state legislators - as well as an officially recognized convention - the grass roots group called the Second Vermont Republic passed the following citizen's resolution:

"Be it resolved that the state of Vermont peacefully and democratically free itself from the United States of America and return to its natural status as an independent republic as it was between January 15, 1777 and March 4, 1791."

Even though critics give the secession group a snowball's chance in hell,, organizers are firmly convinced in the present-day tyrannical political climate secession will not only succeed but will prosper.

This could only happen in Vermont where people are still fiercely independent and fed up with the course the American government is taking," said Thomas Naylor, the head of the group calling itself the Second Republic of Vermont. "We have a lot going for us and if you think about it, we have a lot in common with Poland's Solidarity movement, who many said would never succeed.

"But Poland did get its freedom, mainly because it was a country liked around the world, sort of like how people in America feel about Vermont. When people think of Vermont, they have a warm and fuzzy feeling, an image of black and white Holstein cows and beautiful scenery. I can also tell you there is now closet support in the legislature now and we are serious about getting the support needed to secede from the United States.,

Naylor, a former Duke University economics professor, said from his Vermont home this week that statewide independence is really a euphemism for secession, adding Vermont also will seek to join the group of Unrepresented Nations similar to the Lakota Indians and other international indigenous people.

"Secession is one of the most politically charged words in America, thanks to Abraham Lincoln," said Naylor, adding he had been writing about secession for the better part of 10 years but the movement picked up tremendous steam after 9/11. "Secession really combines a radical act of rebellion grounded in fear and anger with a positive vision for the future.

"It represents an act of faith that the new will be better than the old. The decision to secede necessarily involves a very personal, painful four-step decision process. It first involves denunciation that the United States has lost its moral authority and is unsustainable, ungovernable and unfixable. Second, there is disengagement or admitting I don,t want to go down with the Titanic. Third, there is demystification that secession really is a viable option constitutionally, politically and economically. And finally, defiance, saying I personally want to help take Vermont back from big business, big markets and big government and I want to do so peacefully.,"

What started out as Naylor's little fantasy to have an independent country made up of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, has already grown from a small group of 36 several years ago to a packed House Chamber in the state's capital. Claiming to have a membership of 160 as of last April, Naylor said the numbers have doubled or even tripled.

"I,m getting calls from all over the country supporting our movement," said Naylor. "Although there are more than 20 states with some kind of secession movement, Alaska and Hawaii being the best examples, I think Vermont really has the best chance at succeeding at seceding."

Besides holding the Vermont independence convention in Montpelier, the smallest state capital city in the United States, it also has the reputation as being the most fiercely independent and anti- big business, being the only one not allowing a McDonald's in the entire country.

"First and foremost, we want out of the United States. It's not just an anti-Bush statement and if Kerry was elected, we still would have wanted out," said Naylor. "The reality is that we have a one party system in this country, called the Republican party, that is owned and operated and controlled by corporate America. So it's not just a Bush protest, but a protest against the Empire.

Although many critics have said the mighty U.S. would not stand for Vermont's secession, Naylor as will as others disagree, including Jim Hogue, a talk show host on Vermont Public radio.

"There's nothing they would want here. There's no oil, just mountains. We,re just not important enough. We,re funny, we,re small and we,re peaceful," said Hogue several months ago in an article in the Montreal Gazette.

With most Vermont politicians, including the Congressional delegation, ignoring the grassroots secession movement or just laughing it off as good theatre, Vermont's Lt. Gov., Brian Dubie, has weighed in on the issue, giving it a certain amount of merit but stopping short of outright support.

"I really salute their energy and passion," he said in a local press interview. "we have an obligation to think of what is in our best interest as a state and for the people of out state, even as we approach federal and national issues."

Besides Naylor and Kuntsler, others who spoke at the Oct. 28 independence convention included Professor Frank Bryan of the University of Vermont; Kirkpatrick Sale, author of Human Scale; J. Kevin Graffagnino, executive director of theVermont Historical Society; Professor Eric Davis, Middlebury College; Shay Totten, editor of the Vermont Guardian; and Dr. Rob Williams of Champlain College.


http://www.arcticbeacon.com/articles...8131/36584.htm

[The Actuary]

It is not the US gov't it is some fringe right wing whack job out to fool everyone-



these sorts of organizations would have zero appeal and probably not even exist if the liberal scumbags did not try and force every deviance known to man down society's throat.

[count zero]

Oh, fvck you.

[Onasoapbox]

But what about those weapons of mass destruction that Vermont has hidden in those pretty pastures. It won't take long for the Right Wing zealots to invade and institute a new government once Vermont leaves the Union.

[scott]

From above article:
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And with the neo-con takeover of Washington, including all its branches of government that transforming America into a one-party dictatorship, that's exactly what the resolution passed in Vermont seeks to do by members of grassroots movement growing in numbers daily.
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I think they've got this backwords. The Conservative movement is not spreading throughout the country from Washington. The US is turning conservative and electing their own to serve in Washington....Scotty S

Vermont is a cool experiment, a state that courts those who (rightly) despise Big Government (or Big Brother). It would be great if Vermont manages to secede from the United States and establish itself as a successful prototype for other progressive states looking to escape the stranglehold of present-day neo-fascist Amerikka.

[stevo]

Spent a few summers in a row in Vermont as a child.

Beautiful place.

Buy maple syrup futures now.

[littleogre]

Originally posted by: The Actuary
It is not the US gov't it is some fringe right wing whack job out to fool everyone-



these sorts of organizations would have zero appeal and probably not even exist if the liberal scumbags did not try and force every deviance known to man down society's throat.

I agree with your statement about liberals. They really have no concept of right and wrong. I can't stand groups like the aclu who seem to only be interested in puting the scum of society back on the street. They really love to make excuses for peoples perverted behavior.