Tedlark's Position on Casinos

[Buffilita]

I think the greedy one here is Debug's ego.

[DaBurglar]

I think the greedy one here is Debug's ego.Seriously Buff??          I was not expecting that.......up to now I always found your posts to be entertaining and down to earth and fair.....I could "take" your shots and do so gladly because I felt underneath you are grounded and reasonable.   Perhaps I am wrong .....If you want to point out what, how, when and where it is that I managed to OFFEND YOU (it was not intentional whatever it is, I assure you), I will gladly apologize to you for such offense, if that will eliminate the cause behind posts like the one you made, quoted above.I really do not need any more "Anti Da Burglar" zealots on my rear axles .....Can you tell me this much Buff (since this really was the point/intention of THIS thread):    Do you agree or disagree,  that Ted's quote is more in line with reality than not:   That Players, and NOT the  casinos, are more saturated with GREED in terms of their very NATURE.   Teds quote that prompted this thread/discussion:        "And to me, the very nature of casinos is greed on the part of the gambler and not the casinos themselves.
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[Buffilita]

Buggie, I already replied to your inquiry about Ted's statement. I think it is true. We live in a materialistic society where whoever has the most or best toys wins ... be it money, cars, homes, etc. Only the smart casino player goes in with a budget and stays within it. I'm not one of those. A jackpot to me means oh boy, more money to play with. If I were smart (not greedy), I'd pocket it and take it home. But I always make sure all my bills and obligations are paid before I spend any money gambling. It's my entertainment, like a very expensive dinner and a movie.

Of course the casinos are greedy too. They exist to make money like any business. They have shareholders they have to answer to. But on balance, the casinos wouldn't be successful if players weren't greedy and wanting to win at all costs. We've all heard the stories or even know someone who went over the line and got very deeply in debt.

What I meant by your ego being greedy is your constant posting on various topics, under the guise of starting a discussion, but really to pull others to your views. I didn't mean it as a bad thing. Egos are good; they give us confidence. You have not offended me in any way, exhausted me maybe, but that's because I choose to read your lengthy and involved posts. I apologize if I have offended you!

[DaBurglar]

Buggie, I already replied to your inquiry about Ted's statement. I think it is true. We live in a materialistic society where whoever has the most or best toys wins ... be it money, cars, homes, etc. Only the smart casino player goes in with a budget and stays within it. I'm not one of those. A jackpot to me means oh boy, more money to play with. If I were smart (not greedy), I'd pocket it and take it home. But I always make sure all my bills and obligations are paid before I spend any money gambling. It's my entertainment, like a very expensive dinner and a movie.

Of course the casinos are greedy too. They exist to make money like any business. They have shareholders they have to answer to. But on balance, the casinos wouldn't be successful if players weren't greedy and wanting to win at all costs. We've all heard the stories or even know someone who went over the line and got very deeply in debt.

What I meant by your ego being greedy is your constant posting on various topics, under the guise of starting a discussion, but really to pull others to your views. I didn't mean it as a bad thing. Egos are good; they give us confidence. You have not offended me in any way, exhausted me maybe, but that's because I choose to read your lengthy and involved posts. I apologize if I have offended you! well thanks Buff.....you did not have to post all that, nor be as nice as you were, but you did and I heartily appreciate this.     I learned a few things too, things which I either have not thought about in a long time, or not at all!Your precise views on casinos and players and greed echo my own and I suspect the vast majority of people here......you stated that, on one hand,  while you do agree with Ted's view that PLAYERS are the source of greed, you also (correctly) point out that the CASINOS also are greedy.  This is what I was hoping to generate with this particular thread, using the statement (which I obviously disagreed with) written by Ted.   If a person reads Ted's premise correctly in its original post in the original thread, they see that he plops ALL the responsibility (and nature) of greed squarely in the players lap and renders the casinos blameless.....I found that to be both extreme and disingenuous..... To me, it takes two to tango and that is why I believe   <cue gordon gekko>    "greed" is universal and ubiquitous......it is everywhere and in everyone.    Certainly, casino players in general are greedy, as are people in general.....if one looks at the recent 2008 recession and housing crash, which is often squarely blamed on the Banks and housing / real estate companies (and AIG who insured all the bad mortgages);  But the truth is that while the banks and Real Estate Conglomerates and all their cronies were guilty to the core, they HAD lots of help and accomplices, starting first and foremost with the AMERICAN people themselves......if....IF the many American's who lost during the real estate crash & recession of 2008 had not been so GREEDY themselves in gobbling up houses and mortgages that they could ill afford or had no business taking, then things would not have been nearly as bad....sure the Banks and Real Estate Co.'s should have said "no" to many of these, but they are not in the business of protecting people from themselves, anymore than casinos are......at least with casinos, they have those brochures with the number to call if you are feeling the urge to put your life savings on 35-black, or a HArd Eight  lol Anyhow, thanks for reading my lengthy posts and  NO   I am not offended at all by you,   But just so you know for sure, while everyone has an ego and likes to know they are not alone in their opinions on issues, I am not overly "greedy" in this regard.......I just suffer from verbal (written) diarrhea.......I admit it, I like to type A LOT.....and I like engaging in debates and good intelligent arguments. 

[notes1]

buff, thank you, thank you. for the longest time i have been trying to find the right word to describe his posts....exhausting. he is like the bunny in the battery commercial, keeps going and going and...  DB, i have a suggestion. i know, you are thinking a insult is coming, but that would be the wrong assumption. you need a 'cause' to fight for, hopefully something i might agree with, like the fight against animal cruelty or abuse of children. you are bulldog (compliment), when you set your mind to it. you do not quit. you are wasting this on places such as VP forum. you need to throw your entire weight, including your wheel chair, behind a cause that would benefit by your drive. i am serious, think of the good you could do.  b/t/w, i enjoyed your previous post about much of the personal financial damage that many americans suffered, being self inflicted. now, tell that to bernie, hillary and barack, nancy, harry and...   

[olds442jetaway]

and.....the rest of the dems and far left...

[DaBurglar]

buff, thank you, thank you. for the longest time i have been trying to find the right word to describe his posts....exhausting. he is like the bunny in the battery commercial, keeps going and going and...  DB, i have a suggestion. i know, you are thinking a insult is coming, but that would be the wrong assumption. you need a 'cause' to fight for, hopefully something i might agree with, like the fight against animal cruelty or abuse of children. you are bulldog (compliment), when you set your mind to it. you do not quit. you are wasting this on places such as VP forum. you need to throw your entire weight, including your wheel chair, behind a cause that would benefit by your drive. i am serious, think of the good you could do.  b/t/w, i enjoyed your previous post about much of the personal financial damage that many americans suffered, being self inflicted. now, tell that to bernie, hillary and barack, nancy, harry and...   thanks.....you did not hear too much about the culpability of some of the average people in the 2008 mortgage & housing crisis who tried to buy houses they could ill-afford, out of either delusional thinking or greed.   I say "Some" only because as the recession took hold and the economy tanked, many legit homeowners (i.e. ones who were doing things right and had the correct level and type of mortgage) wound up losing their homes due to losing their job or some extenuating circumstance.  But it was also a case of Americans spending themselves into bankruptcy, carrying loads of credit card debt and other things....the banks and companies like AIG were able to perpetrate (and ultimately trigger) the meltdown because both the US government, and the american consumer allowed them to.....if Americans were not willing to spend themselves into oblivion by taking out these absurd mortgages that defy common sense, the meltdown would have been much much smaller, if it happened at all.    I've been insisting to you that I am neither a democrat or republican because I see huge hypcritical holes, flaws and lies in both parties agenda and members.  I also  think both parties have each a portion of the "solutions" to some of the country's biggest issues.   Take the Debt and continued deficits in the 100s of Billions......The republicans are correct in that SPENDING needs to be cut SIGNIFICANTLY over the next 5 to 7 years, including getting medicare spending, particularly what the US Govt pays for DRUGS, under control.   Democrats are correct that some tax increases, at least temporarily, are needed to put a dent in the debt.....additional revenue must be found somewhere for at least the next 5-7 years as well.    This is all just basic math, not politics.......somehow, with all that, a compromise should be available somewhere.Regarding what you say about where my efforts should benefit something besides this forum.....I appreciate that too, so let me clarify some things.   I do not consider what I do or say or post here any great thing or big deal.....it is nothing for me to churn out the posts I do here.....I guess that is just me....I can type pretty fast and think fast.I currently am self employed, where I do consulting for a wide variety of business, organizations and concerns, mostly small local companies and a couple nonprofits that deal with social issues like homelessness and tutoring disadvantaged schoolchildren.   I also tutor personally a couple of kids every month.    My biggest challenge that limits me and holds me back is NOT my wheelchair, but my hearing.....i have slowly lost most of my hearing over the course of my life, to where I am now 90% deaf and totally rely on hearing aids.   This hearing loss has been sooo gradual over the course of my life, starting around age 10 and little by little through each major stage and transition of my life, I was able to always "get by" and work with and around it, but eventually, right around 2007/2008 it finally reached the point where I could no longer work and achieve in the CONVENTIONAL REAL WORLD marketplace at a level I was used to and satisfied with.....that is when I "walked"  away from my position out in California and decided to simply work for myself back home.That's probably more than you needed to know but I felt you should at least understand a little something about me beyond the silliness that transpires here ......

[DaBurglar]

and.....the rest of the dems and far left...do you recall a guy named  Sam Nunn?    He was a Democratic Senator from Georgia who was prominent back in the 1980s during Reagan......Sam Nunn was what was known as a CONSERVATIVE democrat....there used to be a lot of guys like sam nunn in both houses of congress, and I always found them to be a very appealing group politically.    ANYONE who pushes more to the center than to either extreme is someone I usually favor, and conservative democrats were for a long time the epitome of the CENTER (and were a huge supporter of Reagan during the 80s, the infamous "REAGAN DEMOCRATS").....Al Gore used to be in this crowd too (the environment notwithstanding).You also had in the 80s and early 90s guys like Bob Dole, and Jack Kemp and several others, who today would be called "liberal republicans"......again, these were guys I liked a lot.

[notes1]

jack kemp was my congressman for many years. the national debt levels and government intervention in the private sector, was never part of his beliefs.   i did not say your posts benefited this forum, i said the tenacity you display on this forum,  could benefit some worthy cause. the reason that average citizens were not pointed out as major culprits in causing the great recession was/is pure politics. liberals ran and continue to run on the notion that ALL borrowers were victims. it is how they get elected.  

[olds442jetaway]

     We Americans 90% or so anyway have a sad way of putting people in office. For the men, usually a good looking guy with most of his hair, good smile and gift of gab. For the women, a decent looking woman who dresses well and has a voice that is not irritating. This is just my opinion, but most people are so tied up in their own lives and problems, they don't elect based on any research of their own. They listen to the crooked media about 3 weeks before election and that is who they vote for. For the fifty percent or so who pay no taxes, it will also be for the one who promises the most free stuff. Some may find this simplistic and exaggerated, but there is a reason there are pictures on the cash registers nowdays instead of numbers. The Asian kids at least up north here really know their numbers and money at a very young age. We have a hard working Asian couple who own a Chinese take out restaurant. Their children are quite often in the restaurant in the evening. They always have their lesson books out and when not helping mom and dad are always studying. They were about 3 and 4 when I first met them and now are approaching high school. Besides both being straight A students, the boy has already mastered the flute. I have been giving each one a quarter on my visits since they were young. I explained it was for their piggy bank and the mom interpreted for them. They both now speak flawless English. They also both have every quarter I have ever given them in their piggy bank. I still give the kids the quarters and they always give a polite thank you, bow or both. Sorry for the vp digress, I will make it up on the next post.